“You’re probably right.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. When Avery and I fight, we pretty much just give each other the silent treatment until one of us apologizes. It will be frustrating for him, but it won’t do any permanent damage to our relationship.”
“Oh. Well, you’re welcome, then.”
“So, uh, do you still feel the same about the next ruler situation?” Autumn asked lamely.
“You may very well become the next ruler because I might kill myself soon.”
“If you kill yourself, then I will be stuck in this body forever and then I’ll have to kill myself. So that’s out of the question.”
“Well, then, yes I still want to be the next ruler.”
“Me too.” Autumn sighed and stood to leave, knowing that nothing could really be done that night in regards to their decision. “You really need to wash your hair,” she said as she walked towards the door.
“But—”
“Or I would hate to have to make a very personal confession to the guys tomorrow,” Autumn said.
Luke narrowed his eyes. “What sort of confession?”
Autumn simply shrugged with a sly smile on her face and exited her branch.
The next morning Autumn was pleased to see that her threat seemed to have worked. Luke had somehow managed to take a shower. He was silent as Autumn wove his hair into a French braid, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable. She would pity him, but she had been just as scarred as he had through this horrifying experience.
At breakfast Avery frowned down at his plate, refusing to look at Luke. It would appear that Luke’s strategy was working. Autumn imagined Avery was searching his head, trying to work out what he had done wrong.
Avery voiced these exact thoughts to her—well, Luke—during Lab second period.
“I just don’t know what I did,” Avery said as he flipped through their book to the correct page.
“You never know with girls,” Autumn said in a casual, Luke-like way, patting him on the shoulder.
At this touch, there was a surge of energy, much like the time Avery and Autumn had first made physical contact. The feeling traveled throughout her body and came to rest in the pit of her stomach. Avery’s eyebrows met in confusion as he looked slightly upward at her.
Autumn tried her hardest not to show him that she felt anything out of the ordinary, simply looking down at him in indifference. Avery was silent for the rest of the period, either because he was weirded out about their exchange or because he was searching his mind for a clue as to why his girlfriend was mad at him. Autumn pretended to busy herself with the mixture before them, which required a lot of concentration given the fact that Laboratory was Luke’s best subject and one of her worst.
At lunch, the girls sat at one table, excitedly conversing about that night’s sleepover, and the guys sat at another, quietly discussing their top secret spy mission.
“I say we meet at Arbor Lake tonight at eight,” Forrest said in a low voice. “The girls are supposed to be at Charlotte’s around seven. This will give them time to get settled and get most of their giggling fits out. Then we can just watch the rest of the night unfold.”
The others nodded in agreement.
During Healing, Autumn contemplated telling Luke of the guys’ plan, but then decided against it. She figured he would probably give it away by accident. So, she settled on threatening him.
“If you kiss any girls in my body I will kill you after you get your body back,” Autumn muttered under her breath as they practiced making a tourniquet out of tightly woven blades of grass.
“I won’t,” Luke said half-heartedly.
“Well, maybe I won’t kill you. Maybe I’ll just kiss a guy while I’m still in your body. Edric is pretty cute.”
“Okay, okay! I won’t kiss any girls in your body. Don’t even threaten something like that.”
Once Luke and Crystal had left for the party after school, Avery and Autumn ate a quick and awkwardly silent dinner before leaving to meet with the rest of the guys at Arbor Lake.
They found Forrest, Jastin and Edric waiting for them near the path that led to Charlotte’s tree house.
“Ready to do some serious spying?” Forrest said as they approached.
“Charlotte’s branch is right next to this huge rock that’s big enough for all of us to stand on,” Jastin said. “There’s a window right above the rock that we can look into. Charlotte sneaks out of there all of the time to meet me down at the lake.” Autumn shot him a surprised glance, but then realized that Luke would probably look more impressed than anything.
As they quietly approached Charlotte’s tree house, Autumn spotted her branch hanging just above the large rock Jastin had mentioned. Her window was situated in the middle of the branch so they would have no problem seeing into her room. It was cracked open a couple of inches, allowing them to hear the girls easily, but this also meant they would have to be especially quiet.
