Chapter 10

RHEA

I pick at my chips as I walk, the cold air outside the club and the greasy food sobering me up pretty fast. Though losing my glasses did that too.

"Have you got a spare pair?" Jack asks.

"Huh?"

"Glasses," he says, gesturing to my face.

I reach up to touch where they should be, instantly regretting it when I remember how greasy my hands are. "Oh, right. Yes, a couple actually. Thankfully, I don't have to use them to be able to see so they're not that expensive."

"I never thought about what would happen for gorgons who need prescriptions too," he muses.

"How much thought have you given to gorgons in general?"

"Not much," he admits. "Obviously I knew they existed and that they can have snakes on their head and turn people into stone. Except for gargoyles, apparently."

"And golems," I add.

"Huh, I didn't think of those."

"And shishis."

"I don't know what a shishi is," he admits.

"You know the guardian lions from outside Chinese temples?" I pick up a chip and bite into it while I wait for him to respond.

He nods.

"Those are depictions of shishis. I didn't realise the supernatural type was also made of stone until I was researching it after we failed to turn you into stone."

"I didn't realise you'd kept looking into it," he says.

"I hoped there'd be something about it online that could help," I admit. "I didn't like that we failed, even if I wouldn't have liked it if I accidentally turned you into stone either."

"I'm sorry I asked."

"Don't be. It's actually been really interesting looking into my magic. I've never really done it very much. I just wish..." My voice catches in my throat.

"That your granny was around for you to ask?" he guesses.

I nod. "She always knew the answers to my questions. When I think about it now, I guess that just means she always took the time to look things up for me."

A car appears on the road and I pause in the street to avert my gaze. I don't know if my powers will work through the glass windshield, but it's better to be safe and not risk turning someone into stone while they're driving.

"You know what the hardest thing about losing Mum?" Jack asks once the car is gone.

"Tell me." I don't even consider not asking him. He's helped me so much already, and even if I suppose our failed attempt at me turning him into stone was me helping him, I want to do it more.

"My dad."

"Your dad?" I echo, not following.

He sighs and scrunches his empty pizza wrapper into a ball, tossing it into the bin we're passing. "He's changed so much in the past six months. I used to believe my parents were so in love, but now, I'm not so sure."

"What's he doing?"

"What's he not doing?" he mutters. "He never checks in with me, and barely checks in with my brother at home either. He's thirteen and school is...well school. He needs Dad to step up and Dad's too busy buying cars and dating."

"Dating? After six months?"

Jack snorts. "He started dating about two weeks after the funeral. Or that's what he told us anyway, but it's all making me doubt what I thought I knew. I know he's allowed to move on, I just thought it would take longer to happen."

I reach out and put my free hand on his arm. "I'm sorry."

He gives me a weak smile. "I'm not even ready to date. What would I have to offer someone in this state?" He waves over himself.

"Anyone would be lucky to have you," I counter. "You're sweet, and funny, and smart. Okay, so you're a bit sad at the moment, but isn't everyone?"

He snorts. "I think you're just saying that because you're a bit sad too."

"Oh, I'm a lot sad. You're way more balanced than I am when it comes to this stuff."

"Maybe I'm just doing a good job at repressing it all."

"I don't think so," I respond. "But what do I know? This is all new to me."

"You've been doing great so far. I think. I don't really know, I'm just going by how I felt when everything happened."

"So I could be doing terribly, got it," I half-joke. "Though if I'm where you are in six months, I think I'll be okay."

"You'll be okay even if you're not on the same path as me," he points out. "That's how this works. We're sad, and then we're okay. There are even moments of okay within the sad."

"I think that's the part that's confusing me the most," I admit. "Like in the club, I had a good time dancing with you."

"Same."

"Should I feel guilty about that? Having a good time, I mean?"

"No."

I finish my chips and throw away my rubbish as we wait for the lights to change so we can cross the street. There aren't any other cars around at this time, so we could just cross, but I'm also not in a hurry for the walk or the conversation to end. Being around Jack is easy, especially at the moment when most of my friends don't really know how to act around me.

"Obviously, I never got to meet your granny," he says. "But I knew my mum, and she'd never have wanted me to be unhappy, even if she died. In fact, I think she'd be mad at me if she thought I was wallowing and letting my grief control me. Sometimes, when I'm having a hard day, I can hear her voice in my head telling me as much."

I let out a small laugh. "I know what you mean. But then I feel extra sad because I realise I won't hear her voice for real."

He nods. "But nothing is going to change that," he reminds me.

The crossing starts beeping and the two of us head to the other side of the road.

"And she's not gone, even if she's dead," he continues. "You know what she'd say in a certain situation, or what she'd do. You get to hold onto that, even if no one else knows it."

"Mmm. True. What would your mum do if she found out about your dad dating?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Maybe she'd just roll her eyes and say something about knowing what he's like, or maybe she'd just let it go. I think she'd be more mad about the fact Eddy isn't getting the support he needs for school. He had to decide on his GCSEs and Dad just wasn't interested, he kept saying he had other things to worry about."

I grimace. "That's hard. It's not an easy choice to make in the first place."

"No. I did the best I could, but what do I know? It's not even a year since I finished school myself, how do I know if they were the right choices?"

"You're studying law like you want to," I point out. "So you probably made good ones."

"Maybe," he responds. "But I worry I've given Eddy the wrong advice."

"Has he tried talking to your dad about it?"

"A couple of times, but he doesn't seem to want to hear any of it. He just says things like don't you want me to be happy."

"Ouch." My heart hurts for Jack and his brother, that can't be a good thing to hear from a parent, particularly when they're probably both grieving hard.

"Yeah, he said that to me too when he told me about his girlfriend..."

"Wait, not just dating, a girlfriend too?" My heart aches for Jack and his brother. I can't believe he's having to deal with the loss of his mum and his dad acting out like this at the same time.

"Oh yeah. They've been dating since a month after Mum died. He says things like your mum sent me her, she's perfect."

I wrinkle my nose. "Who would want to date a recent widower? No offence to your dad."

"Oh, definitely offence and definitely warranted. I've asked myself that a few times. It doesn't make any sense. I've managed to avoid meeting her so far, but I know I'm going to have to as soon as I go back for the summer. It's not making me look forward to going home."

"Maybe you just need summer plans. My family has a villa in Greece, maybe you could come hang out for a week."

He raises an eyebrow. "And how are you going to explain that one?"

"I figured I'd stay simple and just tell them that my friend's coming to hang out."

"Won't they be weird that I'm a guy?"

I shrug. "I'll have to field some questions, and you definitely won't be able to stay in my room, but other than that, they won't care."

"And what about you? We've not known each other long."

"I guess it doesn't feel like that," I respond. "We've talked so much about a lot of things that are important to us both."

"Yet there's stuff we don't know."

"Like?"

"Your favourite topping on pizza. Maybe you're going to reveal you love pineapple," he teases.

"I do love pineapple," I joke. "But not as a pizza topping. I'm a BBQ chicken girl. Basic, but delicious."

"Mmm, good choice." He flashes me a smile and I know that the serious part of the conversation is over. Which is fine by me, I want to be able to process what we've talked about, though I might need a little bit of a clearer head for that. Even though the walk back to campus from the club has helped some of the effects of the alcohol wear off between the crisp evening air and the food, I can still feel the edges of it. No doubt I'm going to end up regretting drinking so much in the morning.