UnEnchanted (22 page)

“
Hey,” Mina called out,
embarrassed.

“
Hey, you.” Brody smiled
at her awkwardness, and Mina immediately felt like an idiot. She
knew that Brody didn’t care what she wore.

She stepped closer and whispered, “What are
you doing here? I didn’t think you were coming until tonight.”

“
Well, I heard a rumor
that you were having a birthday party, and yet I didn’t get the
invite. I thought I might come and crash it.” Brody looked past
Mina to acknowledge Nan with a slight nod of his head.

Mina spun to look at her
best friend. “Oh, I see. Let me clarify. I bet a little
birdy
tweeted
you
the exact time and location. What a smart little bird.”

Nan whistled and suddenly found one of the
red and gold paper lanterns in the restaurant particularly
interesting.

When Mina turned around, Brody pecked her on
the cheek and handed her a beautifully wrapped present, wrapped in
pristine white paper and accented with a simple red velvet ribbon
on top. Mina’s smiled coyly at Brody and pulled the ribbon to
reveal a brand-new candy-apple red LG phone.

“
What? Brody, we can’t
afford this.” Mina panicked and looked at her mother in surprise.
Cell phone plans alone tended to be expensive, especially for such
a nice phone as this. “Brody, thank you, but I can’t accept it.”
She handed the box back to Brody, who held up his hands and backed
away.

“
Can’t return it. Besides,
it’s been added to our plan. With how many phones we have, it
wasn’t anything for our family to add one more.”

If he said it to make Mina feel less guilty,
it only had the opposite effect. Mina looked toward her mother for
help.

Sara stepped forward. “Brody, it’s a
wonderful gift, but I don’t know if I feel comfortable with your
family paying for a cell phone for my daughter. Maybe next year we
can afford one, but not right now.”

“
I understand, Sara. And I
wouldn’t normally offer this kind of gift, but I felt you would
understand the necessity of Mina being able to call us in case of
an emergency. If she were ever in trouble or needed help, she would
need a cell phone to call for help. For my own peace of mind, and
so I can sleep at night, I hope you’ll let her keep the gift.” Sara
was about to counter again, but Brody was too quick. “And by next
year if you want to take over the plan, we can arrange
it.”

Sara seemed relieved and nodded her head in
agreement.

Mina felt a hint of panic and turned to
Brody, worry etched in her face. “But what if we should…or you
decide that you no longer…” Mina couldn’t even speak it. What if
they broke up? Would he take the phone away?

“
It doesn’t matter—my
offer still stands. Besides, I’ve already programmed my number,
your mother’s, and the fire department. I think you’re covered.” He
took the red phone out of the box and handed it to Mina.

The phone felt light and delicate, and Mina
knew she was destined to drop it and break it into a thousand
little pieces. How could she possibly not lose the device, unless
it was stapled to her forehead?

“
Well, you seem to have
missed one VERY important number.” Nan stepped forward and took the
phone from Mina. “What?” she exclaimed, scrolling through the
contacts. “You programmed your number as two. TWO! That definitely
has to change. After the emergency department, the next number
should definitely be her BEST FRIEND.” Nan held the phone away from
Brody as he tried to snatch it back from her. They began to argue
over who should be number two on speed dial.

“
Too late, mine's already
there. You’ll have to take four.” Brody chuckled.

“
As if! You take four.
You’ve only known Mina a few weeks. I’ve been her best friend for
two years. See…two. I should be two,” Nan continued.

Mina looked at her mom and saw a slight
grin. Maybe, just maybe, everything would turn out all right.

Brody left shortly after he challenged Nan
to Paper, Rock, Scissors, and won, for the right to be number two
on her speed dial. After winning, he conceded to give Nan and Jared
a ride to the dance as well, as a consolation prize. Brody gave
Mina a small peck on the lips, whispered “happy birthday,” and told
her he would see her soon.

That was eight hours ago.

Now Mina had only been wearing heels for an
hour, and was already eager to kick them off and scandalize the
school with her bare feet. She could never understand women’s
obsession with high heels. Sure, they made make you look taller and
slimmer, but was it worth it to have to limp around the whole night
from blisters? Mina didn’t think so.

