And that was all I heard before everything faded to black.
Chapter Seventeen
Until You
I felt weak light hit my eyes, I opened them and I saw my light green pillowcase.
I blinked but when my eyes came back open, there it was. My light green pillowcase.
My pillowcase. From my bed. In my world.
I shot up to sitting and nearly blacked out, my head was so woozy. I lifted a hand to my head and closed my eyes tight until the feeling went away. Then I kept them closed thinking, well, guess all I had to do to get myself back to my world was give myself a head injury… good to know.
Then I slowly opened them and looked around.
Then my mouth dropped open.
My room looked like a hurricane had rushed through it. There were clothes and shoes and accessories everywhere. I spied some glossy bags, squinted, leaned forward and my heart slid into my throat.
Okay, well, there it was. The Cora of Tor’s world had come here, she hadn’t cleaned in two months and apparently she somehow managed to shop at exclusive department stores.
I flopped back to the pillows, whispering, “Shit.”
Then I felt the mattress under me. I’d always liked my mattress. It was firm and comfortable.
What it was not was firm but soft and downy like Tor’s.
Tor.
My nose started stinging and I sucked air in through it.
No more Tor (which I told myself was good). No more Aggie (which was not good). No more Salem (also not good) or Clarabelle (ditto) and, of course, all the girls in the kitchen who I had just figured out liked me.
No more fairytale.
A lone tear slid out of the side of my eye, down my temple and mingled in my hair.
“Good,” I whispered but it wasn’t a convincing whisper.
It was total bullshit.
Now I was home, heartbroken, having been played by the master, the black Prince Noctorno of a whole other world and it was clear just looking at my bedroom that I had a big mess to clean up, left by the other Cora.
First, I needed to get a cold compress for my head.
Then I would tackle the mess Cora made of my house and, probably, my life.
I gingerly got out of bed and just as gingerly walked across the room. I flinched at the bright lights of the bathroom when I turned them on. Then I winced when I saw the state of the bathroom (dirty towels, makeup and hair stuff everywhere). Then I stared at my mustard yellow bathroom suite which had obviously not been cleaned in two months but even if it was sparkling clean it would still look like crap.
“Goodie, I’m home,” I muttered, did my thing, dug through the stuff on the long bathroom counter (Cora, I saw, had also splurged on some pretty pricey face stuff and makeup). Found face soap, washed my face, opened a new toothbrush and brushed my teeth. I took three aspirin and washed them down cupping the water in my hand under the tap to do so. Then I wetted the sole clean washcloth I could find in my bathroom closet with cold water, wrung it out, folded it and wandered back to my bedroom to lie down thinking a quick rest, parents first (if I wasn’t disowned), friends second (if they were talking to me), work last (if I still had work).
I moved over the threshold, something caught my eye, I looked up and stopped dead.
Tor was standing there.
Tor wearing a pair of faded jeans (that looked really freaking good on him) and a navy blue, long-sleeved tee (that also looked really freaking good on him).
His feet were bare, his hair was messy and his eyes were on me.