The Date Auction

Chapter 17: Coming Up Roses

Somehow, the weight I'd felt upon me the past few days had lifted. Blaise and I couldn't date until next week, since it was another one of the weeks where he needed to help some friends of his. Jake was free on the night he normally spent with Blaise, doing whatever guys did, so we did fun things like a moonlight picnic. My midterms had gone well, and although I was in finals mode, school felt easier when everything else in my life was making sense. Courtney picked me as her maid of honor, and wedding preparation was in full swing. Even my weird dreams didn't bother me, although I was getting more of them.

"Madison!" Pence Vilehand cried as he caught sight of me in the hallway. He'd taken to wearing black robes as the winter approached, which didn't help him be any less creepy. Ugh.

"The conjunction grows near." he said, eyes unfocused. Like I didn't know. I was an expert in constellations. Jeez. I let it pass like water over a duck's back. I still had dates with Blaise, so nothing could go wrong.

Or almost nothing. I wanted to talk over my romantic life with all my friends, but none of them were around. Courtney was planning her wedding, I hadn't heard from Helena for days, other than her telling me work was picking up, and my many other friends were also doing things.

After a long day of studying and reading, I headed over to Jake's for a late night cuddle-adjacent sleep.

"Hey, Mads," Jake smiled exhaustedly as he let me in, "Sorry but I'm going to pass out like right away today. Gym's kicking my ass lately."

"It's okay, babe," I said. Even though our conversation was short, it was full of the excellent banter we shared together.

I drifted off, my pinky finger lightly brushing against Jake's forearm. I could tell already, it was another weird dream night.

The dream was almost the same whenever I had it, although it progressed a little further each time. The moon hung low and huge in the sky, before splitting in half with a sound too deep to hear as it vibrated through my bones. Blood poured out over the world, but instead of splashing against the ground, it tore through it, revealing a starless void. It had been pretty disturbing the first time, seeing that happen to my favorite constellation, but then I realized: The moon was my heart, split between two people. In the few seconds of dreaming that were new this time, I saw half of the moon sink into the void, and the other rise and begin to shine as the stars lined up and I heard my name echo from-

I woke up, a question lingering in my mind. Which half was Blaise, and which was Jake? I needed advice.

"Planning my wedding really makes me think about things," Courtney said during our brunch the next day, "When you get married, as everyone should, what kind of guy would you want it to be? Like, a mysterious handsome rich guy, or more of a Jake?"

"I don't know!" I said, "Honestly, I've been trying to figure it out."

"Your heart will tell you." Courtney assured me, "As a soon-to-be married woman, I possess deep wisdom about love."

I nodded wisely at her good statement.

"This wedding is so exciting!" I said, "I wish exciting things would happen to me!"

Courtney laid a hand on my back. "Everyone loves you. That's the most exciting thing in the world, except for a wedding."

I agreed.

I went home and flopped onto my bed. How could it be that things felt so right even though I still couldn't answer this one fundamental mystery of my life? Who should I pick?

I decided to text Blaise, but my reception had gone away again. I went to go complain to the man in charge of the cell tower installed on the roof of the dorm, only to find him right outside my door.

"When can I text my boyfriend?" I asked him.

"A lock cannot open without the key." he said.

"Look, I don't care if you forgot your key. Can you fix this soon?"

"For the good of all, the lock must remain closed. I'm so sorry," he said, pulling a knife from his belt.

"The good of all includes me texting my boyfriend." I pointed out, "Are you going to jimmy the lock with that, or what?"

Just then, I realized something. I'd been thinking of Blaise as my boyfriend. It was easy to think of him that way! He even used the word a lot. I'd gotten comfortable thinking of him like that. Did he... think of me as his girlfriend?

Meanwhile Pence showed up. He had a curved dagger and was talking about protecting keys, so I guess his dagger was better for picking locks? Ugh. I hope they wouldn't hang around too long. I just wanted to sit and stew in the weird combination of anxious joy I couldn't help feeling. I was sure I was on the verge of figuring things out, if I only had a few more pieces to put together. Like, did Blaise ever call me his girlfriend when I wasn't around?

Luckily the two of them had finished up and left while I was thinking, and my phone service came back.

"Hope you're thinking of me :)" I sent to Blaise. I smiled thinking of him, and curled up for the night.