“Oh,” Mina moaned sadly. She was surprised that her best friend had left the house without telling her. It was obvious Nan had forgotten about her; she was preoccupied.
“Come on,” he mumbled and pulled her up to her feet. “She wouldn’t let Veronica take off without you. It’s getting dark soon, and then we have to light the bonfire.”
Her spirits lifted instantly.
He held stubbornly onto her shoulder when she tried to move away. She looked at him, and he spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. “I don’t believe you are telling me the whole truth, but I want you to know that I love Veronica and her daughter like my own. If you do anything to influence Nan or cause her harm, there will be serious consequences.”
“I understand, but let me--” Mina started.
Dr. Martin held up his hand, cutting her off. “This conversation is over.” He held the door open and waited for Mina to pass through it first. She couldn’t help but pick up her pace and practically ran down the stairs out of the house, feeling duly chastised and ashamed.
She ran past the students gathering by the bonfire and felt the sting of tears. She would not cry. It was stupid to cry.
Veronica waved at Mina when she made it to the dock. “There you are, sweetie. We were worried about you,” Veronica called out kindly; her long blonde hair was braided into a single plait over her shoulder. With the excitement of being on the speedboat making her cheeks flushed, she looked very much like Nan at the moment. Nan, on the other hand, was sitting on the bench wearing a red polka dot swimsuit and engaged with every word that Peter spoke.
But it was just the two young people with Veronica; Brody wasn’t on the boat. She wasn’t sure why, but she had assumed he would take the boat ride with them. She turned and scanned the dock and saw Brody by the unlit bonfire with Savannah and Pri. Dr. Martin had just joined them by the bonfire and was arranging the kindling to get it started.
Mina was about to change her mind and get off the boat, but Veronica started the engine and backed away from the dock. It was too late. Great, Mina thought wryly to herself. Now she was going to be stuck on a boat ride with two love birds. How awkward. She desperately wished she was back on dry land. The ride would be beautiful; the sun was setting and was the perfect backdrop to a magically romantic evening for Nan and Peter. Mina could see how awestruck Nan was by Peter, and he seemed to be equally entranced with Nan.
The two of them were holding hands, and he was whispering into her ear, neither one of them paying any attention to the inspiring sunset. When they had pulled far enough away from land, Veronica took the boat as fast as it could. Circling back around the lake, riding the crests of their previous waves, the boat would lift off of the water over and over.
Nan and Peter screamed in excitement holding their hands above their heads in triumph, similar to riding a roller coaster. Mina held onto the seat and hated every minute of it. She hated her circumstances, her lot in life, and was even beginning to hate Nan’s absolute luck with finding a boyfriend. Mina thought the second time around would be easier for her and Brody to start over, but it was proving more difficult. She felt her fingernails dig into the leather seat angrily.
It wasn’t fair. What was different this time? Was it because she wasn’t rich? Or maybe it was because she wasn’t pretty enough. Why couldn’t she have been born rich or with Nan’s good looks? She heard Nan laugh out loud, and it made her cringe in annoyance. The boat ride was becoming torture. She couldn’t even look at her best friend without feeling anger, regret for even coming, and a twinge of jealousy. Nan had it so easy; she just happened to sit next to a rock star and get accidentally kissed in a spur-of-the-moment incident and now she had a boyfriend. She was free to live her life without the threat of a family curse over her head. Free to argue with her parents over what college to attend when Mina didn’t even know if she would live long enough to go to college. Free to date anyone without fear of being attacked by the Fae.
The feelings of dissatisfaction and jealousy hit her like a painful stab in the stomach, and Mina felt like she was going to be sick. She motioned to Veronica who saw how green Mina had become and turned the boat toward the dock.
“Why are we going in?” Nan asked confused.
Veronica called back over her shoulder, “Mina is going to be sick. I think we’ve had enough for the night. It’s time to get back for the s’mores anyway.” She managed to bring the boat around, cut the motor easily and glide in the rest of the way to the dock.