Part 5 (1/2)
”Is something stressing you out at school? What happened last night to make you tense? Is something going on that we need to know about?”
”Mom! Would you give her break. I don't sleep well after a midnight debrief either.”
At that moment, Gemma would have handed Ruby a platter of stars if she'd been able to. She shot her a quick smile. Ruby's wink was subtle as she stood up.
”Alright everyone.” Alistair offered his youngest daughter a hand up. ”Let's take a fifteen minute break. Go get a drink, take some time out. I want you all back here at ten hundred and we're going to practice this until we get it right.”
Gemma looked over her father's shoulder and watched the twins roll their eyes and stifle groans behind his back. She didn't know whether they were blaming her for the extended training session or not, but she didn't want to stick around and have their black looks aimed at her. Grabbing a towel, she wiped her face and tore up the stairs to her room.
Slamming the door behind her, she fell on her bed and gazed up at the ceiling. She blinked at the moisture building in her eyes and covered her face with the towel as the door crept open.
It was shut quietly behind her visitor. Gemma didn't want to look. She felt the bed s.h.i.+ft beneath her as she was joined.
”So, what's up grumpy pants?”
”Ruby, leave me alone.”
”Not gonna happen, you may as well 'fess up now.”
Ruby pulled the towel from her sister's face and threw it across the room. Gemma watched it land on the lip of the laundry hamper. Gravity won and pulled the towel to the floor. She resisted the urge to stand and pick it up. Their mother hated mess.
Ruby placed an ice pack on Gemma's throbbing jaw. She winced at the cold, but held it in place.
”I have a problem.”
”No kidding.” Ruby's mockery made Gemma smile.
”I like a guy.”
Her sister gasped and sat up with bright eyes. ”I knew it! I knew you had a crush on someone. You've been all weird and moody for months now. Who is it?”
Gemma cringed. ”Harrison Granger.”
Ruby looked thoughtful for a minute then grinned. ”Yeah, I think I know him. He is cute. A little skinny, but cute.”
Gemma rolled onto her side with a groan.
”So what's the problem?”
”Ruby, don't ask me that! You know what the problem is.”
”Not really.”
Punching her pillow with a loud huff, Gemma flicked Ruby's hand off her shoulder.
”I never expected him to talk to me. I thought if he ever did he'd be as weirded out as everyone else, but he's...” She turned to look at her sister. ”He's really nice.” Turning back with a frown, she sniffed. ”And I so can't go there! Why did he have to talk to me? Why couldn't he leave me alone?”
Ruby was silent while Gemma stewed. She could only imagine what her sister was thinking. She was probably trying really hard not to laugh behind her back. Gemma couldn't bear to look, so kept her face stuffed into the pillow. Eventually her sister sighed and placed a tender hand on her shoulder.
”Gem, this is high school. You only get one shot and you're completely wasting it. You need to go for this guy. Have some fun.”
”How? Mom and Dad will see right through me and I don't trust myself to-”
”You've always been the perfect daughter. They won't expect you to break the rules. Mom even said she wanted you to make a friend.”
”I don't think she had Harrison Granger in mind when she said that.”
”So what? She'll never find out.”
Gemma winced.
”Look, sweetie, you need to enjoy the opportunities that are coming your way now. I know you hate lying and that's why you push people away, but look how miserable you are. You can't spend the rest of your life trying to make Mom and Dad happy. At some point you need to decide when this life belongs to you.”
Ruby squeezed her shoulder and pulled her around so they were face to face.
”You don't see Dom and I moping around every weekend. We know we can never get too close, but we can get close enough to have a little fun... and you don't have to lie to your friends, just avoid the subject of who we are.”
”But I've screwed up before.”
”Once! You were thirteen! She was your best friend. It was all new and you were trying to process it.”
”What if she'd believed me? What if she'd told someone else?”
”But she didn't.”
Gemma's eyes filled with instant tears. ”No, she didn't.”
She would never forget the look on Zoey's face after she'd told her. Her best friend's voice had dripped with disdain at Gemma's excuse for bailing on her. You know, I never thought you'd lie to me. She'd shaken her head and turned to leave. If you don't want to be my friend anymore, you should have the guts to say so. Then she'd left and three days later the moving company had arrived.
”I don't want to hurt him. I don't want to lie. I want to be in a relations.h.i.+p where I can be myself.”
”Relations.h.i.+p? Sweetie, chillax! We're talking about a casual fling here. And stop putting such a negative twist on the whole lying thing.” Ruby lay down, one arm resting behind her head. ”Do you remember the legend that Mom used to tell us when we were kids... about the electus?”
”The chosen ones.”
”Yeah, well, you know how their mother was killed and then they faded to gold dust, but returned and everything was back to normal? Lucia was alive again.”
Gemma nodded.
”Well when they told Lucia about it, she knew right away that they held a powerful gift that needed protecting. So the village made an oath to guard their skills... and it wasn't just any oath, it was a blood oath. Secrecy was paramount to their survival.”
”Why are you telling me this?”
”Because I'm trying to make a point.” She turned to face her sister. ”Secrets are not always a bad thing, Gem. The oath needs to be honored or people get hurt.”
”You're talking about Decimus, aren't you?”
Ruby nodded at Gemma's referral to the seventh member of the electus. According to legend, the seven babes had simply appeared on earth around 150BC. As they had grown, the three girls had fallen in love with the three boys. Decimus was the only one left without a mate... the black sheep that Gemma dreaded becoming.
”I don't want to make that same mistake he did.”