Three Cursed Gods

BEFORE : PART THREE

"Mika...Do you believe in magic?"

McKayla's head snapped up. She was in Linda's bedroom, making friendship bracelets with Linda. She'd had seen some on the internet and had decided that it was paramount that they had some, and McKayla had happily agreed. Over the past two years or so, this had become a custom for McKayla, to comply with Linda's every wish. She didn't mind—it was much better than being forced to take the lead, and potentially embarassing herself.

She paused before responding to the question. "What do you mean?" Was this Linda's way of telling her that she could see things too? Was she not alone anymore?

"I don't mean fairies and pixies or that stuff." Linda leaned forward conspiratorially, her glorious hair shifting between colors in the light. "I mean like...when you get an A+ in a test that you didn't study for. Or you find something you've been looking for for months. Or...I don't know. Little things like that."

McKayla wasn't sure Linda was speaking about the same kind of magic that she saw, but she nodded eagerly anyway. "It's true! I see it too!"

Linda smiled. "Finally, someone who believes me! When I told Mama and Papa at dinner the other night, they just looked at each other as if I was a little loco. They don't understand." She gave her friend a warm look. "But you do."

She turned back to her friendship bracelets, the conversation quickly forgotten, but McKayla sat for a while, slightly shell-shocked. When Linda had looked at her, saying that she was the only one who understood her...McKayla felt a rush of warmth flood her, leaving her a little breathless, but it was over the minute she'd looked away. She wanted Linda to look at her like that again. She needed her to.

"You know why the people at school think I'm crazy?" she said tentatively. She wasn't sure how much Linda knew and worried that saying too much would scare her off.

"I heard a bit..." Linda frowned. "They said you were shouting about seeing something in the woods? Like a...ripple, or something?"

"Yeah," she said, becoming more and more emboldened the more she spoke. "Yeah, I did see a ripple." She continued on to tell Linda the story of that day.

Linda listened quietly, nodding, and when McKayla finished it was quiet for a while. "That is a cool story," Linda admitted finally.

"So, you believe me? You know I was telling the truth?"

Linda smiled, and McKayla let out a breath, relief flooding her veins. At least, until—"Don't worry, Mika. I know you were joking. It's okay though—we'll keep it our little secret." She leaned closer and whispered, "If they think we're crazy, they'll leave us alone."

McKayla laughed nervously. "Linda, I'm not kidding. I actually saw that."

Linda's face flashed with brief annoyance. "Mika. We're best friends. You can tell me the truth." When Mckayla didn't respond, uncertainty began to creep over Linda's expression. "...You were joking...right?"

McKayla could tell that this was the moment—either she told the truth and risked losing Linda forever, or she lied, and kept her best friend. It wasn't a hard decision.

"Right," she said, as Linda burst into relieved laughter. "Just kidding."

"You almost got me there, Mika. I was worried for a second."

McKayla smiled in return, but it felt forced. All the apprehensiveness she felt, however, flew out of the window when Linda patted her on the arm, as she slowly ended her laughter.

McKayla's sensations zeroed in on the touch—on the feel of Linda's soft hands on her bare skin. They'd held hands many times before, but this time...This time felt different. More important somehow. The warm feeling from earlier rushed in again, and McKayla stared at her best friend in the light.

What was happening to her?

She assumed that this night was a fluke, and thought nothing of it, except when Linda reached for her hand on the way to school, McKayla felt a thrill jolt through her. She examined Linda again, under the cover of her curls, and marveled again at how pretty she was. Her hair caught McKayla's attention the most—the way the light glimmered and shifted over it left her mesmerized. Linda.

This continued, over months—even the smallest brush or touch was enough to set McKayla's heart racing, her breath slightly uneven. She thought about it one night, remembering her favorite Disney channel shows, and the way girls who had a crush would often describe a feeling not unlike what she was feeling for Linda. So, was this that, then? A crush? No—the characters in the shows only described this feeling when talking about boys, and Linda was (obviously) a girl. And while McKayla certainly didn't feel anything for the boys at school, she'd seen some on TV that...well, in the words of Linda, were 'very, very hot'. But even those were fleeting attractions, ones that she felt, but never thought of again. Linda, though...Linda she couldn't stop thinking about. All the time, she daydreamed about the silkiness of her hair, the softness of her palm, the way she bit her lip when she was thinking...

"Mom?"

"Yes, honey?" Her mother was preparing dinner—spaghetti bolognese—and McKayla climbed on the kitchen stool as she watched.

"How do you know if you have a crush on someone?"

Her mother stilled, placing the sauce jar back on the table. She turned to McKayla. "Is there someone you think you might have...feelings for?"

"Ye—es." McKayla hadn't realized how awkward this conversation would feel, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "At least, I think so." She paused there, waiting to see what her mother would say.

Her mom just turned back to the stove, emptying the sauce jar into the pot. "Well, if you think you like him—for his personality as well as his looks—then, you probably do."

"But...but what if 'he'...is a 'she'?" She held her breath as she waited for her mother's response. What if she told her that she was imagining things? What if she told her that there was something wrong with her? There was nothing wrong with her—at least she didn't think so. But what if she was wrong about that?

Luckily, her mother didn't say anything like that, just raised her eyebrows slightly. "Then...that's okay. It doesn't change anything."

"So, it's still a normal crush?" McKayla asked, wanting the clarification.

"Of course!" Her expression softened, as she looked at McKayla again. "You can like guys, or girls, or both, or neither...It's perfectly normal, McKayla. Don't worry."

The talk with her mom lifted her spirits a bit, but they were dampened by the fact that Linda was painfully oblivious to McKayla's inner torment. She knew that it was entirely possible that Linda didn't like girls at all, but she didn't know how to bring up the subject. It was obvious, though, that Linda did like boys. A lot.

"Do you think Danny is cute?" she asked once, when they were ten years old while she and McKayla made cupcakes in the Robinson's pristine kitchen. McKayla had been enamored with Linda for around a year now, and was no closer to finding out if Linda felt even the slightest bit the same. "Danny in our class, I mean." Linda said, as if she needed the clarification.

McKayla thought about Danny and his short brown hair and flat gray eyes and the dimple in his chin. She thought about his sharp grin that deceived even the harshest of teachers into giving him some slack. She thought about how his clothes seemed perpetually covered in dirt and grime, a result of his rolling around in the mud every recess. And she thought about that day, four years ago, when she'd emerged from those woods and he'd been the first to laugh at her, his cackles cruel and mocking.

"No."

"Ugh, Mika, you say that about all the guys! Is there anyone you're even slightly into?"

You, she thought. "No," she said.

Linda shook her head. "McKayla? I think you're going to have to face the fact that you're going to die alone."

A/N: don't forget to vote and comment!