I'm stunned. "No way!"
"It's true," a still-squirming-and-blushing Chassie confirms rather stiltedly.
"Childhood friends?" I can't help guessing. "Boys next door, something like that?"
Chassie visibly hesitates, and I'm surprised when she turns to the school doctor, who then inclines his head as if giving his permission.
'The plot thickens' is all I can think...
And so it does, as Chassie turns back to me and says simply, "Damyan's also from Wunderland."THE SCHOOL DOCTOR'S one of the three dragon rulers of Summer, the other girl explains to me later on.
It's about ten in the evening, and while Chassie was only supposed to join me and my sisters for dinner at home, the way it's been raining endlessly outside has my friend shyly agreeing to stay for the night.
Which is a good thing, to be honest, since now we can talk more about all things Wunderland.
Chassie goes on to tell me that she was only seven when she first tumbled into a rabbit hole, and that Damyan and the other two dragons had become her de facto babysitters. It's all she's willing to say, however, and even though the cliffhanger's totally killing me, I just let it go. I might be new to this whole friendship thing, but even I know there are still privacy lines I can't cross, and besides...
"Be straight with me, okay?" The moment she nods, I burst out right away, "Why didn't you tell me about how entryways work?"
Chassie, however, only blinks at me. "What do you mean?"
"Wunderland's equivalent to an admission ticket for first-time visitors," I remind her impatiently. "Thou shalt not enter or leave if you don't...you know."
The penny eventually drops, and Chassie's expression turns sheepish. "Oh dear."
"Oh dear back atcha," I say sarcastically, and my friend chokes back a laugh.
"I'm so sorry, but I had no choice."
"Ha!"
""If I had warned you with the smallest hint, I'd have been totally banned. It's one of Wunderland's random rules—-"
"It's sexual exploitation," I mutter, "not rules."
"If it means anything," she says earnestly, "there's nothing Rayé or the others can do about it either. Wunderland makes up the rules—-"
"You're making Wunderland sound like it's a living, conscious thing—-"
"She kinda is. It's like..." Chassie pauses as if she visibly gropes for words. "It's like...how you'd imagine Mother Nature. Invisible but real, with a mind of its own...and unrivaled powers. Even if all of the rulers were to combine forces against Wunderland, it would be a lopsided fight, like angels rebelling against God..."
"Say no more." We all know what happened to those angels, and only an idiot would want to follow in their footsteps.
"I'm really sorry," Chassie says again.
"Forget it," I say with a shake of my head. "It's not your fault Wunderland's actually Paradise Lust—-"
Chassie's lips twitch. "I see what you did there—-"
"Good, right?" I do love my puns, and I love it even more when they don't come out lame and stupid like they sometimes do. "And just to be clear, I'm the one who should be apologizing, not you. I should've known better..." I notice the way Chassie's suddenly looking like she's champing at the bit, and I say resignedly, "You want to know, don't you?"
"I'm just so curious," Chassie says in a rush.
Knew it.
"Will you tell me what you chose? Please?"
"Only if..." Something suddenly occurs to me, and I almost gasp. "Um, Chassie..." I take my time clearing my throat. "What about you? If you were only seven—-"
Cassie looks shocked, then scandalized, then helplessly amused. "Addie!"
"What?" I feel rather defensive. "I'm just worried—-"
"Wunderland's rules about that only apply to adults," she reassures me. "With kids, it's really just a rabbit hole or a passageway. No strings attached."
"Thank God for that," I say feelingly.
"And you?" Chassie's back to looking hopeful again.
"Promise you won't laugh?"
"Of course."
"There was a chest of cookies on the table..."
"There almost always is," Chassie murmurs.
"And I chose..." I take a deep breath. "Eat me—-"
"Oh." Chassie looks like she's about to cry...with tears of laughter.
"Don't you dare—-hey! You promised you wouldn't laugh!"
But the other girl's already clutching her sides and literally rolling on the carpeted floor.
"I hate you," I grumble without heat.
Chassie's still laughing.
"It's not that funny!"
But apparently it is, since another minute passes before my friend's able to get a hold of herself again. She sits up and wipes tears away from her eyes, saying, "I'm sorry."
"Ha!"
"I really am," she insists, "but..."
I roll my eyes. Of course there's a but.
"Since I also knew Rayé's interested in you," Chassie explains, "I wasn't really worried. He's notoriously possessive like most cats are, so I knew there wasn't the smallest chance you'd end up with another man—-"
I stare at her in horror. "Another man? I could've ended up with another man?"
"Let me explain," Chassie says quickly, seeing that I'm about to go berserk. "Since you're an Alice—-"
"I'm a what?"
"It's like a blood type, basically—-"