Chapter Text
Edaline glanced over at him, nervously biting her lip and taking in everything about Grady that hadn’t changed. It had only been twelve hours, after all. But still. She kind of felt like an entirely different person.
“Hey,” he said, nodding at her in acknowledgement. There was a cautious distance he was maintaining. She resisted the urge to reach out for him. It wasn’t her place. Not anymore.
“Hey,” she echoed. She offered him a half-hearted wave. He stared at her blankly and she inwardly winced, while ignoring the frown that was tugging at her glossy lips. There was no telling what the hell he was thinking. When had that happened?
“You changed your hair,” he stated simply. Edaline twirled the end of a freshly dyed strand around her index finger. Unwilling to spend an extra four lusters on the ombre elixir, she’d begged Juline to use one of her Froster tricks to help ensure only the tips were amber, leaving the rest its natural dark brown.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she felt her resolve crumble and against her better judgment she stepped closer. A few feet remained between them, leaving it up to Grady whether or not he wanted to bridge the gap.
“Eda,” he said softly. Like a reminder. He wasn’t hers and she wasn’t his. Something she’d made sure of. She closed her eyes in an attempt to forget. The words she’d thrown at him earlier in the day were pounding over and over in her head. Her mistakes spinning around and around like a broken record. But it seemed like he couldn’t get over it either.
The waiting was torture, watching him decide if she was worth a little pain. His stony facade cracked and dissolved as his face transformed, a fond but sad smile gracing his handsome features. He took the leap and wrapped his arms around her. Grady tucked a strand of her wavy hair behind her ear only to end up sweeping it over her left shoulder.
With the extra space he slowly nestled his chin into the side of her neck. She shakily inhaled. The ghost of the last time they’d been in this position danced around them, haunting and laughing at the both of them. Him kissing her neck, her raking her fingers through his dirty blond hair.
After a moment he seemed to come to the conclusion that it wasn’t in their best interests to stay like that and gently readjusted so he was resting his head on top of hers. While significantly less intimate the newfound domesticity of the position certainly didn’t help.
“Eda,” he repeated. She wondered if he’d take her back if she said she’d been wrong. If she said she still wanted him. But she knew she couldn’t tell him that. Getting his hopes up when she knew she needed to be alone and face the bitterness that was waiting to consume her. Grady had his own feelings anyway, why would he want her again after everything?
“I know,” she whispered, savoring what was probably going to be their last embrace for a long while. He reluctantly pulled away, although he didn’t go far. The toes of their shoes were touching and she could smell his woodsy cologne. Her tongue flicked over her bottom lip as she watched him swallow before softly kissing her forehead. Almost like a goodbye.
“It’s fine,” he said as he carved out a reasonable amount of space between them and shook off the familiarity of her.
“We can do this,” Edaline declared. She couldn’t imagine her life without Grady and he had agreed, so they made what would later be deemed The Deal.
“It’s not weird unless we make it weird,” Grady said. Everything was fine. They’d be fine. She wrapped her arms around herself, hoping it would dull the growing ache in her chest.
“What’s not weird?” Cadence asked as she strolled up beside them with Kesler in tow. Everytime they stood next to each other it was impossible not to notice the stark contrast.
From her neat bun that was piled high to her white vest to her dark blue circle skirt, Cadence dressed with precision, barely a step below the rigidness of their school uniform. Kesler on the other hand with his uncombed hair and oversized tan sweater, appeared to have rolled straight out of bed.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Kesler said.
Grady and Edaline exchanged glances, their charged gazes asking the other what the plan was. Were they going to come out and say it or… His lips twitched as they came to a decision. Some things were better left unspoken.
“Nothing,” Edaline lied.
Kesler shrugged it off, shooting them both an awkward smile. Cadence raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at them before they both moved on entirely. They accepted the reprieve for what it is. No one needed to know what had transpired in that empty school corridor.
“Where’s Jules?” Kesler said. He looked around, even going as far as to check behind the nearby Pure tree, like she might appear out of thin air. It wasn’t that far off though, considering Juline had a habit of scaring Kesler by jumping out at him like it was her job.
“It’s suspiciously quiet,” Cadence said, the humor in her voice evident. It was well known that there was nothing Juline loved more than to talk. That and making snow flurries relentlessly flutter over people who irritated her.
“She’s home. I left her, she’s too young.”
“Bet she took it real well, then?” Cadence said.
“What d’you think?” Edaline said rhetorically, her mind flashing to her younger sisters' various escape attempts.
“We did a lot worse at fourteen,” Kesler defended, as if he and Cadence weren’t only fifteen. Edaline rolled her eyes. Grady shook his head and snorted.
