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Authors: Alyxandra Harvey
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Rowanwood Park.”
“You’re in the park? So just follow one of the trails back to the lawns. It’s not
that
big. And by the way? How are you
doing
this?”
“I don’t know!”
“Quit yelling!”
“You’re yelling too!”
“Well, you’re
freaking me out
!”
We shared a strangled attempt at laughter. We could always make each other laugh, even when we were clearly losing our minds.
“Jo, Lucas was right. I
was
in danger.”
“Lucas? He did this to you?” I jumped to my feet. “I’ll kill him. Where is he? What’d he do?”
“Nothing. He tried to warn me. Look, it’s something to do with my aunt, like we thought, but I don’t know what yet. This guy’s holding me hostage.”
“You’ve been kidnapped? I’m calling your mom.” I reached for the phone. “And the cops. The fire department. I don’t know, somebody!”
“Don’t!”
I paused. “What? Why the hell not?”
“Because this guy’s not … normal. He’s Fae, Jo, like in all those books and poems you read. His name’s Strahan.”
“Is this an April Fool’s thing? In October? I thought we made a pact last year not to do that anymore.” Actually, after the spaghetti incident, our mothers had threatened to ground us until we graduated.
“Jo, I know this is weird, but you gotta believe me.” Her lip wobbled, like she was trying not to cry.
“Hey, take it easy,” I said. I might be a girl, but I don’t do well with crying. That’s Devin’s department; he just lets people cry and never looks uncomfortable. I was already squirming. I was also going to find this Lucas and kick his ass. He was clearly involved, whatever Eloise might say. “I believe you, El.”
I paused, something tickling my brain. I knew something, something important about the Fae. I ran through the poems and novels in my head, then shouted into the monitor. “El!”
She yelped. “What? Don’t do that!”
“Don’t eat anything. Or drink anything either. At all. I mean it.”
“Why not? Isn’t it bad enough I’m stuck here, I have to starve too?” Nothing made Eloise crankier than being deprived of food. I’d seen her kiss a piece of chocolate mousse pie once.
“If you eat or drink Fae food, you’ll be stuck there forever.”
“Oh God,” she groaned. “Now all I can think about is mashed potatoes. And olives.”
“Gross.” I ran a hand through my hair, dislodging the messy braid. “Right. Fae abductions. I’ll see what I can do. Then I’ll look up the nearest psych ward,” I muttered.
• • •
I spent the rest of the evening doing research. I googled things I never thought I’d google, like Fae history and Fae charms, and all the different names they went by: Faery, Fairy, Fey, the Good Neighbors, the Wee Folk. I even googled the topography of Rowanwood Park. Some of the websites made my eyeballs hurt, some were helpful, some were boring as dust. I tried another search on Eloise’s aunt but came up empty. I dug out all my English papers and flipped through my books and took notes in a journal with color-coordinated felt-tip pens. I loved researching bits of history or mythological trivia. I even loved reading all of the old fairy poems—just not when my best friend’s life might possibly depend on it. Talk about pressure.
The next morning I skipped school and went straight to the public library and found a quiet corner in the back. We often came here to do homework on Sunday afternoons. Well, Eloise did homework. I looked at the cute guys. Like the one standing by the photocopiers right now, his hair long and straight and his jeans frayed at the bottom. He looked a little bit like Hot Guy. Whose name I still didn’t know, I realized.I gathered my books to go say hello, but by the time I stood up, he was gone.
Just as well
, I told myself sternly. I had more important things to worry about than flirting, even if I liked flirting as much as Eloise liked strawberry tarts. I forced my attention back to the yellowed books
“You’re in the park? So just follow one of the trails back to the lawns. It’s not
that
big. And by the way? How are you
doing
this?”
“I don’t know!”
“Quit yelling!”
“You’re yelling too!”
“Well, you’re
freaking me out
!”
We shared a strangled attempt at laughter. We could always make each other laugh, even when we were clearly losing our minds.
“Jo, Lucas was right. I
was
in danger.”
“Lucas? He did this to you?” I jumped to my feet. “I’ll kill him. Where is he? What’d he do?”
“Nothing. He tried to warn me. Look, it’s something to do with my aunt, like we thought, but I don’t know what yet. This guy’s holding me hostage.”
“You’ve been kidnapped? I’m calling your mom.” I reached for the phone. “And the cops. The fire department. I don’t know, somebody!”
“Don’t!”
I paused. “What? Why the hell not?”
“Because this guy’s not … normal. He’s Fae, Jo, like in all those books and poems you read. His name’s Strahan.”
“Is this an April Fool’s thing? In October? I thought we made a pact last year not to do that anymore.” Actually, after the spaghetti incident, our mothers had threatened to ground us until we graduated.
“Jo, I know this is weird, but you gotta believe me.” Her lip wobbled, like she was trying not to cry.
“Hey, take it easy,” I said. I might be a girl, but I don’t do well with crying. That’s Devin’s department; he just lets people cry and never looks uncomfortable. I was already squirming. I was also going to find this Lucas and kick his ass. He was clearly involved, whatever Eloise might say. “I believe you, El.”
I paused, something tickling my brain. I knew something, something important about the Fae. I ran through the poems and novels in my head, then shouted into the monitor. “El!”
She yelped. “What? Don’t do that!”
“Don’t eat anything. Or drink anything either. At all. I mean it.”
“Why not? Isn’t it bad enough I’m stuck here, I have to starve too?” Nothing made Eloise crankier than being deprived of food. I’d seen her kiss a piece of chocolate mousse pie once.
“If you eat or drink Fae food, you’ll be stuck there forever.”
“Oh God,” she groaned. “Now all I can think about is mashed potatoes. And olives.”
“Gross.” I ran a hand through my hair, dislodging the messy braid. “Right. Fae abductions. I’ll see what I can do. Then I’ll look up the nearest psych ward,” I muttered.
• • •
I spent the rest of the evening doing research. I googled things I never thought I’d google, like Fae history and Fae charms, and all the different names they went by: Faery, Fairy, Fey, the Good Neighbors, the Wee Folk. I even googled the topography of Rowanwood Park. Some of the websites made my eyeballs hurt, some were helpful, some were boring as dust. I tried another search on Eloise’s aunt but came up empty. I dug out all my English papers and flipped through my books and took notes in a journal with color-coordinated felt-tip pens. I loved researching bits of history or mythological trivia. I even loved reading all of the old fairy poems—just not when my best friend’s life might possibly depend on it. Talk about pressure.
The next morning I skipped school and went straight to the public library and found a quiet corner in the back. We often came here to do homework on Sunday afternoons. Well, Eloise did homework. I looked at the cute guys. Like the one standing by the photocopiers right now, his hair long and straight and his jeans frayed at the bottom. He looked a little bit like Hot Guy. Whose name I still didn’t know, I realized.I gathered my books to go say hello, but by the time I stood up, he was gone.
Just as well
, I told myself sternly. I had more important things to worry about than flirting, even if I liked flirting as much as Eloise liked strawberry tarts. I forced my attention back to the yellowed books
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