10.09

This is actually a pretty cool chapter, probably because for most of it, the viewpoint character is doing what viewpoint characters in this setup are supposed to do, and that’s shutting up and letting us observe the actual interesting people.

After the Cineplex, it didn’t take long. Word got out that Old Man Ravenwood’s niece was hanging out with Ethan Wate.

Which is just normal behavior when supposedly this place is supposed to be way faster about that. Emothan meeting with Lena to chat about her necklace should’ve done it. He spends his time hiding from the lunchroom.

My disappearing act hadn’t gone unnoticed with the guys. Like I said, you had to show up for roll call, and if you let a girl get in the way of that, especially a girl who wasn’t on the approved list—meaning, approved by Savannah and Emily—things got complicated.

So again, the book can’t figure out the problem. He’s hiding from them because he’s assuming they disapprove of his girlfriend, but apparently the reason they disapprove of her is because he’s hiding from them and they assume he’s ditching them to hang out with her.

It didn’t matter that we weren’t even really a couple. At Jackson, you might as well have parked behind the water tower if you were eating lunch together. Everyone always assumed the worst, more like, the most.

Unlike every other high school ever, where eating lunch with your hot new best friend of the opposite sex doesn’t mean anything.

If this was a movie, we would’ve sat down at the table with the guys, and they would’ve learned some kind of valuable lesson, like not to judge people by the way they look, or that being different was okay. And Lena would’ve learned that all jocks weren’t stupid and shallow. It always seemed to work in movies, but this wasn’t a movie.

Why the fuck do people always talk about “the movies” when they’re just talking about cliches whose actual appearances are dwarfed in comparison to how much people bitch about it? Do people not watch movies? Do they not realize that what they’re actually writing is, in fact, the actual standard cliche?

One of his friends decides to tell him to stop trying to get in the hot chick’s skirt, because this is totally how boys act.

“Be cool. This isn’t you.”
“Yeah? What if it is?” I pulled on my Transformers T-shirt.

I’m betting the author doesn’t realize the joke here.

If Lena hadn’t disappeared in the cafeteria, Earl would’ve known I didn’t care what they thought. I hadn’t cared for a while now.

So you keep saying, yet you also keep going on and on wangsting about what they think. Pick one and shut up already.

He then continues to play basketball with no snubbing and then hangs out with them after school at the store when the second-prettiest girl I had ever seen appears.

She was blasting some music I had never heard, and lounging at the wheel of her convertible black-and-white Mini Cooper, which was parked haphazardly across two spaces in the parking lot. She didn’t seem to notice the lines, or she didn’t care. She was sucking on a lollipop like a cigarette, her pouty red lips made even redder by the cherry-colored stain. She looked us over, and turned up the music. In a split second, two legs came flying over the side of the door, and she was standing in front of us, still sucking on the lollipop. “Frank Zappa. ‘Drowning Witch.’ A little before your time, boys.”
She walked closer, slowly, as if she was giving us time to check her out, which I admit, we were.
She had long blond hair, with a thick pink stripe sweeping down one side of her face, past her choppy bangs. She was wearing giant black sunglasses and a short black pleated skirt, like some kind of Goth cheerleader. Her cut-off white tank was so thin, you could see half of some kind of black bra, and most of everything else. And there was plenty to see. Black motorcycle boots, a belly ring, and a tattoo. It was black and tribal looking and surrounded her belly button, but I couldn’t tell from here what it was, and I was trying not to stare.
“Ethan? Ethan Wate?”

They shove him at her and she promptly hugs the fuck out of him.

Her hands felt surprisingly cold, like she’d been holding a bag of ice. I shivered and backed away.

Okay no he’s just super, super gay.

She explains that she’s Ridley and she’s Lena’s cousin and she’s here to pick him up~

He stammers inarticulately a bit while she explains that hey, Gathering, family time, she’s here to pick up Lena’s da~te.

“Lena would’ve called me if she wanted me to come.” Somehow I knew I was going to get in even as I was saying it. I hesitated.

This and the cold thing are, spoiler alert, going to be because she’s evil. But let’s just pretend that’s not true because it’s so much more interesting the other way.

She’s really flirty but also seems pretty adult to me, and so it really seems like she’s just hassling her cousin’s boyfriend to make sure he’s okay for him. On the ride he ends up opening up and telling her everything except the dreams, and again, seems pretty legit.

“You don’t need to be worried, Short Straw.”
“Yeah, why not?”
“You’re the real deal.” She smiled at me, and her eyes flashed. Behind the glasses, I could see a gold glint, like gold-fish swimming in a dark pond. They were hypnotic, even through her shades. Maybe that’s why she wore them. Then the glasses went dark, and she messed up my hair. “Too bad she’ll probably never see you again once you meet the rest of us. Our family is just a little wack.”

See? It really seems like she just wants to know to make sure he won’t hurt her cousin.

Things start to go weird when she actually enters.

