On Friday, I spent the night at Ginger and Giselle’s house. I remembered thinking I didn’t know much about their personal lives, and decided this was a good opportunity to learn more about them. After dinner we went upstairs to their room, taking lots of snacks with us. Marie literally made the best cookies I had ever tasted, and I wasn’t going to lose this opportunity to eat a plate full of them. We changed into more comfortable clothes and removed all of our makeup. This took Ginger and Giselle significantly longer than it took me, since I was only wearing a little mascara, while they were wearing full faces of makeup. Ginger and Giselle both sat on bean bags while I sat in the fluffy pink chair. I recalled that we were sitting in the same places we had sat on the day I met them. It was strange, considering that when I met them, I would have never guessed that we’d end up being best friends.
“So, Ginger, tell me about your fiancé.” I took a large bite out of a sugar cookie, chewing quietly.
“Well, his name is Drew Green, and he’s blond—like, really blond. His hair is actually closer to white. But it’s real. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t marry a guy who bleached his hair.” She grinned, playing with one of the curls falling around her face.
“Eww,” Giselle and I said at the same time.
We all started laughing. Giselle laughed so hard that she fell backwards, which only made us all laugh harder.
“Okay, okay. Where does he work?” I asked.
“Oooh, he’s a police officer in the NYPD!” Giselle squealed.
“Ooh.” I grinned at Ginger. Her face was bright red, and she was giggling.
“How old is he?” I asked.
“He’s twenty-one,” Ginger said, blushing even more.
“Two years older? He’s practically ancient!” I laughed.
Giselle roared with laughter while Ginger playfully threw a pink teddy bear at me. I caught the teddy bear, causing her to playfully stick her tongue out at me.
“Is he a fire fairy too, or something different?” I asked.
“He’s human. I waited until we’d been seeing each other for about six months before I told him I was a faerie. He thought I was joking until I picked a candle up and a flame erupted from its wick,” Ginger said.
“I was there when she told him. You should have seen the look on his face! He looked terrified at first, but then he got down on one knee and proposed.” Giselle stared lovingly at the ceiling as if waiting for her prince to ride in on a white horse and whisk her away.
“That’s really romantic,” I said.
“I know,” Ginger sighed.
“Yeah, but you two are lucky!” Giselle exclaimed. “You’ve both already found perfect partners. I haven’t been on a single successful date in my life! What if I get old and ugly before I can find a handsome brunette to run away with to some tropical island?” She threw her hands up in the air.
“You’re only nineteen. You have at least five more years before you become a hopeless spinster,” I laughed.
“Drama queen,” Ginger said to Giselle, smirking.
This led to a full-blown battle between Ginger and Giselle, who began hurling pillows and stuffed animals at each other. We were all laughing hysterically. As soon as a large, green turtle landed in my lap, I joined in on the fight. The room soon became a war zone as we ducked behind beds and chairs to avoid being hit, while throwing the objects aimed at us back in the direction they had come from. As strange as it seemed, I didn’t think I’d ever had as much fun in my life.
Eventually, we called a truce. We decided to watch a movie before going to bed. I recommended Sense and Sensibility, which Ginger and Giselle had never seen or read before. By the end of the movie, Giselle was ugly-crying, holding a wad of used tissues in her hand. Similarly, Ginger was biting her nails, staring intently at the screen. I smiled, watching the final scene of the movie with the kind of fondness that one might watch a video of a childhood friend. I’d watched the movie so many times that it was more of a comfort to me than a heart-wrenching romance.
We turned the TV off and crawled into the sleeping bags we’d placed on the floor. I tried to fall asleep, but my mind kept returning to the conversation we’d had earlier that evening. About thirty minutes later, I gave up trying to fall asleep. I could hear Giselle snoring beside me. I rolled over on my right side, facing Ginger.
“Ginger, are you awake?” I whispered.
“Yes.” She opened her eyes, looking at me.
“How did you meet Drew?” I asked.
She smiled. “His aunt is one of my mom’s friends. He was here visiting with his family over the summer, and his aunt invited us all over to her house to meet them. We became friends first, but we both started having feelings for each other within a couple of months.”
“Are you worried about the watchers because he’s human?” I asked.
I knew it was wrong, but I was glad he was human simply because I’d have someone to share my fears with.
“Yeah, I am, but Delilah didn’t make such a big show about it when I told everyone that I was dating a human,” she whispered.
“Do you think it was just out of spite because of her jealousy?” I asked.
“Yeah, she probably just wanted to get under your skin. I’ve only ever heard of watchers attacking high profile faeries who were practically advertising what they were and that they were in a relationship with a human. I doubt that there’s much to worry about, especially since we’ve got a good support system of reliable faeries who would risk their own lives to protect us. You’re part of our family now too, Lily.” Ginger reached out and squeezed my hand.
“I’m glad,” I whispered.
She smiled at me and closed her eyes to go to sleep. I could still hear Giselle snoring, though not as loudly as before. I closed my eyes, determined to put all thoughts of the watchers out of my mind as I fell asleep between my two best friends.