Conform or Suffer

Chapter 27 Hidden Expressions

11:30 a.m. at The Salad Princess

*

Dean Frog Burton sat with Avery-Joy and Quig. Their booth was next to rooms labeled karaoke or laser tag. Glowing ivy, covered glass windows, and fairy lights illuminated the dining area.

Quig's mind zoned out, and he thought about Grew-Ella.

*

The Past: Inside the Brownstone

Quig's wings twitched wildly as he sat down next to Grew-Ella in the dining room. He stumbled over his words. "But I'm in love with you."

"I can't date or tell you I love you. You're a noble elite, and I'm just acceptable. I'm not royal, like Madd-Ox. His lineage was from his birth mother." Grew-Ella used her hair to hide her expression.

He bolted up. "Don't worry, I'll come over tomorrow, and we'll go to the beach."

"You aren't angry?" Grew-Ella asked.

"I'm... um... sad, but everything will be alright." Quig walked out of the brownstone and climbed into his Royal Moth Car.

A for sale sign hung in the window.

Tears fell from his eyes until he whimpered. He slipped a phone out of his pocket. Ida's answering machine went on, and he spoke in Hack Elfish. "Please pick up. I can't drive myself home. You're wrong. She doesn't love me."

The phone message light went on, and a computer voice spoke. "You have four new messages from Dot.

Breaking glass startled him. He looked up. A man dressed in black threw another rock into the brownstone's window.

Quig's ex, Ann, stood by the man's side. "You lied to me. Why are you in disguise?"

"My father gave me a choice, Junior's life for Karen's."

She slugged him. "Leave her alone and go after me."

Trent twisted her arm twice and crawled through the broken window.

Quig called his grandmother. "Nan-Gran, call Yoleta. Tell her to send a security team over to the brownstone." Quig ran out of his car.

Ann kicked the door open. "He is going to kill Grew-Ella's mother."

Quig ran after him, tears stinging the corners of his eyes. He remembered something he hadn't before, the mumbling words Trent said. "My father gave me a choice. It's Junior's life for Karen's."

*

Quig's mind drifted back to reality.

Avery-Joy checked her phone for the time and weather. "The blizzard shifted and is heading to the islands, but we're still expecting icy rain." She sipped her glass of carrot juice. "Quig and I have a date lined up for you, but she is late."

"I wish Yoleta dumped me at the altar. No, I'd take her back." Dean Frog spilled his juice and wiped the orange liquid with a cloth napkin.

Quig patted the dean's shoulders. "She still loves you."

"I know." Clumps of the dean's lion mane broke in his hand as he tied strands into a man bun. "I hate my mane. I'm fifty-two, but my luscious locks have been graying and thinning since I was eighteen. I might shave it, but then I'd resemble a boy. If I were a full-earth human, it wouldn't be an issue." He turned into a dragon.

Avery-Joy jabbed her egg with a piece of toast, and the center oozed all over her spinach salad. "Your hair is fine, but I should write a single profile instead." She pushed her food away.

Quig glanced at his watch. "Avery-Joy is helping me pick a new suit for tonight, and I'm so...nervous."

"You refused to attend the last few meets and greets. How did you land a date?" he asked Quig.

Avery-Joy laughed to herself. "He is getting married, and I'm the best gal. Dot has been chosen as his special family to stand by him during the ceremony."

"I didn't know Quig was seeing anyone. Isn't Grew-Ella his best gal?" He turned to Quig. "Why would you hurt her feelings?"

"Well, Grew-Ella isn't excluded because she's the bride." Avery-Joy took another bite of her breakfast salad.

"When did this happen?" Dean Frog asked.

"Quig asked her this morning, and he and her parents planned a surprise wedding, but the media found out." Avery-Joy winked at the dean. "Okay, it was me. I'm the college's top blog reporter, and this story is too good not to blab. A story of a famous novelist rejecting Zill makes their love even more newsworthy."

"The media won't care about Grew-Ella otherwise," Dean Frog said.

Avery-Joy shook her head in disagreement. "No, they'd care. You and your youngest daughter were out of town for the media frenzy that took place when Grew-Ella vanished for weeks."

Dean smirked to himself. His wings stretched behind him. "Then I'll spill all the uncomfortable details in an email. Zill is a creep." He picked at his food and grimaced. "A friend of mine filmed it on her phone."

Avery-Joy stared at the entrance. "We're planning to invite you as your ex's date. She is coming through the door."

Yoleta squeezed in next to her ex. "Frog, I loved you, and still do, but don't mess with me. I've had a horrible week." She rubbed his back, but with her fingers, not her elbow, and she nuzzled against him. "Part of my new workhouse board job is to perform executions of government enemies."

"Are you threatening me?" Dean Frog asked.

She snatched a piece of fruit off his plate. "No, I'm whining that I hate my job, but I'm desperate for a wedding date. Madd-Ox might offer, but only to hide his stupid crush on Trent's  unacceptable daughter, Delia."

Dean Frog nodded, 'yes.'

A unicorn waitress tapped her foot, strutted up to Yoleta, and glared at her. "Why do they allow old bats like you to be board members? You're an ugly ma'am with huge muscles. Vex has my vote."

"You might be his only voter." Yoleta grinned as she stood. "You say, ma'am like it's a terrible word. Let me educate you. Ma'am is an American contraction for mademoiselle, meaning girl or woman, but it's also similar to the Hack Elfish word J-mam, which means royal goddess or princess. Remember, sweetie! I was queen, and a pretender like you will always be second to last."

"Yes, ma'am." The young woman sulked away.

Quig lowered his voice. "You're not going to shank her, are you?"

Yoleta messed with his hair and pinched his cheeks. "If I killed everyone rude to me, I'd be a moron." She exited with fast but purposeful steps.

"Avery-Joy, may you drive my station wagon to the dress and suit shop? I forgot to tell Yoleta something, and I'll call or text her on the way."