Bob, as it turned out, was pretty lack luster as far as a new shifter friend went.
Granted, he was a shifter, but he'd come from a strict family that didn't believe in allowing other species shifts until the age of maturity, which he was only a short few weeks away from when he found his virtue stone, so he only had one story to tell.
"A bug?" Yael's facial expression went from a full on giddy grin, to an open mouthed grimace. "All the creatures at your disposal and you chose a bug?"
Bob ruffles his long russet colored hair out of his narrow dark eyes. "Look, you've got to have had a relationship with the creature you morph to when you're young and just getting started." He explains, the curves of his cheeks turning a deep pink. "I was kept at home a lot, and in my room there was this...well, I had a bug."
"You formed a relationship with a bug?" Yael deadpanned and I quickly jabbed him under the ribs with my elbow, making him turn an impressive glare my way before he sighs. "Fine, sorry, what was the bug's name?" He asks instead, using his overly chipper tone of voice.
Now Bob's whole face was bright red and his eyes stayed down while he fiddled with his empty tray in front of him. "Just never mind."
"No," I reach out and shake his tray, making him look at me. "I really want to know." And I did. It may not be that cool, becoming a bug of all things when shifters could become anything, but who was I to judge? The only thing I could be was me.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Yael adds, a look of shame on his face and his lips downturned. "I was rude."
Bob still doesn't want to make eye contact, but he goes on anyway. "Well since you have to have been in contact with the other creature for some time to build a familiarity to it, my only chance before I left home to come here to actually try out shifting was with the bug that lived under my bed." A thin smile begins to pull at his lips as he spins the tray around. "It was weird...like one second I'm me, and then the next...The whole world seemed different because I was so small. Even though I was in my own room, the whole thing was foreign. Dust on the ground was a mountain. I just...was. And the whole couple of minutes I was able to hold the shift, the bug under my bed just watched me. He seemed happy..." Bob's smile spread to me and suddenly I was wishing I could have become that bug too. "I felt like he was honored that I'd walk in his shell. That I'd chosen him to share that with." Bob seeming to remember we were even here snapped his eyes back up to us. "Pretty stupid, I know."
I could picture it all in my head, even though I'd never seen such things, and I felt the little chills on my arms. "Not stupid at all." I shake my head. "Pretty freaking unbelievable if you ask me."
"My girl Mali, as usual, is correct." Yael dips his chin, eyes light again. "I'll never look at another bug the same way."
Bob just nodded once. I didn't really know why Yael had latched onto him, he was so quiet and shy, but Yael was just Yael I guess. Anyone and everyone was someone to him, and that was a reason to love him. I want to be more like that.
As the thought crosses my mind though, a group of girls walk into the mess hall, noses high in the air, but eyes glaring my way. Their leader was Courtlyn, apparently she was the lucky recipient of Oliver's arm this week.
More than once since Maxum mentioned to me that Oliver has a different girl on his arm regularly, I've overheard other similar rumors. It didn't matter to me though, as long as he kept his promise and took me to the other realms, I didn't care what he chose to do with his free time.
I just wish his free time would stare at someone else for a change.
"I see you've got a fan club." Yael whispers in my ear and Bob turns to discreetly look over his shoulder.
"You bet." I roll my eyes and try not to notice the eyes, but when they all openly glare, it only makes other want to see at who.
"What's their problem?" Bob asks, his shoulders slumping forward as if he felt like he was the one being scrutinized. Probably just from being too close to me.
"Newboo has haters." Maxum slams his tray down beside me, making even more people look our way, to which he gives them all a gesture with his hand that has everyone looking away just as quickly. I'll have to remember that one. "Don't worry," He tells me as he shoves a handful of candies into his mouth. "I won't let anyone mess with someone from my group."
"I am pretty sure I can handle myself." I smile coyly, but he just shrugs.
"I don't know..." He taps his chin with his fork, eyes cast up at the ceiling. "Seems the last time I saw you you were thinking of entering into a committed relationship with a drool covered mat."
Yael gasps on the other side of me. "Matt? Who the heck is Matt and why haven't you told me about him."