A chorus of giggles emanated from the branch as the guys and Autumn slowly and carefully climbed the large rock. The five of them moved into place below the window, peering into Charlotte’s dimly lit room.
The girls sat in a circle at the foot of Charlotte’s massive canopy bed. It wasn’t difficult to see that her parents were some of the wealthiest elves in Arbor Falls.
Charlotte, Kyndel, Crystal, and Luke were there along with Ella Easterlin and Catherine Heath from their Powers class.
“Whatever, Ella.” Charlotte laughed. “Don’t act like you aren’t in love with Edric.”
The guys and Autumn glanced at Edric, who was smiling confidently.
“I’m not in love with him,” Ella said. “I just think he’s extremely attractive.” The girls all laughed at this, except for Luke, who looked rather moody.
“This is dumb,” Kyndel said, rolling her eyes. “Who cares about who’s in love with who?”
“Whom,” Crystal corrected, more, Autumn suspected, to annoy her than anything. Kyndel shot Crystal a murderous glare.
“Whatever,” Kyndel snapped. “Let’s play a game or something.”
“Yeah!” Luke exclaimed in enthusiastic agreement, which caused Kyndel to raise an eyebrow at him. Autumn had never agreed with Kyndel on anything.
“What sort of game should we play?” Crystal asked.
“I have Knight’s Quest,” Charlotte offered, pulling out a board game. Autumn recognized the box. Avery and Crystal taught her and Luke how to play one rainy day at Arbor Castle and it turned out that she was not very good.
“That’s boring,” Kyndel said. “Don’t you know any fun human games, Princess?”
Luke looked around and then realized that Kyndel was speaking to him. “Oh, uh…truth or dare?” he said, sounding hopeful.
Oh great.
“What’s that?” Catherine asked.
“It’s a game where you go around and ask someone if they want to choose a ‘truth or dare.’ If they pick truth, then they have to answer whatever question we ask truthfully, no lying. If they pick dare, they have to do whatever we dare them to do,” Luke answered, a sly smile on his face.
“That sounds interesting,” Charlotte said. “Let’s play. Autumn, you should start, since you know how it works.”
“Okay,” Luke said, grinning widely. “Uh—Catherine, truth or dare?”
Catherine put a finger to her chin in mock thought. “Hmm. Dare.”
Luke beamed at this.
Not good.
“I dare you…to run to Arbor Lake and back in only your underwear,” Luke said, a gleam of excitement in his eyes. Autumn shook her head in exasperation. Of course he would dare them to do something in their underwear. All of the girls looked to Catherine, and the guys beside Autumn shuffled restlessly.
“Okay,” Catherine said and immediately began to strip down. Luke’s eyes grew round.
Autumn felt a tap on her shoulder and glanced over to see Jastin motioning for them to get down. She gave him a quizzic
al look and then realized that Catherine would probably be exiting through the window. The five of them jumped quickly off the rock and scuttled behind a nearby tree.
Peering around the thick trunk, Autumn saw Catherine climbing out the window in only her bra and underwear. Most of the guys blushed and it was obvious Jastin and Avery were trying not to look out of respect. The girls’ heads popped out of the window, giggling hysterically as they watched Catherine sprint down the path to Arbor Lake. After a few minutes, she returned, panting and clutching a cramp in her side.
“That sucked,” she said as she scaled the large boulder and pulled herself into Charlotte’s branch. The guys and Autumn waited a minute or so before climbing back up the rock to peer through the window once again. At this point Catherine was dressed in her nightgown and chugging a glass of water.
“Okay, Catherine, it’s your turn to pick someone,” Luke said, looking her over in a way Autumn never would. Ever.
“Oh, right. Er, Kyndel,” Catherine said, after finishing off her water and wiping her mouth with the back of her arm. “Truth or dare?”
Kyndel waited a moment, a smirk spreading across her lips. “Dare.”
Catherine laughed maliciously and Kyndel narrowed her eyes. “You know, I just think there’s too much animosity between you and Autumn. It’s about time you two kiss and make up.”
