THIRTEEN: A Whole New World - Pt. 2

Lana wasn't in school the next day.

As I stared at her empty desk, my skin crawled with guilt, like little bugs dancing across my skin. I can't believe I've failed, I thought to myself.

Another voice in my head tried to comfort me. She's the Devil. Maybe this is all for the better. Maybe this is the way this has to be. And yet I couldn't accept that as true. I had seen it myself: Lana was trying to be good. It was a slow process, but it was progress. And if the Devil was capable of change, then why couldn't she also be worthy of love? In the grand scheme of eternity, didn't she deserve just a speck of happiness?

But I had failed. Our deal had burst into flames and crumbled into ash. And now I needed to pick up the pieces.

After my last class, I stopped into a local gas station and bought three pints of ice cream. And then I made my way to the Marriott Hotel.

When I knocked on her hotel room door, there was no answer.

"Lana," I said, knocking again. "It's me, Jessa."

"Go away," came a miserable, muffled grumble.

"Lana," I said, a warning tone in my voice. "Let me in."

Silence.

I groaned. "I have ice cream."

That seemed to do the trick. A few seconds later, I heard the door unlock from the inside.

I pushed my way in and saw that Lana had already retreated back to her bed, lying face down. The white sheets were twisted around her, as if she had been struggling with them, and her face was pressed into a pillow stained with what looked like black ink: mascara.

I set the ice cream on the desk and sat at the edge of her bed. "Hey Lana. How are you doing?"

She didn't say anything in response, just made a low hissing noise into the pillow.

I chewed the inside of my mouth, trying to think of something—anything—I could say that might lessen her pain. "You know, maybe this is a sign. Maybe we've been wrong this whole time and Billy isn't the target after all. Maybe it really is Sam, and you can just, I don't know, help her with this dance, take her soul, and be done with everything?" I didn't actually condone the act of soul taking, but I was so desperate for Lana to smile that I was willing to say almost anything. But she didn't budge from her spot.

I watched her back rise and fall, my heart sinking as I recognized those deep, steadying breaths you take when you're holding back tears. She was a celestial being who had been reduced to a miserable clump, just a ball of tangled hair and wet mascara. "You really like him, don't you?" I whispered.

Slowly, Lana lifted her head, revealing her face. Her eyes were huge and red, and her lip quivered when she finally said, "Yeah, I do."

I crawled over and wrapped my arms around her as she drew in some gasping breaths and pulled herself into a ball. She buried her face in my chest and I tried to smooth down her hair, my fingers catching on the tangles. We stayed like that for a while, my arms wrapped around her thin frame, my own body shaking with her sobs. Eventually, her tears died down and she started mumbling something under her breath.

"What?" I asked, glancing down.

She pulled away from me and wiped under her eyes. "I just don't understand this deal. I don't. This was the deal I was meant to make! I know it was. It felt right! So why isn't it working?" She stabbed her chest with her finger. "I became human for him. Human. That is no small feat! And I'm just supposed to be okay with him... with him liking some other girl?"

I could tell she had veered into a vein of thought where nothing I said would fix things, so I reached for the first pint of ice cream. "Here," I said. I hadn't had enough foresight to bring spoons, so I said, "Why don't I call room service? We can get some spoons, some champagne, and..." My eyes fell on the television. "And we can watch a movie?"

She didn't say anything, which I took to mean that she wasn't opposed to my suggestion, so I did as I said. I called room service and ordered a bottle of champagne and two spoons. I then flipped to the On Demand section and scrolled through the movie options. Whenever I was upset, I liked to watch Disney movies, so I figured that would be a safe bet. I almost selected Hercules before remembering that the Lord of the Underworld was the main villain, so I chose Aladdin instead.

As the opening song played, my heart warmed. I had always loved this movie and it brought with it a burst of nostalgia.

As for Lana, I couldn't tell if she was actually watching. Her eyes were on the screen, but she didn't say anything. She didn't comment on the plot, the animation, the songs, or on Robin William's amazing performance. She just shoveled spoon after spoon of ice cream into her mouth and topped it with champagne that she drank straight from the bottle. The first time she said anything was right after "A Whole New World," when she gestured to the screen.

It was the scene on top of the Great Wall, where Jasmine recognizes Aladdin but he responds by saying that he is actually a prince.

Lana snorted. "Just another guy lying to a girl. Typical."

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Lana, Billy didn't lie to you."

"Lie to me. Lead me on. It's the same thing." She pouted.

"Sam could be wrong, you know. He may not even like this girl. He may actually just volunteer with her and that's it."

Lana didn't look convinced. "Maybe there's just something wrong with me..." she mumbled.

"Lana!" I said, turning so that I was looking at her straight on. "You've seen the way he acts around you. He likes you. It's so obvious that even Peter noticed it."

"But maybe it's just not meant to be," Lana said, eyes watering, "because of who I am. I'm cursed. Maybe I'm just destined to never find love..."

"Lana," I said, "you have a complicated past. But so does everyone else. And you're working on being better person, which is the whole point of being alive! Of course you're worthy of love. Nothing is wrong with you."

Lana's eyes were red and swollen with tears, but the edges tilted up as she managed a smile. "You really think so?"

I nodded.

She sniffed. "Thanks Jessa. I... I really appreciate that." And grabbing onto the comforter, she curled up deeper into the sheets and continued to watch the movie.

I let out a breath. I was glad my compliment had cheered her up a bit, but I still couldn't stand to see her this way, buried in blankets and working on her second pint. This wasn't the Lana I knew. I wanted the old one back—the one who was confident, who took charge, who was ready to fight for what she wanted. And there was only one thing I could think of that could do the trick.

So in one fell swoop, I jumped off the bed and yanked the covers off of her.

Her eyes widened in shock as she scrambled upright. "What was that for?" she demanded.

"Come on," I said, searching for my shoes. "Get up. We're getting out of here."

"To do what?" she asked.

"Dress shopping."

Lana rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to the dance by myself. That wasn't the deal."

"You're not going alone. You're going with Billy."

She stared at me like I was crazy. "He's dating someo—"

"We don't know that," I interrupted. "And even if he is, at this point, I don't care. We made a deal and I'm going to uphold my end of the bargain as much as humanly possible. I think you're right; there must be a reason we were meant to do this deal together. So we're going to keep trying until you're dragged back to the Underworld tomorrow night. Billy Stevens is going to take you to that dance." I pointed at her. "Now get out of bed, comb your hair, and come with me. We need dresses."

For a moment I thought she wasn't going to move. She was staring at me like I had sprouted an extra head that could only speak in Portuguese. But after a moment, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, her jaw set with a new hint of determination.

"Okay," she said. "Lead the way."