“I can relate to that.”
“Really?” She stretches her long arms up above her head. She reminds me of a cat waking up. “Devyn’s one of the few people who really ‘get’ me, you know? But it’s lonely.”
“What’s lonely?”
“Not having people really understand you.”
“Well, you could tell them, maybe? Just be open.” For a second I wonder if she’s a pixie, but Devyn and Nick would be able to smell that. Then I wonder if she’s maybe gay? I don’t know. I wish I were some kind of feel-good talk-show host so I’d know what to say. “Is it something serious? Something you need help with?”
“Oh, Zara, you are so sweet. I totally don’t need any help. I’m fine.” She looks at my hand, still holding the stall door. “Oh wow. You still haven’t gone pee. I’m so sorry. Take care of Nick, okay?”
She rushes out the door before I can answer. So I do what I’ve come into the bathroom to do and then I go wash my hands. I turn the water on and bang on the soap dispenser to try to make it work. I push it again. A little drizzle of neon pink liquid soap leaks out. “Beautiful.”
The soap smells like vomit. It makes my skin feel creepy, almost spidery creepy. I rub it on anyway and put my hand under the water. That’s when I look up and see myself in the mirror. I’m blue. I’m blue again. I am so blue that I match the bathroom stall doors.
My butt hits those doors because I guess I’ve backed up. I don’t know. I rush forward again, yank some brown paper towels out of the dispenser, shove them under the faucet and wet them. I scrub them across my face.
“It’s not going to work,” a voice above me says.
I scream, bang my hip against the sink, and pivot, my hands in fists. Astley is hanging by his hands through the now-open window.
“Go away!” I order. He drops onto the floor. His shoes barely make a noise even though he looks heavy. He’s almost as big as Nick now. His muscles are bulkier, too. It’s like he keeps growing. “Randomly showing up is not cool. It’s creepy.”
He eyes me. “You’re blue again.”
“Obviously.”
He swallows. I can actually see him swallow. He takes a step toward me. “I’ve only just arrived and you’re already blue.”
I turn away from him, stare at the monster in the mirror. “I wish I weren’t.”
“If you were pixie you wouldn’t be. You could hide it.”
“I’m not pixie,” I snarl. I lean forward. My forehead touches the gross mirror. It’s cold. I don’t care. I stare at the sink; white porcelain, cracked in places, ugly.
His fingers graze my shoulder and I jump. “Zara?”
“What?”
“Are you always so nervous?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” My hand rubs at my face wildly.
He grabs it. “You need to calm down.”
“How can I calm down? I’m blue. And my boyfriend hates pixies.”
“All pixies?”
“Can you blame him?”
“Yes, I can. We aren’t all bad.” His eyes are dark, deep.
“Right.” I somehow want to believe him though.
“Really. We aren’t, Zara. And I think somewhere, deep down, you know that.”
He lets go of my hand.
I try to unwrap the scared anger that seems to be enveloping me. I take a big breath and ask, “Why are you here?”
“Didn’t we go through this?” He sighs.
“No. I mean right now. Why are you here in the girls’ bathroom with me?”
He pulls his lips in toward his mouth before he speaks. “I wanted to warn you.”
“Warn me?”
“Dangerous things are happening. You need to be careful. You should stay in groups. Try to stay inside. Warn your friends, too. Your grandmother.”
“Warn them about what?”
“Another king has arrived.”
Pixie Tip
Pixies have sharklike teeth. Unfortunately, unlike sharks they can breathe out of the water.
“What other king?” I spin away from the mirror to face him. The spinning movement continues even after I stop. My voice creeps up high into hysteria but I can’t stop it. “How many of you are there? Man! It’s like a freaking pixie infestation.”
He grabs my arms.
I yank away. “Don’t. Touch. Me.”
He cringes and his hands stay up in the air grabbing nothing. “You looked like you were going to fall. I was trying to help you.”
“You want to help me? You tell me what you mean about other kings and danger and then you leave so my face stops being blue, okay?” I sway a little and lean my hip against the sink for balance. “Tell me about the Valkyrie too.”
He takes a step closer. “I think I make you dizzy, as well.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” My swimming head seems to agree.
His face softens. He lifts a hand up like he’s going to touch my cheek.
“Don’t,” I insist. I feel like I’m cheating on Nick just by talking to him, which makes no sense since I talk to other guys all the time. “Please. Just tell me about the king.”
His hand drops to his side. “He’s here. He’s vicious, a rogue, not supported by our federation.”
“Federation?”
“The Pixie Federation.” He brushes the thought aside. “It’s complicated. Each kingdom is allied in a federation, which is ruled by a parliament of kings. We try to keep things in order, keep us safe from humans and humans safe from us, but sometimes things get messy, and not all of us are in favor of the federation. And some of us want more power—”
“Like this rogue guy?” I finish.
“He will battle me for your father’s territory. It will hopefully be short-lived. It has already begun. I lost one of mine already. She was a physician.” His eyes sadden.
“I’m not sure how I feel about this.” The sink is cold against my hip. The coldness is so true it crosses the barrier of my pants and shudders into my skin.
“Zara, there is no choice. Your father was weak. You’ve imprisoned him. You’ve imprisoned some of my scouts with him. I have to free my people but I also need to control the territory. To do that I need to overthrow the king. It’s already been sanctioned.”