Envy (Fury) by Elizabeth Miles Read Free Book Online Page A

with a flourish of her hands. “Our best vanilla bean.”
    She was right. Vanilla, for all its lack of originality, actually was Skylar’s favorite. She felt a surge of happiness. This mystery girl got her.
    But as she was about to reach for it, she suddenly had the weird feeling that something—some one —was standing over her. And then she had a vision of Lucy, there next to her. Freezing breath on her cheek. Are you sure that’s what you want to be eating, Sky? she heard her sister saying. Baby fat is only cute when you’re a baby.
    She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, trying to block out Lucy’s voice.
    “Was I wrong? It’s not your favorite?” Meg’s face fell. She sounded genuinely disappointed.
    “No, no! It is. I just—I got distracted for a second.” Skylar found herself strangely compelled to please Meg. “Do you think I could have some water?” As Meg turned to fill up a glass, Skylar looked behind her, over both shoulders. Of course no one was there.
    She picked up a spoon and reminded herself that a few spoonfuls couldn’t hurt. “How did you know? Do I just read vanilla?”
    Meg giggled. “Just a guess. Go on, dig in. Have seconds if you want! You look like one of those sticks who could eat anything and never gain a pound.”
    Skylar blushed; she felt embarrassed and a little proud. She had tried so hard to lose weight after Lucy . . . well, since the accident. She clutched the spoon tighter and was about take a bite when Meg stuck out her hand.
    “Wait! I almost forgot the most important topping!” Meg started rummaging around behind the counter.
    “Oh, I don’t need any toppings—I like it plain,” Skylar said. But Meg was already tucking a flower into the side of the bowl. It was shockingly red against the white ice cream. For some reason Skylar found herself thinking of a nosebleed, the way a tissue looked when soaked with spots of blood.
    “There. Perfect!” Meg stood back, admiring the bowl. Skylar smiled too, and finally took a bite.
    “It’s delicious,” she said, letting a spoonful melt on her tongue. “Thank you.” For the first time all day she felt her shoulders relax a little.
    “I’m a Rocky Road girl myself,” Meg said, running a hand through her hair.
    “So, where do you go to school?” Skylar asked.
    Meg’s cornflower eyes met Skylar’s. “I’m taking some time off,” she said with a crooked smile, not offering anything else. Skylar anxiously wondered whether she’d overstepped some invisible line. Maybe Meg couldn’t afford college and that’s why she had the ice cream job.
    “I like your hair,” Skylar said to change the subject, and tookanother bite. The ice cream in her mouth, its texture and coolness, calmed her down.
    “Oh, thanks! I kept it really short for a while, but I decided to grow it out last month.” Meg waved a hand vaguely. “I change my look a lot. Luckily, my hair grows insanely fast.”
    Skylar pulled a handful of hair over her shoulder and examined it for split ends. “My hair is just so plain. Like my ice cream preferences, I guess. I’m thinking about changing mine too.”
    “Like how?” Meg asked.
    “I don’t know, like dye it even lighter, maybe? Or try bangs?” Skylar pulled her hair from the pins so that she and Meg could see it better. It felt nice to be chatting about hair with someone who wasn’t just telling her to spray the back of an updo with extra-strength hair spray.
    “Bangs could be cool,” Meg said, pursing her lips like she was really thinking about it. “It’s so weird how even the smallest change can really make a difference, isn’t it?”
    The prospect of changing her look made Skylar’s heart thump in her chest. “Yeah. Like getting bangs could be a total makeover.”
    “Well, a total makeover would be a little more intense than a haircut,” Meg said with a gently prodding smile. “What else would you do? What else would you change?”
    Everything , Skylar thought. She thought