Luke’s mouth fell open. Autumn was sure he was remembering her earlier threat about him kissing girls in her body.
Avery and Autumn exchanged a quick glance. Avery’s girlfriend. Luke’s sister. Kissing Kyndel. Only she wasn’t. Because her pervert brother was the one Kyndel would be kissing. Autumn internally groaned.
“Uh, I don’t think—” Luke began.
“Oh, come on, Autumn.” Catherine laughed. “I’m sure Avery won’t mind.”
“A—Avery?” Luke said.
Autumn’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline, her breath catching in her chest.
“Oh, quit pretending like you two aren’t secretly together,” Catherine said. “It’s so obvious.”
The guys on the rock all looked at Avery, who looked to Autumn—who he thought was Luke—for silent advice. She just shrugged. Autumn supposed it wouldn’t be the worst thing if the Warriors knew about the two of them. As long as Olympus didn’t find out.
“So, are you?” Charlotte asked Luke from within the branch.
“If Avery and Autumn were together, it wouldn’t really be anyone’s business,” Crystal jumped in. “So, how about we just play the game.”
A rush of affection for her best friend washed over Autumn at that moment.
“Well, Avery may not mind us kissing, but I do,” Kyndel said.
Catherine shrugged unapologetically. “You’re the one who picked dare.”
Kyndel frowned, but grudgingly climbed to her feet and slowly approached Luke. The tension was palpable both inside and outside Charlotte’s branch. Kyndel leaned down so that she and Luke were face to face. Autumn held her breath. Luke looked up at Kyndel with wide eyes, his back board-straight. In a swift motion, Kyndel grabbed Luke’s face in both her hands and pressed her lips firmly to his.
Autumn had to say that watching herself kiss Kyndel Butler from outside her body was the strangest experience she’d ever had in her lifetime, and she’d had a lot of strange experiences. The girls around the circle burst out laughing and Kyndel pulled away, flipping her hair.
“There,” she said breathlessly before returning to her spot. She was acting as though it had been no big deal, but her bright pink cheeks gave her away.
“How do you feel, Autumn?” Charlotte asked, laughing.
Luke shrugged. “Eh, I’ve had better.”
Forrest snorted beside Autumn and the guys all turned to glare at him. Luckily the girls in the branch had been laughing too loudly to hear him.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“Your turn to choose, Kyn,” Charlotte said, laughing at Kyndel’s slightly offended expression.
“Crystal,” Kyndel drawled, causing Crystal to purse her lips. “Truth or dare?”
Crystal seemed to be contemplating this and finally said, “Truth.”
Kyndel didn’t seem at all surprised by this. “Scared of what I might dare you to do, Ice Queen?”
“Just ask the question,” Crystal snapped.
“Okay. Who do you have a crush on?” Kyndel asked with a smirk. Crystal’s face immediately fell at this. She seemed to be reconsidering her choice.
“Er—”
“You have to answer,” Kyndel reminded her. “Truthfully.”
The circle of girls all focused in on Crystal, who for some reason shot Luke a guilty sidelong glance.
Crystal mumbled a name, which no one understood.
“What was that?” Kyndel asked.
“I said…Luke Oaken.”
The Decision
CHAPTER FIVE
Luke’s mouth fell open as he looked at Crystal with a slightly dazed expression. Autumn imagined she looked similar to this as she turned to face the guys, who were all staring at her with raised eyebrows. Autumn opened her mouth to say something, but had no idea what, so she simply closed it again.
Crystal blushed profusely and looked down at her lap in embarrassment, careful not to make eye contact with the auburn-haired elf sitting next to her, who she thought was Autumn, but was actually Luke. She probably would have died of embarrassment if she knew this.
“Luke?” Charlotte gasped. “You like Luke?”
Crystal simply shrugged turning even redder, if this was possible.
“Ha! Good luck with that.” Kyndel laughed. “He has about twenty different girls that he makes out with daily.” Crystal looked at Kyndel through narrowed eyes and Kyndel smiled even wider, turning to Luke. “Did you know your best friend was in love with your twin brother, Princess?”