“Julia! I mean Ridley. What are you doing here? I must be confused. I thought, I thought…”
…
“Jules? Is that you?” A younger version of Ridley, maybe ten, came walking into the front hall with Boo Radley, who was now wearing a sparkly blue cape over his back. Dressing up the family wolf, as if nothing unusual was going on. Everything about the girl was like light; she had blond hair and radiant blue eyes, as if they had little flecks of the sky on a sunny afternoon in them. The girl smiled, and then frowned. “They said you’d gone away.”
Boo started to growl.
Ridley opened her arms, waiting for the little girl to rush into them, but the girl didn’t move. So Ridley held her hands out and uncurled each one. A red lollipop appeared in the first and, not to be outdone, a little gray mouse wearing a sparkly blue cape that matched Boo’s sniffed the air in her other hand—like a cheap carnival trick.

So, we can tell that she’s estranged from her family or something. But “cheap carnival trick”? She’s making something cute to show her little sister and reassure her everything’s fine.

When Ridley spoke, her voice was thick and husky like honey. “Come now, Ryan. Mamma was just pulling your tail to see if it squeaked. I haven’t gone anywhere. Not really. Would your favorite big sister ever leave you?”
Ryan grinned and ran toward Ridley, jumping up, as if she was about to leap into her open arms. Boo barked. For a moment, Ryan hung suspended in mid-air, like one of those cartoon characters that accidentally jumps of a cliff and just hangs there for a few seconds, before they fall. Then, she fell, hitting the floor abruptly, as if she had smacked into an invisible wall.

The lights then change to show Ridley’s face in shadowy villain mode, which he explicitly compares to a stage. So she’s doing nothing wrong but everything is trying to frame her that way. I think we’re supposed to see her as sinister because she’s being seductive.

We learn that she wasn’t expected, and then that she actually snuck in by registering as Emothan’s guest – so, either they actually were okay with him coming or the wards of this place have a loophole you could drive a tank through, just find anyone in the world not currently on the explicitly banned list and have them invite you in. Emothan realizes he’s been fooled.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea. I’m sure you’re expected elsewhere.”
She pulled the lollipop out of her mouth with a pop. “Like I said, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Besides, you wouldn’t want me to drive Ethan all the way home. What ever would we talk about?”

Here’s the first actual threatening thing she’s done, and it only works if you assume she’s evil enough that everything she says is a threat in the first place.

The room was lit by hundreds of tiny black votive candles, and strands of black glass beads hung from the chandelier. There was an enormous wreath, made entirely of black feathers, on the door leading into the kitchen. The table was set with silver and pearl-white plates, which were actually made of pearl, for all I knew.

First, that’s “could have been actually made of pearl” if you’re trying to say you’re not sure, where the fuck was the editor for this, and also, pearl isn’t actually a real white in the first place so you should be able to tell by color if it’s that or something else and how the fuck could you make plates out of it anyway I mean what do you stuff the plates into an oyster and hope for the best?

Lena is horrified and furious to see her cousin and there’s some ominous talk about rules that can’t be changed. Pretty Suit reassures Lena that she’s safe here, but that doesn’t seem the issue. Ridley fumbles with her older sister’s name just like their mother fumbled hers, and they talk about stuff we don’t understand and she says

Why is it, Rid, when I look in your eyes all I can see are hers? You two are as thick as thieves, aren’t you?”
“You’re babbling again, Sis.”
Reece closed her eyes, concentrating. Ridley squirmed like a pinned butterfly. Reece fluttered her hand again, and for a moment, Ridley’s face dissolved into the murky image of another woman. The woman’s face was somehow familiar, only I couldn’t remember why.

Cool!

Also hm the only other woman who’s appeared and mattered is Lemon Slaveowner Lady so I guess that’s who? Or maybe it’s something else and him recognizing her is by magic even though she hasn’t appeared yet.

There’s also her brother.

Larkin drew his arm around my shoulder, only when I looked over his arm had become a snake, flickering its tongue in and out of its mouth.
“Larkin!” Barclay hissed. The snake became Larkin’s arm again in an instant.
“Jeez. Just tryin’ to lift the mood around here.

They are really just shit at the whole masquerade thing.

Then Ridley decides they really need to chat about Lena’s birthday because it’s so important! Pretty Suit orders her to shut up.

“Why are you taking her side, Uncle M? I spent just as much time with you as Lena did, growing up. How did she suddenly become your favorite?” For a moment, she almost sounded hurt.

Note that “almost sounded” is to imply she’s just pretending and isn’t actually upset that her entire family appears to have kicked her out.

“You know it has nothing to do with favorites. You have been Claimed. It’s out of my hands.”

And now we know over what. So, I guess there’s bigger powers in the world and if one of them gets you, no one else will help.

“But you and I are the same.” She was pleading with Macon, like a spoiled child.

She’s a teenage girl who’s been kicked out by her family for what appear to be reasons beyond her control and which we haven’t yet had any evidence actually mean anything. But obviously it’s just her being spoiled and they’re all totally right.

Lena says she’s not at all the same.

Just wait until you’re Claimed and you find out how things really work.” She laughed, a sinister, painful sort of sound. “You have no idea if we are the same or not. In a few months, you could end up exactly like me.”

Okay, if her laughter is painful, that’s generally meaning it’s pained laughter, not sinister laughter, as in, she’s upset and hurt by all this.

