Aegis (Book Three)

Chapter Eight

This chapter is dedicated to happymidas for the idea of changing the banner to reflect the audience learning what T's full name is. The banners are going to switch on and off throughout the book :)

At one point I misnumbered the chapters (always a problem, I went to school for design, not math lol) and I am trying to not end up with three chapter thirteens again XD anyone else remember that shitshow? 

Chapter Eight

Another month had passed, and I still don't what Viro wanted from that building nor have I seen him since that night. The media had given him that nickname Viro after the shootout with the police. Speaking of the media, they had curbed their hatred for me but are still calling me Pyrite. The name doesn't get under my skin, but I would prefer something with a slightly better meaning.

"Zana!" T says excitedly as she bursts through the door after work.

"Thalia," I say back confused.

"Why aren't you excited?" She asks me confused. I just give her a confused look in response.

"It's March 18th?" She says as if that would clue me in. I wrack my brain to figure out what is so special about that day but come up empty.

"Okay?"

"It's your birthday?" She asks confused. It is?

"Oh, whatever," I say with a shrug before going back to cooking. I don't care about my birthday; I can never remember the date.

"You don't even seem phased," T says leaning against the counter.

"Do you think my birthday is something important to me considering I was on the streets for three years? I am happy to have food in my stomach, a place to shower, and a roof over my head. I don't need to celebrate something as trivial as the day I was born," I say rolling my eyes.

"Everybody should celebrate their birthday, even if it's something simple," T says, and I can see her excitement has been severely dampened.

"I don't know how to celebrate a birthday," I say quietly.

"Well there is a cake on the table and a few presents in the living room, it's not a lot, but I figured something simple would be more your style," T says.

Glancing at the table, I see a cake not covered in frosting. Walking over, I find a lemon cake with a whitish glaze on and I can't help but to smile. I love lemon, it is one of my favorite things to cook with and I especially love lemon baked goods. I am slightly surprised that she had remembered that. Walking over I hug T and say thank you.

T bought me some school supplies and some more clothes. She also had made me this mask that covered half of my face so that I didn't have to wear a scarf all the time. I am thankful for that; my scarf also has certainly seen better days with the number of fires I have been running into.

I have been keeping an eye out for Viro, but he seems to have disappeared for the time being. I know he will be back eventually, so now it is just a waiting game. I have finally received my scores back for my last exam and I got nearly perfect marks. I am happy about that because it would certainly help me with college grants, but I still don't know what I want to do with my life. I have done a lot of research about potential careers, but nothing seems exciting or right for me. Becoming a lawyer seems like the most practical route to take at this point.

Sitting in class I am thankful for the fact that it is finally the last day. I will spend most of the summer helping T out at the shelter and continuing to do college research. The minutes continue to tick by as everybody says their goodbyes and talks about their plans for the summer. A lot of people would be working just like me.