Imaginer

47 - Where They Get a Break

         A flash of genuine hurt crossed his face, and he allowed a crease to appear between his eyebrows before his face smoothed out again.

         The lilies wilted and crumpled, and the vines fell away into dust, but when I reached to touch my hair, the circlet was still there.

         The lily had shrunk slightly and remained silent.

         “Let’s go in,” Beatrice said, strangely calm.

         “Right. Let’s go,” Jacoby agreed, nodding and marching into the building.

         I made to go after him when Beatrice snapped her fingers loudly next to my ear and tugged on my arm.

         She sighed. “Why are you so mad?” she whispered.

         “Mad? I’m not mad.”

         “Well you sounded mad…and rude, too. Flower Boy didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything when he did that,” she said with a surprising amount of patience. I looked at her, expecting to see her eyes roll. I nearly did a double take when the only emotion I saw was exasperation and a little bit of something else I could not place.

         “I…Well, I’m not,” I said stiffly, pulling my arm out of her grasp and turning away from her unusual behaviour.

         “Doesn’t seem like it. Don’t ruin this, okay? Flower Boy’s been sulking and worrying every minute of the day since you left.” Beatrice flounced past me and slipped through the slowly closing door, leaving it to close right in my face.

         Once inside the hotel room, I knew it would be futile trying to convince myself to leave and sleep in a motel, or find myself a room across the hall. I didn’t have enough to pay for my own room, either. Jacoby knew it, too, and though he tried valiantly to hide his smile, he couldn’t hide his flowers, and the lily in my hair gathered enough courage to poke my cheek with a curved petal.

         Jacoby waited quietly, thumbing through his phone while Beatrice showered. The hotel felt like a palace.

         I stood up, and he started, stuffing his phone into his pocket.

         “What’s got you all jumpy, Kermit?” I said.

         His face broke into a broad smile before it was cut off, which made me sigh. I wished I saw more of his pearly whites.

         “Your turn, Princess,” Bee sang, the door of the bathroom swinging open to reveal her in a bathrobe with a towel around her head.

         I shielded myself from the sight. “Oh, please, Beatrice.”

         Jacoby stood and tossed me my bag. “I’ll wait for you to finish.”

         “Right. Um, I’ve got something to tell the two of you.”

         They froze and turned to me simultaneously.

         “I…I met a Hider a couple days ago, and something happened, and Guiders might’ve caught him. Th-The whole story can wait, but right now, I’m worried that they’ve been tailing me this entire time. Tailing us, actually,” I said, biting my lip, “since we met with Beatrice.” I glanced at her, made sure my gaze wasn’t accusatory. “How they didn’t try and catch us right away. I think they followed us. And when I split with you guys, they probably followed me.” I sucked in a breath and looked up at the two of them. “So…I understand if you don’t want me travelling with you guys, and if you want me to leave right now.”