The Space Between: Beginnings

19. Second Thoughts

Rain practically bounced as she entered Mal and Evie's dorm room, where their whole gang was congregated. Mal raised an eyebrow and said, "Whoa, someone's defying gravity with glee today."

Rain chuckled and held up her left hand, with the back of the hand facing everyone. There was a ring on her finger, almost an exact replica of the Ozma's crown as described in the stories, with purple and green stones set in silver and the Oz emblem in the centre. Mal narrowed her eyes and asked, "Wait, he asked you already?"

But before Rain could reply, Evie squealed and asked, "When is the wedding? Can I do the dresses? Ooh, and we just have to have flowers-"

"Evie, relax," Rain sighed. "No one is getting married right now. We've just made our status official. I'll have to get through the Ozian court and have a coming out ball or some stupid thing like that before we can even get engaged. And mind you, with my mom's reputation in Oz, there's definitely no chance of that."

"Oh," Evie said, looking crestfallen. Rain went closer to Mal's desk and looked down over Mal's shoulder before pointing out, "Uh, Mal, that's the Grimmerie you're trying to read there."

"What?" Mal said, closing the book to look at the cover more closely. "Ugh, how did this even happen?"

"Whoa, are the books that alike? I swear, if I count the number of times your parents have messed up, it's probably been over a hundred times," Evie remarked, noting down something in a small notepad.

"Taking a reflection out of Mommy's mirror, are you?" Rain asked, smiling as Evie nodded. She grew more serious as she asked Mal, "But Mal, really, Where'd you get it from? It's supposed to be in my dorm!"

"I don't know. It was just lying where my spellbook was supposed to be, and I kind of picked it up without noticing. And all this time, I was wondering why it looked like a cockroach covered in silver ink had walked all over the pages," Mal sighed.

"I won! Jay, you owe me one," Liir shouted, dancing around the room.

"Wait, what is going on? Where's my book?" Mal asked, the shock on her face mirroring Rain's.

"These two ran a book. Seriously. Jay was betting on Rain messing up the books first. And not noticing it. Liir thought she was too clever for doing that. So he's won," Carlos explained, smiling as he petted Dude. " And maybe one of them did something to expedite the process."

"Hmm, Mal, I think I know where your spellbook is," Rain said.

About five minutes later, Rain came back and handed Mal's spellbook to her. She asked the boys, "How'd you manage to get your hands on the Grimmerie, anyway?"

"Well, I might kind of have borrowed it without permission," Liir confessed. "Your hiding place isn't that hard to find, after all. Especially not for me. Twins have one mind, after all."

"Stealing is stealing, Liir. And so is cheating," Rain scolded him gently.

"Stop trying so hard to be good. Makes me want to vomit," Jay grimaced.

"I'm not trying to be good," Rain protested. "I'm just-"

"Saying what Mom would've said. We know," Liir finished for her, smiling. "By the way, how'd you find that spellbook so fast?"

"I know you inside out, remember? You obviously wouldn't hide it in your dorm. So it had to be Jay's. Obviously, you wanted to deflect suspicion on to him," Rain sighed. "When will you stop being so brainless?"

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Liir asked, slightly annoyed.

"Uh, no...well, maybe I am," Rain replied, looking at the floor, making Mal laugh despite herself. Rain sat down beside her and asked, "Mal, are you looking for something specific?"