“Look where we’re at,” Grady said as he nodded over at the decently sized cottage.
Alina Baneview was well known for throwing insane ragers. In the words of some of her older neighbors, she was a terror to the entire street. Frequent parties with lots of drinks and illicit substances and her choice of incredibly loud music was a recipe for disaster when it came to keeping the peace.
Her parties were also famously invite only, so in all honesty, Eda was the only one that had been officially invited. Nobody had invited Grady anywhere for years, Cadence wasn’t very known at their school except for being unapproachable, and Kesler’s lack of ability plus his numerous siblings didn’t make for a good combo.
Edaline’s kind demeanor and easy personality had resulted in her being one of the more popular girls in school. Unfortunately, another part of it was probably thanks to her infamous grandfather. And if it wasn’t purely him, then her mother had certainly cemented it. It was impossible for people to not vaguely know of the Ruewens. Their reputation preceded them, even if Edaline’s side of things tended to be more positive.
“Juline can come next year,” Edaline assured the rest of them.
“She’ll be missed,” Kesler said. His quick fingers were already typing something out to her on his smudged up imparter.
“C’mon, loverboy,” Grady said, leading them down the light cobblestone path and towards the smattering of people hanging around the vicinity of the house’s door.
“What about Caprise?” Edaline asked.
While they weren’t incredibly close with Caprise Redek, they’d struck up a friendship at the start of the year, after Caprise and Grady had passed a flask of spirits back and forth while cutting Elven History. He’d brought her to lunch that day and while she didn’t sit with them all the time, she frequented their table enough for all of them to make plans to meet up at Alina’s party.
“She’s already inside,” Grady said. He showed her the conversation between him and Caprise on his imparter.
“You know where?” Kesler rummaged through the deep pocket of his pants and pulled out a couple vials of Pixie Duste. There were five in total, all smaller than his pointer finger, and all different colors.
“She didn’t say,” Grady said.
“Who’d you fight to get those?” Cadence said as she took the offering and downed the glowing powder in one go.
“I have my ways,” Kesler said mysteriously.
“He means Kaia,” Edaline corrected. She carefully examined each vial before choosing the cobalt one. She needed this. So she poured it into her mouth and let the sickly sweet taste wash over her tongue. It was a gritty texture, almost sharp. She relished the roughness of it all and felt the effects rapidly start to kick in. Part of Pixie Duste’s charm was how fast it worked.
Kesler gestured for Grady to take one, but he shook his head.
“It’s my turn to be sober,” he grumbled. They had a system for parties. Light leaping was too dangerous to attempt under influence without a nexus. So they had to get creative. Between a combination of starstones, Cadence’s old nexus, and at least one sober person they normally managed alright.
“Your sacrifice is appreciated,” Kesler said mockingly. He saluted Grady and then patted him on the shoulder.
“We all know how hard that must be for you,” Cadence said dryly. He rolled his eyes at them and motioned towards the cottage. It was lit up in a pastel version of the full spectrum of colors, clearly a Flasher’s doing. Various crystals and bottled moonlight were strung along the roof of the house, dripping down at different levels, casting a soft glow over the entire area.
“Should we go in now?” he asked. Edaline rummaged through her wicker clutch to make room, stuffed the empty vial into it, and then nodded. She and Grady fell in step together, an instinct so ingrained in them it couldn’t be shaken, with Kesler and Cadence trailing behind them. Almost like old times.
It was for the best, honestly. No one needed to know. Nothing had to change. It could go back to before. To the simpler days where he’d just been her friend.
They shortly reached the front of the line by the door of the pretty cottage. Like all the other ones in Windrip, especially on Fluttermont Street, they were taller than average. About six stories high, although some of the shorter places were around four stories, all with grand balconies overlooking the main garden of the small town.
The garden was Windrip’s claim to fame and it acted as the center of town square. Neat rows of perfectly trimmed hedges. Vibrant flower beds without a single weed. A reflecting pool that was so glassy, it looked like a mirror of the sky, with bougainvillea artfully draped along the sides. The town was beautiful to look at, regardless of how many times one had seen it
“Name?” Alina’s latest recruit said, snapping them out of their trance. Alina hated when people showed up uninvited, so much so that unless they were with someone who had been, they would immediately be told to leave.
After multiple incidents involving many maliciously thrown shoes, a screaming match, and a broken mirror, the high strung girl had implemented a solution. She would enlist some poor underclassmen, usually Level Fours who were too young to have scored an invite of their own, to act as bouncers.
