In Pieces

3 | Gio Gio Gio |

A hand grabbed my wrist out of nowhere and pulled me. I didn't even have time to gasp—only shut my eyes...expecting to hit a chest, a door, another mirror, or something! But instead, with a swoosh, I crashed into—

Water? I was underwater!

I started kicking, holding onto the last bits of my breath, unsure which way was up or down. Clenching onto the hand around my wrist, I kept flapping my feet until I finally surfaced with a splash.

Crisp forest air brushed my face as I sat in the midst of a river and gasped for breath. The smell of moss and earth filled me in. The bruise on my chest now hurt more than ever.

Splish, splosh. Splish, splosh. Splish...

A blurry guy was walking out of the river. He must have been the one who pulled me out of that dark, creepy place. He climbed onto the grass and shuffled his wet hair. Crouching by the edge, he shot me a friendly smile.

Wait... Did he have pointy ears?

I blinked and rubbed my eyes.

I had never seen shinier silver irises, or pupils as dark as his. He playfully tilted his head, then holding out a hand, leaned into the river.

"Hi. I'm Gio."

My jaw dropped. So, this was the infamous Gio... And his ears were quivering!

I raised my gaze to the tall trees towering into the gray morning sky. Distant birds' tweets and leaves rustling in the subtle wind made it seem like a fairyland. The air seemed charged, ready to crack, and rain sparks any second.

"Where am I?"

"My world."

I gave him a blank stare.

The guy pulled back his hand and sat back on his knees. "It's a pocket dimension tucked into a small part of your world."

No way... Did he expect me to believe that? There was a forest beyond our castle. I must have ended up there somehow through a secret door.

"Here, let me help." He reached forward again, but I hid my hands behind my back and shook my head.

"Is this a wicked birthday party? Did Dad hire you for entertainment?" A surprise made more sense than being sucked into a mirror and—

The mirror! Mom was going to kill me for breaking it! My heart started punching my chest painfully hard.

Gio's grin revealed the gap between his front teeth. "I'm glad you're having fun. I wouldn't know what to do if you were screaming. You'd scare the buzz out of me."

I gave him another blank stare. He was a horrible actor—a hobbit knock-off.

My flip-flops sank into the river's muddy bottom, giving me shivers as I stood up.

"Are you sure you don't want my help?" Gio asked.

"Yes. No! Yes." Whatever.

A couple of jumps and a few grunts later, I was finally out of the water and standing—under Gio's amused stare. I squeezed my ponytail and then looked up at him, pulling my wet dress away from my skin. Gio mimicked my movement and pulled his damp tunic off his skin.

There was something strange about him, and it wasn't just his pointy ears or extremely wide pupils... It wasn't his rugged beige pants or worn-out tunic either. The charge in the air seemed to have increased as I stood in his perimeter—like electric, buzzing around the water drops on our outfits. I shivered.

He was a head taller than me and slender too. We looked about the same age, but the innocent smile beaming across his gentle features made him seem like a child. Gio could have been younger than me... However, the witty glow in those silver eyes was telling a different story. He could have been much older.

He cleared his throat. "Are you cold? Do you want me to dry you?"

Before I opened my mouth to reject his offer, he tilted his head, and just like that, my dress and hair were dry.

Wait...what? My jaw dropped as I whipped my gaze back at him—to find that he was also dry from head to toe! Gio giggled.

Magic! The guy buzzed with magic!

Was this real? I had to wake up if it were a dream! And why did my chest hurt this much with every heartbeat? I scratched the bruise Mom's mirror had left when it hit me earlier. Ouch...

"Let me get that," Gio offered.

A flick of his head and the pain was gone. Another flick, my tiny wound had a bandage on it.

I gasped and backed away. My eyes were going wild as they desperately searched for somewhere to run.

"I'm only trying to help," Gio said softly, taking a cautious step forward. "Alaia, right? I've been looking forward to meeting you."

My eyes widened. "You know me?"

He chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. "Yeah, sorry. I've only heard of you, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's begin again. Hi, I'm Gio. Happy birthday, Alaia."

I stared at his quirky wave. "Are you an alien?"

His carefree laughter chimed with a warm melody. My frown disappeared as the birds and the bees around us joined him, creating the funniest symphony I'd ever heard. I bit my lips not to burst out myself.

See, I wasn't the laughing kind. Mom would always compare the sound of my laughter to a neighing horse. Besides, now wouldn't be the best time to practice my laughing skills in front of this strange guy in his magic world.

"I'm a Djinn," he announced, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye when he finally stopped laughing.

"A genie... Like the one in Aladdin?"

"Yeah. I don't sing and dance. But I would, with you, if you'd want me to."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't want to dance with you." I was having a hard time believing this was all real! Besides, I had to go back home and fix Mom's mirror before she returned. There had to be a crack in the ground—a hole, a mirror, a door behind the trees...

"You don't want to stay here," he observed, tilting his head.

One doesn't need to be a genius to get that, Mom would say.

Just like she would, I held my chin up, closed my eyes, and commanded, "Take me home."

This should have done the trick. I was going to find myself in the castle with a swoosh, a pull, or a push...or something!

Anything?

"We'll get to that." Gio's cheerful voice spoke.

My hands dropped to my sides when I opened my eyes to find him sitting comfortably on the tall grass, facing the river.

"Aren't you supposed to grant my wishes if you are a genie?" I crossed my arms.

"Nah, we haven't signed a contract. I'm not obliged to grant you anything." He shot me a playful grin and then patted the grass. "Come, sit. I don't bite."