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“You’ll care about this news.”
I don’t know what clues me in. Maybe something in his eyes. Maybe the sheer mischief when his smirk morphs into a full-on toothy smile. Even for him, that’s too much gloating.
My finger starts to tap my leg, and when I notice, I bring my hand to my back, crossing it.
I could be wrong.
I have to be wrong.
“Ivy’s back.”
SIX
Ivy
Turns out, there isn’t much in the fridge.
Which makes sense—it’s the first time anyone is staying in this house since the sale went through. If they’d left fresh ingredients, they would have gone bad by now.
The freezer is stocked though: a couple of pizzas, which look fresh—not the commercial stuff—some parmesan, steaks, frozen peas, carrots. I stop looking. It’s not like I mind cooking, but after flying all afternoon, I’ll pass on defrosting stuff and doing everything from scratch.
“Pizza it is.”
My sister has no objection.
We preheat the oven, chatting about school again.
“There’s a new scholarship system, and I feel so sorry for those girls, man.” She wrinkles her nose. “Well, they’re getting a great education and it’s practically a shoo-in for the University of Andaria, but…you know.”
Boy, do I know.
“The elites are giving them a bad time, huh?” I guess, doing my best to block everything that entails.
Bella sighs deeply. “I do my best to help. I told everyone Jinx is super cool. But they just pat my cheek and tell me I can’t help liking her because of my origins, but while I’m a cool pleb,sheisn’t.”
Pleb. One of the many insults thrown my way. If anything, it was the one I didn’t mind.
“At least she has you.”
She nods. “And she also has a few friends from her own neighborhood, you know. Still blows.”
I can only nod. “Jinx is a cool name.”
“She’s called Judith, but she has two left feet, so her twin came up with Jinx. It stuck. You’d like her.”
The pizzas are ready pretty fast, and we take them to the fire. I add a log, surprised at the speed at which the first four disappeared. I guess this fireplace is pretty large; it’s not the same as the tiny one back at my parents’ place.
Not that it matters; the heating kicked in. I can already feel it.
We’re too busy stuffing our faces to say much, so when the thunder streaks through the silence, we both jump a little.
I chuckle. “That was a big one.”
The sound somehow seems louder here in the mountains, likely because the constant buzzing hustle of the streets is lacking in the background. Neither of us are scared of thunder, though.
“Hey, wanna find a horror movie to go with the gloomy storm?” Bella offers.
I roll my eyes. “Dude, you find28 Daysterrifying.”
