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But, Reeba already knew something. She suspected something. That much was obvious, ever since that night when Mina stumbled onto them in the woods and, yet, she hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. So far, she had done everything in Mina’s favor. She behaved as a real friend would: keeping secrets, being there, helping out. Maybe opening up to someone here would be a good idea.
“Here, see for yourself,” Mina finally said, deciding to risk it.
It wouldn’t be the first, and probably not the last, risk she took while here, so she figured, why not. Obviously Reeba wanted to find the book, too, and keep it safe, so they shared the same cause. That alone was enough to make them look out for each other.
Reeba took the piece of paper and quickly read it.
“What does this mean?” she wondered.
“I have no idea,” Mina shrugged her shoulders. “I had a weird encounter with the bully twins in the bathroom today, maybe someone is warning me about that.”
Mina doubted that was what the letter referred to but it was a plausible cover story.
“Oh, crap!” Reeba pressed her palm against her lips. “What happened?”
“They thought I was hitting on Raphael.”
“What?” Reeba frowned, “but he came over to you. I was there. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“I know and I told them that but they didn’t believe me.”
“Those two are really horrible,” Reeba shook her head, “I would just stay away from them if I were you. I mean, I try to do the same, just don’t look in their direction, don’t address them, don’t even breathe loudly in their presence, and they might leave you alone.”
As Reeba was giving her monologue, Mina gazed at her sadly. Was that really how things functioned in this school? There was a reign of terror? Mina hated the idea. She wanted to show those two girls what it really meant to get your ass kicked but that was too much of a distraction right now. She couldn’t allow herself any distractions. She needed to focus on the upcoming meeting with Dante and, before that, the Witches’ Sabbath on Halloween.
“You should really try and stand up for yourself,” Mina advised her. “You can’t live your whole life in fear.”
“Oh, it’s just for now,” Reeba tried to explain. “I’m sure things will be better when we leave Zeadore Academy.”
“Don’t you get it?” Mina continued. “There will always be bullies out there. There will always be something or someone you are going to be scared of. The point isn’t to constantly keep out of sight. You should stop being afraid.”
“Easy for you to say,” Reeba looked down.
“Why?”
“You aren’t afraid of anything. That night, you were in the woods all by yourself.”
“You were there, too.”
“But, I was there with the rest of the girls. We were there together. You saw the light and decided to investigate on your own, in the dark. You couldn’t have known it was us there. It could have been something horrible, something deadly.”
“But, it wasn’t,” Mina smiled. “It usually isn’t as bad as you imagine it. Your fear makes that something seem more powerful. I think the twins are so scary, exactly because no one wants to stand up to them. So, they have this fear working for them. As soon as you tell them no, I’m not afraid anymore, they won’t know what to do. Trust me.”
“Is that what you told them in the bathroom?”
“Um, well…” Mina scratched the back of her head.
While that was exactly what she wanted to tell them, she couldn’t. It was too risky getting in trouble over those two.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’m the new kid. I just want to be left alone. Finish my time here and continue with my life.”
“See?” Reeba’s eyes flared. “That’s exactly what I want. What we all want. Is it still cowardice?”
Mina wasn’t sure. Was it better to just stand back or stand up? Right now, she couldn’t decide.
