Page 117 of My Roommate from Hell
“Is something wrong?” asks Lysteria.
“No,” I say, moving my fork away from the eyeball that is now watching me. This is still a human restaurant, so I assume the eyeball is a result of reality warping, but I decide to stick with bread from now on.
As we eat, Zarmenus tells them about his classes, and how much he enjoys his acting class, and how he thinks he might audition for some plays once he’s back home. The conversation flows easily, and after a while my nerves fade until they are barely perceptible. I don’t eat the pasta, only moving it around my plate, but nobody seems to notice.
The waiter comes to our table. “Would you like to take the rest to go?” he asks me.
“Yes, please.”
He takes the plate from me.
“Shall we order dessert?” asks Maleilius.
They all look to me.
I’m not really hungry anymore, probably because of the eyeball in my pasta, but there is a passionfruit panna cotta on the menu that I would love to try, as long as it’s a normal dessert. Still, I take it as a good sign that they want to continue the dinner, and I know how important this is, so it’s an easy decision.
“I’m in,” I say.
The waiter returns, and we all order.
“Do you get along with your parents?” asks Lysteria.
“He calls them every day,” says Zarmenus. “It’s cute.”
A short while later, desserts are served. I’m the only one who chose the panna cotta which, thankfully, seems totally normal. Zarmenus has picked a lava cake, and his parents both picked a deconstructed jam donut that is the fanciest-looking jam donut I have ever seen.
As I eat, I know the dinner is coming to an end, and Zarmenus still hasn’t asked about staying at Point next semester. I get the impression that he wants to, but his nerves are getting the better of him. Under the table, I nudge him with my foot.
Zarmenus clears his throat. “Mom, Dad. There’s something I want to ask you.”
The room goes quiet. A hush even falls over the crowd of monstrous figures watching us.
“How would you two feel if I stayed at Point next semester?” he asks. “I’m having a really good time, and I’d like to stay a little longer.”
“Oh,” says Maleilius. His tone of voice immediately gives away that this isn’t going to go the way Zarmenus wants it to. “Listen, Zarmenus. I like that you’ve had a good time. But you know as well as I do that too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing.”
“What your father means to say,” says Lysteria, “is that our situation is delicate. You’ve done a great job, but if you stayed, you would risk undoing all the good you’ve done.”
“But I’m the prophesied one,” he says. “I was talking to Owen about it—”
“You told Owen about the prophecy?” hisses Maleilius, his entire demeanor changing, becoming hostile. “We agreed that under no circumstances were you to disclose that information to anyone.”
“He’s my boyfriend,” he says. “I should be able to tell him everything.”
“Enough,” says Maleilius. “We will not speak of this any further. At the end of the semester you will come home. End of discussion.”
I feel about as crushed as Zarmenus looks.
We have our answer. It’s a no.
It means he has to go back to Hell.
As soon as we get back to our room, Zarmenus drops face down onto his bed.
I don’t know what to do to help him. Before the dinner I was worried that I was going to give us away and reveal that we’re not truly boyfriends. Now that seems like a better course of events than what actually happened.
“We need to break up,” he says.
