Sparkle (KOTLC) {Completed}

24

The next day, when Janessa looked in the mirror, part of her swore her scar felt less deep as she ran her hand over it, but, more importantly, the face staring back at her was smiling. Not a wide grin, or a forced quirk of the lips, but a simple, content smile

Tilting her head, she pulled half her hair back then dropped it, then pulled it back only on one side, then dropped it again, before finally deciding on pinning it back with simple, blue barrettes so her face wasn't hidden by her white curls anymore. Only two thin framing pieces were left hanging.

As she headed out, passing through the library where Amy and Livvy were working as diligently as ever, the two raised an eyebrow simultaneously at Janessa's light step and uncharacteristic attention to her appearance.

"You look nice today. Anything special going on?" Livvy grinned, exchanging a look with Amy.

"Like a date...?" Amy added, rather unnecessarily in Janessa's opinion, though the white-haired girl only smiled wider.

"No date, I just... really liked shopping with Biana yesterday, so I decided to try something new." Janessa rubbed the back of her neck bashfully. "Is it that weird?"

"No, just... I'm glad you're happy again." Livvy replied, her smile warm and inviting.

Janessa's expression somehow melted into something ineffably peaceful. "Yeah, I am." After a few seconds, Janessa turned to Amy. "Hey, Amy, if you want, we should invite Sophie over soon for that sister sleepover."

Amy squealed in happiness, absolutely ecstatic, and nodded her head fervently. "Yeah! Can we do that tonight?"

Livvy nodded without hesitation. "Of course."

"Well, I'm going to head over to Keefe's house now." Janessa waved goodbye and adjusted her barrettes somewhat awkwardly.

When she arrived at the Shores of Solace, Keefe and Ro both immediately gave her confused looks. 

"What's with the extra sparkles?" Ro snorted, shaking her head disappointedly.

Keefe nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and your emotions feel totally different today from what I can feel from here."

Janessa's cheeks blushed. "Well... I went shopping with Biana yesterday, and I guess, today I just feel really god. I felt a lot less frustrated and confused after the knife throwing thing, and hanging out with Biana just made me really happy."

"Ha! I told you it would work! You're welcome, Sparkles!" Ro taunted, throwing a casual arm around Janessa's shoulders. Thankfully, her bad shoulder didn't hurt, though she could tell it would tire out quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks." Janessa rolled her eyes, before she froze, realizing, it didn't bother me that she called me Sparkles. I really do feel better.

"Hey! I don't approve of this... fraternization. Janessa's my friend, stop stealing her!" Keefe whined from his bed, where it looked like he'd been chained to the bedpost.

Janessa's jaw dropped. "Keefe... Have you really been disobeying bed rest so badly they had to chain you to the bed?"

Keefe grinned weakly, though the toll of not moving was visible on his emotional health. "They just can't keep me down."

"That's not a good thing. As a future healer, I can tell you bed rest is more important than you think, or want to think at least."

"Sure, sure. Doesn't mean it doesn't suck." Keefe smirked, a knowing glint in his eyes. "So... how was your day with Biana?"

"Uhh... good?" Janessa eyed his expression warily.

"I heard it was pretty eye opening." Keefe teased.

"Biana told you about that?" Janessa asked, jaw gaping.

"Oh yeah. So... wanna share the details?"

Janessa rolled her eyes again. That seemed to happen more often than not when she was with Keefe and Ro. "Jeez, it was just a kiss, there's nothing else to it."

There was a moment of silence as the other two ruminated on her words, before they simultaneously screeched, "WHAT?!"

"You kissed Biana?!" Keefe gawked, his ice blue eyes searching hers for any lie.

"Isn't that what you were just talking about?" Janessa wondered confusedly.

Ro clapped a hand on her back. "Well, I think it's great, you don't need a guy. Stick with girls. That's badass."

"...what?" Janessa looked between Keefe and Ro, his confused expression matching hers perfectly. "We're... not dating. It was just, like, a little experiment. Anyways, what were you talking about then?"

Keefe shook his head as if to get rid of his disorientation. "I was talking about Dex."

"Dex? What about Dex?" At her genuinely unsure unsure face, Keefe face palmed. "Ohhh. But... I don't even know if I actually like him like that."

"You... are somehow more oblivious than Sophie." Keefe muttered, shaking his head disappointedly.

"I mean... I don't wanna hide from my feelings, but since I'm not sure, I don't wanna just force the feelings since everyone else says it." Janessa murmured embarrassedly.

Keefe took a deep breath, exchanging an exasperated look with Ro. "You know, that's fine. Don't force it. Next time you see him, you can see for yourself whether or not you like him."

Ro started to object, but Keefe cut her off with a shake of the head. There was no point confusing her further.

"Ugh, you elves overcomplicate things so much. It's not that hard." Ro muttered under her breath.

Janessa chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry."

After a minute of silence, Ro scoffed. "Ok, let's not. Janessa, we're working on your knife throwing. Keefe, you can watch, but no standing."

Keefe started to stutter a protest, but ended up being carried outside by Ro, who chained him, pouting, to a lounge chair.

The next few hours were spent with Ro giving strict pointers to Janessa, whose aim and power steadily improved, while Keefe yelled the occasional complaint between teasing remarks.

This time, she hadn't bothered picturing Fintan's face. Her focus today wasn't letting out her frustrations, as she was in a rather good mood, but instead on developing a healthy outlet that she could use even without Ro's supervision, which required enough skill to not accidentally stab someone. 

By the end of the day, Janessa succeeded at getting a bullseye with the knife buried hilt deep in the dummy.

"Next time, I'll teach you hand to hand fighting." Ro suggested, before sneering at Keefe. "That way, both of us will be able to beat this scrawny runt up."

"Hey!" Keefe exclaimed, trying and failing to escape his shackled chair.

"Sounds like a plan! I'll see you guys either tomorrow, if not the day after."

Absentmindedly, Janessa found herself twirling one of Ro's knives around her hand until it was time to leave, deciding that she wouldn't give Livvy a heart attack by bringing it home with her. 

"I've said it before, but, you're pretty badass, Sparkles."