Faire Exchange: Chapter 3

Gregg falls in love.

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Rina Algruent was the most beautiful girl Gregg had ever seen.

He was late that morning, so he didn't see when Mrs. Horn led her in, and being in Ms. Ivory's class, he never got to experience her introduction. He did hear what Jeremy and Martin had to say about her while the girls went to gym class. And he saw just how beaten-up the girls looked on the way to lunch. But when he laid eyes on Rina in the cafeteria line, he was blown away by that hair… those eyes… those ears… that nose.

He was so stunned that he didn't notice the line bunching behind him.

Gregg moved forward, letting the cafeteria dude scoop on whatever, and noted what was on Rina's plate—mixed fruits, a cut of steak, some black-eyed peas. He wondered if she ate anything like it back home, or if this was something new and exotic for her.

She grabbed a roll, handling that piece of bread so delicately with such dainty fingers.

Gregg took a roll just like it, added it to his tray, and waited in the checkout line behind her. With her around, his heart felt like a boiling pot rattling on the stove.

The other cafeteria dude rang her up, charging a card she gave him. She took up her tray, turned, and shot Gregg a powerful, stern glare. He started and nearly dropped his lunch. He'd never had a girl frighten him so much.

Rina turned away from him and moved on to find a table.

Gregg would have to be careful. He'd heard the horror stories. He didn't want a whole garden growing on his face just because he peeved her off.

He took his lunch to his usual table with Jeremy, Martin, and Artie on one end, and Nadia Xu and her friends on the other. He sat between Jeremy and Nadia, who'd been one of his best friends since kindergarten, since they both had the same piano teacher. His friends tended to ignore her, and her friends tended to ignore him, which left him more or less sitting on the border.

"Dude," Jeremy said, "I'm glad you got out of there okay. I thought she was gonna turn you into a newt or something."

"Really?" Gregg said. How weird—they'd only known Rina a few hours and already they were treating her magic as something ordinary.

Nadia said, "I thought she was gonna set your hair on fire, personally." She was swiping on her new phone, the one her parents got her for her birthday. They were both optometrists, and made a lot of money.

"What, were you taking bets or something?" Gregg said. "It's not like I said anything to her."

"With a girl like her, I don't think you have to."

"Is she really that bad?"

Nadia lowered her head and gritted her teeth. "You weren't there in gym class."

"And don't forget about her origami bird," Jeremy said. Gregg had heard from Martin. It was Becky Howell who'd swatted it, to which Rina responded by launching all of Becky's books and papers in the air and scattering them throughout the room.

"What about you?" Gregg asked Martin. "You ever figure out what to do with that flower?"

"I'm gonna take it home and put it my grandma's garden," Martin said. "I figured it belonged with its own kind."

"Makes sense, I guess. But now what? Isn't somebody gonna do something about this?"

"Not without that 'bangle' Mr. Newell was talking about."

"I just wish I could find something," Nadia said. "I've been searching for stuff about Faerie, elves, magic, whatever, and all I'm getting is stupid new-agey stuff and dumb DeviantArt pages."

Gregg said, "Jeremy, didn't you say the President was involved?"

"That's what Mr. Newell said. But it sounds like this has just been one big surprise for everybody."

"And there's something that isn't surprising." Martin pointed across the room. "Look at Rina."

Gregg turned his head. Sure, he'd look at Rina anytime.

She was sitting at a table all by herself. Other girls had crammed together at other tables to avoid her. She picked at her tray and ate in small nibbles.

Rina didn't even have one friend. What could Gregg do, though? After what he'd heard, who'd want to be friends with someone like her? What would everybody else think?

They all turned away so she wouldn't see them staring.

"I know it's rough," Nadia said. "My dad didn't even speak English when he first came here. I can't imagine what it's like for her. There's no telling what she had to leave behind. But still…"

"Oh my God," Jeremy said, "she just picked up a cockroach!"

Gregg twisted back around and saw it wriggling in her fingers, twitching its antennae. She must have plucked it right off the floor.

She popped it into her mouth, and chewed and swallowed it whole.

Disgusted groans crept up all over the cafeteria.

Gregg looked at his own food, feeling like a cockroach was skittering around in his stomach as well. He and his friends got up and threw away their lunches. How could they possibly finish?

Why did somebody as beautiful as her have to be so ugly? There had to be more to her than all this. There just had to be. If there wasn't, then Gregg figured there must be something seriously wrong with him.

He just hoped Jeremy and Martin didn't notice him sneaking in a glance at her on the way out.