Page 13 of Exordium

“Yes. Some massive dude. I mean, I could still kill him, but I’d have to take him by surprise.” he deepened his already deep voice.

“I never doubted you, Psycho.” I kissed his cheek, stood up, and pulled him to his feet. “Let’s get to it. It’s getting late, and we still have some explaining to do.” I held out my arms, “I’m ready.”

He looked at me in confusion, “Ready for what?”

“To zap out of here. I can’t do it yet because I’m not sure how it happened the first time.” I was going to have to find a place to practice, for sure.

“Why don’t we just walk over?” He looked confused. I stared at him, blinking slowly. It was becoming a habit. But seriously, who could keep up with this guy?

“OK. Sounds good.” I just let it go, maybe Elsa had it right. “Let’s just walk back.”

Chapter 5

Reverie

We walked out of the room and into the small living area. The setup was identical to my dorm: the wall color, furniture, and everything. The only difference I could see was the mountain of a man standing in the kitchenette. He managed to make the small space appear even smaller. When he turned, I gasped. Nathan immediately pushed me behind him.

“What is it?” he growled. “What the hell do you see?” Desperately trying to locate the danger. I grabbed his arm, jerked him around, and then punched him in the stomach.

“What the hell was that for?” Nathan wheezed out in complete confusion.

“It was for that stupid sticker you put on my forehead!” I narrowed my eyes at the asshole.

“Why the hell would you think of that now?” He was still trying to catch his breath.

“I think I can answer that.” The big guy smirked. “I saw sticker girl this morning while I was picking up my packet and dorm assignment.”

“So, you two have already met?” Nathan stood up, recovered from the unexpected punch.

“If that’s what you call it.” I felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment. Nathan started laughing hysterically.

“Since I got a tattoo dedicated to you, I thought you should have something to represent my sacrifice.” He cackled, not doing a very good job of hiding our relationship from his roommate.

“And a sticker on my forehead was the answer?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Just a harmless prank, my Ne- Stop hitting me woman, or I’m going to assume you want to play,” Nathan frowned, trying to block my punches. I was going to kill him. He almost called me Nexi. We already had enough on our plate, having to explain our situation to the Moon siblings. I didn’t want to deal with this guy too. The big guy was laughing at our antics.

“So, this the perfect princess you were talking about? I pictured a crown on her head, not a crown sticker on her forehead.”Everyone is a comedian.I rolled my eyes.

“This is Jet,” Nathan smiled. “Although I’ve taken to calling him Jolly. You know, for the Jolly Green Giant? The vegetable guy?”

“We know who it is, Nathan,” I smirked.

Jet just looked at him. Same Jet, same. Seeing someone else stunned by the words coming out of Nathan’s mouth felt validating.

“My name is Reverie, definitely not perfect or a princess.” I smiled trying to appear sane after the show we just put on.

“My name is Jet Lockley, definitely not Jolly,” He replied with no expression on his face.

“Well, nice to meet you, Jet. We’ll talk more later, we’ve got a previous engagement.” I ended the conversation abruptly dragging Nathan to the door before he said anything else incriminating to this guy. Jet stared at us until we closed the door. I’m sure we both appeared perfectly normal.

Nothing to see here. I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts.

We arrived back at my dorm and paused in the hallway before entering. I was nervous and just wanted a minute before going in. I hoped this didn’t change anything between Chloe and me. We’d hit it off immediately, and I loved the idea of having a friend I could hang out with.

“Let’s do this, my Nexi. There’s no need to stress about it. If we don’t like what happens, I already told you I would take care of it.” Nathan reached over and wrapped a lock of midnight hair around his finger.

“I know you did, but I think murder should be our last option.” I smiled at him in exasperation. “I’m just nervous it’ll change how Chloe looks at me, and I liked the idea of having a best friend.”

---