He waved her off, his cheeks going pink.

In her coat pocket, her cell phone rang. She pulled it out and answered it.

“Princess Jaya? It’s Silas from St. Rosetta’s Fine Jewelers.”

“Oh, hi, Silas.” That was fast. She raised her eyebrows. “Is it ready so quickly?”

“I think you’d better come on back to the shop,” he said in a strange voice. “I’ve something to show you.”

“Okay.” Jaya met Grey’s eyes. “We’ll be right there.”

Grey

Grey’s hands shook while he stood by the spotless glass cases of opulent emerald earrings and blushing garnet rings, waiting for Silas to emerge from the back room. The recessed lighting caused all the gems to twinkle, as if they were winking at him, beckoning him closer. No, thank you. He’d had enough of jewelry to last a lifetime, probably more.

He loosened his uniform tie so he could breathe better, and looked over at Jaya, who smiled hesitantly at him. It had been nice of her to invite him along, especially considering (1) she thought the curse was bullshit and (2) it was her necklace.

Things had been different between them since the Aspen shopping trip—less tense, less fake, more real. Jaya wasn’t finding reasons to touch him anymore, nor was she laughing that throaty laugh all the time. It was like some barrier of inauthenticity had crumbled between them on that ski slope when they’d yelled at each other. Grey was glad. Dishonesty was one thing he couldn’t stand. His father might’ve been cruel, but he’d never lied to Grey, at least. He’d always been up-front about how he felt about him. Grey respected that.

And somehow, seeing the real Jaya Rao, Grey was realizing a little more every day how much he was coming to enjoy their time together. He was still a misanthrope, but she didn’t seem to mind his misanthropic ways. And when he caught sight of her waiting for him after class or in the common room before breakfast, it made him… happy. He thought back to the night of the hot tub, or even just to earlier that same day, in the bookstore. For the first time, he was letting himself get closer to a girl. For the first time, he felt like any other dude in high school.

Grey was becoming more aware with every passing day that Jaya was changing him. Maybe because she was the only person who knew every part of him and still wanted to be around him anyway. Bit by bit, she was chipping at the block of stone he’d always surrounded himself with. Bit by bit, she was unearthing who he really was underneath. And to his astonishment, Grey was okay with that. He was kind of excited to see who he was underneath too, even if just briefly.