CHAPTER 3
BELLS
Jamie is a ray of sunshine condensed into omega form.
He bounces into the coffee shop in a green vest and cream cardigan, bowtie perfectly tied. It's white with tiny orange foxes on it. Foxes in their own bowties.
I fucking love this guy.
"Bells!" He spots me immediately and waves with both hands like I might somehow miss the only person in the entire establishment wearing cottagecore as a lifestyle choice. "Sorry I'm late! Cheeto was having amoment."
"A moment?"
"He decided my leg was his new favorite pillow and refused to let me leave." Jamie slides into the seat across from me, setting a wrapped package on the table between us. "Orion had to bribe him with salmon jerky. It was a whole ordeal."
I try to picture that scenario—a blind tiger the size of a small car deciding Jamie's leg is the hill it's willing to die on—and find myself grinning despite everything.
"Sounds traumatic."
"It was!" But he's beaming, clearly not traumatized at all. "Anyway, I come bearing gifts."
He pushes the package toward me with ceremonial reverence. It's wrapped in black tissue paper with a silver ribbon, way fancier than I expected for something that's supposedly "as simple as possible."
"Should I open it now?"
"Obviously!" Jamie leans forward on his elbows, practically vibrating with excitement. "I want to see your face when you see it."
No pressure or anything.
I untie the ribbon carefully, peeling back the tissue paper to reveal?—
Oh.
It's a rabbit.
A white rabbit masquerade mask, simple and clean-lined and absolutely not what I expected. The shape curves gently around where my eyes would be, with two tall ears that sweep upward and back like they're caught mid-motion. The base color is pure white, but there's a subtle geometric pattern etched into the surface. Triangles and lines that create an almost crystalline effect, like frost on a windowpane.
It's simple. Minimal.
And it'sperfect.
"Jamie," I say, turning it over in my hands. The inside is lined with that practical fabric he and Orion recommended, soft against my fingertips. "This is..."
"You hate it." His face falls. "Rex said to keep it simple, and I tried to push back, but he was very insistent about no embellishments, no filigree, nothing that would stand out too much?—"
"I love it."
"—and I know that's probably some kind of passive-aggressive thing because you two have this whole rivals situation going on and he probably wanted to fuck with you but I did my best to make boring beautiful and… wait." Jamie blinks. "Youloveit?"
"I really do."
And the fucked up part?
I actually mean it.
Rex probably thought he was being clever, ordering me the most basic mask possible as some kind of commentary on how I'm a "cardboard cutout" or whatever bullshit insult he's been nursing since I joined the band.
But jokes on him, because Iloveit.