Ever So Lightly- Book 1

26

Saria turned to face her friend after gently closing the door. Zephyr was pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes, a fiery pink glow rising up her chest and neck to her face. Saria was at a loss for words. Her mind raced for something, for anything, to say. She needn't have worried.

"Why would he do that to me!" Zephyr slammed her hands away from her face, her fists curled tightly. Her face was contorted into a mixture of sadness, hurt, and anger. Anger? Saria hadn't been expecting that.

"Zephyr, are you okay?" That seemed safe enough for the moment. Saria watched as her friend began to pace the small, dimly lit room. She rammed her hip into one of the bedposts and let out a growl laced with pain and annoyance.

"No. No, I'm not okay." Saria had rarely seen Zephyr fume like this. "How could he put me in a situation like that?"

"What do you mean?" Saria walked over to the bed, pulling Zephyr down as she sat on the bumpy, worn mattress. Zephyr resisted for only a moment before plopping down and resting her head on Saria's shoulder. The silver-haired girl let out a sign and Saria felt her body relax finally.

"I've lost almost everything. My life is in complete shambles." Zephyr paused for a long moment, her gaze pointed toward the unfinished floorboards. Finally, after wiping her eyes once more, she lifted her head from Saria's shoulder and turned to face her. Saria looked into her friend's eyes and felt relief flood over her when she didn't see utter sadness staring back.

"Romance is the last thing I'm thinking about right now," Zephyr continued, her voice steadier than it had been before. "I don't even know who I am right now, let alone who I am in that sort of relationship." Saria felt a pang in her chest. She had no idea what her friend was going through right now. Reaching out, Saria grabbed both of Zephyr's hands in her own, pulling them onto her lap and squeezing them tightly.

"I know who you are." Saria felt her throat tighten at the words. "You are so much stronger than you think you are. I don't know if I could have survived what you've been through. My entire life has been a walk in a meadow compared to what you faced just these last few weeks."

"That's not true," Zephyr said adamantly. "You survived your mother leaving."

Saria felt that same, small punch to the gut that she felt every time she thought about her mother.

"That was a long time ago. I was never as close to her, not like you were to Agitha."

Zephyr only nodded. Their conversation stilled for the next few moments, both girls lost in memories of their lives before. Saria pulled her mind away from that dark pit, focusing back on more recent events. On the most recent events.

"So... Jasper." Saria cringed as she felt watched Zephyr grow tense once again.

"I just... obviously he'd been drinking," she began. "Which is a whole other issue that I don't feel like thinking about right now. It all just really felt like it came out of nowhere and I definitely wasn't ready for a confession like that." Zephyr's face turned pink again and Saria let out a genuine laugh.

"You have go to be kidding me!" Saria fell backwards on the bed, laughing as she went. Zephyr stared down at her, eyes wide and mouth flapping like a trout. Saria couldn't catch her breathe as she began to laugh harder.

"What are you talking about?" Zephyr said incredulously, eyes growing impossible wide, confusion scrunching her eyebrows and bringing small wrinkles to her forehead.

"You thought that," Saria flung a hand toward the hallway, "came out of nowhere?"

Zephyr continued to stare at her with that fishy look. Saria took a deep breath to gain control of herself, hardle able to believe she had to explain this.

"Zephyr, I think every single person who has seen the two of you together can tell that Jasper is well on his way to falling for you."

Zephyr's mouth abruptly clamped shut, her confused look transforming to one of disbelief.

"No. No, there's no way. I would have noticed."

Saria finally sat back up and pulled Zephyr into a tight embrace.

"You just said yourself that romance is the last thing on your mind, so it's not totally surprising that you didn't realize it." Saria held Zephyr at arms length to look into her face, scrunching her nose up in the process. "But it is a little surprising, I mean, haven't you noticed that way he looks at you?"

"No! Not until tonight!" Zephyr looked beyond flustered, her blush furious against her fair skin. Saria only smiled at her.

"You do think he's handsome, right?" Zephyr suddenly refused to meet her eyes and began to study the blanket they sat upon very intensely.

"Well... I mean... He is sort of handsome, I suppose. But..."

Saria cut her off.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I get it," she assured Zephyr. "I really do. I think you're making the right decision. You have a lot more on your plate to worry about than silly boys, even if they are handsome." Zephyr gave her a grateful look and pulled Saria in for another hug.

After a long moment, Saria pulled away and stood, walking over to the door to check the lock. Both girls quickly undressed and donned nightdresses. Zephyr slipped into the bed and pressed herself up against the wall. Saria slid in next to her before leaning over to the night table to blow out the candle. The room was engulfed in darkness other than the faint sliver of one of the moons shining in through the lone window above where Zephyr lay.

Saria was just beginning to feel the pull of sleep, her eyelids growing heavy, when she heard Zephyr's whisper next to her.

"Maybe if things were normal, if my life had stayed normal and we had met again in the bookshop." Zephyr paused for so long that Saria began to drift off again. "Maybe then." Another pause, and Saria swore she could almost feel Zephyr smile and thanked the stars silently for it. "I did think he was handsome that first evening we met."

Saria livened up enough to let out a chuckle at this remark. Zephyr let out a small laugh of her own, before turning toward the wall, her back pressed firmly against Saria's own. Saria listened as her friend's breathing became steady and slow before finally letting herself succumb to sleep as well.