Illusions

Yuki. Her mom always told her you couldn’t force someone to like you, and the last several days were definitely proof of that.

“Plus, I’m not connected with Klea — as far as she knows, anyway. I might have more luck working stuff out of her.”

Laurel couldn’t imagine Tamani not getting exactly the information he wanted out of pretty much anyone. She leaned back and shrugged. “She’s all yours.”

Tamani pulled his car alongside Yuki, who was on the sidewalk headed toward the little house where she seemed to stay every moment she wasn’t in school. When she didn’t look up at him, he called out, “You want a ride?”

She turned, eyes wide, books clutched to her chest. Recognition dawned instantly, but she quickly refocused on the ground in front of her and shook her head, almost imperceptibly.

“Aww, come on,” Tamani said with a playful grin. “I don’t bite… hard.”

She looked up at him now, concentration in her eyes. “No thanks.”

“Okay,” he said after a minute. “Suit yourself.” He sped up, pulling ahead of her, and then veered off onto the shoulder. He was sliding from his seat as Yuki reached the car, staring at him in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

Tamani swung the door shut. “You didn’t want a ride, so I figured it was a nice day for a walk.”

She stopped. “Are you kidding me?”

“Well, you don’t have to walk with me, but if you don’t I’ll look awfully strange talking to no one.” And then he turned and started walking at a leisurely pace. He counted very slowly to ten in his head, and just as he reached nine, he heard the crunch of gravel as she hurried to catch up. Perfect.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she reached him. “I don’t mean to be antisocial, it’s just, I don’t really know anyone yet. And I don’t take rides from strangers.”

“I’m not a stranger,” Tamani said, making sure to meet her hesitant gaze. “I was probably the very first person you met at school.” He chuckled. “Other than Robison, I mean.”

“You didn’t act like you even saw me,” Yuki said guardedly.

Tamani shrugged. “I admit I was pretty focused on just understanding people. They talk funny here. Like they all have cotton balls in their mouths.”

She laughed openly now and Tamani took the opportunity to study her. She really was quite pretty, when she wasn’t staring at the ground and he could see her lovely green eyes. She had a nice smile too — something else he hadn’t seen much of.

“I’m Tam, by the way,” he said, extending his hand.

“Yuki.” She looked at his hand for a moment before taking it tentatively. He held it a little longer than necessary, trying to coax another smile out of her.

“Don’t you have… a host student to walk with you?” Tamani asked as they turned and headed down the sidewalk. “Isn’t that the ‘exchange’ part?”

“Um…” She nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. “Not really. I’m kind of a special case.”

“So who do you live with?”

“I live alone most of the time. Not alone alone,” she hurriedly corrected. “I mean my host, her name’s Klea, she checks on me every day and comes by all the time. She just travels for her job a lot. Don’t tell the school, though,” she added, looking almost shocked at herself for telling him at all. “They think Klea’s around a lot more.”

“I won’t,” Tamani said, deliberately casual. He had watched her house and knew Klea hadn’t set foot in the place in more than a week. “How old are you?”

“Sixteen,” she replied immediately.

Not a moment’s hesitation. If she was lying, she was very good at it.

“Is it lonely?”

She paused now, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. “Sometimes. But mostly I like it. I mean, no one tells me when to go to bed or what to watch on TV. Most kids would kill for that.”

“I know I would,” Tamani said. “My uncle’s always been pretty strict with me.” To say the least, he added to himself. “But the older I get, the more freedom he gives me.”

Yuki turned up the path to a small house without thought. “Is this it?” Tamani asked.

Not that Tamani actually had to ask. He knew the cottage on sight. It was covered in ivy and had one small bedroom in the back, with a common area behind the front door. He knew her bedspread was purple and that she had pictures of pop stars ripped from magazines hanging on her walls. He also knew she didn’t enjoy being alone as much as she claimed and spent a lot of time lying faceup on her bed just staring at the ceiling.

What she didn’t know was that as long as she was in Crescent City, she would never be home alone again.

“Um, yeah,” she said quickly, startled, as if she hadn’t realized how far they’d walked.

“I’ll leave you here, then,” Tamani said, not wanting to overstay his welcome on their first encounter. He gestured back the way they had come with his thumb. “I kinda left my car a little way up the road.”

She smiled again, showing one shallow dimple in her left cheek that caught Tamani off guard. Not that they were exceptionally rare among the fae, but with their inherent symmetry, having one on only one side was quite uncommon. Still Tamani couldn’t help smiling back. She did seem like a sweet kid. He hoped it wasn’t an act.

“So,” he said, already walking slowly backward, “if I say hi to you tomorrow, you going to say hi back?”

His step faltered just a little when she didn’t answer.

“Why are you doing this, Tam?” she asked after a long pause.

“Doing what?” Tamani asked, stopping now.

“This,” she said, gesturing between the two of them.

He did his best to look both playful and sheepish. “I lied,” he said carefully. “I did notice you that first day.” He shrugged and looked down at his feet. “I noticed you right away. It just took me a while to get up the guts to approach you, I guess.”

He peered up at her, watched the nervous tightening of her neck, and knew, before she responded, that he’d won. “Okay,” she said quietly. “I’ll say hi.”

Chapter Eleven

LAUREL STARED AT HERSELF IN THE MIRROR, TRYING to decide if the bump on her back was actually as big as it seemed to her, or if she was blowing it out of proportion. In the end, she had to just drop her hair down across her back and hope for the best. David had gone into school early for a National Honor Society meeting, and Laurel decided she would walk so she could ride home with him after school. She took a glance at the clock, then hurried downstairs so she’d have time. On her way out the door Laurel grabbed an apple from the ever-present fruit basket on the counter, shouted a quick good-bye to her parents, and hurried out into the early morning sunshine.

“Care for a lift?” a voice called as Tamani’s convertible pulled up beside her. Laurel hesitated. She was his friend; technically there was nothing wrong with getting a ride from him. On the other hand, he had made his intentions clear, and she didn’t want to encourage him, or worse, string him along the way she had inadvertently done last year. Still, riding in a convertible was just as revitalizing as walking, and in some ways, better — she loved the feel of the wind in her face. “Thanks,” she said with a smile, pulling open the door and sliding in.

“How’s the Mixing coming along?” Tamani asked as the school parking lot came into view.

“I’m almost done curing the second batch of phosphorescent,” said Laurel. “It’s slow going, but I’m pretty sure I did it right this time.”

“Good timing, then. I brought you a present,” Tamani said, handing her a small, cloth-wrapped package.

Laurel could tell from the size and shape that it was the light orb she’d asked for. “Thanks! Hopefully I’ll bloom tomorrow and we can start figuring things out.”

“Anything you need,” he said. “I wonder though, should you try out the experiment on living faeries first? I mean, right now, if I understand right, you’re going to try to keep the plants cells alive and try the phosphorescent on them. Wouldn’t it be better to try one thing at a time? Not that I’m trying to tell you how to be a Mixer,” Tamani added hastily.