sand castles | f. vacker

04 BEING A GUSTER IS SURPRISINGLY EASY

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"ELIJAH!" JOELLE HOLLERED, cupping her hands around her mouth. "You can't hide forever!"

She pounced around the corner of the hall, only to see a lonely potted plant. This is why she didn't like playing hide-and-seek with him. She hadn't found him since the one time last year when he stubbed his toe and cried out, giving away his hiding place.

"I don't like this game," Joelle spoke loudly, hoping for Elijah to pity her and show himself. "Come on, Elijah. You have to leave soon. It's almost bedtime."

She heard the front door unlock and rushed over to it, hoping that it was her baby brother, but it was just her dad.

"Oh, hi," she said disappointedly. "I thought you were Elijah. We're playing hide-and-seek."

Her dad raised his eyebrows. "Hide-and-seek? With Elijah?"

Joelle nodded gloomily.

"You are not in your right mind," he teased, brushing past her and searching the smallest of spaces.

Joelle begrudgingly followed him throughout the house, never expecting him to find Elijah, but after a few minutes, there he was. Her little brother was hiding in her closet between her poofy dresses that she never wore anymore. Maybe she should. What would the Coaches think when she showed up at Exillium in a bright pink satin dress? Joelle almost laughed at the thought. She could annoy the Shade with it, too. It wasn't like there was anything better to do with her time other than cook.

"I swear I checked here," Joelle insisted as Elijah came out of the closet.

"I moved," Elijah responded, a proud look on his face, which was covered by his raven-colored hair. "I was in the cabinets before."

Joelle scoffed in utter disbelief. "The cabinets?"

"Come here, Elijah," her dad ordered. "It's time to go."

The family of three tramped downstairs, and before they could depart, Joelle enveloped Elijah in a big bear hug. When he let go, their dad grabbed his hand and stepped into the light of a crystal.

Only five minutes after they left, Joelle was bored again. Lost in her thoughts, she lit a few floral candles before unclothing and stepping into the shower. It had been such a long day at Exillium, but Joelle was thankful for her little interaction with the Shade because it just made her life interesting. If she had to finish Exillium with nobody familiar, she might as well run away to the human world or creep back to the Lost Cities.

But who would take her?

Not her dad. He would merely send her back to the lake house and take away any leaping crystal she owned. Her only other option was Everglen. She could sneak in through a window and survive without ever being seen (it was that big of a mansion — a castle, really). Thousands of memories flooded her head as she massaged it with shampoo. For example, after Sophie Foster had been declared dead, Joelle remembered talking with Keefe next to the Wanderlings, and she remembered the tearing faces of Dex Dizznee's siblings — triplets — and parents. Keefe was extremely upset. He didn't even care about her sudden awkward appearance that day and only that day. She never really talked to him again until Alden's 'death.'

Joelle probably should have asked her dad about what was going on in the Lost Cities, and as she stepped out of the shower to put on a pair of pajamas, that's exactly what she planned to do. A few minutes later, she sat on the couch, waiting for her dad to pick up his imparter and answer her questions, but it was useless, so Joelle just stayed up the rest of the night, hailing her dad hundreds of times before texting him, 'Are you awake?' at 2:00 AM while she began to fall asleep.