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A roar of ato life and made Jared and Mina’s head snap up in the direction of the street Athem

Mina felt the trickle of cold sweat slide down her back

"I recognize the scent," Jared said quietly "Grey Tail" They watched as the black reflective hel a trail of burned rubber behind hi on, Jared?" Mina asked in as brave a voice as she could athering"

Teeks before the dance, Mina noticed that Jared had made himself scarce He didn’t attend classes the rest of the week She knew he, too, could feel as co a fine line between barely controlling his anger and being completely aloof He avoided Brody entirely

Surprisingly, he appeared Thursday during lunch He walked directly toward her and slid onto the bench next to Mina, ignoring her presence as he asked her best friend, Nan Taylor, to the dance

Mina waited for hie her with a self-satisfied smirk or even a frown She needed confirmation from Jared that she wasn’t in this alone, that he had her back or was there to help her out She waited for Jared to bait her with a snide comment or joke He didn’t

When Nan accepted his offer, Jared squeezed her hand and told her he would call her He exited the table as silently as he had appeared, without a backward glance at Mina

Mina was crushed Without Jared’s help, Mina knew she couldn’t finish the tale Only Brody’s weight on the bench snapped Mina out of her depression

"What’s going on?" he asked Nan

Nan positively gloith excitement when she told Brody about her date Brody’s smile turned into a frown as Nan spent the rest of her lunch hour talking about costumes

Chapter 20

When Mina told her , but gave her daughter a wary look She even helped pick out Mina’s costume The costume shop was dimly lit, and smelled like a cross between shoe polish and a school locker room

"It s her nose in distaste

Sara tried not to laugh "It’s the moth balls, honey There are a lot of old clothes here They are vintage after all"

Mina did her best to put on a se meant cheaper than the mall and one step up from a thrift store Mina tried to look enthusiastic when the sales lady greeted them She only hoped the dresses didn’t smell like the store

Just for fun, Mina tried on various renaissance gowns and princess costuo school plays But every costume had the same problem: it didn’t fit hat the Story wanted It see even Mina’s dance attire Every dress had a fault or wouldn’t fit

"This would be a great Cinderella gown" Sara grunted as she pulled and fu" Sara tried and tried but could not get the zipper to cooperate Even when Mina explained that the Story wouldn’t let her go as any other character, Sara seee the Story’s mind

"Try this one instead" Sara held up a sapphire blue dress with long, delicate sleeves "You could be Sleeping Beauty That tale doesn’t have any wolves" She s under her mother’s left eye When that dress, too, refused to zip, Sara ash in tears of frustration A store seamstress, Molly, caet the zipper to work