Briar Rose by Jana Oliver Page A

he’d ruined it.
    ‘Then why are you crying?’
    ‘It was Mike,’ she said, and then spilt the details of her ex’s sick joke.
    Joshua’s mouth dropped open as unexpected fire ignited in his eyes.
    ‘That bastard,’ he said. ‘And Daniels is just as bad. He shouldn’t believe rumours.’
    There was irony for you – her family’s enemy sticking up for her.
    With deep-seated regret Briar realized that Joshua had been really cool all along and she had never been allowed to see it.
    She wiped away the tears. ‘You’ve been really sweet, even if you are a . . . well, you know. Thanks for the present. I love it.’
    Right on cue, Joshua looked embarrassed. Thankfully, Kerry provided the perfect distraction, proudly bringing a stick, which she dropped at Briar’s feet.
    ‘It’s never been fair what our parents did. I don’t . . . hate you. Never did.’
    He smiled. ‘I never hated you, either.’
    The passenger-side window rolled down. ‘We need to get you home. It’s eleven fifteen.’
    ‘You better go,’ Joshua said. ‘Don’t want you to get into trouble.’
    Like it would matter. What would my parents do? Ground me? Can’t do that if the curse is real.
    As she saw it, not being around tomorrow might actually be a good thing.
    Briar dejectedly climbed into the car and buckled her seatbelt. As they backed up, she found herself watching Joshua. He was kneeling now, his arms round his dog. On impulse, she gave a wave and
he returned it. He seemed so sad, lost even.
    ‘You never knew Josh really liked you?’ Reena asked softly as she pulled out of the parking lot.
    ‘No. Not much we could have done about it anyway.’ Briar took a deep breath. ‘You know what my mom’s like and his mother’s even worse.’
    ‘Yeah. He got grounded last spring because of you.’
    ‘Me?’ she asked, shocked. ‘Why?’
    ‘You were standing near him at a basketball game. You didn’t know he was there, too caught up in the game I guess, but his mom heard about it. She went ballistic. Josh said his dad
stood up for him, but it was still really ugly.’
    ‘Wow, I didn’t know that. What is it with adults? Why are they so mean?’
    ‘Sometimes they’re that way because they’re scared,’ Reena replied.
    Before Briar could ask what Mrs Quinn feared, her cellphone pinged. It was her dad asking if she was headed home. She texted back that they were on the way.
    A fat tear rolled down Reena’s face, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tight her nails blanched.
    Oh, man.
‘Hey, it’s OK,’ Briar lied. ‘This curse thing . . . it’s not going to happen.’
    Reena didn’t reply as another tear coursed down her cheek, following the one before it.
    Trembling, Briar laid her head against the side window and watched as the car’s headlights spotlighted the trees along the road, like candid snapshots of her life. If this really was the
end, had she made a mistake turning Pat down? What would it have been like? Would it have been good or . . . What else would she regret not doing?
    As they passed the roadside memorial, Briar wondered if her family would build her one, leave a cupcake in remembrance on the anniversary of her death. Remember her for what she was, not the
lies others had told.
    It’s not real. It can’t be.
    But Reena’s silent tears told a different story.

CHAPTER SIX

    As Reena pulled into the driveway, Briar’s parents were waiting for her. They sat on the front steps as ambitious bugs flitted around the porch lights. Though her
mom’s eyes were dry now, her father’s were red and puffy. Both of them seemed to have aged in the last couple of hours.
    What really ended Briar’s doubts was her friend’s great-grandmother, parked on the porch swing, her feet dangling in the air as she rocked back and forth. Tiny and birdlike, with
silver hair and mahogany skin, Lily Foster held a Bible in her hands.
    If she was here, then the curse was for real.
    It can’t be . . .
    Briar fumbled with the