Grady made room for her to step forward, brushing his soft hand along her exposed forearm. She trailed her fingers along his palm, resisting the urge to trace stars onto him, as she moved in front.
“Edaline Ruewen,” she said.
“Next!” the recruit called out, crossing something off his list and waving them inside.
The house was unsurprisingly full considering how late the night had grown. The couches were strewn with empty flavored air cans and lounging people, and most of the decor was already looking crooked and ready to be fixed.
Music was blasting from an EchoCharm and the open floor plan allowed them to see straight into the kitchen, where the refreshments table resided. It had clearly been swept through and picked apart by the masses. The cyrokinesis charm the Frosters had put on the house must’ve been working overtime with all the extra body heat.
Some people were downing shots, Flashers were messing around with the lights, dimming them and brightening them all at once, others were dancing, and some were heading up the many stairs, seeking out stronger substances.
“So… what first?” Kesler said, making his way towards where the remainder of the drinks were currently located. They all followed, politely pushing past the fellow partygoers blocking their path. Once upon a time, Kesler had begged her and Cadence to conjure them drinks so they didn’t have to go physically get them. It hadn’t ended well.
“Can’t you and Cady just,” Kesler mimed a snap and motioned towards the drinks, “conjure us some?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Edaline said, scrunching her nose in thought.
“Doesn’t hurt to try,” Cadence agreed.
By the end of that disaster she’d learned a valuable lesson that she had carefully recited to her conjuring mentor the next day.
“Things get messy when the liquid isn’t already in the cup.”
“I need a drink,” Edaline said, picking at her painted nails. The floating feeling Pixie Duste provided could only do so much to battle against her first heartbreak.
“Everything okay, E?” Cadence asked as they all weaved through the crowd. Kesler and Cadence both shot Grady a quick glance, like he could make it all better in an instant.
“I’m fine. It’s just been a long day,” she said, waving off their concerns. They didn’t know the half of it and they didn’t need to. Juline didn’t even know.
Grady rubbed circular motions onto her lower back in what she assumed was supposed to be soothing. It was and it wasn’t. His touch was making her burn all over, tingles spreading everywhere and shooting up her spine, threatening to overttake her. She leaned into him for a few moments, enjoying it with shallow breaths before subtly shifting away. The absence of him was immediately noticeable.
Edaline grabbed a couple cups off the wooden table and began filling them with what was surely spiked fizzle-lush punch. Once she was done she passed them to her friends one by one. She brought it to her mouth and took a large sip, appreciating the burning sensation it provided on the way down.
Why was her mom the only one who got to let loose? At least Edaline would have fun with it, instead of the sullen alternative her mother preferred.
“C’mon, let’s dance,” she said to a reluctant Cadence as she held out a hand to her. The black haired girl rolled her eyes but allowed herself to be dragged onto the too crowded dance floor.
Edaline dramatically twirled her around and around until she eventually cracked a smile. Cadence usually needed coaxing to let loose in public settings like that. As opinionated and unapologetic as she was, when it came to parties she tended to tense up. Throughout the night she would get more comfortable but it always took some effort.
As she moved to the beat with a series of twists and turns, someone bumped into Edaline, forcing the punch to slosh out of her cup and onto the flowery carpeted floor.
“Sorry,” the person muttered before continuing on. It was Durand Tordan, Caprise’s kind of boyfriend. It was hard to tell sometimes. But at the very least, if they weren’t official, they were definitely dating. That was for sure. She’d seen enough to know that much.
“Hey!” Cadence shouted over the loud music. He stopped impatiently, annoyance rolling off him in thick waves, and turned back to face her with an unpleasant scowl. His light brown hair was mussed as if he’d recently been wearing something over it and he had large dark circles beneath his hazel eyes.
“Have you seen Caprise?” she asked expectantly. Cadence wasn’t fond of him, although Edaline normally attempted to give him the benefit of a doubt. He seemed nice enough… Sometimes.
“No.” He disappeared into the crowd without another word.
“Dick,” Cadence murmured, glaring in the direction he’d hastily gone.
“Cady,” Edaline chastised. For Caprise’s sake at least, they needed to be cordial. He hadn’t done anything wrong other than be a little standoffish at times.
“It’s true,” she said with a careless shrug. Edaline let out a quick snort before changing the subject.
“I wonder where she is,” Edaline said.
“I’m sure she’ll turn up eventually,” Cadence said.
Grady and Kesler finally joined them, having navigated through the masses, including sidestepping Oralie Silthorne and a couple that was rather passionately making out in the middle of the room.
Edaline turned to Cadence and shook her head, warning her not to comment or worse, say a loud “Ew,” in their direction.
