10. Chapter 10
S he wanted to forget it. But Neil’s open, electric blue eyes, nearly begging her to say yes, filled her mind. Zephyr rolled over, planting her face into her pillow, and screamed.
Dale landed on her windowsill, his indignant chirping clear. She was acting pathetically.
Zephyr pushed herself up and shimmied off her bed. After a few indecisive moments, hopping from foot to foot on her cold wooden floor, she went to her closet and swung open the double doors.
OF COURSE, HER PRACTICE GEAR was a little tight. Even though it had only been a year since she’d left racing. The pumpkin pastries she’d been sampling from the Wicked Whisk the last few weeks were likely responsible.
Zephyr frowned at her sorry excuse of a broom.
The model was decades old, left behind from her parents before they moved out.
It was a grocery-getter. Not for racing.
But it couldn’t be helped. Pumpkin Hollow wouldn’t have the type of broom she needed.
Anyway, she was supposed to be coaching .
She didn’t need a racing model for that, did she?
Zephyr had always done everything on her own. She really wasn’t qualified to coach. And Levina might even see that and turn her down.
“Accepting defeat before the checkered flag? Who are you?” Zephyr muttered to herself.
She mounted her broom, lazily following the path to Pumpkin Hollow High’s racing track.
She completed the loop four times, doubting her assumption that Levina would already be practicing today until she began her fifth run-through.
Levina and her red-bristled broom shot past her, knocking into Zephyr’s shoulder with a force that would have sent a less experienced flyer into the dirt.
Zephyr cursed under her breath. “Hey!”
Levina pulled up on her broom, coming to a ragged stop. She looped back to Zephyr, face crimson. “Oh gods, I didn’t even see you—”
“I’m going to assume you normally fly with your eyes open, and this is just a fluke,” Zephyr said firmly. “If I have to teach you the basics at this age…”
“Teach me?” Levina questioned. “Did my uncle beg you to do this?” She covered her eyes with her hands and sighed. “Did you only say yes because you have a crush on him, or do you think I actually have some talent?”
“I mean, all I’ve seen of your flying ended with you falling out of the sky…”
“Ew. You do have a crush on my uncle? He has a mustache .”
“Haven’t you seen Smokey and the Bandit ? That’ll teach you to appreciate a mustache.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“You should. Aren’t you my biggest fan? That movie is what made me want to race.”
Levina shook her head. “In all your interviews, you said your moonshining great-great-grandmother was your reason for racing.”
“ That was just to make me sound interesting and complex.”
“So, your great-great-great- whatever didn’t—”
“Oh, she was a moonshiner. Gave Pumpkin Hollow’s sheriff a real run for his money. He was an air witch, too. And a decent flyer. Just not as good as my grandmother. She never let him forget it, even after they were married.”
Levina facepalmed. “You have a story like that , and an old movie is your inspiration? Really?”
“Today isn’t about me,” Zephyr said with a dismissive wave. “Do you want a coach or not? I can’t say I’m a good one. Or even an okay one. I might be terrible.”
“But you’re only doing this because—”
“It doesn’t matter why you get an opportunity. Not for people like us. You start from nothing, you take everything.”
Levina drew in a shaky breath. “Okay. Just no questions about my uncle, okay? Don’t ask me if he’s dating anyone, or what he likes to eat, or anything else weird .”
“Listen, I try to stay humble, but I don’t need to do any of this to get into your uncle’s pants.” Zephyr tried to flip her hair, forgot she’d chopped it all off, and played it off as intentional. Levina saw through it completely.
Levina jabbed a finger toward Zephyr. “ That’s the weird stuff I’m talking about! No more of that!”
“Fine, fine!” Zephyr said as she laughed. “Deal. Now, give me your measurements. Helmet size, too. No prodigy of mine is going to be wearing knockoffs.”
“I don’t want you spending money on me,” Levina argued.
“Hey, not to brag, but I made a lot of money racing. I spent a lot on stupid stuff, but I saved a lot, too.” Zephyr added gently, recalling what it felt like to be treated as a charity case just because she was from a small town, “New gear won’t set me back, but if you really want to, you can help me rip off the wallpaper in my bedroom. It’s ugly. And yellow.”
Levina nodded eagerly. Zephyr envied the enthusiasm. She hated housework. But maybe as a Finnegan, manual labor was fun for Levina.
“Okay.” Zephyr clapped her hands together. “The visibility is terrible, the wind is unpredictable, and it looks like it’s going to rain. Conditions are perfect.”
Levina scoffed, “Perfect for what ?”
“For finding your weaknesses. Can’t fix you until we break you. You should know that. Your family is full of tinkers.”
“I don’t think they’d agree.”
“That’s because they love you. But I don’t.” Zephyr grinned, and she knew it was anything but sweet. Or reassuring. “Now let’s fly.”