The car door slammed shut, making the older man inside cringe with a heaviness in his heart. As he watched his son through the tiny crack in the window, he couldn't help but feel the tears well up in his eyes. Outside, the blond boy-no, man- rapped curtly on the glass, startling him out of his reverie. He pushed a button, letting the window roll down agonizingly slow. His son faced him; his hazel green eyes sparked with that usual mischief and mirth, though a vague sadness rested behind them.
"Dad," the American accent rang. The school behind them looked more like a castle than a collage. Young men and women of plenty ages and ethnicities milled about the grounds, though many were hastily rushing around, trying to find the entrance. Imagining his son among the crowd of busy people…no, he just couldn't do it.
"Dad," the voice came again, snapping Eric Sweet out of his thoughts once more. Standing outside his car against was his son, Edison Miller. He'd grown up rather well, even from the past year or so, becoming a man more and more by the hours, so it seemed.
Eddie had his hands dangling down by his side, a very odd gesture on him. His usually cocky stance was brought about by a very bold and confident masculinity. But Eric noticed that his smirk was replaced by a look of worry, and something even more humbling-sadness and something similar to fright.
That fact that his son, the previous Osirion and savior of the world was scared about going to college almost made him laugh. But the small smile only halfway spread onto his face before Eddie opened his arms.
Eric wasted no time hurrying out of the car before nearly throwing himself onto Eddie. The young boy stifled his tears with small chuckles as he steadied himself. He wrapped his arms around his father quickly, before removing them. "Alright Dad," he muttered. "It's just college. I'm not moving to Italy or anything. I'm practically still at Anubis house, causing you migraines."
At that, his father had to laugh. He let go of Edison, and held him at arm's length, sighing deeply. "You aren't a little boy anymore, I suppose," he said, sniffing back his emotions. "I suspect you'll have a lot of fun in college, but If I hear one word from a professor about any funny business…" he trailed off sternly, waging his finger at him. The man knew Eddie was prone to tom-foolery, especially with the delinquents he used to hang out with, both home in America and back at his dorm-house in the previous school he attended.
Eddie rolled his eyes. "You won't. Besides, I'd never do anything substantial without the gang," he joked, but wistfully so. Eric knew that he would miss those children, but Eddie needed to grow up. From the corner of his eye, he swore he saw a tear fall from Eddie's face. He didn't say anything about it though, just helped Eddie pick up a stray suitcase of his tilting on the edge of the sidewalk.
"You'll be needing these," he said, putting on a brave grin for his son. Eddie took it from his hands, and started rolling away his things on a trolley, pushing it closer to the gate. Then, as his father went back to the other side of his car, Eddie felt his chest getting denser, as though his heart might drop out of his body. Facing his dad's vintage looking cream car, he called back "Hey, Dad?"
Eric looked up just as he opened the car door. Peering through the top of his little half-moon glasses, he answered "Yes, Edison?"
Eddie got closer, holding onto the cart with on hand. Looking at the ground before looking back into his father's watery blue eyes, he quietly stammered out "Thank you, Dad, for everything. It means a lot to me. I love you."
Mr. Sweet knew he wasn't imagining drops run down his son's cheeks anymore. Smiling, though showing pain still, he nearly whispered back, "Love you too, son." Then ducked his head underneath the car, giving a wave through the open glass. "Take care Edison. And do phone, as often as you can. Your mother as well!"
Now, as the car started rolling away, Eddie belted out promises he intended to keep. Then, watching it fade into the distance, he shook his head fondly while the toll bell rang, indicating that he would be late for his orientation. On his first day of college. Fantastic.
"Yes, yes mum! Gosh, stop worrying about me, I'll be fine. No, He's not here with me, he wanted to stay in England or something. No, I don't talk to him anymore!" An angry redhead padded out of the shower and into her living room, ignoring her selfish roomie who had invited over her pig of a boyfriend. They were sitting snugly together on the couch, watching some American film on her Netflix account, while she fended off fifty questions with her mum on the phone in nothing but a towel and her wet skin.
