Chapter Thirteen

I sulked by myself in silence. I picked dandelions out of the grass and tore them to shreds between my fingers until the yellow residue built up on them. They smelled exactly like wet dog for some reason. I imagined my olfactory nerves as a bunch of hard-hat wearing factory workers not knowing what to do until some cigar smoking foreman yelled, "Oh, another flower? Go ahead and put it with the wet dog," in a Brooklyn accent, because that made sense.

I watched several cars arrive from my post on the hill, but my presence as enforcer wasn't necessary. Most arrived in actual linens, no swimsuit cop outs. Apparently, people had been waiting for an excuse to show off their bare skin and delicates. It really wasn't much different than going to the pool or a day at one of the beaches that didn't exist within a thousand miles of us. It wasn't a big deal. I'd projected my insecurities onto everyone else.

I perked up when I saw Kristen's bubble gum pink Lexus leading a caravan of cars down to the barn. I stayed put and watched them from afar. Most arrived in their skimpiest swimsuits, others in lacy lingerie. No one seemed to be in outright violation of the dress code, but I wouldn't have stopped them if they were. Faith wouldn't have wanted me to die on that hill.

I wasn't entirely hopeless when it came to girl politics. Kristen and company would've taken it as an excuse to leave while preserving the moral high ground. I did notice one thing Faith wasn't going to be happy about though. Blake came out of the passenger side of her Lexus.

I shot up to my feet and started off down the hill to warn Faith. She could deal with this as long as she wasn't blindsided. It was possible she already knew since Blake hadn't arrived with Juice, but I had to be sure. It was my duty as best friend to protect her.

I overtook Kristen's crew easily. They had stopped to gather outside of their vehicles to come in all at once. No doubt, she wanted to make sure Faith knew that she brought the party with her. I waited until I was hidden by the broadside of the barn, then broke out into a full sprint down the length of it.

As I turned the corner, I knocked over a couple bags of red plastic cups and more than a few bags of potato chips, but I kept going. I shoved past four people who were standing in front of the barn door without a care in the world and spotted Faith splashing a bucket of galaxy blue paint on Juice's torso.

He had changed into some ratty old gym shorts, the kind made out of gray sweatpants material. They were loose and even though I couldn't see for sure, I was certain he didn't have anything on under them. It wasn't his style. My vision blurred with anger for a split second before I reminded myself that Faith was my best friend who would never, in a million years, hit on my Juice.

I took a breath deep enough to inflate my frail backbone and power walked over to her. Without a word, I took her by the bend of her arm and marched her halfway up the stairs to the second level.

"That bitch came with Blake." I'd thought my purpose was calming her down, but maybe it was gassing her up. "Fuck him, okay! He doesn't exist, the same as he hasn't for the last two months!" I was so angry I could've cried for us both.

Faith pulled away from me with arms crossed, but she wasn't upset. She looked up at me through a forced smile and trembling eyes. Their hazel color had gone dark. "I know. He says it's to keep the peace for tonight."

"And you believed him?" I shouted, throwing up my arms.

Faith shushed me as she nodded to the crowd downstairs. I crossed my arms to match hers. I was truly upset, though more so about everything rather than Blake. I knew their relationship was complicated and neither was in a hurry to make things official again, but that hadn't kept me from hoping this night would've reunited them.

"I don't need Blake or any other man to make me happy. I have you and Saylor. You know that," Faith said.

Even though we both knew that wasn't close to the same thing, I relented. I felt embarrassed by how calm she was without my help. If anything, she'd have been better off if I had stayed on that hill. I forced myself to return her smile and turned to go back down the steps. She walked ahead of me to finish painting Juice. He'd been staring the whole time.

Even though I'd accomplished what I'd came inside to do, the fire inside of me hadn't died down. I swiped my fingers across my pointed brows and they came away soaked in sweat. I cringed at how gross I felt. I needed air. I took the remaining steps two at a time until I reached the bottom. I trampled through puddles of paint on my way outside, but I didn't make that far.

The fire I'd mistaken for anger started burning across the only side of my face I had ever known it to. It stung much worse than ever before. I stumbled over the back of a chair wincing in pain, but I caught myself and leaned over it for support; half-sitting, half-standing. I knuckled my left eye and waited for the imaginary brain spider to crawl out of it.

I knew the drill.

While I was hunched over, someone grabbed me underneath my arms, crossing theirs around my chest to lift me to my feet. I'd have recognized those arms anywhere, even if the galaxy blue hadn't given him away. I didn't resist as Juice slung me over his shoulder and hauled me outside. I never resisted him and I'd been heading there anyway.

