Lady in Stone

five.

ATLAS NOBLE

          "We only have three months to make some guy fall in love with you," I said. This was all a dream, it has to be. There's no way that a statue became human and is making me play matchmaker for her to save our lives.

"Do you know anyone suitable?" Adelia asked. The sun peaked through the curtains of the window, waking the world up with its beauty.

"I think so. I have two friends but one already has a girlfriend." Even though Steven probably didn't actually care about that girl, he was still unlikely to stay with Adelia long enough for him to love her.

"I'll go for him, I like a challenge." She said, smirking at me.

"You'll be making this even harder for us. It's bad enough that you have to get some rando to fall for you. That would take ages, and we are short on time." I said. My tone was rising at every word. I know I shouldn't be angry with her, but this was too crazy for me to handle.

"Fine."

My phone started ringing. I picked it up and saw that the caller was Olivia. I pressed the receive button.

"Hey, good morning." I tried to ease her, but I could feel her fuming from the other side of the line.

"I was so worried last night! When Jake said that you guys got lost in the woods for hours... Why didn't you call me when you got back?"

"I was just so exhausted, and it was really late so I thought you were asleep."

"Ok, just don't do that to me again. Rebecca is having a party tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to come." Adelia was creeping over to the desk in the corner of my eye, she picked up one of my math textbooks and flipped through the pages. A plan was formulated in my mind.

"Yeah, my mom's friend's daughter is staying here for the summer and my mom wants me to include her in stuff."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm sure nobody would mind," I heard the disappointment in her voice. Either she wanted to spend time alone with me or she was completely jealous. "What's her name?"

"Adelia. She's from Canada." Ugh, it felt so weird lying to her. I hope she wasn't able to unravel my lies. I don't have to be a fortune teller to know that it would end in our first screaming fest; she would storm off crying and I would be shouting her name into the wind, begging her to come back.

"I have to go. See you later babe." There was a click and her voice was gone. I sighed, we still had more days before the summer was over. What was the rush anyways?

I turned to Adelia, and she looked up at me from where she was standing by the bed. She petted the comforter, probably amazed at how soft it was.

"I think I know what to do," I confidently said. "There's a party tonight and you can schmooze someone into liking you. Which won't be hard-." Because you are very pretty. I bit my tongue. Stupid intrusive thoughts.

I took a good look at her. Her blonde hair reached past her knees and her dress was too outdated. If Jake and Steven even thought for one moment they would know that she looked like the statue from the garden.

"Your hair's too long." She looked down, examining it.

"Do you have any scissors?" She asked, and I grabbed the orange pair off my desk and handed it to her. They were safety scissors, definitely not the correct tool for cutting hair.

She took a piece of her hair and cut it off swiftly without hesitation. The strands sat lifelessly on the ground.

"Want to go to the bathroom? It would be an easier cleanup." I told her. I directed her to the bathroom and flicked the light on.

My sister's makeup and hair straightener were on the counter, left there from the night before. Adelia just started chopping, and I helped her with the back part.

Her hair was now at a collarbone length and it was even enough for nobody to think twice. I patted myself on the back. From my first time cutting hair, it looked pretty good. 

We walked over to Morgan's room, quiet as mice so we wouldn't wake up the cat that is my mom. I hoped she wasn't awake, that would make this next part difficult.

I turned the doorknob and the door hinges squeaked in protest as it slowly opened. I took a peek in, making sure she wasn't going to see us. The bed was rumbled up but I don't think she slept here last night.

"Whose room is this?" Adelia asked, taking in the messy room. There were strewn clothes on the floor next to the wooden dresser and trinkets piling up on the nightstand and desk.

"It's my sister's. Her name is Morgan. I think she went to a party last night. She just slept over at friends." It wasn't that concerning because she went out a lot. This wasn't the first time she didn't come back right away. Also, she was eighteen.

Dang. She was going to college out of state in the fall. I might not see her until Christmas or even later.

I thought I was going to start tearing up. "Let's just find you an outfit for today and the party."

I don't know if she saw the tear drop down my face, but she didn't comment on it.

I handed her some light wash jeans and she grabbed a baggy graphic t-shirt from the pile.

"I think we got the clothes." She said, smiling. I think she was excited. Must be weird being a statue for who knows how long.

Sigh. This was crazy, wasn't it? It's just my luck that something like this would happen to me.

☽☾☽☾☽☾

We sat in a booth in the back of Joanne's Dinner, discussing our plan. Well, it was more one sided. 

"I know exactly what to do already. Just trust me, that's how I got myself into this mess in the first place. I don't need a plan. You don't need to worry." She gave me a playful smirk and then sipped her milkshake.

I looked out the window, trying not to worry. If one of Olivia's friends saw us they would twist the story and tell her that I was two timing her. I hate her friends.

But then I saw someone, not Olivia's friend, but my sister. Morgan was across the street, waving at an alleyway. What the hell? 

She looked around, seeing if anyone was watching her. I scrunched my face, making it look like I didn't know what to order.

When she was sure the coast was clear, she walked away out of view. 

Someone came out of the alleyway, wearing all black with his hands in his pockets. Black sunglasses sat on his face, and he had... pearl white hair? Whoever he was, he was a shady character.

"Come on, lets go. I need to check something out." I said, putting some money on the counter to pay for our meal. I grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the seat. 

When we started running, the waitress yelled at us waving her spatula around. "Get back here! I never gave you the bill!" 

We pushed passed people on the street, hurrying to get to the other side. We were a good distance away from him, but he slipped in an out of our view like he knew he was being followed.

A wall of garbage cans toppled over, almost crushing us. It blocked the sidewalk, impossible to get over. Crap.

A crowd of concerned soccer moms rushed over to us, making sure we were okay.

"That was some freak accident."