Luke’s mouth was still hanging slightly open and he was looking at Crystal with an unreadable expression. “I, uh, I—”
Kyndel laughed again, clearly loving this. “I’m guessing not.”
Suddenly Forrest let out a particularly loud sneeze and all of the girls’ heads whipped to face the window to see five stunned faces looking back at them. A few of the girls let out high-pitched squeals. Crystal’s eyes zeroed in on Autumn and widened in horror.
The guys and Autumn hurled off the rock and sprinted down the path towards Arbor Lake. When they were safely out of earshot, Forrest, Edric, and Jastin doubled over with laughter.
“They’re going to be so mad at us tomorrow,” Forrest said, not seeming to care about this in the least.
“So what?” Edric said. “We got to see Catherine Heath run around in her underwear and Kyndel and Autumn kiss—” Edric stopped smiling at the look on Avery’s and Autumn’s faces. “I mean—oh, whatever. It was hot.”
“See you guys tomorrow,” Forrest said, chuckling as he jogged down the path towards his tree house. Edric and Jastin left as well, while Avery and Autumn traveled back to Arbor Castle.
“Did you know Crystal liked you?” Avery asked.
Autumn shook her head dazedly. “I had no idea.” Crystal had never told Autumn that she liked her brother. She’d seen Crystal blush around him a few times, but just figured it was because of the inappropriate things he was saying.
“Do you like her?” he asked.
Autumn didn’t know the answer to this. She didn’t think Luke liked anyone in particular with how many girls he hooked up with every day. In fact, she wasn’t sure that he’d ever had a crush on any girl for longer than maybe a day or two. Crystal had been like their sister since they’d arrived in Arbor Falls several months ago.
“I’ve never really thought of her like that before,” she said, thinking this was probably a valid statement. “Are you mad about Kyndel and Autumn kissing?” Autumn asked him then, trying to make it sound like a joke, but unable to keep a hint of worry out of her voice.
Avery shrugged. “Nah. It wasn’t really a big deal or
anything. Besides, she said she’s had better,” he said, smiling wryly.
“How do you know she was talking about you?”
“Shut up, man.” Avery laughed, punching her in the arm, which actually really hurt. She tried to laugh, though, pretending that it didn’t. Guys were really weird about stuff like that, after all.
The next morning, Crystal and Luke didn’t show up for breakfast. Autumn guessed Charlotte had a nice spread for everyone to eat before they left for school. When Avery and Autumn ran into them on campus, Crystal pursed her lips and walked away with her nose in the air. Luke looked from them to Crystal and clearly decided that it was probably safer to follow after her.
“Looks like we’re both in the dog house now,” Autumn muttered, and Avery sighed.
Crystal and Luke avoided Avery and Autumn all day. She guessed Luke was doing this more to keep a safe distance from Avery than anything. Though, she had to admit that she was interested to see what her brother thought about Crystal liking him.
After dinner Autumn snuck out of Luke’s branch and traveled up to her own.
He let her in with a short “hey” and moved to one of the armchairs in front of the fire, dropping lazily into it.
“How was your sleepover?” Autumn asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“Amazing,” Luke sighed.
“Now, about that kiss.”
Luke’s half-shut eyes widened in horror. “There’s nothing I could’ve done! They dared Kyndel to do it. It wasn’t like we made out or anything. It was just a short peck on the lips and I pretended not to enjoy it at all. Please don’t kiss a guy in my body. Seriously I’ll—”
“Calm down, Luke. I’m not kissing any guys,” Autumn said, holding back her amusement.
He visibly relaxed at this. “Thank God. I’ve been freaking out about that all day. I just knew I’d turn a corner and see myself making out with Edric Ogden.”
Autumn rolled her eyes. “One, I wouldn’t do that to Avery, no matter what body I’m in. And two, don’t flatter yourself. You may have all the girls in the kingdom in the palm of your hand, but Edric would never make out with you.”
Ash (The Underground Series Book 2) Page 4
