''I get it,'' he said, ''the sun so loved the moon...''
His voice trailed off. We both knew the story. We knew it all too well. He was looking at me thoughtfully. I, however, turned away.
''What if,'' I began, ''the sun didn't want to die for the m...
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"If you don't stop eating my kettle corn, I will literally slap you in the groin. Don't test me, Denvers."
Gray grinned at me from across the picnic table and tried, once again, to slip his slimy fingers into the container of popcorn that I was enjoying. My eyes narrowed and Ben, who was sitting beside me, laughed loudly.
"I'm sorry, what?"
I shot my best friend a look and glared back at the boy across from me who was suspiciously eyeing my food. "Malik's been teaching me self-defense. My favorite is the groin slap."
Gray put his head in his hands and Ben laughed again and smacked the other boy on the shoulder.
"Sucks for you, dude."
When Gray looked back up his face was screwed up in pain at the memory of our training sessions. I, however, smiled fondly at the memory.
"Tell me about it," he muttered.
At that moment, Tilly and Harry arrived carrying the rest of the food we'd ordered and joined us at the table. I distinctly noticed that my brother chose the spot next to her while there were more comfortable spots to sit in. I chuckled a little under my breath as he squeezed in next to Ben who gave him a wild 'what the hell are you doing' look. Harry, however, didn't seem to notice as he was engaged in conversation with Tilly. I needed to ask her about my dream, but now was hardly the time to worry about that.
Harry had reluctantly agreed to accompany my friends and me to the festival. He needed to see that we were all still able to be normal regardless of the different abilities we all had. Luckily, Tilly seemed to be very convincing in how normal she could be. She never struck me as someone who was naturally flirty but as she and my brother engaged in conversation, I saw that she was a natural at it. Harry was practically melting. I wanted to gag.
All around us, the people of West Acres celebrated the fall festival. Different booths from different companies were set up around the square. The sun was setting and the festive lights that had been hung up along the storefronts were just starting to come on. The entire street smelled of fair food and cinnamon.
My exhaustion from my nightmares was curbed by the current sugar high I was riding. Gray had held up his end of the bargain. I had eaten almost everything that I saw.
"I swear you're going to make me go broke," Gray remarked, watching me chow down. I scoffed.
Harry nodded sympathetically at Gray. "You should never have made the deal, man."
"I once saw her eat her body weight in popcorn," Ben added snidely. I elbowed him and bit down on a hot dog.
With my mouth full I said, "It's rude to talk about a lady's weight, didn't you know?"
Tilly laughed loudly. "Let me know when you find a lady and we will certainly not talk about her weight."