Maxum laughs and explains what he meant, making Yael and Bob both chuckle.
I let out an exasperated sigh as Maxum then decides to go into great detail of the ass kicking I received at the hands of Reda last night.
I need less guy friends around.
"I was thinking the same thing." A girl's perky voice comes from behind me.
I jerk around in my seat to find Brynlynn, one of the other girls in my group standing behind me. "How did you..? I mean...."
She giggles a little, sweeping her bright blonde hair over one shoulder and looking more beautiful than any person had the business doing. "Oh please, it wasn't that hard to tell what you were thinking." She explains, shooing Maxum down a seat. "Anyway, I wanted to give you some time to get settled before I properly introduced myself. Some people," She sent a pointed look over her shoulder at Maxum who was hiding a smile. "Say I can be too much all at once."
She held out her slender hand, her nails a sparkling pink and I took it in my comparably boring hand.
"People say the same thing about me." Yael interjects. "So weird, I don't get why at all."
I hold my laugh in, never really sure if Yael is aware of his enormously warm and hyper presence or if he is truly oblivious to it.
I vaguely remembered Tonyedda telling me that Brynlynn was a Caster before she came here, but we hadn't really seen much of each other since I'd been here.
"It's so good to see you're settling in so well." She beams, her smile seeming to have super human powers because all the boys are suddenly silent. "Although, your clique seems to be a little heavy on the testosterone." She jokes, looking down the table at them, but still no one speaks. Not even Yael. Which was weird on all seven realms. "Anyway, do you want to hang out later? I'm sure you're pretty busy but I was thinking maybe after your training tonight I could come by and we could talk or whatever. I'm sure you have lots of questions still."
"I don't think I will ever run out of questions to ask." I admit and she grins, her red eyes were a little weird at first, but the more I look at her the more they seem to be alive with light, only making her even more pretty. "If I survive another training session you are welcome to come." I tell her, but then I sigh. "I probably should ask Noah if she minds."
"Is that your roommate?" Brynlynn asks, head tilted in interest. "What did you get?"
I furrow my brows, but Maxum chimes in. "A demon."
Brynlynn makes a noise under her breath and sighs. "Oh."
"What?" I shrug. "She's really quiet but she seems nice enough."
"I guess we will see." Brynlynn says cryptically before glancing over the heads of the people surrounding us and she snarls, her glare carrying such ire I'm instantly afraid to ever cross her. I glance up in time to see the girls who were giving me the stink eye all look away in fear of Brynlynn. "Ok, well, I'll see you later." She perks right back up, her face schooled right back into that smiling perfection. She stands, twisting her hair around her shoulders again and saunters away, every guy at my table...actually, the whole mess hall, watches her go.
"Thought you had a girlfriend, Max?" I smile around my apple and Maxum jumps like I've shocked him, looking around the room frantically.
"I do, is she in here?" He jerks his head back and forth. "I wasn't looking."
I laugh to myself, watching him squirm. "Sure you weren't...and neither were Yael and Bob."
Bob's pink cheeks burn brighter. "I was looking." He shrugs one shoulder.
Maxum and I bust out laughing, but Yael remains frozen, eyes still glued to the door.
"Um, hello?" I wave a hand in front of his face. "Are you still in there, Yael?"
He blinks slowly, his jaw still hanging lax. "My body is still here," he mumbles, "but I think my heart just left the room."
Maxum lets out a lengthy sigh, his wide shoulders slumping. "I know, she has the best boobs you've ever seen, right?"
"Oh my gods." I cover my ears.
"What?" He laughs. "It's true."
Yael and Bob are both nodding and I'm trying to figure out why I'm friends with these loons.
"What's true?"
I lower my hands as Oliver takes a seat across the table from me, one perfect eyebrow piqued. "They're discussing boobs." I tell him, feeling all the stares coming right back again.
"Oh, Brynlynn was just in here?" Oliver grins, biting into a celery stick with a loud crunch. "I understand."
I shake my head at the lot of them. "On that note, I'm leaving."
Maxum grabs my wrist as I stand from the table and I give him a look that makes him let go, but he still giving me puppy eyes. "Come on, don't go." He laughs. "We can talk about how pretty you are." He says.