She snatched the remote, lowering the volume. Joy looked up at her, those angry brown eyes looking straight at her.
"Gosh Patty," she joked, though Patricia could hear the anger seeping into her tone. Most likely she didn't want a scene in front of her boyfriend anyways. What was that weasel even doing here?
Jerome Clark took the hint between the two glaring girls. Looking at his watch, he deduced that he'd rather be off. Joy Mercer pouted, earning her a kiss.
"Do you really have to go?" she questioned in a low voice so that her friend wouldn't hear.
"Yeah," he said, his blue eyes travelling to the grumpy figure with her arms crossed. "Besides, I'm plenty worried that towel will fall, and I'm not ready for that yet." Joy giggled as he planted a peck on her cheek, and Patricia mimicked vomiting into the phone receiver.
"See you in the morning, okay Joyless?" he shouted, grabbing up his keys from the table and his jacket from the closet. She met him to the door of their apartment, fixing his coat as he put it on.
"Money never sleeps," she sighed. In all seriousness, Joy figured that with it already being nine o'clock, she had so much more work to do, and classes didn't ease her stress. School started too early in her opinion.
Jerome gave a special wave to her as he locked eyes with a still fuming Patricia who was talking rapidly into the phone. He closed the door, and a few minutes later, Joy could hear the engine of his car revving.
Spinning on her heel, she marched angrily to her redheaded friend who was swinging their landline phone around in her hands. Crossing her arms to get her point across, Joy hissed "Do you really have to be like that all the time?" Her English accent rang throughout the flat.
Patricia opened her palms and held them up, tucking in her elbows to keep her towel from falling. Joy however, cut her off. "Okay first, go put on some clothes, I mean Jesus Christ Patricia, what were you thinking? My boyfriend was home!"
Patricia's forest green eyes flashed. A humorless smile spread across her face. "I'm sorry," she barked, no pity aware in her voice. She had started walking away, disappearing behind a door. Joy could hear her opening the dryer and slamming it back closed. "I didn't know I wasn't allowed naked in my own home!" She came out, still only half dressed.
Joy looked away from her and down at the floor, the way she did when she was furious. "It is not just yours," she articulated, throwing in her hand gestures. Now Patricia knew she'd really lit the fuse. If she handled anything else the wrong way, Joy would blow up and leave for the night.
Obviously trying to calm herself down, Joy breathed deeply. "You live with another person, who was a boyfriend, whom is over often. Can you please have respect for the other person paying rent?"
Patricia, who was now clad in stripped pajamas sat on the couch, looking up at Joy. Her friend was a relatively short girl, so this opportunity didn't happen often. "I'm sorry Joy," She said, though she didn't sound very sympathetic. "But he's over every single night! I might as well treat him like he's a part of you, since you're basically attached to the hip. I didn't know I was getting him along with the rent help."
Joy's normally twinkly eyes stormed. "Well, if it were still you and Eddie, I'm pretty sure I'd be getting the same thing." She snapped, tilting her head to the side, feigning innocence.
Patricia looked her friend straight in the eyes, a blank look morphing onto her face. Then she looked at the floor, her tongue sliding over her teeth, her head nodding. Kneading her hands in her hair, Joy blew out air from her mouth, raising her elbows above her head. "Shit, Trixie, I'm so sorry," she rattled, sitting on the arm rest of the couch.
Patricia merely put her hand up, motioning for Joy to stop. As she walked away, she looked back at her, saying slowly, "Just stop. You meant what you said, yeah?"
Joy made a few noises, willing for the words to come out, but Patricia was already walking away.
"Save it Joy. It's been a long day, and I'm going to bed." Finality rung in her tone as she rounded the corner to her room, and shut the door silently.
Joy watched the wall clock. It was only nine fifteen, and she felt overly exhausted, both mentally and physically. Turning off the lights in the main hallway, she worked through her schedule in her head, mapping out specific times to talk with Jerome, go to school and work, and how many times she could apologize to Patricia before tomorrow was done.
