"Bella… I can't help but notice that you're upset about something."
"Yeah…." I stabbed the green beans and shoved them in my mouth. The broccoli didn't see me coming.
"Is it still about moving to Cheshire? Because—
"No, it's not that." Once I'd annihilated the sides, it was time to take on the main course: the chicken
"Then what is it?"
"I was… reading this stupid book. And I didn't see the ending coming." More or less true, right? Especially seeing as how I never read any ending.
"Oh." Mom seemed relieved it wasn't about her. "What was this book?"
"Poison… by Chris Wooding." The chicken wasn't having it. I brought in my knife to help me out. The chicken wasn't going down easy.
"What was it about?"
"A girl trying to find her sister. It's got… faeries in it and… stuff."
"Does she find her sister?"
I didn't actually read it. "Yes and no…."
"Yes and no?"
"Yeah. It's complicated—you just have to read it."
Mom nodded. "Maybe I will. I already sent a few of the next five chapters to Phil," her editor, "so I've got some time on my hands. Is… the chicken alright?"
Not anymore. "It's good." I was just busying myself by hacking it into pieces, still upset about the missing twelve pages. Why had they been ripped out? It must've been something important. But how I was going to find them? It'd probably been ripped out over fifty-something years ago. "Oh, Mom," I said suddenly, "Charlie invited us over for dinner tomorrow night. They want to meet you."
She smiled. "That sounds like fun. Speaking of Charlie… how did you find out about us? About us being from Cheshire?"
I paused my chewing. "Charlie's grandmother, Celia Jones? She asked me what brought us back to Cheshire. I put two and two together and… well…."
Mom frowned. "You didn't storm out, did you?"
"No… not really, I just…. It probably looked like I'd ran away."
Still looking disapprovingly, Mom went back to her dinner. "I hope you watch your temper, Bella. In this town, news travel at the speed of light. Everyone will hear about the new girl flipping out, and you're not going to like it."
"Only if I care."
*
I had trouble falling asleep that night. I hadn't done anything that had been overly exhausting, but I figured driving around and meeting Charlie's family would've… I don't know, made me a little tired.
Sleeping earlier this afternoon probably didn't help.
I was still cold, so that wasn't helping either. I couldn't ask Mom to let me turn on the heater now, since we might fall asleep and leave it on all night; Mom would be slow-cooked. But why was I so cold?
CITEȘTI
Cheshire Girl
Paranormale"There were three things about which I was absolutely certain. First, I didn't have my cell phone. Second, my hands hurt from gripping the trunk lid closed. They would probably be useless to put up a fight. ...
