The Forest of Sleepers (Nowhere Book 2)

t w e l v e : d r e s s u p

"Birdie, what kind of point are you trying to make by looking like a rat at the dance?" Ophelia pouted.

"I won't look like a rat," Birdie argued from her perch on the bed, where she was still only clothed in her slip and a large blanket as she read a book. "Rats don't have to curl their hair."

Ophelia, who had been getting ready for the past hour, decided to change her outfit once again.

"I want to have the biggest skirt in the whole school," she said. "Can I borrow your petticoat to wear with mine?"

Birdie lifted an eyebrow. "You'll look like a balloon."

"As if you'd know what's in fashion."

"Balloons are in fashion?"

Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Come here, let's do something with that nest on your head."

Reluctantly, Birdie crawled out of her cozy hovel, bringing her book with her, and sat at the vanity.

Ophelia picked and fretted over Birdie's hair and Birdie let her do whatever she wanted. She knew was going to end up looking like a clown regardless.

The last time Birdie had attended a dance had been the annual community sock hop. It had not gone as expected. She'd been fired from the Post and Wyatt had been beaten up by his brother.

Tonight, though, she'd decided that she wouldn't be so opposed to dancing like she usually was. Ever since Gwydyr, there was a part of herself that scared her and she thought that maybe if she got out of her comfort zone a little, it would somehow chase that itching darkness away.

"Listen to this," Birdie said, holding the Dickens book up to her face. "I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle."

"Beautiful," Ophelia murmured distractedly. "Now tilt your head this way, I don't want to burn you with the curling iron."

"Ugh, kids these days," Birdie complained.

A knock came at the door before it was opened by Rose.

"Any sign of Marigold?" she asked, tucking a gray flyaway behind her ear.

The girls shook their heads.

Rose lifted her eyebrows and sighed. "Alright, well I have your dinner ready for you when you two are dressed."

"But they have food at the dance," Ophelia said.

Rose scoffed. "All of that Jell-O and crackers? Sakes alive, I don't think you can get full on all of that, it's filled with all sorts of..." her voice trailed off as she went downstairs.

Birdie and Ophelia exchanged a glance in the mirror. They both knew where Marigold was, of course.

"She used to love dances," Ophelia said sadly as she brushed out Birdie's hair.

"She used to love a lot of things."

Ophelia gently swept half of Birdie's hair up into a subtle twist. "Do you think it was a mistake to summon the forest?"

Birdie thought about it for a moment, remembering the headaches she kept having and the visions she saw. "No," she said finally. "We didn't have a choice. We had to save the ghosts and Wyatt. Now, is it a mistake to keep going into it? That, I don't know."

Hurried footsteps bounded up the stairs before Marigold burst through the door. She made sure to close it before whirling on them.

"You'll never guess what I found," she said breathlessly. "We have to go to Gwydyr right now--wait, why are you doing Birdie's..." Realization dawned on her.