She fingered the pages and traced the faint outlines of the pictures drawn on the paper. There was a lifelike drawing of Claire and Grey Tail, the Chicago Bears football players, and others. Her hand started to shake when she saw the scared faces of the innocents trapped within as well. For a Reaper, a killer that hunts down Grimms, had gotten ahold of the Grimoire and was using it to trap innocent Fae within its pages. There was her teacher Mrs. Porter, a UPS worker, a young girl. Quickly, she flipped the pages and saw Diedre and the Reaper locked in a death grip frozen on the page. She turned one more page, and her heart felt like it was being ripped out. The picture was of Brody kissing Nan, and in the background was the hospital on fire. It was a Snow White and Sleeping Beauty tale wrapped into one, complete with fiery dragon and glass hospital.
She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the picture. Why would Jared give this to her? It was hard enough for her to accept her responsibility at the lack of fairy-tale quests solved over the last two months and her brother’s death in the fire. She wasn’t sure what would happen to her if she lost her mom.
She was about to flip the notebook closed when a shadow fell across the page. Mina quickly covered up the drawing with her arms and looked up into the smiling face of—Brody.
“Hey, Mina, looks like we have home room together.”
Please, she thought, let that be it for the questions. As much as she wanted to speak to Brody, to hug him, to kiss him, to tell him she had feelings for him, and to please explain the kiss at the end of last year, she couldn’t. Not without falling apart like a blubbering baby.
The teacher, Mr. Ames, began going over the morning’s announcements, club activities, and sports tryouts. Brody took the desk right in front of her and didn’t turn back for more conversation. Nan never walked through the door, probably meaning she was in a different home room, since this year they’d organized the students by alphabet. And Taylor was at the end. Luckily for her, she had the most laid-back class of the day with Brody, but unluckily for her, she also sat in the seat farthest from the door.
When the announcements were over, they had free time since it was the first day of school and there wasn’t any homework or tests to study for. But Mr. Ames made his way over to the back of the room and straight for Mina’s desk.
He knelt down to be at eye level with her and took a deep breath. “We heard about the fire and the death of your brother. The school faculty and I know that this is a difficult time for you. If you need anything, please speak up and let one of us or the school counselor know.”
He had been trying to speak quietly, but it was obvious by the stiffening of Brody’s shoulders and the audible intake of breath in front of her that he’d overheard their teacher. Well, that was one less awkward conversation she would have to have.
Brody turned and whispered quietly to Mr. Ames, “If the school and faculty wanted to support Mina and her family, why didn’t any of you come to the funeral?”
The question had taken the teacher aback, and Mina mentally cheered on Brody.
When Mr. Ames went back to the front of the room, Brody spun around in his chair with pity in his eyes.
“That wasn’t sincere. They should have been there to show support. I should have been there for you more.”
Her heart felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly over and over with a knife. “Why? You’re not responsible for me. You’re not my boyfriend.” She could tell the words hurt him a little, because his cheeks reddened and then his eyes dropped down to stare at her lips. She knew he was remembering their shared kiss at the hospital. There was no denying the attraction…or the fact that an hour later he was kissing her best friend.
Mina sucked in her breath when she saw where his eyes lingered. She, too, began to remember their kiss, but she remembered a different kiss, their first kiss on the school stage, a kiss that he would never remember. Her heart began to pound, and her lungs screamed for air at the intensity that was building to a crescendo.