Alina found it curious that someone so homely could be as haughty as the stunning girls of Pria, which Alina always attributed to their vanity. Nicole’s confidence was so forced and false, however, that Alina pitied her more than she disliked her.
Rex and Baylor improved each day, but healing was slow, so travel plans to Jaden were put on hold. This depressed Alina’s spirits, but she enjoyed caring for the animals on Maxwell’s farm. Often on boring nights, she headed out before the sun rose and finished the work before the others awoke.
On one such day, when Alina completed the chores before breakfast, Jade persuaded her to walk into town.
“Maybe you’ll make some new friends,” she encouraged.
Alina forced a smile. “I don’t think anyone wants to be my friend.”
“Jealous girls don’t make good friends, anyway. I was thinking of the boys.”
Talking to boys intimidated Alina more than the mean girls. She felt they expected her to be without faults, as if perfection in appearance meant perfection in everything else.
“Come on, Alina, they’re just people. Nothing to be afraid of.”
She gave a small shrug. “All right, I’ll go with you. But I’m not talking to any boys.”
Millflower was so small, everyone called each other by their first name and knew if they were having a good day or not. Alina received warm smiles from the older women and winks from the men. Children ran up and hugged her, and some gave her hand-drawn pictures of her in a long gown with a crown on her head.
They think I’m a fairy princess like in their bedtime stories. If only they knew how ordinary I am. The older girls found out soon enough.
These girls huddled in groups and glared at her without meeting her eyes. They whispered to each other and didn’t offer to include her in their activities. The boys gawked from a distance, but if she got close enough to speak to them, they stared at the ground as if it hurt to look at her. All around, she felt uncomfortable.
She clung to Jade but watched the girls in their clusters and ached for a friend like Trinee. Jade struck up a conversation with everyone they passed, and before long seemed to know every person in town, except the girls who avoided her because of Alina. By noon Alina wanted to hide, so when Jade said she was hungry, she pulled her into an empty cafe with heavy drapes at the windows.
The hostess, a girl about her same age, put her nose in the air as she led them to a table. She filled two glasses with lemon water and left without a word. Alina slumped in her seat.
“Are you okay?” Jade asked.
She shrugged, twirling the straw in her glass. “It’s awkward.”
“I can imagine,” Jade sympathized. “I don’t know what it’s like to stand out so much.”
Alina closed the drapes as people walked by the window. “I’ll be glad when we leave. Jaden is a bigger town. Maybe they’ll be more welcoming.”
“Perhaps you can forgive the girls. They feel threatened by you, you know. Getting married is so important to them, and the limited selection of boys is all they have to choose from. They can’t move to another town; it’s too dangerous.”
“So, they marry and stay here their whole lives?” Alina asked in surprise.
“That’s what Christine said.”
A waiter approached them with a small grin on his face. The snooty hostess glared from across the room.
“I can’t believe my luck!” he exclaimed when he reached their table. “My friends told me to take the day off because the famous Alina was in town and I’d miss my chance to meet her. Wait until they hear where you showed up!” He laughed, then smiled warmly at her. “I’m Oliver, by the way. Oliver Brook. I’m sure you’re tired of everyone fussing over you. Why else would you hide in here? You don’t even eat, right?” His relaxed nature put her at ease.
“No, not really, but Jade does, and she’s very hungry—right, Jade?”
“Starving,” she said with a big grin.
“Then I’ll take your order and bring your food as fast as I can,” Oliver said, reaching into the pocket of his apron and clicking a pen.
As Jade looked over the menu, Alina stole a glance at Oliver. She found him interesting. She knew staring was rude, but he wasn’t looking at her, so she continued to study him.
He was a good-looking boy, nothing to Zaiden of course, but it didn’t seem fair to compare him to an immortal. Though not drop-dead gorgeous, he wasn’t plain, either. Oliver was simply nice-looking. He tucked his dark, wavy hair behind his ears, showing off a handsome jawline. His sharp, blue eyes rested on Jade.
As he waited with his pen poised above a notepad, he moved his eyes without turning his head and met Alina’s stare. He gave her a caught-you-in-the-act kind of smile, and Alina looked away, blushing. She listened to Jade’s questions about the menu and smiled at his witty answers. He wrote down the order, and as he turned to leave, Alina risked another glance at him. Their eyes met, and he smiled softly. Something fluttered in her stomach.
After he left, Jade raised an eyebrow at her. “So, what do you think?”
Alina played dumb. “Huh? What do you mean?”
Jade giggled. “Come on, there was some chemistry between you two. I felt it.”
Alina rolled her eyes. “You know I like Zaiden.”
“Yes, and you know him so well and see him so often.”
“Don’t remind me that I left him behind. Besides, we’re leaving Millflower soon anyway.”
“Who knows how long it will take Rex and Baylor to recover? We could be here a while yet. You may as well have a friend.”
Alina chanced another peek at Oliver across the room. He leaned over a counter as he talked to the hostess, who now seemed likable. She giggled like a chipmunk as he spoke to her.
A short while later, Oliver brought Jade’s food and set