As the night sky blinked into existence more and more, Fabian Rutter talked listlessly into the phone, nearly yelling coordinates into his small cellular device. A loud laugh echoed through the speaker phone, and Fabian stopped abruptly, his words sputtering into a scowl.
"What?" he insisted, looking into his telescope. The institute he was attending was in the capital city of Ireland, and from the twenty-four hour observatory, he could chart as many stars as his heart desired. Talking with the girl on the other line, he was trying to chart the stars falling over her part of the world.
"Will you take it easy Fabian?" she exclaimed, though she was still giggly. "That stars aren't even out yet over here. Can we please wait until later?"
Fabian sighed, muttering under his breath. "Of course you idiot she lives in California," he jeered at himself. Mara laughed once more.
"So how's Physics going? Or have you finally decided to drop it and make room for what you actually enrolled for?" He could see the smile on her face now, those coffee brown eyes shimmering with mirth.
Leaning over on the roof's railing, he set is phone down on a sturdy table and slowly blinked. "I wanted to take Physics you know," he said mockingly. Only a snort this time.
"Fabian Rutter, if anyone has wanted to be the next Galileo, it's you! Now at least stop making things up. You know, I could always phone Joy and make this a three way call." She taunted into the phone. Fabian's ears must've turned tomato red.
"No!" he shouted, earning attention from a few lingering souls on the other side of the planetarium. Then, clearing his throat he said more softly, "No, no Mara, that's quite alright." He then clicked the phone off of speaker as soon as Mara started to reply, though he missed the beginning of her sentence.
"…Without, you know, Eddie and Jerome and Alfie." She finished, leaving Fabian feeling mad. Was she really think about those three right now? While he was on the phone with her.
Okay, he thought reasonably. Why on earth am I so mad? "I'm sorry, I didn't catch all that?" he questioned.
"There's no drama, no pranks no nothing without our troublemakers about." She said, and a sound crept onto the phone like she was getting up from a couch. "Anyways, evening classes are beginning. I'll have to go. Quadratic functions area calling my name," Mara joked, though her voice implied that she wasn't happy to go.
"Listen, I'm really glad you decided to give this long distance thing a try," he whispered into the phone. His last relationship was cut short after Nina never came back. He'd only gotten with Mara at graduation, their literal last night together. Call them crazy, but they must've known what they were doing. Of course, they did, Mara had been valedictorian.
"Are you kidding? No way am I going to let some freckled face, cute, little Irish girl seduce you in some pub!" Fabian laughed outright at the image of him, sitting down with no worries in a pub, miles away from school. Ridiculous.
"After all, you do still have my necklace. And we are sharing it," she said this softly and coyly, much unlike her. Fabian was starting to catch a fever from her words.
"Welp," she said with finality, as though she'd made up her mind about something, apparent shuffling could be heard across the line. "I best be on my way. Unless, you want to talk me to class?"
The idea, he supposed was a play on "walk me to class," which boyfriends did. The black haired boy gathered his books, stacking his papers and charts and placed them neatly into his folder. He shoulders his bag and picked up his sweater, cradling his cell between his cheek and shoulder. As his feet echoed down the steps, he told her, "I'm not a huge fan of stereotypical gender roles. Maybe you could talk me back home?"
Boxes upon boxes flooded the room, and the television blared from somewhere. Things were scattered about the floor, and the bubbly brunette nearly tripped trying to get out of her dorm room.
Huffing slightly, she pushed back her bangs. Her roommate lay sprawled on her bed, eating a family sized bag of crisps, her blonde hair fixed into a loose bun on her head. Willow Jenks tried not to let her frustration take over her face.
"I'm sorry Verruca, but could you please not have your brush on the floor? It leaves little pin-pricks in my foot and I can hardly sleep at all!"
