Page 7 of Ice Me Out

It feels so normal, it’s almost surreal. This could have been my life, if I had decided to leave with Luke, rather than staying with our father.

Maybe it’s not too late. Maybe this can still be my life, if Luke forgives me.

I banish the thought, accepting a paper plate of the most mouthwatering funnel cake I’ve ever had.

Tonight I don’t want to think about the future. I have the rest of my life to worry about it.

Tonight I want to live in the here and now. I want to be a normal twenty-one-year-old girl without a care in the world. I want to celebrate my birthday with my twin brother and avoid thinking about the past and the future.

Chapter3

Lady Marmalade

Bex

Talking about the future, I should know that avoidance takes effort.

Here I am, enjoying the food, the atmosphere, the music that comes out of speakers set down the entire length of the pier, when Luke and Shane spot the tent of a fortune teller.

“Oh, fun!” my brother squeals. “Madame Svetlana is back.”

“Who’s Madame Svetlana?” I ask.

Luke lowers his voice, his tone conspiratorial. “She’s the fucking best fortune teller in the world. Everything she says comes true. I’m so glad she’s back. For a while there, they had replaced her with a super lame reproduction of The Mouth Of Truth that gave predictions. You know the stone monstrous face in Rome that will bite the hand of anyone who dares to lie with their hand in its mouth?”

I saw the monument Luke is talking about in a documentary about Italy. “I guess. But whether it’s the Mouth Of Truth, or a fortune teller, I doubt anyone can predict the future.”

Luke’s eyes widen. “Bex, how dare you! You’re lucky Madame Svetlana is busy tonight and didn’t hear you,” he says, pointing at the people in line outside the dark purple tent. “I swear to God that woman has a real gift. Everything she says comes to pass.”

“If you say so…” I fight the urge to roll my eyes.

Shane comes to my brother’s defense. “Luke is right, Bex. She predicted that Luke and I would fall in love.”

I’m not convinced. “No disrespect to your fortune teller,” I argue. “But I bet she saw you on a date, and it’s impossible not to notice the chemistry between you two.”

Luke looks at his boyfriend, his gaze immediately turning soft. “On the contrary, sis. When we first met, Shane and I couldn’t stand each other.”

“Really?” I ask, still skeptical.

“I swear, I hated Luke’s guts.” Shane offers. “It wasn’t really Luke’s fault or anything, but we’re the only two gay guys on the hockey team. At least the only two who are out. And from the first practice, our teammates started trying to set us up. How offensive is that?”

I can see his point.

“Yeah,” my brother agrees. “It’s so presumptuous. First off, there are other gay students on campus and in town. I just decided I was never going there just to prove a point.”

Shane chuckles. “Same. But then last year, after our team didn’t make the playoffs, we came out here with the rest of the team.”

Luke nods. “Yes. And a few of us ended up in Madame Svetlana’s tent. We wanted a prediction about this year’s championship.”

They’re so into it that I can’t help but indulge them. “And what did she say? Will you make it to the Frozen Four this year?”

Shane shrugs. “Svetlana couldn’t tell us anything about our hockey season. But she said that two men in her tent were destined to be together.”

Ha. I knew it would be something generic that they interpreted as an omen once things between them changed. “Right, and since you’re the only two who aren’t into girls…”

“No.” Luke interrupts me. “She said that their names started with L and S. And then added that hate would turn into love thanks to a circle.”

I eat the last of my funnel cake, and throw the paper plate in a trash can right behind me. “A circle?”