Faire Exchange: Chapter 23

Halley decides Rina isn't that great.

Sorry this chapter is late. I was busy last week preparing for the Praxis exam, which I’m pretty sure I passed. I didn’t want to put this up without an illustration, so now that that’s ready, we’re ready to go.

New to the story? Click below to catch up:

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She didn't know what to think anymore. Just about everybody in class loved Lady Rina now, but Halley couldn't be happy about it. Especially after being cooped up in her room all afternoon because of what happened with Paul's sister. She couldn't watch any shows, play any games, see any friends. She'd had to tell Anja she couldn't come over, and Halley could really use someone like Anja right now.

Daddy called her down for dinner. He had prepared fish with rice and beets for dinner. Not Halley's ideal meal, but at least there were beets. She took her seat and started eating.

"Someone doesn't look like she's in a good mood," Daddy said.

Halley ran her fork through the rice. "I guess not."

"Did something happen with Ms. Rina?"

He never got it right. It's supposed to be Lady Rina. "Sort of," Halley said. "I've been thinking about what you said."

"Is that right?"

"Uh huh. I don't think I should be playing with Lady Rina anymore."

"Were you playing with her today?"

Halley froze the prongs of her fork deep in her rice.

"After I clearly told you not to?" Daddy said.

"I… only a little," Halley said. "It's just, everybody in class wanted to meet her, and—"

"And you didn't follow my instructions. But go ahead and tell me, what made you decide you shouldn't play with Rina?"

"Well, we were at recess, when this boy—this fifth grade boy—comes up and starts saying all this mean stuff to her. And then she got so, so mad, she started throwing all this lightning and these explosions at him."

"Explosions?"

"Uh huh. I hadn't ever seen her that angry. I thought she was gonna hurt him. I mean, what he said was mean, but… Well, I thought she was being mean, too."

"That's what it sounds like."

"And it made me think… what if I ever made her mad like that? What'll she do to me? And it made me think, what if she hasn't been doing stuff just as funny pranks? What if she's just mad about something, or just plain mean?"

"I'm very glad to hear that, Halley. As a matter of fact, I've been thinking the same thing."

"You have?"

"Of course. I've been hearing about this girl and her pranks from the other parents, and she does not sound like a very happy or kind person at all. I keep wondering when she's going to turn on you, and I'm glad she hasn't. See, this Rina really sounds to me like nothing more than a regular bully. And one thing I know about bullies is they're basically cowards. They want an easy win, so they pick on someone who can't fight back. But as soon as they face a real challenge, they fold right up."

Halley lowered her head. "Hm… cowards…"

"Something on your mind?"

"After Rina threw those explosions, she started crying." And after that Rina's friend Nadia came up, and they talked by themselves for what seemed like forever.

"There you go," Daddy said. "She couldn't take it when someone stood up to her, so she cried rather than face up to it."

Halley said. "I used to think Rina was brave, and strong."

"Of course she's strong. She's magic. She can basically do what she wants. A coward isn't just somebody who runs away, it's somebody who does what's easy instead of doing what's right."

"So Rina is a coward."

"So what do you think the right thing to do is?"

"It's to stop playing with Rina." But there was one problem… or really half a dozen. "It's just, a lot of the other kids in class love her. Even my friends. I've been telling them about her, I introduced them—what'll they think?"

"And what do you think the right thing to do is?"

"I don't know. What do you think it is?"

"I think maybe you should tell them what you told me. If they ask."

"You think they'll understand?"

"If they're your friends, they'll understand."

That was small comfort. Everybody's been so excited about the fifth-grade Wyrdnin. What if they all decided to stick with Rina instead of Halley?

What if this is just the thing that would make Rina turn on her?