Chapter 20
I wake up with a raging headache in a strange bed with a man’s arm flopped over my shoulders. Oh, God. What have I done? Who have I done?
I glance over, but his head is under a pillow.
Whoever he is, he has an incredible body.
I frantically run the evening through my mind.
I was talking to the fairies. There was something about brownies .
. . Did I kiss someone? Was it Will? I hope so.
I hope not. Did I punch someone? My arm hurts.
I look down and see a long strip of bandage, carefully applied.
What happened to me? My hair is clumped.
Did I get wet? I try to peel the mystery arm off me, but that wakes it up. A head emerges.
“What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?” Theo. What a relief.
Wait . . . Did we?
“You’re a vigorous lover, Mirabel.” He yawns. “Best I never had.” He sees my stricken face. “Oh, honey!” He pats my head. “Hi. Nothing happened. No thanks to you. I had a thing maybe going with Max . . .”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get him next time. I like him,” he whispers.
“I know,” I say, but I’m distracted. “Where am I? Why are we sleeping together?” I pat my body. My dress is gone. I look under the covers. I am wearing a Twin Orchards T-shirt and a pair of men’s sweatpants.
“We are at Will’s,” says Theo. “He brought you home. We didn’t think you should be unattended.”
“What did I do? Oh, God.” A dozen blackout city nights of my youth flash before me. “I feel like I only had a drink and a half?”
“You also had some unfortunately seasoned brownies, courtesy of Glory and her apparent dealers, Ron and Peg.” Theo laughs. “Theater kids! Love it.” A memory is starting to dawn. “And then I guess the brownies made you pretty snacky, so you had another.”
“I don’t smoke weed!” I say. “I’m allergic to it or something. It puts me on, like . . .”
“An acid trip?” Theo laughs. “Yeah, I mean, we were worried, and I’m glad you’re safe, but it was pretty amazing to behold.”
“So, Will saw all this?”
Theo nods. I think he’s enjoying this. I throw the covers over my head and scream into the pillow.
“She lives.” Will’s voice from the doorway.
Ugh. I have fantasized about a morning after with him, but this isn’t it.
Our eyes meet. I can tell he has thought about it too.
Although in both of our visions, I was ideally dewy and impossibly lovely, not this swamp-thing vibe I am currently giving.
He hands me a huge mug of coffee with oat milk and cinnamon.
I look at him, surprised. “I listen.” He smiles.
“Theo brought you coffee to rehearsal last week?”
“Oh. Yes. Thank you.” I sit up, and Theo puts a pillow behind my head. Will hands him a coffee too and sits on the edge of the bed.
“Well, Mirabel,” says Theo. “Three brownies will get you two gorgeous men in bed with you.”
“And a coffee.” I salute them with my mug. I take a gulp of coffee. “Oh, God, this is perfect.” Will looks pleased. “Okay, okay, tell me how I humiliated myself. Don’t hold back.”
They look at each other. “Okay,” says Theo. “So the fun stuff is that while you were the most-developed brownie situation of the evening, there was all kinds of chaos. A lot of people really let their hair down. Suffice to say, rehearsal is going to be a collective walk of shame.”
“So I’m not the only one.”
“You’re a key player.” I hang my head. “But honestly, most people don’t even know.”
“You guys didn’t have brownies?” I ask.
“I’m gluten-free.” Theo shrugs.
“And I’m not a total lightweight.” Will grins. “I had one, but I can handle my weed.”
“Okay, and the . . . less fun stuff?” Theo looks at Will. He nods at Theo.
“Jesus, guys, what happened?”
“Okay,” Theo says. “Well, your brownies kicked in, and you decided to go on a little field trip into the forest. You wanted to play Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
“Don’t be cute, just tell me.”
“Okay, well, Will saw you were gone and went to find you. And he found you with . . .”
“Nick,” says Will. “And you guys were, well, he was . . .” He looks at me closely. “You don’t remember?”
“What?”
“You really don’t remember?”
“No, what?”
“Well, you were kissing, and he was getting pretty out of hand.”
“Nick did that?” My insides are burning.
“Yes,” says Theo darkly. “Can I kill him? Pretty please.”
I shake my head. “I’ll deal with him. Fuck.” I sigh heavily. “I remember kissing someone,” I say. “I, well, I thought it was you,” I say to Will.
He surprises me by blushing furiously. “No, it was Nick.” His eyes darken.
“I pulled him off you. I hope . . . I hope that’s okay?
I wasn’t . . . You were pretty far gone, and it seemed like you didn’t know what was happening, so I wasn’t sure if you, you know, consented. He told me you guys are together.”
“No.” I sigh. “We are . . . no longer together.” Will does not look surprised.
“Good.” Our eyes meet ever so briefly.
“I told him,” says Theo. “It felt relevant.”
“Fair,” I say, but I wish he didn’t know. “I dumped him. Methought I was enamour’d of an ass.” I shrug.
Theo laughs. “Nice one.”
I look at Will. “So then what happened?”
“I pulled him off you and he punched me. And we fought. And you ran away again.”
“You went for a swim,” says Theo. “Lady of Shalott cosplay?”
“That’s what she told me!” says Will. “How do you know that?”
I give a wry laugh. “He knows me. And then?”
“Will came running out of the woods and pulled you out of the water and carried you like a goddamn Harlequin heartthrob”—Will cuts him off with a sharp look—“and he found me and we decided to bring you here rather than giving your parents any more ammunition than they already live with, and . . .”
“Where’s my dress?”
“Don’t worry. I undressed you, and I didn’t look,” says Theo.
“You could have looked.”
“Nope. Not interested.” He pats my hand.
Instinctively I look at Will, who is watching me. “Thank you. Honestly. I’m so embarrassed. Both of you, you took such good care of me . . .”
I take in this room: It’s warm and bright, this perfect cup of coffee in my hands, these two lovely guys who protected me and defended my honor and tucked me into bed.
It occurs to me, in a sudden rush, that I don’t think I have ever felt so cared for in my whole life.
I have never felt so loved. Tears fill my eyes, surprising me.
“Oh, hey,” says Theo. “You’re okay.” He pulls me in. “I’ve got you.” I let him hold me.
“Whose room is this?” I ask weepily. “It’s cozy.”
Will clears his throat. “Uh, mine.”
“I’m in your bed?”
“What a waste, huh?” says Theo, and I swat him. Something new passes over Will’s face. He shakes his head slightly at Theo.
“How about some breakfast?” asks Will.
“Do you have any more of those brownies?” I ask. They laugh, and I feel warm all over. I never want to leave this room.