illyris, p. parker ¹

xvi. spilling the coffee beans

"I don't know like..." Her best friend scrunched up her nose in disgust. "There's a light at the end of the tunnel?"

"Yeah," Thea replied, nodding. "Maybe that's where I'm headed. After the tunnel— this is that. Now that the decathlon's over, maybe I'll join the Green Team at school. I can plant trees, save the Earth."

"Save the Earth— you know, it's funny that you say that because that's something you can actually do," Bex emphasized, borderline groaning. "You are the Dragonborn, Thea. Dragons don't plant trees."

The Sovrani girl shook her head. "Maybe trees are enough. Maybe I'll just be a great kid and we'll leave it at that. Greatness can come from college too."

"Okay..." Bex blew air out from her cheeks, slowly standing up. The discomfort was overwhelming as was the wayward direction Thea's personality took. "So, I'm gonna go to the bathroom and puke. Uh, call me when the real Thea comes back, okay?"

Grinning, Thea rolled her eyes, watching her friend turn the wood corner to where the bathrooms were. She closed her book, taking in a deep breath as she reached into her olive green backpack and felt cool leather jolt her fingertips. The mysterious journal Thor had left behind. It felt too real and raw to read the notes and opinions of her enemy... who may not have been the real enemy all along.

Her fingers curled onto a softer fabric and she barely pulled the silver-trimmed black mask out before her heart sunk. Thea didn't remember packing it. If Bex were there, she would've said it was a sign.

Holding her breath, she gently cracked the cover of the journal open. The papers were like miniature scrolls smoothed out, with browned edges all sewn together with golden thread. Thor's handwriting varied from hasty scribbles to more thoughtful inscriptions. The only problem was that he wrote in Asgardian runes. Thea chewed her lip. She could speak a little of the foreign language but that was only useful if Thor had made voice recordings.

"Hey, what's that?"

Her eyes flew off the page and up at Cindy Moon, smiling down at her with her hands clutching the ochre straps of her backpack. Thea immediately set it down, spreading her fingers over the symbol engraved on the front of the cover.

"My diary," Thea answered as smoothly as she could.

Cindy let out a chuckle. "Really? I didn't think you were the kind to have a diary. I thought you'd push down all those huge, sad feelings and they'll never see the light of day—"

"You need something?" Thea cut off, plastering a smile on her face. She raised her eyebrows at Bex who was shaking her hands. The air dryers in the bathroom never worked well so it was either wiping them on her pants or looking like she was going to cast a spell.

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask when we were planning on meeting up for homecoming," Cindy informed. She pulled out a chair, the screeching of the legs against the floor akin to that of a record scratch— a sudden realization that struck Thea.

"Oh, Cindy, I'm sorry. I'm not going anymore," she murmured, her eyes dropping to the table to avoid their widened eyes.

"What?" Both Bex and Cindy's voices overlapped. The latter looked more shocked. Bex got the notion immediately— call it a sister's instinct. Sera was beyond pissed after what happened on the ferry and a proper grounding wasn't far away from the plate. Thea didn't want to argue. She wasn't feeling a mediocre dance serving stale Oreos. The only good thing that could come out of it was a possible date.

"Are-are you sure?" Cindy blurted out. "Is it because you don't have a date 'cause we could all just go as the winning Decathlon team in the country." She glanced at Bex. "Plus Bex."