Lena orders her to shut up.

“Tell him, Lena. Don’t you think Short Straw here deserves to know everything? That you have no idea if you’re Light or Dark? That you have no choice?”
Lena leapt to her feet, knocking her chair over behind her. “I said, shut up!”
Ridley was relaxed again, enjoying herself. “Tell him how we lived together, in the same room, like sisters, that I was exactly like you a year ago and now…”

See it just really seems like it’s everyone else being dicks first here. She’s enjoying upsetting them, sure, but that’s enjoying upsetting the people who have kicked her out for poorly explained reasons. If she lived with Lena like a sister and was just like her, then yeah, she’s earned the right to be pissed off by that.

Pretty Suit says that he’ll “Cast” her out and she says he’s not strong enough and he says No Dark Caster on Earth is powerful enough to enter Ravenwood on their own. I Bound the place myself. We all did.” and she points out yet again that she didn’t enter on her own but as a guest, and why is this getting repeated? Why do the characters keep forgetting?

Dark Caster? That didn’t sound good.

Oh shut the fuck up Emothan you have no damn clue what it means. The whole place is decorated in dark beads and feathers and it’s called Ravenwood, it’s not exactly clear what “dark” means here in a moral sense. Maybe it’s FF dark magic where it refers to offensive spells. Maybe it’s even more arbitrary than that. All we know is that there’s some division between the casters.

But no she’s just evil, pulling off her shades to show fiery golden cat eyes and her face was twisted into darkness and shadows. The features that had been so feminine and enticing were now sharp and hard, morphing before my eyes. Her skin seemed to be tightening around her bones, accentuating every vein until you could almost see the blood pumping through them. She looked like a monster. because she’s a seductive woman with power, what else could she be?

A woman’s voice floated across the table. Aunt Del. “Ridley. I told you to stay away, child. There’s nothing we can do for you now. I’m so sorry.”
Macon’s voice was harsh. “Ridley, a year can make all the difference in the world. You’re Claimed now. You’ve found your place in the Order of Things. You don’t belong here anymore. You have to go.”
…
You must leave this place. Ravenwood is not a place of Dark magic. This is a Bound place, a place of Light. You can’t survive here, not for long.” Aunt Del’s voice was firm.
Ridley answered with a snarl. “I’m not leaving, Mother, and you can’t make me.”
Macon’s voice interrupted her tantrum. “You know that’s not true.”

See, if we can just ignore the biased narration, this is so incredibly interesting!

They seem regretful she’s been taken by whatever it is, but at the same time the reason why she can’t stay is because they have deliberately made this place kill anyone of her type that tries to remain too long so they can keep it segregated to the white Light magic. Pretty Suit also says he’ll do what he needs to do to protect Lena, including killing Ridley, even though there’s still been no clear sign of what threat Ridley actually is to Lena – so again, I come down on Ridley’s side that it’s fucked up to tell one kid you’ll kill her so she doesn’t taint the other kid by existing too close to her.

Ridley also says that apparently Ravenwood’s alignment is supposed to be dark.

It always has been, since Abraham. He was one of us. Ravenwood should be ours. Why are you Binding it to the Light?”
“Ravenwood is Lena’s home now.”
“You belong with me, Uncle M. With Her.”

And ooooooh boy so now either the dark god they worship or something is a “Her”. Good odds that if the light equivilent shows up it’s going to be a he.

“I’m not scared of your kind.”
“That may be, but you have no power here. Not against all of us, and a Natural.”

And still Ridley has not made any threats of her own. The entire thing has been her saying she won’t be scared off or that she’ll fight back if they attack her, but apparently she’s the evil one.

Ridley cackled. “Lena, a Natural? That’s the funniest thing you’ve said all night. I’ve seen what a Natural can do. Lena could never be one.”
“A Cataclyst and a Natural aren’t the same.”
“Aren’t they, though? A Cataclyst is a Natural gone Dark, two sides of the same coin.”

Which would mean the default state is light, because otherwise there’d be a term for that the light-side version is rather than there being only two sides. And I guess it’s that Ridley chose to go dark and be evil, or else it wouldn’t be phrased this way.

“You’re wrong, Uncle M. Lena isn’t worth protecting, and she’s certainly not a Natural. You won’t know her fate until her birthday. You think that just because she’s sweet and innocent now, she’ll be Claimed by the Light? That means nothing. Wasn’t I the same a year ago? And from what Short Straw here has been telling me, she’s closer to going Dark than Light. Lightning storms? Terrorizing the high school?”

And despite this entire chapter, still no idea what Lena’s being protected from. The dark being all seductive at her? That would sort of fit with their seeming regretful they didn’t protect Ridley, but in that case she’d be right to be upset that Lena was getting special treatment when they didn’t bother to save her, and we still have no explanation for why it’s bad to be dark.

Lena responds by making all the windows explode.

Boo Radley screamed, that horrible human scream.

(And if they’re so good why does it seem like their guard dog is some transfigured human or something?)

“Get the hell away from my boyfriend, witch.”

So I’m going out on a limb here and guessing the plot is going to be about evil women who need to be stopped from having all that power they evilly have.