“Not exactly …”
The air conditioner pushed a cool breeze through the vents and it, along with the music from the video game was the only sound in the room for several moments. I leaned forward, waiting for her to say more. Now was my chance to delve more into the mystery that was Serenity. We’d been roommates for three years, but neither of us had gotten too deep in our pasts. We’d both focused more on our common interests—video games, comic books, and science fiction movies. A part of me had wanted to open up, but how could I? She’d never believe I came from a family that hunted evil spirits and gods. It sounded almost as ridiculous as some of those teen book plots. I’d always wonder why she held back, though. Every time I’d asked she’d deflected to something else. It couldn’t be worse than my secret.
She cleared her throat. “It’s nothing.”
“It has to be something if you’re holding a grudge for this long.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “He’s just the type of person who chews others up and spits them out without even realizing it.”
“You already said he was an asshole,” I said. “Several times.”
A smirk flitted across her face before it changed to a frown. She met my gaze. “That’s why you should stay away from him.”
I sighed. “I told you, it’s just an interview.”
“I saw your look, Cassi, and I’ve seen it before. This is so much worse than James. He’ll break more than your heart.”
“What more could he break?”
She gave me a sad smile. “You have no idea.”
“Yeah,” I blew my hair from my face with a long sigh. “How can I if you won’t tell me?”
Her frown deepened. It was time to back off. Whatever her secret was, she really didn’t want to talk about it.
“Are you worried he came here to one-up you or something?” I asked, thinking maybe I could help the situation without making her reveal it. “Maybe’s he’s changed.”
“He’ll never change,” she said.
“You don’t know that,” I said. “There are lots of stories devoted to how people can change.”
Those are just fiction. Great for comic books.” She waved her hand to the television. “Real heroes don’t exist.”
“All stories come from somewhere,” I said. “All legends are true.”
“I’m done with this conversation.” She stood, dropping the pillow onto the couch. “Just drop whatever fascination you have with him. It’s not worth it.”
She headed back into her room and slammed the door, leaving me alone with only Batman looking triumphant on the screen. At least one of us felt that way.
Chapter 6
The next morning I hurried across the campus toward the Waller Hall. My alarm had once again failed to wake me. Professor Marshall was going to kill me. Not really, but she would give me her death stare for disturbing her lecture. Maybe I would get lucky and could sneak in the back and grab a seat without her noticing.
A girlish giggled carried across the quad on the warm morning air. Mercer stood by the fountain in the center surrounded by a group of college girls. He tilted his head and laughed as he took the hand of a busty girl with a blonde ponytail. She arched her back and pressed her chest forward as she smiled up at him. These girls seemed to have no classes they were late for. As much as I wanted to join them and admire the way his blackberry colored hair glinted with blue highlights in the sun, I couldn’t afford to miss this class. Marshall would make me regret it with a quiz concerning only her notes. I rounded the corner of Turner hall and stopped short.
Aunt Joanna sat in front of a large board covered with a multitude of photographs of a girl. The perfume of several bouquets of flowers as well as half melted candles that surrounded the board wafted to my nose. The students had come together to create the monument for Tessa several days after her death. A small memorial had been held a couple weeks ago with her roommate giving a tear jerking speech that had most of the girls sobbing loudly. The school had allowed her monument to remain for the rest of the year.
“Are you spying on me?” I hissed at Aunt Jo as I came up behind her.
She nodded up at the center photo–a headshot of Tessa. “Pretty girl. Such a loss.”
“Yeah.” My voice softened. “She’d been going through a lot at home. I wished she’d talked to someone.”
“Wouldn’t have mattered.” Aunt Jo spun her wheelchair to face me. “They still would have gotten to her.”
The corner of my eye twitched. “You can’t be serious.”
“Can’t ya feel it, Cassi girl? This place is burnin’ with resonance.”
I sighed and rubbed my temple. “Aunt Jo, I don’t have time for this. You can’t be wandering the campus like this.”
“Why are you playin’? Didn’t ya just hear me? We have a duty.”