Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog Page B

this called?"
    "Whipped cream?" the events manager says, giving me an amused, "Is he for real?" look. Her name is Gizelle and she's so completely put together, with her four-inch heels, crisp white blouse, and French twist, that she looks at least thirty. But when she flashes Pip a coy smile, and gnaws on her lower lip, she's reduced to my age. I've seen that look on many a girl's face around Cam. It's subtle, but I've become an expert on it.
    She's flirting with him.
    Wait. She's getting all hot and bothered over a guy who gets more food on his mouth than in it?
    My mother grins at Pip like he is the son she never had and giggles something about growing boys.
    I glare at her, annoyed. It's amazing how a new outfit and a little hair gel can turn grown women into Jell-O. Are we really that shallow? "Um, silver: Okay."
    "Silver it is. Oh, but the teal is so... What do you think, Pip?" my mother asks, putting a hand on his knee as I start to groan. "It's always nice to have a man's opinion."
    He looks at me and, without missing a beat, says, "I agree with Morgan."
    For once, I'm grateful to have him around.
    "So, it's settled. Silver it is." She takes the swatch and folds it neatly in front of Gizelle. "Now, you were going to give us a tour of that lovely courtyard? The balcony is beautiful. All that ivy!"
    Mrs. Browne is the first to stand. She looks almost as green as the frogs on the wall, so I think she needs some air. Gizelle stands and smooths her hair, then checks to see if Pip is noticing. He isn't; he's busy studying some tribal masks on the wall behind her desk. Though she's a hottie, I get the feeling Pip wouldn't notice her if her hair were on fire. He's so busy trying to navigate this strange new world that he's probably the only sixteen-year-old guy who doesn't think constantly about sex.
    That's probably why I can't help wanting to tell Gizelle to back off. Pip is naive and unsure of himself, and he needs protection from this cruel world.
    Pouting, she gives up and turns toward a corridor: "This way."'
    "You know. Mom," I say, standing, "you guys go ahead. I just want to check out the room again."
    Gizelle says, "There's a dance class going on in there now, but feel free to look around."
    Pip says, "I think I will stay with Morgan."
    My mother and Gizelle let out a collective sigh, and I half expect Gizelle to let her hair down and lick her lips as a last-ditch attempt to get him to notice her. She doesn't; they just head off, their heels click-clicking in chorus on the parquet floor.
    "What is this event for?" Pip asks me when we're alone.
    "Our sixteenth birthday. Turning sixteen is a big deal here," I explain, twisting a lock of my hair.
    "It's a big deal where I come from, too."
    "Really? Do they have wild parties in Fairy Land?"
    "Well, yes, often. But what I mean is that, for a fairy, their sixteenth birthday is their Becoming."
    "Oh, right. Becoming."
    "Yes, on a fairy's sixteenth birthday, they become a true fairy. Right now, Cameron's a-"
    "Larva. I get it. So Dawn is a full fairy. Is she older than sixteen?"
    He fiddles with a zipper on the new jacket I bought him. "She is forty-three."
    "Wait. What?" I can't help but feel disgusted. "So he's marrying my mother. Gross."
    "Fairy life spans are much longer than human lives. A fairy will live a thousand years. So in that way, they are very close in age."
    "All right, but if they have such long life spans, why are they in such a rush to take him away from me on my sixteenth birthday? Can't they wait a couple of years? Maybe until I'm eighty and toothless?"
    He says, "The only time, other than on the day of his birth, that the portal to cross into Otherworld will be open for Cameron is at midnight on his Becoming. You see, it's easy to come to this world. It's nearly impossible to go back to Otherworld."
    "So until then, he's stuck here?"
    "The door isn't open."
    "And after that..."
    "It will never be open again."
    "But Dawn-"
    "There are some exceptions to