Luna sat at her desk, staring out the window in hopes that Autumn would reappear. It was getting dark. Had she gotten lost? Would she be okay overnight? No, that was ridiculous; she’d be back soon. Autumn was probably just stringing them along to punish them for making her angry.

Summer was sitting cross-legged on the bedspread, arms and wings fidgeting. She was muttering to herself and breathing deeply. Occasionally, she’d glance at the window too, but for the most part was staring off into nowhere.

“You’ve fought before, right?” Luna asked. “That’s what siblings do, right?”

“We fight all the time,” Summer replied, then hunched over and corrected, “Well, we fight sometimes. But we don’t usually separate like this. I have no idea where she is. And if she gets hurt, it’s my fault.”

“She won’t get hurt,” Luna insisted, walking over and sitting down next to Summer. “Autumn is the responsible one, right? She wouldn’t do something that could get her in trouble.”

Summer hugged her legs to her chest and mumbled, “I hope so.”

That night, Connor’s mother had chosen to stay late at her studio to finish up a project. His father had made dinner by himself. The two sat across from each other, eating slowly. Finally, Connor’s father sat his fork down and cleared his throat.

“Today, I got a call from one of your friends,” he said slowly.

Connor’s stomach was in knots, and suddenly he was a lot less hungry.

“Who was it?” he asked.

“He didn’t give me a name, but he was asking if you were okay, because—according to him—your friends haven’t seen much of you the past couple of weeks. I’m a little confused, son, because you tell us that you’re going out to see your friends all the time.”

Who had done that? It wasn’t Eric, was it? Jacob? Robert? Edward? Which of his friends had totally screwed Connor with that phone call? Could it have been anyone except Eric? He wasn’t as close with any of the others.

“Connor, where do you actually go during the day if you’re not spending time with your friends?”

“I am,” Connor insisted, cold sweat on his forehead. “Are you sure they had the right number?”

“Well, they were asking for Connor Nguyen, so yes, I believe so.” Connor’s father sat up straight, and his broad frame almost seemed to put Connor in shadow. “I don’t appreciate you lying to me, son. I know you’re not out there playing with your friends. You have one chance to tell me the truth before there are consequences. Where are you going every day?”

He was fucked. The truth was right out of the question. His father wouldn’t believe it and Connor would get in trouble. Or, worse, his father would believe it and Connor would get in even more trouble.

“I’ve been trying to make some new friends,” he said. “So I haven’t been seeing my old friends as often as I usually do.”

His father started shaking his head.

“If that were true, you wouldn’t have had to hide it from me, even if you were—for some reason—hiding it from the rest of your friends.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t have any choice. You’re grounded, Connor. You’re not allowed to leave the house without me or your mother escorting you.”

“Bullshit!” Connor cried, then winced as his father shot a dirty glare at him. “That’s not fair, Dad. It’s my summer vacation. I’m trying to enjoy it.”

“Be that as it may, I can’t allow you to be off who-knows-where potentially getting into trouble. This is for your own good, son.”

“You can’t enforce this.”

“I can take you to work with me if I have to. Heaven knows you need job experience.”

There was nothing else to be said. Connor finished his meal quietly and returned to his room. Making sure the door was locked, he shoved his head under the pillow and screamed.

His summer was ruined. His relationship with Eric was ruined. His father wouldn’t be satisfied unless Connor came up with a believable excuse, but only one that made sense to hide from people. The only other option was to show his father the disk and let him pry the whole story out of Connor.

Summer, upon hearing the news, was somber.

“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted, sitting limply on the pillow. “Can you just sneak out of the house?”

“Maybe. But I don’t always know when he or Mom will be home.” Connor groaned. “I wish I didn’t have to be Connor. If I was two people, I could go out with Eric and Connor could just stay here. Is there faery magic that can help with that?”

“…Sort of?” Summer scratched her temple. “But nothing that I can do, even if Autumn were here to help. You might just actually be stuck.”

“Delightful.”

Connor did his best to focus on reading for as long as possible. Eventually, though, he could see the lights of a car entering the driveway. Another minute or two and the front door opened. He pressed his ear against the door and could hear the TV playing.

Slipping out of the room, Connor peeked around the corner into the living room. His mother was on the couch, munching on a TV dinner and staring vacantly at the tube (why was it called that?). Connor strode over and sat down, not looking at her.

“I heard what happened between you and your father today,” his mother said softly. “Do you want to explain what’s going on to me?”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Connor replied.

“Just the truth will do, honey.”

Connor was silent for a little while longer, then finally asked, “Why are you so honest all the time? It just complicates things. Everything is so much easier with little white lies. Nobody gets hurt. Sometimes it’s the only thing preventing people from getting hurt.”

His mother started stroking his hair and replied, “Oh, Connor, I know it’s so very tempting to think that way. But lies build up over time, and it gets hard to keep them straight. There are so many problems that could have just been avoided if I’d been more honest from the start. Besides, honesty is the bedrock of good relationships. It’s what’s kept my marriage stable all these years.”

“What if admitting you lied is just going to make everything worse?”

For a moment, his mother thought it over.

“I suppose it’s like pulling teeth,” she decided. “It’s unpleasant and you’re not going to be happy afterward, but you’re only in that situation because you didn’t take care of things like you should have. And it’s still a necessary thing that, in the long run, will make you happier and healthier.”

Would she say that if she knew the whole truth? Connor didn’t foresee any way that this didn’t blow up in his face. But here she was, asking him to let her take the weight off his shoulders. It would be such a relief, wouldn’t it, to just give in?

“I need some time to think,” Connor said, standing up, and his mother nodded.

