We did our best to concentrate on Christmas. It was hard when I had no idea what was going on with the Flamingos or with Mage Jaye and the School for Mages, but I was able to put all of that behind me and enjoy the holiday with my friends and my family.
Sharing Christmas Eve with my parents, my sister, and both of our boyfriends was different. As we sat around the Christmas tree in their new, small apartment, I thought back to the year before, how I’d had no idea that that would be the last Christmas I spent in the home we’d lived in for so many years. If I had known that I wouldn’t be back there this year, maybe I would’ve savored the moments a little bit more. Maybe I would have paid a little bit more attention to the subtleties of our family, the way we interact with one another. The way Max brushes my mom’s hair over her shoulder and smiles at her. The way Gray’s eye
“Wake up, Harlow! It’s Christmas!”Brice’s voice sounded like a little kid as he shouted at me, right before a pillow knocked me in the head. I winced and opened my eyes. It didn’t hurt, but it was more than a little annoying. I couldn’t believe someone our age could be so excited about Christmas, but then I also remembered he said he’d never really had much of a Christmas before.I groaned and sat up. “Hit me again, and you’re gonna spend Christmas inside of the chimney,” I told him, but I was smiling. He was standing there in the matching Christmas pajamas we’d all gotten, red pants and a green top with little white candy canes all over them, with his hair all messed up like he’d actually been asleep for once, basically bouncing up and down with excitement. The room was barely even
“What is that?” I asked, staring at the piece of jewelry in the box Ben had open in front of my face. I couldn’t really process what was happening, at least, not the way my mind wanted to process it. From here, it looked like he was asking me to marry him. He had a ring box, he had a ring, he had an expectant look on his face…. I loved Ben--but I wasn’t sure I was ready for this yet.“It’s a ring,” he said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.“Yeah, I know that,” I said, finally blinking after about a minute of not doing so. “I mean… what is it for?”“Oh, you put it on your finger,” he said, teasing me. “It’s jewelry, Harlow.”I cocked my head to t
When I was a little girl, I used to absolutely hate the day after Christmas. It seemed like the worst day of the year. All of the magic was gone, and we would have to wait a whole 365 days until it was Christmas again. The older I got, the less exciting Christmas became, and it didn’t really bother me that much anymore. It was just another day. However, the day after Christmas was hard for Brice since this had been the first year he’d actually gotten any presents or gotten to celebrate. He was mopey all day, even when Raven heated up the leftovers from the day before and set them out for us.“Brice, what’s the matter?” Melanie asked, biting into a piece of turkey. “You look so sad.”“I’m okay,” he said. “I just wish it was still Christmas, that’s all.”
“What’s the matter, Sam?” I asked, once I realized he really was standing in front of me, and it wasn’t just a part of the meditation I had been experiencing for the last few hours.Sam let out a loud sigh and sat down beneath a tree near where I was sitting on the stump I usually occupied whenever I was communicating with the forest. He shook his head slowly from side to side but didn’t say anything. I continued to stare at him, waiting.It took a long time before he finally opened his mouth. When he did, he was waxing philosophical, and I didn’t know what to make of any of it. “You ever think maybe this damn universe don’t know what it’s talking about? Like maybe all of this is just in our heads, and we aren’t really being controlled by anything?”
I’m not sure how long I sat there staring at Sam with my mouth hanging open. I didn’t know how to respond to what he’d just said. I wasn’t sure there was a fitting response. A wave of emotions rolled through me. Confusion, followed by shock, followed by hurt, but by the end, after I’d had a few seconds to process, the feeling that settled in my gut was nothing but anger.“What?” I spat at him, shooting up from the stump so that I was standing in front of him. “What in the world are you talking about, Sam?” I demanded. “You think that Ben and I aren’t meant to be together?”“Jeeze, Harlow, calm down,” he said, shaking his head. He didn’t get up. He just sat there, shaking his head slowly like I was out of line. “I’m sorry to upset you, but, yeah, I don’t t
Ben was sitting on the couch watching the television with Joshua, downstairs, when I came in. He didn’t look perturbed at all, but then, it takes a lot to bother him--unless, of course, someone says the words, “Finch Twins.” I sat down next to him, and he took my hand, but he didn’t say anything until the show they were watching was over. Then, Joshua said he was going to go check on Melanie, leaving us alone.“What’s up?” Ben asked me, knowing there was something going on. I hesitated to tell him because I didn’t want to rat Sam out and make Ben mad if he really didn’t know, but I had the feeling he did know, and he was just waiting for me to tell him.“Do you know what’s going on with Sam?” I asked him.Ben nodded his head. “Don’t
Talking to Starla was the last thing on earth I wanted to do, but I knew it had to be done. I was the leader of the pack, after all, which meant it was my responsibility to make sure that all of the members were doing what they were supposed to do and being kind to one another. I could hardly justify letting Starla get away with the way she was treating Sam, even if they were in a relationship, and it was theoretically being nosy to bud my way into it. She had some questions to answer for me as her mage and Luna.I headed over to Sam and Starla’s house the next morning, having decided not to mess with it that night, after I’d spoken to Joshua about the situation with the baby. I wanted to sleep on it and see if my mind was any clearer in the morning. It wasn’t, but that just assured me that I needed to talk to Starla.I hoped Sam wasn&rs
“How did your conversation with Starla go?” Melanie asked as we all sat around the breakfast table. Raven had outdone herself. I’m not sure why she decided to go to so much trouble that day, but I was glad she did. I needed it. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, biscuits… it was all delicious.“It didn’t go well,” I admitted, taking another bite of bacon and chewing it before I added, “she wasn’t exactly happy to see me.”“That figures,” Raven muttered, shaking her head. “Did she throw you out?”“Of the house that I built?” I asked, realizing Starla might be right, and it was getting a little old hearing me remind everyone that I made that house for them. “No, she didn’t throw me out, but she didn’t act very hospit