My eyes fell to the spot where I’d first met Julian.
I’d wanted to give in to him in the alleyway. It took me everything not to. Everyone tells you how to live your life, but no one tells you how to walk away from the life you love when it starts to hurt. Yes, with Julian, I loved life because he made me feel undead. The girl who looked like a ghost, talked to ghosts, raised by ghosts, he made this girl feel like something worth looking at, someone who was wanted. But he could easily take that away from me too. If I gave into him, he’d think treating me like this was okay, and it was not okay.
When Gramps woke, we spent the next few hours eating the hotcakes and working on our crossword puzzles in his bed, listening to Freddy in the Mournin’. He was much quieter this morning, and each time my pencil hit the newspaper, his eyes flickered over to catch my progress.
That evening, I walked into The Bean after hearing it was the only place in Weeping Hollow to have a hope for an internet connection. Gramps had hardly eaten anything during dinner. I needed to research his symptoms, see if I could find answers to this virus.
A faded brick wall took up half the store behind the long black counter, where charcoal black pendant lights hung in a row. Along the adjacent wall, rectangular chalkboards displayed the curated menu. The coffee house was on the corner, the rest of the walls made of windows with a diamond-paned pattern. The little place was packed yet quiet, the young adults working behind laptop screens or indulged inside a book. I noticed Milo sitting on the opposite end next to a window with Monday and Kane.
I hadn’t spoken to Kane since what happened at The Rocky Horror Picture Show movie night.
Kane called me over as soon as he noticed me too, waving his hand casually as if the other night had never happened. I took a quick look around, scanning for an empty table, but there wasn’t one. After a short debate with myself, I stepped toward them with my black and white striped Kate Spade laptop satchel hanging off my shoulder.
“Small world,” I joked, bouncing my gaze back and forth between them.
Monday wore a black velvet bow in her half-updo and a frown. “You left us last night and missed the real show,” she said. “One of the Hollow Heathens went crazy, could’ve eaten me alive.”
“Better off. Fallon could finally make you look pretty back at the morgue,” Kane joked through a laugh.
“Asshole,” Monday scoffed, kicking him under the table. Kane yelped. “Mark my words,” Monday held up a finger, “The only option for this smoking hot body is cremation. No one’s touching me.”
I chuckled, noticing Kane made no moves to make direct eye contact. He pulled his hat further down over his face, and I dipped down and saw the bruise over his eye.
“What happened to you?” I asked him. “Is that a bruise?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell ya,” Monday exclaimed. “Out of nowhere, that Heathen, Blackwell, went ballistic, punched him for no reason. I’ve never seen a Heathen lose control like that in public.”
“It was a sucker punch too,” Kane gritted out, dropping his fist over the table. “Didn’t stay around long enough for me to get right, either.”
“Because you were out for a good two minutes,” Milo pointed out, then hid his smile behind his tight lips.
“He punched you?” A little uncomfortable, I shifted the strap over my shoulder. “Why would he punch you?” I couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it because he did.
Kane narrowed his eyes and dropped his chin. “Why do you think?”
“Because we’re boys,” Milo threw his back against the booth, “We fight, lie, and steal.”
Monday’s face twisted. “Why?”
“Because. That’s how we get what we want.” Milo slid down the bench to make room for me. “In better news, Mabon’s tomorrow. Are you finally coming with us to Crescent Beach?”
I took a seat next to him and pulled my laptop bag in front of me, thinking about my answer. I didn’t want a repeat of last night, and with Gramps, I already had enough on my plate than to worry about Kane’s erratic behavior and my increasing feelings for Julian. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, you have to,” Monday said into her coffee, took a small sip, then set it down. “There’ll be a bonfire at the beach, some music, dancing …” she bounced in place, remembering something, “Oh, and at midnight, whoever is brave enough to jump into the ocean is said to have a year of good fortune.”
My brows snapped up. “Like off the cliff?”
“Mav is the only one crazy enough to do it,” Kane spoke up, leaning back into the booth and dropping one arm over the table to cup his mug. He lifted a brow with a small smile. I didn’t know what it meant. A let’s-talk? I’m-sorry? Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to work this time.
And the conversation rolled on. I knew they were laughing and talking back and forth, but their voices fell into the background as I fixed my gaze outside the shop window into Town Square. Half of me was fully aware, looking for Julian, the other half was lost inside this body, stuck inside this coffee shop, trapped with these people. It was an odd and unique feeling. A feeling of time slipping and the world moving on without needing me—that the world would be okay, regardless if I was here or not. Being around Julian didn’t make me feel like that, the reason I caught myself looking for him—either out there or in the corners of my mind.
“Yoo-hoo, Fallon.” Monday snapped her fingers in the air, and I darted my gaze to her. “We were about to head out. Going to Eleanor’s across the street. She does a little bit of this, a little bit of that.”
“She’s a psychic,” Milo answered. “Just say she’s a psychic.”
I immediately thought of Kioni, the girl I’d met from the palm reading tent on Defy night. Maybe she would be there and introduce me to her grandmother. It was possible I would have better luck with a reading from a psychic than results from Google regarding Gramps’ health.
“Ya right out straight or what?” Kane asked.
“Okay, yeah. I’ll go.”
Monday and Milo walked before Kane and me, padding over the paved streets behind the gazebo. The fading sun lowered over the forest, painting the sky in brushstrokes of marigold and carnation pink and lavender.
Kane elbowed me in the arm. I looked up at him when he lowered his head. “Hey, I really am sorry about last night. I honestly meant no harm. I don’t know what came over me.”
All I could do was nod. I wished I could have said it was okay and pretend that it never happened, but it wasn’t okay. I wished I could forget about it, but forgetting would be stupid on my part. Instead, I had folded the situation up and filed it in a cabinet stored in the back of my mind, marked “never again.”
“I don’t know what’s going on between you and Blackwell,” Kane continued, “But if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll back off.”
“What’s good for him?” I asked, offended as if it were me Kane was threatening.
“Let’s just say you’re under Sacred Sea protection. Blackwell can’t so much as be within twenty feet of you without our permission. If he goes near you or talks to you, the Order will punish him, throw him in the tunnels. So, if you care about him, you should stay away too.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, walking at my side. “It’s what’s best for everyone.”