Seeing Ruth waiting outside her classroom for her had Thalia sighing. While she knew she needed to stay with people to avoid being a target, it still got wearing. At least she’d managed to convince them that having either Ruth or Will with her was enough, instead of having both trail her everywhere like they had the day before.
Ruth fell into step beside Thalia and chuckled at her expression. “It was your idea. Besides, I’m pretty much always with you when we’re at school, so it’s not even like it’s that different.”
Thalia shrugged. “I know. But I didn’t think there’d be this much difference. It’s like I have no more privacy, and it feels as if not being myself is making me even more tired than normal.”
“Well, it’s not forever. Just until we get things dealt with,” Ruth said as they stopped.
Thalia spun her lock’s dial, trying to ignore the way Ruth was watching the student traffic pass by. “So,” she said, hoping the sounds of her dumping her books in her locker would cover their words. “How’s Anna doing with her gathering?”
Ruth jerked around to look at her. Her lips thinned slightly, but she answered. “Not too well. Most of the ways she’d normally…gather, aren’t usable given her age.”
Having heard Colt’s rant on Annaliese’s methods of raising magic power more times than she’d really ever wanted to, Thalia understood. “Still, there has to be some ways she can.”
“She says they’re just not as good. At least it’s summer. She says if we can hold off, she can get a nice boost on the first day of summer with this one thing she knows how to do.”
Thalia shook her head as she closed her locker. “I don’t know if we can wait that long. We can try. But she will be alright to…”
Ruth nodded, leading the way towards her own locker. “She says she’ll be. But it’s Anna. She’s proud enough that she wouldn’t admit having any kind of doubts. She’s an idiot like that.”
“Is that the pot talking about the kettle?”
She grinned ruefully. “How do you think I recognize it so easily? Anyway, everything’s falling into place. We ought to be fine.”
Thalia smiled. “Good. I can’t help worrying.”
“Ah, everything’s going to be fine. And there are other things you ought to be thinking about. Like the grad party! I know for a fact you still haven’t gotten shoes that go with your dress, and we don’t have that much time left.”
“But-”
“No buts. We only get one high school grad, so you need to actually put some effort into it. We should go sometime this week to pick some up. I haven’t found shoes either. I can steal Mom’s car and we can head up to those new outlet stores. I betcha we can find something really nice there.”
Thalia shook her head, following Ruth towards the doors. All around them, their fellow students were heading in the same direction, in clumps or solo, backpacks swaying behind them. They streamed out of the building into the grey light of the cloudy afternoon, splitting up and scattering towards buses, cars, and the sidewalks.
Ruth and Thalia headed towards the sidewalks. They were finally free of the crowds when Thalia felt a gentle hand on her arm. She only just managed not to flinch, concentrating instead on the whisper in her ear. “You’ve got two watchers. One has stationed himself in the rear of the school and won’t have spotted you. The other still has eyes on you. I’ll see if he tries to follow. Be careful.”
Thalia felt Colt withdraw and wished she could tell him the same. But with the Builders still watching, she wasn’t about to do anything that would draw attention to herself and especially not to Colt. So instead, she turned towards Ruth and picked the most normal topic she could think of. “So what colour of shoes do you think I should get?”
“Silver, if you can. You don’t want to be super matchy-matchy and get anything turquoise. White would work too. You could even pull of black, if you wanted. Have you thought about jewellery?”
“No, but do I really need any?”
Ruth rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yeah, you do. You don’t need a necklace, but earrings and a bracelet or two would be good. Bare minimum is a nice pair of earrings. And I don’t care if you don’t like them, you’re wearing something dangly. I swear sometimes that you’re the only girl in the whole country who both wants to go to grad and yet doesn’t care what she wears.”
“Well, it is one of the experiences you only get the one chance at, and I think I ought to give it a try. I’m just not much of a dress person.”
“I know. Oh, do I know. You better hope you never get a job where you’re expected to dress nice all the time. Then again, with what you’re into, that’s not likely.”
“This coming from the girl who came to school dressed in a zombie version of our school’s mascot costume?”
Ruth’s nose rose into the air. “It was a statement on the hypocrisy of mandatory school pep rallies and forced school spirit.”
Thalia smiled. “It was also what started your mandatory counselling sessions.”
“It’s not my fault that the administration can’t handle a little criticism.”
“Criticism is nothing compared to trying to handle you,” Thalia said, before sticking her tongue out and jogging ahead.
“Hey!” Ruth cried, hurrying after Thalia and laughing.
YOU ARE READING
There's an Invisible Man Sleeping in My Bed
Teen FictionConvinced for months that she’s been hallucinating, Thalia is not at all happy to find that Colt is very real. She thinks he’s a ghost, something he continuously denies, and is focusing her energy on getting rid of him, whatever it takes.
