Glorybringer AU ☆the fault in our stars☆

[9] Bravery

☆Glory☆

Daffodils symbolize new beginnings and hope.

Apparently, my mother is good at doing things that people don't want her to do. I am also good at that. Perhaps I got it from her.

"Who are you meeting?" Moon's fingers are magical-- they somehow manage to make my messy blonde hair into a beautiful side-braid. "You're looking nice today."

I tug at the red dress. "Somebody important. You know, my mother? The one that's on business trips all the time? She's going to come and see me."

Moon studies me with a weird expression. Her jade-green eyes are so beautiful, but it's suddenly filled with sadness. I wonder if she knows, if Grandmother told her. I'm not sure how I would feel if she did-- our family business has never been a subject of discussion, even between Grandmother and me. Always silence, always treated as something shameful. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"A couple of years ago." I stand up and stare at the mirror-- I look strange. I might even look similar to the woman on TV, the woman in magazines. Except I don't have her stunning blue eyes and I have no idea how to smile so big. Maybe it's a part of being so famous-- you have to be happy all the time.

"The red necklace will probably go well with that." Moon gently pulls out a necklace from one of the drawers. I didn't even know it was there. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"You're so good at this stuff." Of course, a middle school girl has a better fashion sense than me. But then, it's Moon. She's good at everything. "We are going to eat together, aren't we? You should dress up, too."

"We aren't." She gives me a handful of daffodils. They're tied together with a ribbon. "I'm going to eat in the kitchen with Mom after I help her set up the table."

Okay, so Secretkeeper is not eating with us. That's just great. More awkwardness. I've always felt both of them as family, so I didn't guess that we were going to eat separately. A Hollywood woman probably wouldn't like for two workers to eat with her. Figures.

I don't know what to say, so I look at the daffodils in my hands. They remind me of the advice I got from Rose-- In the worst case, just confess. If you get rejected, it might get easier to get over. Just make sure you do the right thing for yourself. You should always come first.

But then-- there's a love expert right beside me. I wonder why I didn't ask her before. Moon's going over the jewelry box to look for matching earrings. "Moon, what would you do if someone you like likes someone else?"

"Why, do you like Deathbringer?"

I manage to choke on nothingness and cough for thirty seconds. "NO." Was it that obvious? But then, I don't know any other boys other than Deathbringer. "It's someone from my drama class. His name is--" I can't think of anyone. "Starflight." Yep, let me ruin everything because somehow he's the first person that comes into mind. "How do you even know about Deathbringer?"

Moon raises her eyebrows with a huge grin on her face. "Starflight? Who's that? I only know the Deathbringer guy from your class because Mrs. Bright talks about him." Moon shrugs. "She even showed me his yearbook pictures."

"He has a girlfriend. But the guy I have a crush on doesn't." I don't even know. All I can do is apologize a million times to Starflight in my head. "Can you answer my question, though?"

"If Starflight doesn't have a girlfriend, how do you know he doesn't like you?"

That makes me think back-- does Starflight like someone? I mean, he defended me at the play. But then, maybe he has a great sense of right and wrong. I don't even know why I'm thinking about him all of a sudden.

"I don't know. He probably likes someone else." I'm blushing badly, so I change the subject. Moon and her jade-green eyes. They look right through me. "Nevermind. Let's talk about you instead. Did you choose yet?"

"Did I choose who?"

"The two boys that just drool over you. Winter and-- who was it? Qibli?"

"Oh, yeah. I turned Winter down about six months ago and now I'm--"

"DATING QIBLI?" I turn to her, unable to hide a huge grin from my face. "YESSSS! MOONBLI WON!!! Wait, let me go tell your mom that I won the bet."

"GLORY!" She's smiling, too. "Did you seriously have a bet on who I will date? AND with MOM?"

"YASSSS!!" I am dancing around the room, but Moon grabs a hold of my hand before I reach for the door.

"I'M NOT DATING QIBLI!" Moon jokingly punches my arm. "I turned down Winter about six months ago and Qibli three months ago! They told me the day before yesterday that THEY were dating. Happy now? Don't tell anyone, though, it's supposed to be a secret."

Well. Stupid elementary kids stupidly dating each other. That's cute. "Qibli and Winter. Wibli?"

Moon grins mischievously, and I wonder what's going around that little kid's head. I thought she was one of the princess girls that had boys all over her. I guess I was wrong-- she was a queen matchmaker. "Qinter. Duh."

☆

"Just say what you want to and leave in ten seconds," Grandmother's voice can be heard from the door. She's blocking the door the best she can.

A voice. Strangely familiar. It's not exactly the voice what I hear on movies and TV shows. Although Grandmother hates to see her daughter's movies, I sometimes watch it on my desktop.

Sleek brown hair. That's unfamiliar. The voice is rising enough for me to hear. "Let me in. Somebody's following me."

Grandmother moves after a few moments, letting her in. The woman takes her head off, and her brown wig falls out, revealing a golden one. Her blue eyes are searching the house, and they finally find me. I don't know what to do. I kind of want to run.

But, in a way, I'm tired of running. I always ran after her, and she, in turn, always ran away from me. And now she's coming on her own, walking to me, placing her feet in my circle. And maybe I don't want to run anymore. Not after her, or even from her.

I want to stay. I want to be brave.

She looks at me, and I look at her. I can remember the car going away, the tears falling to the ground. She probably saw me then in the car, the little girl running after her mom. But she didn't stop.

I hand her the flowers. She takes them wordlessly, and her mouth is mouthing something, but nothing comes out. Her other hand is reaching for my arm, but I flinch. And her eyes are filling with tears, but she doesn't let them fall.

I don't know what to say. My heart's beating too hard. "The flowers symbolize- new beginnings."

Then a tall boy, a few years older, comes into the house. He's formally dressed, and he's laughing and hugging with Grandmother. And then another man comes in, and Grandmother stares at him with disbelief.

The daffodils fall to the ground.