Free Shimmer by Alyson Noël

what happens next, no matter where you find yourself, just stay focused on your friend. Do not allow her to get to you. Do not allow her to introduce anything personal. The moment you focus on yourself, the moment you let your mind stray from your friends, you lose .” He looked at me, our eyes meeting briefly before he looked away again. “Can you do that?” he asked.
    And even though I wanted to smile and nod and give him two big thumbs-up along with a superconfident reply of Heck yeah, I can do it, no problem—no problem at all!
    The reality is, I just stood there and gaped.
    The words “The moment you let your mind stray from your friends, you lose ” running amok in my head.
    Because the truth was, there was no denying the fact that I wasn’t all that great at staying focused. In fact, I had a really bad habit of jumping from one thing to the next. And as far as my thoughts were concerned, well, most of the time my mind was nothing but a big ol’, jumbled-up mess.
    But unfortunately, I didn’t get to express those concerns. Instead, I just stood there, wide-eyed and mute, as Prince Kanta whispered, “She’s here.”
    And that’s the last thing I heard before I was separated from the prince and sucked even deeper into her world.

14
     
    It’s like, one moment I was standing before the prince like the world’s biggest shell-shocked doofus, and the next I was somewhere entirely different. Noticing how the scorched landscape had made way for a carpet of patchy weeds and rich, red-tinged soil, while the relentlessly falling ash had transformed into a clear and sunny day, allowing me a beautiful view of a pristine blue lake.
    I narrowed my eyes and gazed all around, seeing the still navy waters, the towering pine trees, the smoldering campfire … the memory of something nudging me, prodding me, as I gazed down at my clothing and took a quick inventory of faded hand-me-down jeans, mud-covered pink-and-silver sneakers, and a lime green sweatshirt with the sleeves yanked down well past the tips of my fingers in order to hide the charm bracelet I’d borrowed from my sister.
    And suddenly, I need look no further.
    I knew exactly where I was.
    My last trip to the lake.
    My last trip with my family.
    The last place I ever visited—or at least as a living, breathing resident of the earth plane.
    The last time I’d ever hug my parents, play fetch with my dog, or joke around with my sister as a real, live, flesh-and-blood person.
    The last time I’d ever be dumb enough to believe that the thing I’d looked forward to most—my thirteenth birthday—was just around the corner.
    Everything about that scene feeling as real as it did that day.
    Only it wasn’t real. Not even close.
    And while part of me knew that, it was only a very small part of me.
    Somewhere inside, on some deep-down level, I knew I needed to turn away and focus on something else. Something extremely important. Something in need of my utmost attention.
    But the truth was, I was so caught up in the scene, I could no longer remember what that important thing was.
    Couldn’t imagine anything more significant than focusing on the splendor that played out before me:
    Buttercup running in circles and barking like crazy before jumping into my dad’s SUV and settling onto my knee.
    Ever and I bickering and fighting and basically driving both our parents crazy.
    Ever discovering she’d left her prized sky blue Pinecone Lake Cheerleading Camp sweatshirt behind, and begging my dad to turn the car around and head back to the lake so that she could retrieve it.
    My dad agreeing to do just that despite his concerns about the traffic.
    Me singing along to a Kelly Clarkson song I blasted on my iPod—partly because I liked it, and partly because it annoyed Ever.
    A deer appearing out of nowhere, dashing right into our lane, as my father swerved to avoid it, smashed through the guardrail, down the embankment, and into a tree that left us all dead.
    Me not