Hazel looks back at me for the first time since we pulled off, her true panicky self about to leap forth. I'm tempted to hold a grudge but she's my only company back home in case we have to walk. The driver jumps out and shakes his head. Sweat drips from his face at a steady pace. For a moment, I imagine that he's trying to fill us a pool to make up for shutting down. But it's just wasting away on the ground. How the people of Cave Beach can stomach this, I'll never understand. Now he's doing push-ups with the damn bus – looking it up and down all studious to pretend he's coming up with solutions. When he feels as if he's done enough of that, he shrugs his shoulders at us with a 'woe is me' expression plastered across his face.
And that was the final key needed to crack Hazel-the-Coward's chest of fear. The little optimist feels safe and secure in her comfort zone – from the Bunny House through the city and back. But let her loose too close to where Leer Island's lions prowl and it's a different story altogether. She leaves her seat and stumbles over to the rock of Gibraltar.
"What are we going to do?"
"Nothing! We wait until the driver calls for help."
"He doesn't look like he's doing anything though," she says after scoping him out for a while.
"Probably because he's used to dealing with the same old crap every damn day."
"Don't worry," she says to calm herself more than anything else. "An angel will come."
YOU ARE READING
NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?
FantasyThere is a war coming! In it, Lilith and the impostor God must battle for all human minds on earth. But one girl can stand in the gap for all humanity. However, to prove worthy for this feat, Mary must begin shadow work to take the mark upon herself...
