I flipped through Drew’s music, most of it was crap. Finally I found some of the good stuff I’d forced him to load a while back. I smiled and let the music make me forget that what was happening was not normal...or even possible, really.
I was walking behind Zack, jamming out, when suddenly he turned around and yanked out my earbuds.
“Ow! What the fuck was that for?” I yelled, rubbing my ears.
“Shut. Up. If you had kept singing one second longer I’d have just repudiated you right now.”
“Huh? Repudiate? What the hell does that mean?”
He sighed and looked at me like I was the most ignorant person he’d ever met. “The Fair Folk will explain everything to you when we get there.”
“Get where? And stop looking at me like I’m a noob!”
“A what?”
I mimicked his expression and sighed. “A noob. Gawd, you’re such a noob. Hey ZackAttack, maybe I should start calling you Anoobis.” I cracked up at my own joke, clutching my stomach and giggling uncontrollably.
He rolled his eyes again and turned back around, walking at an even faster pace than before.
I sobered up my expression and rushed to catch up, putting in my earbuds as I ran. I made a point to hum very loudly to the tune of my music-technically not singing, right?
Zack put his arm up, making me stop walking, which honestly, was just fine. I was tired -from my lack of sleep last night- and slightly sweaty. Not to mention I hadn’t showered in like, a week. But it was Christmas Break, and I didn’t see anyone but family, so that was okay. It made them want to hang out with me less.
I looked up from the ground to see two insanely tall men, dressed in medieval chain-mail, with long, gorgeous blond hair. If they were trying to copy Orlando Bloom in LOTR, damn. They’re good. Even the pointed ears were spot-on. As they approached us, my eyes grew saucer-big. Hot damn! These freaks have wings! Lovely, stained glass, huge wings!
Tall Dude Number One, on the left, had wings that were all colors and shades of orange imaginable, and his companion had, well, pulchritudinous green wings.
They stopped when they were about two feet away from us, and I had to crane my neck up very awkwardly-like when you have shampoo on the very edge of your hairline in the shower, and you need to get it out- to look at them.
“Welcome back, Zackary Pullman.” Orange wings said in his rich velvety tenor.
“And welcome to the Villa, Alicia Fairfax.” Green wings added, in his own kingly voice.
I frowned and looked around me. Alicia Fairfax? I hate that slutty bitch! Almost every night some guy would drive by her house and honk his car horn for her. And unfortunately, she was my next door neighbor. So I heard it. Every. Night.
“Sorry?” I squeaked, not wanting to disagree with these massive...fairy-people? “Um...I’m not Alicia...I’m Gwen. Gwenivere Pierce. Alicia lives next door.”
The two winged guys turned to each other. Talking rapidly.
“Is it possible we got the wrong address?”
“No, perhaps the fairies just got confused. Although it explains this Gwenivere’s appearance...not exactly that of a Princess.”
“She’s here now though, there’s not much we can do besides wait for the Repudiation.”
“Again with this Repudiate word! What the hell does it mean? What do you people keep talking about?” I threw my hands up in the air, frustrated.
The two men gave me an utterly confused look.
“Why does she demand explanation?”
“I’ve never been talked to in this manner by one of them before!”
“Ugly through and through it seems...”
“Hey! I’m right here you know! Have some respect, why don’t you? What can you expect from me? You pompous jerks! I somehow landed here after waking up this morning, I haven’t showered in a while, and I haven’t even gotten my coffee yet!” I was really getting fired up now. Who were these freaks? “And no breakfast either!” I thumped myself down onto the grass and hugged my stomach. “I’m so hungry!”
Now even the unmovable Zack was looking a bit guilty. The winged dudes were completely flustered.
“We apologize Miss Gwenivere Pierce. We should show you the hospitality of the Fair Folk.”
“Damn right, you should!”
Zack walked over to me and offered me a hand. Even in my freak-out mode, I felt myself blushing. A really hot guy was offering to help me up! I took his hand and felt myself swoon like an idiot. It was so warm, he had a strong grip, and he pulled me up without any visible effort.
I think he sensed my fragile remaining grip on sanity at this point, because he put his arm around my waist and guided me past the jerkish winged tall dudes into what had to be the Villa. It was a gorgeous resort-type set of buildings, made of a dark stone, vines growing in the cracks and beautiful flowers blooming everywhere. And there were so many dragonflies! They flitted like humming birds around the place...crap. Attack of the butterflies.
They all seemed to be forming a colorful mob, and were flying strait at me and Zack, making a terrifying sound, a high pitched chorus. It sounded like a mob of screaming fan-girls at a Justin Beiber concert put into that sound effects thing to make it fast and high pitched like chipmunks.
I screamed and hid behind Zack. This place was so trippy. And it got weirder. As the mob got closer, I realized the screaming sound was actually screaming. And what I thought was a mob of coloful flying insects was actually a mob of flying fairies. Like a bazillion more colorful Tinkerbells swarming at us.
Without warning, they all swooped around Zack and started attacking me.
“Oh fiddlesticks, she’s an ugly one!”
“What in the worlds is she wearing? They look like boy clothes!”
“Ick! Her hair is so nasty!”
Well, verbally attacking me. And maybe trying to poke me to death, and pull all my hair out. I whipped my hands around, trying to get them away from me. “I am not ugly! I just don’t put that much effort into looking good over Christmas Break! And these are my brother’s pyjamas! And I haven’t showered in almost a week! Leave me alone or get me some goddamn food! Is there coffee in this place?”
They shut up in surprise that I had yelled at them and just hovered in front of Zack.
“This is Gwenivere Pierce. Take her to her rooms, fix her up for dinner, and explain everything to her. And please, someone get her a snack and some coffee.”
The fairies swooped over and surrounded me, poking and prodding me towards a medium-sized building with a higher door frame than most of the others. They pushed me through the door and flew away giggling, leaving me confused with another group of little flying things, as well as some knee high female versions of the tall guys I met when I first got here.
I felt a tug on my pants and looked down. A kind-looking fairy with pink wings was smiling up at me. “Hello, dearie. If you could just follow me, we have a bath drawn for you.” She handed me a steaming mug and a pear. “Here’s some tea, and some fruit. We don’t quite know what coffee is.”
I took the food and tea gratefully, mumbling thanks between mouthfuls and following her dutifully across the room to a rice screen.
“The bath is behind that. Eat your snack and drink your tea first, but the longer you take, the colder it gets.”
I nodded and consumed the pear, besides the core. Gulping down the last bit of tea, I walked behind the rice screen, where a huge, steaming bubbly tub awaited me. I stripped off my clothes and took the two steps to the tub. Gingerly, I put a foot in, and then my other foot, and then I slid in, sinking into the bubbles.
I heard some tittering and opened my eyes. Five of the little fairies were flying around my head, giggling. I narrowed my eyes at them, but that just sent them into more giggles. High pitched giggles. One swooped in front of my nose, making me go cross-eyed to see them.
“Oh my. Lots of work! Call for back-up!”