We spent the next few minutes in awkward silence, and I made it a point to avoid looking at Stephanie’s face, examining the motorcycle instead.

At least until she blurted out, “Are you straight? Is that why you don’t like me?”

I finally turned to her. Her eyes still looked a little red, but she seemed calm. So I said, “I like you well enough.”

“Not like that, you know—”

“I don’t. Stephanie, I don’t know. I’ve never liked anyone romantically. No crushes or anything like that whatsoever. And you know what, I’m glad. Because if having a crush on someone made me behave the way you used to—”

“That’s not why I acted like that,” she cut in, taking a deep breath. 

“I—I was jealous. I was jealous that you have freedom, that you somehow did everything right, and the constant comparisons my Dad made, but I still liked you, and I’m apparently gay, which I know would disappoint both my parents, and not just Dad, and I hate it.”

I blinked, staring at Stephanie, whose eyes were wet again, shining with unshed tears.

“It doesn’t excuse it. I didn’t deserve it,” I said. “I’m not Alina Starkov, Mrs. Bennet, Isabella Linton, Bella Swan or,” I shuddered, “The Archeron Sisters.”

“Who?”

I ignored her question. “You were horrible to me. And I can’t lower myself by overlooking that. I refuse to.”

‘But what if I could?’

I waved the thought away as soon as it strayed in.

My closest friends, the friends who had never let me down, were my mind and my pride. I might lose everything, but I wouldn’t lose them, no matter what.

She pursed her lips but nodded. “Thanks.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“For answering me. You didn’t have to.”

“No, I didn’t,” I agreed.

Chapter 8

Though, actually, since day jobs are rare in the entertainment business...

No, they're unusual in Vegas. I wouldn't say that they're rare, since there's always SFW stuff to take the kiddos to in the middle of the afternoon.

Hell, Zade herself just said two pages earlier that they have a 3 PM matinee every Saturday.

“So, Zade, you still gonna come see our band play tomorrow?” Jackson asked. He had asked me this earlier when we were eating together in the Employee Dining Room, which we cleverly refer to as the “EDR.” He had told me more about the original band that they had, that played their own songs and what they called themselves.

“Oh, yeah, Plain White T’s, right?”

Oh my god. CAN WE NOT.

Carrot Top and Wayne Newton grinned when they saw me, and I couldn’t help but let a smile spread across my own face as I stopped to greet them.

I know that both of these people are awkwardly dated references, but at the same time... the author suddenly wonders why she gets two C&D letters in the mail.

“You know why guys fawn over you, and some girls can’t stand you?”

It would be one thing if everybody fawned over Zade because of some underlying magical thing.

But we're 8 chapters in now, and she's literally done magic once. The magic in this story almost seems like an afterthought.

And, most importantly, how did she know about my magick?

Chapter 8 summary: One day during a rehearsal, Zade is left standing on the platform with Riley for a long while. She asks him why it is that Mac “Doesn't date other performers”. Riley says that it was before his time, but from what he can gather, Mac fell hard and fast for a girl who wasn't that into him. And the entire thing broke him.

As a bunch of them are leaving for the day, Jackson tells Zade about his band, and invites her to come listen to them. The others complain that the band plays mostly covers, but that their original stuff is pretty decent. Zade agrees to go, although Tad gets jealous when Jackson kisses Zade on the cheek before he leaves.

After everybody else goes, Mac asks Zade what she's doing for the rest of the evening. They agree to ride their bikes through the desert. However, as they're doing this, it starts to rain pretty hard, and they take shelter under the awning of a shop that closed a long time ago. It's chilly, so Mac holds Zade against him, and then they kiss. Zade brings up his rule, but he assures her that he's not doing anything he doesn't want to be.

The next day, Zade goes shopping, and we spend an unholy amount of time with descriptions of the dresses she tries on but doesn't buy. She also tells the interested shop clerk about how she's interested in both Jackson and Mac. After, she goes to get some other items, like shoes and bras. She randomly runs into two minor Vegas-based celebrities, who obviously know Zade. I mean... who doesn't?

As she's heading to the parking lot, she runs into a random girl who starts talking about Zade being powerful. She then blasts Zade against the wall using magic. Zade doesn't know what's happening, and decides to fight back, since it's what the girl seems to want. After pushing the other girl away, the girl seems happy, hops into a car, and zips away like nothing happened.