I was certain he was going to throw me in the pool, which might've unintentionally been the nicest thing he'd ever done for me, but he didn't. He set me down gently on a poolside lounge chair and sat in one beside it. I'd have preferred to be in one of Faith's bed-sized wicker loungers, but she'd thought ahead and moved them to the garage.

"What did you see? I dreamt about tonight. Is it golf ball sized hail, a tornado, falling streetlamps? What?" Juice asked, shaking my arm. He was holding on a bit too tight, tight enough to bruise, but I didn't mind.

"Were you an asshole to me there, too?" I asked. I was still sort of out of it, but not so much that I couldn't appreciate myself for that gem. I cracked a smile as I wrest my hand away to flip him off. He didn't smile back. He looked terrified and as much as I hated to admit it, it felt nice to be on the other side for once. "Why would I tell you? You still don't give a damn about me, after everything."

Juice let out an aggravated sigh. He looked back at the barn, then back to me. "I always cared about you. Still do. How come I can't say one thing without you taking the ball home?"

I hated the reference, but this time, he wasn't wrong. I relaxed a bit. I really liked that he admitted to caring about me, though it took me a minute to realize he had. My ears had been trained to turn down the volume on bullshit.

"Come on, tell me, should I roll on home? Huh?" he asked, "Would I be safe doing that?"

In truth, I didn't know. I couldn't have. I didn't have a chance to look for the spires since Juice carried me away and even if I had, finding them didn't preclude other disasters from taking place. I sat up in the chair and looked over at the barn to search them out.

A few of Juice's faithful were glancing over at us. It made me wonder what kind of excuse he was going to come up with for this little one-on-one we were having. Part of me wanted to shout and embarrass him, but that was the same part that wanted to throw Kristen out by her hair, the part that wanted to knee Blake hard in the groin, and the part that was fine lying to Martha. I never listened to that part of myself, but it had its purpose. It was there to remind me how far down rock bottom still was from where I was at.

"Did you see it? What's going to happen?" Juice asked, shaking my shoulders. He was losing patience. "I know you saw something. Talk to me, please."

Juice had said please. That was new and unexpected, but as magical of a word that was, it lacked the fairy dust to adjust the limits of my comically dumb superpower.

The other thing about my superpower that was absolutely hilarious was that it was limited to my actual eyesight, which believe it or not, suffered from nighttime blindness. My optometrist had told me I was lacking in rods. Although he'd been referring solely to my scotopic vision, the same could've been said about my love life. Needless to say, I was not going to let Juice down, even if I had to make things up as I went.

"I need to look around. It'll help if I'm closer," I said in a meek voice, like I was an all-powerful mage who needed rest after exhausting the last of their mana to protect everyone, "Glimpses, remember?" I shamelessly doubled down on my lie. I was Steven Seagal practicing Aikido.

Juice bent down in front of me without hesitation. "Hop on, I'll carry you."

He didn't have to ask twice. Either the fear of dying had given him complete tunnel vision to his surroundings or he was secretly hoping my body would shield him from whatever death was awaiting him from the sky. Since Faith had enough lighting around her yard, all was not entirely lost in terms of locating the spires and flecks, but I likely had to be within fifteen feet in order to locate them.

Juice carried me back to the barn and I spotted the first spire just beyond the barricade that blocked the party off from the mansion. I was nervous, beyond nervous, but I chose not to say anything. I couldn't come up with a lie to explain its significance, so I directed Juice up the hill I was on earlier and he set out to walk the perimeter of the grounds.

I didn't see anything on the way up, but when he carried me back down I thought I saw something near the spot where Kristen and her group had gathered earlier. It was nothing. I considered telling him I saw one there anyway, but ultimately decided against it. To get away with lies, one had to have foresight to some degree, even I knew that. I had to leave myself enough room to lie my way out of my first lies.

"So, nothing?" Juice asked, setting me down.

Honestly, I was surprised and impressed that he'd carried me as far as he had. Sure, I was sixty pounds lighter than him, but Kristen could've been a hundred pounds lighter than me and you wouldn't have caught me carrying that wench up and down a hill. No, not if she had working legs. Scratch that, her having legs mattered to me as little as salt does bringing water to boil. It was a nice thought.

"It has to be inside, upstairs maybe? That's where it first started," I said.

It felt good being honest again. I hoped it'd last. Juice hesitated. He probably thought knowing it was inside and staying outside was good enough until he came to the realization I had the moment I hopped on his back. He needed something to happen in order to explain giving Mad-Eye Rudy a piggyback ride across Faith's property. It might've been pathetic for me to feel bad for him, but I did. The fact that he carried me meant he believed me, not even Faith believed me.