The Secrets Of Dragons: Book One

Chapter 16

"Helllllooooo, space jams. Earth to Jaylyn." Elsie teased me out of my head.

"Sorry." I blinked a couple times. "What?"

"You were a little lost over there, my guy?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I was."

"You good? What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing." I straightened in her chair. "It's just a little weird for me to think that I actually made friends while I've been here. Especially you."

"Well, I hope you consider me to be your friend. If not, then you have sorely led me astray." She acted as though I had wounded her.

"The best of friends." I teased.

"Good." She stuck out her tongue. "You must have had a weird childhood, on top of everything else."

"You're not wrong."

"Alright, well, enough with moping around and feeling sorry for ourselves. If you're going to be staying the weekend, then we need a game plan."

I raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well, we can't just sit around talking about depressing stuff or studying all weekend, now can we? I'm thinking snacks and movies!" Her usual gush of charm had returned.

"Of course, you're thinking about snacks."

"I thought we were in a relationship of no judgement." She pouted playfully. "Or should I ask how Ryker was in bed?"

I choked on the coffee that had not made it quite down my throat yet. "Absolutely not."

"I'm kidding!" She wiggled her fingers at me. "Let's forget about that jerk for a while and just have fun."

"Thanks, Els." I shook my head slightly. "You really are the best."

"Oh, I know." She pursed her lips and then broke out into a fit of giggles.

We returned to the apartment a little while later, our snacks and dinner in the bags at our sides. Somehow, Elsie had convinced me to buy half the convenience store for our snack supply. We had stopped on the way back to pick up burgers and fries for dinner. The fries hadn't even made it halfway home before they were gone. My stomach was already hurting from laughing way too much, but it was a nice kind of soreness that did not really bother me.

Her roommate was nowhere to be found, but Elsie explained that she was hardly ever home, which left her and Leo by themselves most of the time. If I had been anybody else, I would have offered to move in with her, so she didn't have to spend so much time on her own, but with everything going on with my life, that would be an impossible luxury.

Leo had found his favorite spot curled up between both of us, purring away as we laughed and booed at the movies Elsie chose. She liked b-rated horror movies the best. They were not terrifying and were easy to laugh at, especially with how predictable they were. She also mentioned the fact that the fall dance was just around the corner and that we would have to go dress shopping soon.

I could not stop the rising anxiety in my chest at the thought of attending a college function outside of the football games. High school had been an awkward four years for me. I hadn't attended anything extracurricular or made any appearances at the dances. Hell, I had even made sure I was absent on picture days, and the make-up picture days. Back then, I didn't have a problem not being tied down to anything remotely regarding my own history.

Even though I had every intention of telling her no, I promised Elsie that I would go. She admitted that nobody had ever asked her to any of the school dances, and that they were always held off campus. It played against the small rock of guilt in the pit of my stomach. It was still a shock that Elsie, herself, didn't have many friends either. She was such a kind person that would normally attract all kinds of people her way, but strangely it did the exact opposite. Of course, everyone knew who she was, but no one ever actually took the time to sit down and have an actual conversation with her. Besides Sarah. But Sarah was a joke at best. She did her best to save face in front of the group, making sure Giovanni was blind to her true colors.