When The Grave Calls (The Veil Diaries #9) - B.L. Brunnemer Page 0,5
they were cuddling as friends, maybe it was something more? “Oh well. I was curious.”
“It’s all the gossip lately, who she’s dating. Which one of the guys? It’s gotten worse since they all went on home study.”
“It doesn’t help that Lexie is living there now,” I muttered.
Jess’s head snapped around. “She’s living at Miles’ now?”
I nodded. “Ever since Dad got compelled things have been, I don’t know, weird between them.”
Jess shook her head, worry filling her eyes. “It seems dangerous to be friends with Lexie.”
I huffed. “With all the crazy supernatural stuff, yeah.”
Jess went back to her textbook. “It’s not good for the powerless around her.”
“Asher’s hardly powerless,” Lucy added. “He’s a werewolf.”
Jess scoffed and sent her a look. “Yeah, and whose fault was that?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re blaming Lexie for that? He let a werewolf use him as a pacifier.”
Jess’s face softened. “Okay, yeah, that was stupid.” She closed the book and turned to face us fully. “But Lexie is the reason he was there in the first place.”
I took a breath and tried to be reasonable. “I don’t think we can blame Lexie for that. Asher probably wanted to go.”
Jess got to her feet. “Yeah, my brother is stupidly loyal like that.” She headed through the pass through and down the hall to the kitchen.
I went back to my drawing.
“What are you working on?” Lucy leaned over from the chair. Her floral perfume filling my nose.
I quickly covered my sketch, my face burning. “Nothing. Just doodling.”
She grinned, her eyes lighting up. Before I knew what she was doing, she reached out and snagged the sketch pad out from under my homework.
I tried to snatch it back but she held it out of my reach and flipped it over.
She looked at the sketch of a long, flowing pink gown I had been designing for myself.
My heart slammed against my ribs. “I-i-it’s just a doodle.”
She smiled and looked over at me. “A doodle my butt. This is a design, and a damn good one.”
My cheeks warmed. “A good one?”
She nodded. “It’s beautiful. What would you make it out of?”
I squirmed in my seat as I looked down at my colored pencils. “A satin bodice with a tulle or lace skirt.”
A smile slipped across her face making it almost glow. “Delicate and feminine. That would be perfect for you.”
A flutter filled my chest. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” The tip of her tongue peeked out as she licked her lips.
Quickly, I looked down at my textbook and tried to get my wits back. I couldn’t be thinking like this. “Thanks.”
“Are you thinking about going into fashion design?”
I lifted my head and glanced at her before looking at my notebook. “Yeah, I’m actually hoping to get into Pratt next year, in Brooklyn.” Instantly I wished I could take the words back. I had never told anyone my plans. Not really. Not about fashion. Why the hell had it been so easy to tell Lucy about it?
“Have you designed anything else?” Her head dipped low to try and catch my gaze again.
I fiddled with my pencil for a moment as I tried to focus on just making a new friend of Lucy. As I settled into the familiar falsehood, I looked right at her. “A few costumes for the drama department.”
Lucy’s smile faltered a little as she cocked her head slightly. “Got any photos?”
I’d never shown anyone but Mrs. Archer my designs, and that was simply to get better at drawing them. I leaned against the side of the couch and brought up the photos. “I did design an Elizabethan gown for Romeo and Juliet last fall.” I showed her the red and white dress with gold embroidery.
Her jaw dropped as she took the phone from me. “Are those fake jewels in the embroidery?”
I could feel the smile as it stretched across my face “Yeah, I thought it would help emphasize that Juliet was higher in social stature. It was her ballgown when she met Romeo.”
She turned to me. “Did you do anything else?”
I nodded and swiped to the right. “This was her costume for the rest of the play. I went with a more middle class, underwhelming look to emphasize what she actually felt was important.”
“Love.” She turned and met my eyes. “You brought her character out so clearly without even needing her to say a word. That’s incredible.”
My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I met her sparkling eyes. Her eyes held mine as silence descended.