The Soul Thief

Chapter 14

The following morning was Saturday and my first day without classes so I enjoyed the lie-in that afforded me.

Nancy knocked at around ten to ask if I wanted to join her for brunch. There was no questioning where I had been or what happened. I suspected Enzo had updated her on the situation last night and I appreciated the lack of pressure to talk about it all whilst my head was still whirling myself.

I had sat up for hours combing through the textbooks from classes, trying to learn everything I could about the fae and understand who I was and what I might be able to do.

It was hard to imagine why my mum had kept it all secret from me. We had been near identical to look at so I had no doubt she was my biological mother. But if that was the case, she had to have known she was fae, so why did she hide it from me?

"I'll be five minutes." I called back to Nancy, "I'll meet you at your room."

"No worries, see you in a sec." Nancy replied, and I listened to her footsteps retreating down the hall.

Stifling a yawn I opened the wardrobe to look at what casual clothing options I had. My favourite comfy jeans were cleaned and folded and I wiggled my way into them before selecting a plain burgundy t-shirt from the stack in the drawer and tugging on my classic boots.

My hair was knotty from not brushing it before I fell asleep and I gave up attempting to tame it before throwing it into a lopsided bun on top of my head.

With a hard stare at my reflection, I decided this was as good as it was going to get and made my way to Nancy's room.

"Hey." I said as she opened the door. She was wearing boot cut jeans and a mustard yellow top that looked beautiful with her skin tone. Her hair was fixed into two cute space buns and orange graphic liner winged out from the corner of her eyes.

It shouldn't have worked, but on her it all flowed and made her look effortlessly put together.

Nancy smiled back at me, totally ignoring the fact I looked like I got in a fight with my bed and it won.

"Want to get food now, or did you want me to do your hair and make-up?"

"I need make-up to get food?" I asked, not quite following.

"Of course not, but you might want it to if we are going to go into town to get something." She laughed.

We were allowed to go into town for food? As quickly as the realisation hit, so did the acute awareness I didn't have the money to pay for anything the school didn't provide.

My cheeks went pink with embarrassment. "Oh, I'm not sure I want to."

Nancy frowned, "Why not? It will be nice to get out of the school and feel more normal."

I shrugged, "Are we even allowed to after what happened with Maeve?"

"That happened here. What are you on about? Wouldn't you rather a nice cafe for food and a break from this place?"

"Well, yes but I-"

"No need for buts, we should get ready and go!" She laughed.

"I don't have any money." The words tumbled out of me in a rush, but somehow she managed to decipher my meaning.

"Oh." Her face softened, "You don't need to worry about that, I can cover it. I have more than enough."

My head dropped and my eyes fixed on my boots, "I don't need your charity."

"It's not charity. You're my friend and friends help each other. Now are you coming with that bird's nest you call a hairstyle on your head or do you want me to work a little magic."