so I was mired in a tidal wave of panic.
“What does it look like?” Monica asked, her lower lip trembling.
“It looks fine,” Hunter lied quickly.
Tristan burst out laughing. “It looks stupid. How did you even manage that?”
I was distinctly uncomfortable with the question and tried to maintain a calm veneer — complete with a quizzical expression right out of a Lifetime movie. I feared someone would figure out I was the source of whatever had happened.
“I didn’t do anything,” Monica snapped. “I was just standing here. I want to see.”
“It’s fine,” Hunter repeated, although I got the distinct impression he was trying to refrain from laughing. “It gives your face ... character.”
Monica’s glare only deepened. “Give me a mirror.”
“I don’t have a mirror.”
Her eyes moved to me. “Give me your mirror.”
It took me a moment to recover my voice. “I don’t have a mirror either. Sorry.”
“You did this,” she hissed, causing my heart to flutter. “You did this to me.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but I wasn’t sure I could deliver the denial with any form of plausibility. Thankfully, Hunter swooped in to save me from having to argue on my own behalf.
“How did she do it?” he challenged, calm. “She was standing a good three feet away. She never touched you.”
“Oh, she did it.” Monica refused to back down, her fingers going to the spots where her eyebrows used to be. “You saw the way she was looking at me.”
“And how was that?” Hunter squared his shoulders and shook his head. “You were attacking her, and needlessly. She hasn’t done anything to you. Going after her the way you did, it just reinforces your insecurity. You need to get over it.”
Monica growled. “Are you blaming this on me?”
“No, but ... you didn’t need to yell at her. We were just talking. We’ve known each other a long time. There’s nothing going on between us.”
“I think there’s only one way to prove that,” Tristan interjected. “Stormy should go out with me and then everybody will be happy. And you can put all those ugly rumors to rest about the status of your long-dead relationship.” The smile he sent me was blinding — and stomach-churning.
“I think I should go.” I refused to dignify Tristan’s half-hearted date offer with an answer that was likely to make things worse — if that was even possible.
“You can’t leave until you fix this,” Monica insisted, gesturing toward her brow.
“How am I supposed to fix that?” I was at a loss. “I’m not a cosmetologist.”
“And she didn’t cause the problem,” Hunter insisted.
“Then how did it happen?” Monica demanded.
“Were you by the fire?” Hunter, ever practical, immediately went to what he thought was a rational answer. “Maybe a spark landed in your eyebrows and didn’t ignite until you came over here.”
“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Monica shot back.
“No stupider than you insisting that Stormy somehow did it,” Hunter argued. “She didn’t touch you. She’s not some magical being from another planet. You’ve been drinking. You probably did it to yourself and don’t realize it.”
“I didn’t do it to myself!”
I was over the conversation. Completely and totally over it. “I really have to go.” I edged away from the group, desperately searching for Alice so we could make our escape. “It was great catching up. I’ll see you later.”
ALICE MAY HAVE GIVEN UP ON TRYING to snag Tristan for the evening — apparently he was making it impossible for her to corner him and turn on the charm — but she wasn’t ready to leave.
“I’m not done yet.”
“You’re done.” I was insistent as I dragged her away, ignoring her whining until we were at least a quarter of a mile away from the party. It was only then that she stopped fighting my efforts.
“First you make me go to a party I don’t want to go to and then you drag me away before I’m ready to leave,” she groused, scuffing her shoe against the ground as she glared. “When do we get to do something I want to do?”
“When you come up with a good idea,” I muttered, my mind busy as I contemplated what had happened. The initial surprise had given way to panic. I had no doubt I was the reason Monica no longer had eyebrows. How, though? Was it even possible? It didn’t feel possible.
“What’s up with you?” Alice asked after a few minutes. She was watching me with keen eyes. “Did something happen with Hunter?”
“Of course not.” The answer