Page 31 of Stoney Gazes for Helpful Gorgons

She raises an eyebrow at me.

"Mum's cat," I answer.

"Ah. That's not good," she responds. "But I'm just Jack's friend-friend. We met because I lost my granny nearly two months ago."

Understanding dawns on my brother's face. "I'm sorry for your loss." It sounds a bit robotic and practised, but I can see the sentiment means a lot to the gorgon.

One of her snakes slithers down onto her shoulder, making Eddy jump.

"Rattle, not now," Rhea murmurs to the snake.

I smile, feeling very affectionate for her as she stands in my room and clearly does what she can to make my brother more comfortable with the situation.

"I should get going," Rhea says with a smile, heading towards the door.

"Rhea! Wait." I follow her out into the corridor, reaching out to grab hold of her arm. I tug her back around with a little too much force, making her crash into me. I steady her with a hand on her arm, but neither of us do anything to move apart. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know he was coming, and he only just turned up, I was going to message you..."

"Whoa, Jack, slow down. It's fine," she assures me, the expression on her face saying it really is.

"I just...don't want you to think I'm blowing you off." It matters to me that she doesn't think that. I don't want our friendship to end because of Dad's bad planning.

"You're not. Your brother needs you, I think it's really cute that you're spending time with him." She smiles up at me, and I realise I want to do anything to keep seeing that expression on her face.

"I'll make it up to you," I promise.

"You really don't need to."

"But I want to," I say softly. "I don't want to lose you over this." The thought of not having her around is harder than I thought it would be. I don't really know exactly when it happened, but she feels like one of the most important people in the world to me right now, and here I am blowing her off.

"Lose me? Jack, that's not going to happen."

"Right, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." I step back, putting some much-needed space between us.

"It'll just be the emotions," she promises, placing a hand on my chest. "Message me in a bit?"

"I will do," I promise.

"And have fun with your brother. You probably both need it." She pulls away and I instantly miss her touch.

I watch her leave, feeling disappointed that I won't get to spend time with her even if I know she's right and that my brother needs me.

I take a deep breath and head back into my room.

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," Eddy says as he looks up from his phone.

"Rhea isn't my girlfriend," I respond. "She's just a girl who is a friend."

"Then why do you look so disappointed?"

"That's in Dad."

"Oh." He looks down at his knees.

I sigh and go to sit next to him on the bed. "How often is he doing this?"

"It's the first time he's gone away with his girlfriend," Eddy responds. "But she's there all the time. I'm pretty sure she doesn't like me either. She made mushroom soup for dinner the other night."

"You hate mushrooms."