"Yeah, Mali, my bestie for the restie." Yael finally snaps out of his funk. "If you go now how am I supposed to find my way to class?"
"Buy a map." I cross my arms.
He tilts his head and gives me this look that is so entirely Yael that I have to fight hard against my instincts to not smile. "Don't be like that...you know you love me."
"And me." Maxum adds.
I click my tongue as I shrug. "Oh, I don't know. You guys don't really have the best boobs, so..."
Yael rolls his eyes. "I have the best everything." He says, then turns back to me. "Anyway, don't be jealous, you'll always be number one in my book."
"Plus, if we'd tried to talk about your boobs, you'd probably have punched us." Maxum says and before the statement is out I'm already coiled and he's already jerking out of his chair to avoid my fist catching his cheek. He stumbles a few feet away laughing. "See? Told you."
"You just wait until training tonight." I warn him.
Oliver snorts a laugh and for a second I had forgotten he was even here. Now, remembering for some reason I felt even more unease, probably because I had a feeling why all of those girls seem to want to see my face smeared across the floor.
"You planning on actually showing up to this training session or is Reda going to be enjoying trying to make you cry again?" He asks playfully.
"Oh Reda is going to be the one crying tonight." I say, chin up, even though I don't believe it myself. She's way better than me, but I was up most of the night again thinking of ways to trick her so I can win like she'd done to me. I definitely won't be having another session like last night. She won't know what hit her tonight.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Courtlyn stand from her seat and start walking this way.
"I can't wait to see that." Oliver is saying, but I don't want to be around when she gets here.
"See you guys later." I half wave, ignoring Yael's pleas for a personal escort. "A map, Yael. Invest in a map." I say over my shoulder as I turn and exit the mess hall.
In the peace of the halls I wonder aimlessly for a few minutes, still having a half hour to kill before my next class. I'm about to go back to my room and hide out in there when I see familiar black hair pulled up high.
Noah sits in the hall all alone, her food tray sitting beside her where she is reading a book and seemingly trying to hide her face behind it.
"Hi," I say when I get close. She just keeps reading like she didn't hear me. "How's your day?" Still, she continues to read. For a second I just stand there feeling awkward, but I don't want to just walk away either. I share a room with this girl, we should at least be able to speak. "Mind if I sit?"
Finally she lowers the book enough to glower at me over the pages. "I suppose you're going to anyway." She says flatly.
"I am." I nod, sitting on the floor opposite her. Yael makes making friends look so easy, but maybe all he really does is refuse to take no for an answer. I've already tried just being nice, and I've tried giving her her space, but she still shuts me out. I know in class they said that demons are notoriously closed off and secretive by nature, so maybe I just need to figure out how to get around that. Because Brynlynn was right, I need a little less testosterone in my life if I'm going to remain sane and not start judging everyone by the merit of their chests. "So, I've got a friend who wants to come by our room later and I wanted to make sure it was cool with you first."
She eyes me warily. "That boy who doesn't stop talking?"
"No," I smile, knowing she means Yael. "A girl from my group."
"Oh..." She murmurs. "Sure, I guess."
"Cool." I grin, but her face is already back in her book. "How do you like your group?"
"I don't."
"Oh." I sit quietly for a while, trying to think what Yael would do or say. Instead of being pushy like he would, I decide to just sit with her instead. I watch her, trying not to be creepy about it, and we sit in silence for a good ten minutes, until she smiles at the pages in front of her. "Good book?" I ask.
"Yeah."
Mags taught me to read not long after I arrived in The Ring. She didn't have much to work with, mostly just letters drawn with sticks into the dirt, but from time to time she would splurge to buy actual papyrus for us to practice on. Even still though, there wasn't much to use the skill on in The Ring. I've noticed the stacks and stacks of books on Noah's side of the room though.
"What's it about?"
She eyes me for a second, but finally speaks. "A royal princess hidden away that doesn't know who she is and there is fairies and dragons and princes who are in love with her."
I raise my brows, saving my question of what the heck a dragon is for later.
"That's sounds so..."
