Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
We’re talking really good
“Wake up.”
Someone tapped on my shoulder, and I groaned my way back to life. When my eyes opened, I saw Remy’s face.
“Class starts in an hour. Figured you’d want to get your shit together.”
Shit.
I shot up and looked around. Rylan’s fancy suite had been replaced with mine. I wondered how I got to my bed. Despite searching through my memories, there was none of me walking back.
“Did Rylan bring me here?”
I felt like it was an obvious answer, but I wanted to hear it. I’d fallen asleep on his couch and woke up in my bed.
She smirked, and I ignored the knowing look.
“Yeah, Prince Charming got you to bed before midnight. He must have really tired you out.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. I hoped it still worked after our unexpected dip in the lake.
A text popped up moments later, and I sighed. It looked okay to me as I clicked on the notification.
Rylan: Your phone got wet in the lake, but I fixed it. See you in class.
He’d fixed my phone and programmed his number inside. Remy walked to the edge of her bed and scratched her owl’s neck.
I wonder if my little noodle was up, but knew she liked to sleep in.
“I’ll see you in class, Temperance. Bye Jemison. Bye Edith,” Remy called out and I scrambled out of bed to find my noodle colored in dark red. That didn’t seem like good color.
“Hey, Edith, my little love. Good morning.” I lowered my hand, and she watched it without a word. Uh-oh.
“What’s wrong?” I asked and the little drama queen didn’t disappoint.
“You left me in here while she did that thing with that man! My eyes!” Her colors blinked from red to white and back.
Oh no.
She was sleeping when I went down to dinner. I wasn’t expecting everything to happen afterwards. I sort of forgot she’d be in the room when Remy and her mystery man were going at it. Poor thing.
“Jemison didn’t care. She just flew out the window, but I can’t do that! If I leave the room without you, I’ll get squished.”
Edith half rolled out of her stuffed moose and twisted like she may play dead again.
“Or someone could think I’m cute, because I am, and take me. Gah! What if they don’t let me sleep in the bed with them? Or have a heated moose!”
All right, I’d had enough of her spiraling.
She slithered onto my hand so easily and I hugged her close.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” I kissed her snout.
With her slithering around my neck to stay in place, I pulled out a pair of wide leg pants and a shirt.
“I think it’s time you start coming with me to classes anyways. You’re over a week old now. Tarrin said that’s plenty of time. What do you think?” I set her back on the dresser as I switched from Rylan’s clothes to mine.
Edith tilted her head to the side while her belly scales turned lavender. That was her thinking color.
“Alright, but not today. I didn’t get much sleep with all the moans, then wondering where you were.”
It was sweet she was worried about me, but I didn’t want that for her. I was her momma now, which meant I was the worrier, not her.
“I’m sorry again, little noddle. Get some rest. I’ll check on you during lunch, okay?”
She slithered back into her moose and yawned.
With thirty minutes left before class, I tidied up in the bathroom, grabbed a purple sweater with silver stars, slipped on some flats, then left.
The coffee line was fairly short, so instead of heading straight to class, I decided to sit in the courtyard to enjoy the morning air for ten minutes.
Then a clicking of heels came to a stop behind me. A sweet-as-pie voice entered my vicinity and my metaphorical hackles raised. “Hi there.”
I glanced back to see Delanie Templeton standing with her arms crossed over her chest with three women behind her.
“Hello,” I greeted her even though she didn’t seem to be here on friendly terms.
She pushed her blonde hair back with pink manicured nails and sneered. “I just think it’s sweet that Rylan took pity on the ugliest girl in class to sit next to. Probably made you feel good.”
Geez, who just walked up to someone and said something like that? No hi, how are you or anything. Just jumped right to some lame, teenage bully insult.
The sheer audacity made me laugh. We’re talking full blown coffee spitting out of my mouth laughter. This was not high school, and I did not care what this twatsicle thought of me.
“He made me feel good last night, too,” I purred, giving her a knowing wink. “We’re talking really good.”
One woman behind her grinned and I remember what it was like to feel like you had to follow behind the cool girl in school. Better behind her asshole comments than in front of them.
“Whatever fantasy you have about him,” Delanie hissed, pointing a finger at me. “Just know, he’s going to be mine. So, you need to get over it.”
I stood to tell her I if I could handle dragging a pre-teen away from the mall on a Friday night, I could handle her wimpy ass.
I never got the chance because the far side of the courtyard exploded.
Kaboom!