Imperia says. “I want to tell you something about me and Grace.”
Skylar’s eyelids lower just a bit. It’s a good move. It shows contempt. “Why should I care?”
She isn’t going to make this easy.
“You know we just moved here,” Imperia says as quickly as she can. If she doesn’t get this out, she’s not going to try again. “What you don’t know is that we just moved in with our father too. Our mother ran off with some other guy and dumped us with our grandparents.”
“So?” Skylar’s voice drips with contempt, and it actually hurts. Imperia debated all weekend about telling Skylar the personal stuff because she was afraid it would give Skylar more ammunition, and now that looks like it might be true.
“So,” Imperia says softly, “when you and I were fighting over Grace, I got really mad. So I hit you.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Skylar says.
“And I hit you hard.”
“No kidding,” Skylar says.
“And I shouldn’t have. You didn’t deserve that. I hit you really hard because I’m mad about all the other stuff too.”
Skylar stares at her for a minute. Imperia has clearly surprised her, and for once, Skylar has nothing to say.
“So honestly, I’m sorry I broke your nose. I didn’t mean to disfigure you for life. Really. I was mad about Grace—you shouldn’t pick on Grace. She can’t defend herself. Just pick on me from now on, okay? I deserve it. Grace doesn’t.”
Skylar frowns, but she still doesn’t say anything.
Imperia shrugs. “That’s all I wanted to say.”
She turns, takes a deep breath, and hopes Skylar doesn’t hit her.
“You didn’t,” Skylar says.
Imperia stops and looks over her shoulder. “I didn’t what?”
“Disfigure me for life. You didn’t hit me that hard. You’re not as powerful as you think you are.”
It sounds like an insult, but it’s not. It’s kinda sorta forgiveness. At least, Imperia thinks it is. But she has to ask. “What about the surgery?”
“I probably won’t do it. My mom can’t make me either. Got that?”
“Yeah,” Imperia says.
“Good,” Skylar says, and walks past her, back to her posse.
Imperia watches her go. That was kinda weird, but okay. Better than Imperia expected. She lets out a small breath and feels a little dizzy.
Janie hurries over to her. “What happened?”
“Nothing really,” Imperia says. She wants to say more, but she thinks it’s not about Janie, not really. It’s not about Grace either.
It’s about settling in, and the bleed from one world to the next. Magic isn’t the only thing that can get loose. Anger can too.
Imperia sighs, then smiles at Janie. “Thanks for standing up for me,” Imperia says.
“No big,” Janie says.
But it is a big. It counts for a lot. But Imperia has already said that as best she can.
She and Janie walk the rest of the way to class. One person isn’t a posse. But it’s better than all the glitter and magic wands in both worlds.
Imperia was wrong. School isn’t so bad. And the weird thing is she didn’t have to talk about fairy tales or lies or anything like that to make it all better.
Nobody cares about fairy tales. Nobody cares about anybody else most of the time.
Except maybe your sister.
Or your posse.
Or your friends.
If you liked “Standing Up for Grace,” you might also enjoy the Interim Fates Trilogy. Following is a sample chapter from the first book, Tiffany Tumbles, available from your favorite bookseller.
ONE
MY FIRST DAY of school-ever-and I'm wearing a pair of blue jeans my mom picked out, a shirt my dad gave me that says INTERIM FATE: YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT, BABY all in pink glitter, and a pair of Jimmy Choos (also pink) that I conjured the last day I had my magic. I was going to wear pink beads at the base of my cornrows, but I couldn't fasten them right, and so twenty-four hours before I'm heading to a place my mom calls high school and her neighbor calls hell, I'm heading to the beauty
Skylar’s eyelids lower just a bit. It’s a good move. It shows contempt. “Why should I care?”
She isn’t going to make this easy.
“You know we just moved here,” Imperia says as quickly as she can. If she doesn’t get this out, she’s not going to try again. “What you don’t know is that we just moved in with our father too. Our mother ran off with some other guy and dumped us with our grandparents.”
“So?” Skylar’s voice drips with contempt, and it actually hurts. Imperia debated all weekend about telling Skylar the personal stuff because she was afraid it would give Skylar more ammunition, and now that looks like it might be true.
“So,” Imperia says softly, “when you and I were fighting over Grace, I got really mad. So I hit you.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Skylar says.
“And I hit you hard.”
“No kidding,” Skylar says.
“And I shouldn’t have. You didn’t deserve that. I hit you really hard because I’m mad about all the other stuff too.”
Skylar stares at her for a minute. Imperia has clearly surprised her, and for once, Skylar has nothing to say.
“So honestly, I’m sorry I broke your nose. I didn’t mean to disfigure you for life. Really. I was mad about Grace—you shouldn’t pick on Grace. She can’t defend herself. Just pick on me from now on, okay? I deserve it. Grace doesn’t.”
Skylar frowns, but she still doesn’t say anything.
Imperia shrugs. “That’s all I wanted to say.”
She turns, takes a deep breath, and hopes Skylar doesn’t hit her.
“You didn’t,” Skylar says.
Imperia stops and looks over her shoulder. “I didn’t what?”
“Disfigure me for life. You didn’t hit me that hard. You’re not as powerful as you think you are.”
It sounds like an insult, but it’s not. It’s kinda sorta forgiveness. At least, Imperia thinks it is. But she has to ask. “What about the surgery?”
“I probably won’t do it. My mom can’t make me either. Got that?”
“Yeah,” Imperia says.
“Good,” Skylar says, and walks past her, back to her posse.
Imperia watches her go. That was kinda weird, but okay. Better than Imperia expected. She lets out a small breath and feels a little dizzy.
Janie hurries over to her. “What happened?”
“Nothing really,” Imperia says. She wants to say more, but she thinks it’s not about Janie, not really. It’s not about Grace either.
It’s about settling in, and the bleed from one world to the next. Magic isn’t the only thing that can get loose. Anger can too.
Imperia sighs, then smiles at Janie. “Thanks for standing up for me,” Imperia says.
“No big,” Janie says.
But it is a big. It counts for a lot. But Imperia has already said that as best she can.
She and Janie walk the rest of the way to class. One person isn’t a posse. But it’s better than all the glitter and magic wands in both worlds.
Imperia was wrong. School isn’t so bad. And the weird thing is she didn’t have to talk about fairy tales or lies or anything like that to make it all better.
Nobody cares about fairy tales. Nobody cares about anybody else most of the time.
Except maybe your sister.
Or your posse.
Or your friends.
If you liked “Standing Up for Grace,” you might also enjoy the Interim Fates Trilogy. Following is a sample chapter from the first book, Tiffany Tumbles, available from your favorite bookseller.
ONE
MY FIRST DAY of school-ever-and I'm wearing a pair of blue jeans my mom picked out, a shirt my dad gave me that says INTERIM FATE: YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT, BABY all in pink glitter, and a pair of Jimmy Choos (also pink) that I conjured the last day I had my magic. I was going to wear pink beads at the base of my cornrows, but I couldn't fasten them right, and so twenty-four hours before I'm heading to a place my mom calls high school and her neighbor calls hell, I'm heading to the beauty
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