Just as she was about to find a pair of flip
flops in her closet, Charlie started waving and knocking on the
glass. Mina looked down into the street and was surprised to see a
stretch SUV limo appear, with a familiar blonde head poking through
the sun roof. Nan was waving like a maniac, and a minute later the
dark head of Jared appeared next to her, looking somber as
ever.

From the angle of the window, Mina saw a
limo door open and close, and knew that Brody was on his way up the
stairs.

“
Mom! How do I look?” Mina
called out, hoping to fix any last-minute curls that had come loose
from their bobby pins.

“
You look beautiful.” Sara
came over and gave her daughter a kiss on her cheek. “Please, Mina,
be careful tonight.”

“
I will.” Mina knew her
mother was worried. She wasn’t the only one. Tonight she was more
grateful than ever that the Grimoire was so slim, as she was able
to tuck it between her body and the corset, cinched tightly and
within easy grasp. She had whispered and coaxed the book into an
even smaller, slimmer form to fit in her bodice.

A knock came at the door, and Charlie ran to
open it. His mouth dropped in shock, and he backed away, pulling
the door open so Brody could step through. Mina froze mid-step as
his tall form entered the kitchen. Brody looked deadly. He hadn’t
taken any shortcuts in designing his costume, and now wore leather
bracers, a leather vest, and brown pants tucked into tall leather
boots. Strapped to his chest she saw a belt of knives, and on his
back, an actual bow and arrow. Brody was literally armed to the
teeth. And incredibly hot.

Brody stumbled when he caught sight of Mina
in her red dress. She felt herself blushing, but he quickly
composed himself, and reached for her hand so he could bring it
softly to his lips.

“
Are they real?” Mina
asked, reaching out to touch the daggers in the bandolier. She was
a little disappointed when they bent easily.

“
No, unfortunately not. I
wouldn't be able to get real ones past security.” He
chuckled.

Mina felt another familiar tingling
sensation spread throughout her body, reminding her that tonight
would have a storybook ending, one way or another. The Story was
already at work.

When Brody and Mina were on the landing and
had shut the door, he stopped her from walking down the stairs.

“
Why did you stop?” Mina
was holding onto Brody’s arm, her other hand gripping layers of her
dress so she wouldn’t trip going down the stairs.

“
I wanted a moment with
you alone.”

“
Is something wrong?” she
asked. She worried that he knew something was coming as much as she
did.

Brody reached up and caressed her face. “No,
nothing’s wrong. Everything is perfect. But with the way Nan talks,
this may be our only quiet moment for the rest of the night. Even
if we have to suffer Jared’s presence.”

Mina was once again surprised by how often
Brody seemed to read her mind. She had been nervous about being in
the back of a limo alone with Brody, given their new relationship
status. More than anything, she was nervous that she would somehow
resort back to the awkward stage of their friendship, and not be
able to remain calm, cool, and collected.

“
No, that’s fine. I’m
happy that you invited Nan.” Mina's shoulders slumped at the
thought of facing Jared and being shunned.

“
But not Jared?” Brody
could read the strain in her voice.

“
No, I'm glad. Really I
am.”

“
He was part of the deal.
I knew you would want to have Nan close to you, and he was just the
carry-on luggage. If he makes you uncomfortable, just let me know.”
Brody rubbed his finger along Mina’s jaw and leaned down to kiss
her sweetly on the mouth. Mina reached up and drew him closer. He
tasted of richness and warmth. Brody wrapped his arms around her,
and Mina felt safe and secure—until a loud horn blared from
downstairs.

Mina pulled back from the kiss and grinned.
“That would be Nan. Her timing is usually pretty terrible.”

Brody helped Mina down the stairs and opened
the door onto the street. As soon as she popped out the door, Nan
jumped down out of the driver’s seat and over to Mina. “Oh, my
goodness, you look beautiful. I never imagined red looking that
good on you, but wow!”