Suddenly she snaps the book shut. "It sounds stupid." She says, shoving the book into her bag. "Totally stupid." She goes to walk away.
"No!" I object. "I was going to say it sounds good. Like maybe when you're done with it I could borrow it? I'm not the best reader, but that sounds like something I'd like to try."
She stops midway down the hall and half turns back to me, scrutinizing my expression. She thinks for a second but then nods. "Sure."
That's all I get before she's gone.
As much as I try to keep it at bay, I miss Tawny. I miss having a best friend. A girl best friend who I can lean on. But I decided days ago that no one would be able to replace Tawny, she was one of a kind. A one that I missed terribly.
As much as I miss her though I owe it to myself to at least try. I'd promised her I'd make the best out of all of this, and I'm counting that encounter with Noah as a win.
The days goes on, class testing my limits on how long I can sit next to Yael while he spurts out fifteen questions for every two sentences the instructor gets out of his mouth.
By the time dinner comes around, I'm itching to get it over with and head to training. I'm not meant to be all cooped up and being still. I need the physical activity as much as I need food and water.
My heart sinks as I walk into the mess hall though. By some freak accident, the first dinner group got held up which means that the line for food is so long I'll never get to training at this rate. After a solid twenty minutes in line and still only having moved about four people closer towards the front of the line I'm beginning to debate how badly I really need to eat tonight. The amazing smell though keeps me planted.
Someone taps on my shoulder and I twist to find one of Courtlyn's friends standing beside me with a tray of food. "Hey," She says, a half smile on her lips.
"Hi." I reply with caution.
"Do you want this?" She holds the tray up higher, the intoxicating scent making my stomach clench for it. "I grabbed extra while I was in line for my friend but I didn't realize it had meat and apparent she's a vegetarian or something." The girl shrugs a shoulder. "I don't want to just throw it away."
"Umm." I stand awkwardly for a second. "What is it?"
"The lady called it burgers I think. I don't know. Mine was good though." I hesitate and the girl sighs. "If you don't want it I can just ask someone else, you were just the closest to me."
I'm not sure about it, but at the same time I'm starving and it smells so good and I really want to get to training, so in the end, I sigh and take the tray, thanking the girl who never even offers her name.
I scarf the amazingness down while standing and then toss the tray, passing a whiny Yael on my way out as I break into a jog towards the gymnasium.
This is going to be better than last night. I tell myself over and over as I walk in.
A couple sparring partners have already gotten started while the rest are warming up with stretches or trash talk on the sideline. I lock eyes with Oliver for a split second and he nods as Maxum claps my shoulder hard. "You ready?"
"I'm ready." I nod, looking for Reda. "I've been working on ideas since last night."
Maxum laughs, clearly having zero faith in me, but I'll show him. I didn't like feeling weak last night, and I won't be walking out of here tonight feeling the same way.
I march over to the ratty blue mat and grin right at Reda.
"Back for more, Newb?"
"I am."
"Good girl, I was worried I'd broke you."
"You'll find I'm not easily broken," I crack my knuckles and stretch my neck. "now if we're done with the small talk?"
Reda face is split by a hulking smile that I'm sure to others would be terrifying, but to me is exciting. My stomach twists in anticipation. She drops to a crouch and I mirror her stance, the two of us walking in a slow circle around the mat, eyes dead locked on each other, looking for any clues to what our opponents move will be. I know I've got a good plan, but for some reason, all of this circling is making my stomach turn and jerk with something I'm no longer thinking is anticipation.
On our third turn around I know something is wrong.
I can feel the thin layer of sweat covering my body, but I don't dare let my guard down yet.
Reda makes the first move, jumping forward and going for a back of the knee kick, but I doge easily, sweeping out with my own fist that just barely grazes the underside of her chin. She grins at me, and I want to feel proud of myself too, this is the longest I've lasted, but I don't feel good at all.
I suddenly stop moving all together and Reda stops, eying me warily.
"Burgers." I barely manage to squeak.
"Is this your idea of a good way to distract- Oh my gods!" She barely jumps back enough to miss the spray of puke that comes flying out of me and covers the mat.