Arcadia's Gift(8)

My sister stood before me in a rose-tinted halter dress with a dangerously low neckline.
“I think you’d never get out of the house in it,” I muttered.
Her face fell into a pout. “You’re right. Too bad, though. I look hot.”
Lony slipped back into the dressing room to wriggle into something else. A moment later she was back out in a silvery-blue number, twirling in the three-way mirror.
“What about that emo guy?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“You know…that guy you were walking with yesterday…Byron?”
“Bryan,” I sighed. “What about him?”
Lony planted her fists on her hips and gave me an exasperated look. “Aren’t you paying attention? You should ask him to Homecoming! I bet he looks good dressed up. Just don’t let him wear all black, it’s depressing.”
“No, Lon,” I said, slipping my e-reader back in my bag. “I don’t want to go. I dance like an idiot, I hate the music they play, and there are no boys in school that I’m even remotely interested in.” My stomach ached with hunger, so I decided to move Lony along. “Maybe we should hit the food court. I’m starving.”
“Fine,” she replied, even though clearly she was not. She gave the dress one last twirl. “But what do you think about this one?”
“I don’t know. It’s kind of plain. I like it, but it’s not really your style.”
“Yeah. You’re right. Well, give me a sec to change and we’ll go.”
We were sitting in the bustling food court, surrounded by a circle of fast food places, when Lony started in again on my boring social life.
“Why don’t you come out with me tonight?” Lony asked, dipping her French fry in mayonnaise before eating it. “A bunch of us are going out to the Mines of Spain. You should come. We never hang out anymore.”
“That’s because we don’t have anything in common. It’s not personal; it’s just the way it is.”
“No, you just have a thing against my friends. I don’t know why, they like you well enough.”
“Well, you don’t like to do stuff with my friends, either.” I argued, shoving a forkful of salad in my mouth.
“Not true! I went to the movies with you and Shawn just two weeks ago.”
“Yeah, but Cane came with, and you made out with him the whole time. Do you even remember what movie we saw?”
“So that’s it?” she asked, dramatically tossing her fry back onto her tray. “Are you jealous that I have a boyfriend and you don’t?”
“Oh, please,” I muttered. I set my fork down. “How can you even ask that? Of course I’m not jealous of Cane. Maybe the reason I don’t like to hang out with you is because you’re constantly lecturing me. Back off!”
I stood up from the table, dumped my garbage in the trash can and waited for Lony on a bench by the mall exit. If I’d had the keys to the car, I would’ve been tempted to leave without her. Lony followed a few minutes later, with a look of apology on her face.
“I’m sorry, Cady,” she said. When I didn’t answer, she sat down on the bench next to me and continued. “I was being bossy again, wasn’t I? I don’t mean to be that way, but you’re my little sister.”
I kicked my shoe at a scuff mark on the tiled floor. “Eight minutes does not make me your little sister,” I said for the thousandth time in my life. The familiar joke cut the tension between us somewhat, and I broke into a reluctant smile.
Lony put her arm around me in a half-hug. “I just miss you, that’s all. We used to be best friends, and now I hardly see you. It shouldn’t matter that we have different friends and like different things. We’re twins, not clones.”
“I know. I miss you, too,” I replied honestly.
“So does that mean you’re gonna go out with me tonight? I promise if you’re miserable, we can go home.”
Being miserable was virtually guaranteed, but I’m not one to fight a losing battle. “Fine…”
With a triumphant grin, Lony pulled me off the bench and drove us home.#p#分页标题#e#






 
    Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure,   Magic
    
 


 

Chapter 5


Amy Sutherland, a friend of my sister’s, was in the middle of telling me a rather boring and overly-detailed story about a guy she met during the summer while working at a resort in the Wisconsin Dells. I pretended to be interested and wondered how much time I’d have to sit there before it was socially appropriate to ask Lony to take me home. We were hanging out on the hood of Amy’s Chevy in a small parking area at the Mines of Spain. At one point in time, the river bluffs along the Mississippi were full of lead, attracting miners to the area. After the minerals in the hills were exhausted, the state sectioned off the area as a nature preserve filled with hiking trails winding through the forest. Kids weren’t supposed to loiter there after dark, but that just added to the appeal.