Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein

Author:Lori Goldstein [Goldstein, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Legends; Myths; Fables, General
ISBN: 9781250079169
Google: PWQ5BgAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00SEO83WQ
Goodreads: 24614859
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2014-12-31T17:00:00+00:00

20

Ptah! I lift my head and spit out sand. Tiny grains trickle down my V-neck.

Mina and Farrah apped me to the beach.

I’m lying on my stomach at the unpopulated end, facing the ocean. In front of me, the two of them twiddle their fingers.

“Oh,” Mina says, “we came by to say a quick ‘hi.’ So you knew we weren’t lying about wanting to come to dinner.”

Farrah gasps, but I laugh. “At least not this time, I say.”

“Touché, Sister.” Mina gives me a wry smile. “But we do have to decline your mom’s invite.”

Farrah changes her black headband to silver. “That anemic boy asked us out.”

Us?

Mina dabs gloss first on her own, then on Farrah’s lips. “And Azra?” she says, puckering. “Zar sisters always kiss and tell. Text us your details and we’ll text you ours.”

Ours? Really?

They disappear and I make a mental note to delete all incoming texts from Mina.

I prop myself up onto my elbows and wipe my face. My heart’s pounding from apping but also from a feeling in my gut that, for once, Farrah was right. Nate wasn’t inviting me. I was simply too invested to think clearly.

Flopping back down, I lie with my cheek on the sand and listen to the gentle break of the waves. Hypnotized by the sounds of the surf, at first I think Nate crouching down next to me is a mirage.

“Azra?”

But mirages don’t speak. Right?

“I was waiting for a text that you were coming,” he says. “We must have missed each other at the entrance somehow.”

So Nate’s text was an invitation. I should have known better than to doubt Mina’s well-honed expertise.

I scramble to sit up and discreetly brush grains of sand off my new cleavage, but Nate’s too close for me or my new cleavage to be anywhere near discreet.

Looking into his dark caramel eyes, I call on the confidence of my red bra. “Yeah, strange. Must have slipped right by you.” I push my hair behind my ears. “Anyway, sorry about not responding. I wasn’t sure until the last minute. I’ve got a family thing tonight.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to pull you away.”

“You didn’t. My family thing is why I’m here and not there.”

He laughs. Nate actually laughs at my joke.

“It’s getting dark.” I realize I have no idea how long I’ve been here. Mina and Farrah neglected to app my phone along with me, and I never wear a watch.

Nate looks at the darkening sky. “I know people come here for the sun and all, but I love it at night.”

And with that, my fleeting worry that I’m late for dinner goes out with the tide because I couldn’t agree more. The deserted beach at night, lit only by the moon and the stars … magic couldn’t do any better.

“Me too.” I tilt my head at the rolling surf. “It’s like a private screening. All this, just for me.”

Nate starts to stand. “And here I am interrupting. Sorry, do you want me to go?”

“No,” I say too loudly. “I mean, I think there’s maybe one more seat at this showing.

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