Nan’s own hair had been piled high and
sprayed with white, with white ringlets falling down the back of
her neck and around her face. She had a flowing white dress and
red, red lips; she was obviously the Snow Queen.

“
And wait till you see
Jared,” she told Mina. “Is he hot, or what?”

Just then Jared stepped out of the limo, and
Mina clutched onto Brody’s arm. Jared hadn’t dressed as a specific
character, but the costume seemed so fitting it was hard to
remember what he looked like in anything else. His thin frame was
the perfect complement to the white Victorian shirt with the tie-up
collar and silver doublet with dark black pants. His skin glowed in
the darkness, accented by his dark hair,, though that may have been
a trick of the light from the neon store fronts across the street.
His stormy eyes shone like molten silver.

“
You clean up nice,” Mina
said, trying to ease the tension in the air. “This is a good look
for you.”

“
Thanks,” he muttered.
“You look…fantastic.”

Mina smirked. “Why, Jared, that may be the
nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“
I cannot tell a lie,” he
replied, shrugging before helping Nan into the car. It came off as
a joke, but only Mina knew the truth behind those words.

Brody led her slowly to the back of the
limo, Mina walking on the balls of her feet so as not to damage her
heels in the grass. He opened the door to let her slide in. Mina
was so short she had a bit of trouble maneuvering up into the limo,
especially with the dress. Once she was in, Nan slid in behind her
and moved down toward the drink bar. “Look, sparkling cider.” She
opened the cider and poured a few glasses.

Mina took the glass and sipped it
cautiously, fully aware of Jared’s direct gaze. Nan handed a drink
to Brody, who put it in a cup holder. As they took off, Nan fiddled
with the radio stations and finally found a rock station worth
jamming to.

The music seemed a surreal backdrop to the
scene in the limo: Nan bobbing her head to the music; Jared sitting
against the black leather, brooding silently across from her; and
Brody decked out in knives, his bow and arrow parked beside him,
studying everyone with an intense look.

“
Happy birthday, MINA!”
Nan yelled out and giggled. Jared’s head flipped to Mina with a
look of horror on his face. She supposed she hadn’t told him that
the day she would face one of the scariest tales would also be her
birthday. Not that he’d asked. Mina broke eye contact first and
nervously played with a pleat on her skirt.

Her head started to pound from the loud
music, and she desperately wished the limo would fly to the school
so they could already be there. The limo ride, though beautiful,
was unbearably tense. She sighed in relief when the driver turned
into the school parking lot and pulled up to drop them off at the
entrance. Then she saw the crowd. More than two dozen students were
milling around outside, and several started whistling when they saw
the stretch limo, knowing only Brody Carmichael could be inside.
Among them were Savannah White and all her friends.

When Mina and Nan stepped out of the limo
behind the two hottest boys in school, Savannah’s smile turned
downright ugly. She’d come dressed in light blue, her blonde hair
piled high in a bun with a tiara. She was obviously Cinderella, and
Priscilla, with her green dress and stuffed frog purse, the
princess from “The Princess and the Frog.”

Mina tried not to look
Savannah’s way, but she could see her whispering furiously to Pri
out of the corner of her eye. She felt sorry for her, for a moment,
knowing Brody had once meant something to her, too. But then she
heard her snicker
“Little Grimy
Hood”
as she passed by, and felt all
sympathy drain from her mind.

When they arrived at the doors, the security
guards did indeed do a pat-down and checked all of Brody’s fake
knives and arrows. Mina considered asking Jared to make her a
weapon later in the night.

Nan and Mina entered the gym, and gasped in
surprise at the visual wonderland the student council had created,
complete with sparkling lights and full-sized set pieces.
Rapunzel’s tower had been set up next to the giant gingerbread
house and wishing well. Even the bench where Mina and Brody had
shared their first kiss now looked as romantic as a fairy tale.
Giant gates and an archway sectioned off the areas for pictures,
food, and dancing.

Fog machines were hidden around the gym,
forming misty paths, the colored lights creating ambiance. Even the
D.J. who was spinning had gotten into the enchanted theme, donning
ogre ears and large patchwork clothes.