Back in his room, Connor paced while Summer stared at the window. What was he to do? If his parents knew everything, they’d put a stop to him dating Eric. But they’d be able to help with Frost. But weren’t Summer and Autumn enough help there? And Connor didn’t know how well his parents would react to the pixies. Maybe the fact that they were friends with Sang would soften the blow?

The big problem was Luna’s relationship with Eric. His parents would never accept it. They’d take the disk away. Worse, they might pressure him into telling Eric the truth, and then Eric would hate Connor forever. But if Luna were to disappear overnight, Eric would be heartbroken. Connor couldn’t do that either.

“What do I do, Summer?” he asked.

“Telling your parents is a bad idea,” she insisted, not taking her eyes off the window. “Parents never understand what’s going on in their kids’ lives. They think they know what’s best for you but they’re not the ones who suffer for it if you get hurt.” Her wings buzzed. “Plus, they’ll never trust you ever again. Not after something this big.”

“I’m worried about that, too,” Connor admitted. “But maybe Autumn was wrong. Maybe I can do something about my family’s financial situation. There has to be a witch or somebody out there who’d pay for the glamour disk, right?”

“Maybe. Probably not as much as you think, though.”

“But it’d be better than nothing.”

Summer jumped to her feet and flew over to the window. Connor glanced over and then ran to the window himself. He pried it open just a crack and the pixie on the other side squeezed through.

“Autumn!” Summer cried, grabbing her sister in a tight hug. “Where in the world were you?! I was so worried! Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”

“Hey,” Autumn replied limply, looking away from Summer and Connor.

“Are you okay?” Connor asked.

“I’m fine.” Autumn pulled herself from Summer’s grip and sat down on the windowsill. “What’s going on?”

“My parents know I’ve been lying about hanging out with my friends and I’m grounded unless I tell them the truth but I can’t do that or they’ll freak out and just make everything worse and I’m so glad your back because I need to know what to do.”

Connor clasped his hands together and bit his lip, waiting for Autumn to cut through his confusion with razor-like wisdom.

She shrugged and replied, “I don’t know what to do.”

An hour passed. The three of them were sprawled out on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Connor was almost ready to give up hope of ever seeing his friends again, as himself or as Luna. Perhaps the answer would come to him in the morning, clear as day, but Connor couldn’t get his mind to rest for long enough to even contemplate sleeping.

“I should just tell them that I found a boyfriend,” he suggested, “and I was afraid of how they’d react. And then I’ll use the glamour disk to pretend to be him and trick them into believing it.”

“Your fake boyfriend is going to meet your parents without you?” Summer asked.

“Shit, you’re right. That won’t work.”

Summer sat up.

“Hang on,” she said. “What if we introduce me and Autumn to your parents? Just tell them that you’ve been hanging out with us this entire time. It’s not wrong.”

Connor groaned and propped himself up, replying, “That’s still a really scary idea. I don’t think Mom or Dad will understand. What if they forbid me from hanging out with you? How are you going to stay close enough to protect me, then?”

“Ooh, I like that,” Summer said. “We tell them that’s why you were afraid to tell them the truth. Boom, problem solved.”

“Summer, I am afraid of that happening.” Connor’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t want to lose you two.”

“Are they really the kind of people who wouldn’t let you be friends with faeries?” Summer asked.

“It’s… never really come up,” Connor admitted. “They seem open-minded. They don’t care that I like boys. But this is a little bigger than me being gay.”

“If you don’t have any reason to believe that it won’t work, then you should believe that it will, right?”

Connor groaned and turned to Autumn, asking, “What do you think?”

With a sigh, Autumn sat up and replied, “It’s better than not telling the truth at all, I guess.”

“Great… here goes nothing, I guess.”

Summer and Autumn waited in the hallway while Connor entered the living room. Both of his parents were sitting on the couch, curled up next to each other. Their attention shifted to him, but neither said anything.

Connor took a deep breath and said, “Alright, I’m going to tell you the truth.” He gestured down the hallway, and the pixies fluttered out to land on his shoulders. “This is Summer and Autumn. They were friends of Uncle Sang. I met them after we cleaned out his apartment and I’ve been hanging out with them ever since.” He let his gaze fall and added, “I never told you two because I was afraid that you wouldn’t be supportive of our friendship.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Summer chirped.

Slowly, Connor’s parents stood up from the couch and walked over. His mother held out a hand toward Autumn, then hesitated, like she wasn’t quite sure she was looking at something real. Connor’s father knelt down a little bit to get a better look at Summer.

“This is… This is quite a surprise,” he said, almost breathless.

Connor’s mother nodded, adding, “Faeries, in our home…”

After a moment, Connor’s father turned to him and said, “Connor, I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn’t be honest with me about things like this. I didn’t mean for you to feel like I wouldn’t support your relationships.”

“I’d definitely like to get to know you both,” his mother added, glancing between the pixies, “but I see no reason why Connor can’t be friends with you.”

“Glad to hear it, Missus Nguyen,” Summer said. Autumn simply grunted.

Back in the bedroom, Summer leapt from Connor’s shoulder and did a lap around the room.

“That was awesome!” she cried, pumping her fists into the air. “Told you it would work, Connor.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Connor said, hugging his arms and sitting down on the bed. “I just wish I didn’t have to lie to them.”

He waited for Autumn to say something, but she didn’t.

“Look on the bright side,” Summer insisted, floating down in front of his face. “Now you won’t need to worry about your parents wondering where you are all the time. Because they know you’ve got these two wonderful pixies taking care of you. And as soon as we take care of this Frost guy, your relationship with Eric will be secure for the rest of the summer.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Connor replied, sighing with relief. “Thank you. Both of you.”

QuillRabbit

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