The first thing Grady did was laugh as he showed them his imparter.
“Looks like Caprise is already wasted,” Kesler said. The silver screen read the word neevensre and then what she assumed was supposed to be a heart. Grady typed something back.
“There. I asked her where she is,” he said, “Hopefully, she’ll actually respond.”
Edaline took a sip of what was left of her drink and examined all corners of the room and what she could see of the staircase, trying to catch a glimpse of her friend.
“Kesler… Is that Kaia?” she asked, pointing to the bottom of the stairs where the strawberry blonde with harsh black highlights was sitting, passing something to some other Level Eight. Kaia was Kesler’s older sister, although only by about three years.
“Yeah, that’s her. Huh, I thought she was sleeping over at Keelia’s tonight,” he replied. Keelia was the eldest of Kesler’s many, many siblings. She had long graduated from Foxfire and was currently working as an intern at the Mysterium Newspaper.
“Guess she decided not to,” Edaline said. She stared longingly into her empty cup and shook it around before saying, “Anyone need a refill?”
Cadence nodded and said, “Please,” as she handed Edaline her half full cup. She began to make her way over to the drinks, where they had originally started at, before Grady caught up with her.
“I’ll come with,” he said. There was a significantly less amount of people to move through, since the crowd around the drinks had thinned out, with almost everybody either on the dance floor or upstairs hanging out with the upperclassmen.
She soldiered ahead, even channeling a little extra energy into the speed of her footsteps, not waiting for him to follow. He did anyway, and so in Alina’s tastefully adorned kitchen, they stood face to face once more.
The fridge was whirring with energy, the fruitbowl held only the most exotic and expensive produce, and the sweet smell of fizzleberries lingered in the air. It was almost intoxicating, with the numerous distractions along with the sight of him.
“What are you doing?” she asked, rubbing her eyes and then putting her hands on his shoulders. It satisfied the closeness she was craving from him but at the same time, a part of her knew she needed to be far, far away.
He pursed his lips, backing up and leaning against the sticky table.
“Trying to be normal,” he shrugged, but the slight bitterness leaking into his tone gave him away.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a wince.
“Me too.”
“I can barely remember what we were like before,” he continued as he refused to meet her eyes. It had been so long since they were just friends.
“Well we have to try harder. You’re making this more complicated than it needs to be. It’s not just you that’s hurting,” she said as she finished ladling the punch into her and Cadence’s cups. She leaned in to kiss his cheek but ignored the impulse halfway through. Grady’s lips twitched as he stopped trying to hide the sharpness of their reality.
Edaline turned and began the trek back to where their friends were waiting.
“You’re the one who left,” he replied. He watched her depart, the long waves of her hair swaying back and forth. She kept going, leaving no indication that she’d heard him other than a slight falter in her confident steps. But he’d seen enough. He knew her. No matter how much she wanted to pretend that he didn’t.
Grady sighed and closed his eyes, wishing he could go back to this morning when everything had been fine. If he could turn back the ticking clock he would. Anything was better than the what had happened.
“That looked rough. Trouble in paradise?” A voice said from behind him. Grady jumped a little and ran his hands through his hair.
“Kesler—did you follow us here?” Grady said, flicking him on the head.
“Not on purpose,” he said as he held his arms up in surrender.
“I was gonna go talk to Kaia but she’s not on the stairs anymore. So I thought I’d top myself off,” Kesler said. He browsed through the limited selection of the few elixir bottles and cans of flavored air that had escaped everyone’s interest. They were the only things left on the table besides the crystal punch bowl and the never ending stack of cups. He settled on a small, violet potion that advertised its ability to give you a brief five minute high that mimicked the effects of fathomlethes, but without the need to sleep.
Grady resumed his staring after Edaline. Pretending nothing had changed was hard. As if he could stop loving her as soon as she’d closed the door on everything they’d built together.
“What’s up with you guys?” Kesler asked. He uncorked the bottle in his hand, rhythmically flipping the top around in the air. “You’ve been weird, like all night.”
It wasn’t like they’d be able to keep it a secret for very long. Someone was bound to notice and someone had. It was really only a matter of time. Maybe it would make him feel better, anyway. To talk about the way she’d broken her own heart and then his.
It wasn’t like she’d kept her promises. He could apologize for it later.
Sorry, Eda.
“We broke up,” Grady admitted in a low voice. Low enough that he was straining to hear but once he did, Kesler dropped the elixir bottle he was holding, shattering the glass all over the pristine tile floor.
“What—” he started, but before he could finish the thought, he was interrupted by a piercing scream that ripped through the oppressive noise of the party.