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Lumi
“Mama! Are you okay?” Ade cries as soon as I hobble out of the medical room. She’s sitting on a bench with Sacha who takes one look at my panicked face and tugs Ade to her feet. Jasmine and her guys are close behind.
“Sure am, baby!” I beam at her. “I’m just absolutely starving. Can we go and get some dinner?”
“At the snack bar?” Ade asks hopefully.
“No, they don’t do food,” I say apologetically.
“But it’s called—”
“I know.” I sigh. Even if they did do proper food, I just want to get as far away from this rink as quickly as possible.
“Hey, why don’t you check out that new restaurant in town,” Ash suggests.
“What new place?” I frown. I’m not so great at keeping up with town gossip, but I’m pretty sure I would have heard if a new eatery had opened up.
“Chez Jas.”
“I’ve not heard of it.”
“It’s pretty exclusive,” he replies, his eyes twinkling.
“Oh my goddess, Ash! Stop teasing her. He means our house, Lumi. Would the three of you like to come to ours for dinner? Ash’ll cook.”
“Oh.”
“Yes please! Can we, Mama? Ya-Ya will you come too?”
“Sure,” Sacha grins at Ade, never one to turn down free food.
“Mama?”
“Okay.”
“Great!” Jas grins at me. “Come on Ade, I’ll take you to get your shoes and I’ll drive Betty back to my place. Your mum shouldn’t be driving with that ankle. Lumi, want me to grab your shoes for you?”
“Please, I’m gonna—”
“Take off and meet us at the house? Yeah, I know. See you in a bit.”
Relieved that Jas has got my back, I quickly say goodbye to Ade and hobble out of the rink enclosure to the car park. I check no one is around and then shift into a ladybug, quickly stretching my wings and taking flight.
The trip to Jasmine’s house is safe and swift, giving me time to clear my head and calm down. By the time I land on her driveway and shift back, I’m much more stable. And my ankle is already healing. While I wait for the others to get home, I use my air magic to blow away the dead leaves from the drive, and my water magic to give the parched looking plants a much needed drink.
I’m playing with combining my air and water magic to create ice in Jas’ water fountain when they pull up. Jas’ guys in a beefy black truck, and Jas behind the wheel of Betty.
They climb out and Ash teases me that I could have gone straight in because I know the spare key is under the plant pot, but I linger in the driveway wanting to speak to Jasmine.
“Hey, Ade,” Ash calls out. “Want to be my sous-chef?”
“Yeah!” Ade yells, racing into the house. I catch Ash’s eye and mouth ‘thank you’ to him. He nods and closes the door, giving Jas and I privacy.
“Let’s go into the garden, there’s a swing seat,” Jas offers.
Wordlessly, I follow her and neither of us speaks until we’re seated.
“You’re freaking out,” she states in a matter of fact tone.
