Where to? | An Unfortunate Fairytale Fan Fiction

Chapter 5

Mina wasn’t sure how she was expected to act in such a situation.  She vaguely wondered if this was Teague’s doing, but then dismissed the idea. He was much too invested in those little corndogs to worry about ruining her day by making her crush and her best friend actually- gag- make out. Then again, maybe the Story could do a lot of things without Teague’s will or permission. He was simply tied to his book, just like Jared. No matter the details, the scene disgusted Mina.

She wasn’t sure why she was suddenly so repulsed and irritated by the scene before her. Neither of them were aware of her entrance, clearly. But there was still something odd about her feelings. It wasn’t hurt, like she would have expected. Or even jealousy, which she’d obviously suffered from before.

Watching them kiss was just plain nasty to her. She felt like she was an older sibling walking in on their sister fooling around with some guy. But Mina realized a big part of her didn’t give a crap who Nan was kissing, not even if the who in question was her old crush. Was he even her crush? Did she even like Brody anymore? Why should she? He was clearly nothing but a complication and a liability. He was weak and easily manipulated by the Story. He was pathetic, and Nan was just the same. Why should she care about either of those-

Whoa! Mina almost tripped backwards in surprise. Where did all that come from? She shook her head, baffled at the hostile, unfeeling thoughts, as she steadied herself on the counter. Of course you care about Nan and Brody, she scolded herself inwardly. How could she think about them so coldly? It wasn’t their fault...

They are a weak waste of time and space. They mean nothing to you.

Mina wanted to jump out of her skin. These were not her thoughts! Were they? Her heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise of ice. She went numb for a moment; it was like she couldn’t feel anything for the life of her- inside or out. Then it was gone. Just like that. And her heartbeat and senses slowly slipped back into normalcy. She had to clamp her lips shut in an effort not to gasp. She heard Nan lightly giggle and was jolted back to reality. She watched the couple in bewilderment, feeling a bit like a voyeur. But, geez, how zoned out could they possibly be?

 Mina startled herself by speaking. It wasn’t her plan, which had been to sneak out before they saw her scrutinizing them. But her lips seemed to open at their own accord.

“Not that this isn’t fun, guys... but it isn’t.” She remarked dryly, her voice came out strong and lightly amused, like she thought they were silly schoolchildren. It didn’t feel like her. Normally, she would have blushed, stammered, and stared at her feet, wishing she could melt or die. Not this time, apparently.

It the desired effect, whatever that might have been. Nan shrieked in surprise and jumped back from Brody, who- as soon as he caught sight of Mina- reddened and looked guilty as sin. Nan’s sun kissed cheeks blazed pink, like her bright lip-gloss. Her eyes were huge and fearful, as if she’d been expecting her parents- specifically, her stepfather, Robert.

“M-Mina!” Nan sputtered, looking stunned, confused, and embarrassed. Brody looked like he wanted to disappear, his face burned scarlet as he avoided Mina’s gaze. She realized that his discomfort amused her. It was quite funny, the poor lamb.

“How- how long have you been standing there?” Nan stammered, straightening her hair and shirt, looking like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Mina lightly smirked, unable to help herself. “Long enough. If I had known I’d be walking in on a face sucking session, I’d have stayed out and binged on corndogs. Those don’t make me want to barf.”  She replied, sounding confident as anything, but inwardly wondering what the heck she thought she was doing. She never talked like that. She left the sassiness to Teague. Good grief, was the screwball actually rubbing off on her? Wonderful.