Verruca, a small, plump little girl turned her face. She was rather pretty, and actually a few years younger than Willow. She was a prodigy, or so she'd heard. Looking onto the floor, her expression morphed to confusion.
"Willow," she stated back in an equal British accent. "That's yours."
The red head stared down at it, then clutch her hand onto her heart. "Ugh, I've looking for this for ages!" she exclaimed, picking it up and throwing onto her bed along with a few other things. Looking around, she saw that a good deal of her clothes were strewn about, a few scarves and stockings on the bed and even her old school uniform. She gazed at it longingly, before a sharp knock on the door jumped her out of her thoughts.
"It's Alfie!" her boyfriend's voice drawled. Willow gave a small "Squee!" and flew out to the door, nearly taking its handle off. When she saw him standing on the other side, wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her up from her waist. She giggled and he spun her around.
Alfie Louis had never looked better. Being at school without wearing that dorky uniform had brightened up his mornings. "So kitten," he said, leaning against the doorway. "Classes don't start for another two hours. Whaddya say to breakfast with Jerome and Joy?"
She smiled. "Aw, that sounds wonderful! Just give me a minute to get some shoes and I'll be ready to go!" she kissed his cheek and he propped the door open. Scurrying to her closet, she opened it with her arms thrust out wide before her grin faltered.
"Verruca! What have you done?" Staring her back in the face was a closet filled with clothes and shoes to fit a fourteen year old.
Verruca looked away from her book. "Willow, you've never unpacked! Two weeks into the semester, and you haven't opened out a box! Did you expect me to do it?"
The brunette was taken aback. She pursed her lips in thought. Surely she had unpacked at least one box. But looking back on it, maybe the only thing she had unpacked was her hair care box…Yeah, that one had been heavy.
"Oh well," she chirped, trying not to let her lack of organization get her down. Sure, she was already two weeks in, but they'd flown by. She would have never guess that she'd be too busy to look at her clothes. Normally she made sure each were ironed or pressed respectively, and that her shoes were shined and free of any damage or spots. But college-it had been tough to even pack your boxes onto a cart and find your room.
Never the less, Willow grabbed a nice looking pair of flats and headed out the door. Alfie hooked his arm with hers and they went off down the hall, into the elevator.
It was only once the elevator doors had closed in something important reached Willow's mind. "Wait a minute. Joy and Jerome are all the way in America. How…Alfie!"
He smiled sheepishly. "Well, maybe it's not the way you pictured it, but it'll still be fun!" Noticing her pout, Alfie hurriedly backtracked. "Okay, so I probably should've mentioned that we'd be doing this via videochat…."
Willow rolled her eyes, before putting on one of her famous smiles. "Oh Alfie, I could never stay mad at you. Besides, I think it's sweet that you're still staying in touch with him even though you're an ocean apart." She leaned into his chest, her eyes seeming miles away.
"It's like just yesterday we all got to know each other," she whispered longingly, and Alfie had to touch her arm lightly to see if she was still all there. Her hazel green eyes looked back up at him.
The elevator dinged, opening up to the main lobby. He held his hand out for Willow and she grasped it tightly as they walked out of the college doors, and into his brand new car. Smiling as he fished for his keys, Willow bounced over to the passenger's side.
"So, I was thinking that place we like next to that corner bookstore, yeah? I don't know what the place is called but-"
"The one down on Beach Boulevard, right?" Willow asked, looking through Alfie's glove compartment. She pulled out a map of Aberdeen, and her eyes searched through the twisted lines and bubbled numbers. For college, they'd both moved up north to Aberdeen, England to attend their business school. While it was a far stretch from home, Willow enjoyed it, along with being a good drive from the coast.
"Mhmm," Alfie replied, sharply turning the corner, nearly making Willow bump her head. "That's a while from the college, isn't it?"
"It shouldn't be that long, we've been there before. Oh wait!" she cried out, turning the wheel herself and dropping the map. Her outburst caused Alfie to lose control of the wheel and almost crash into another driver. The person in the red SUV he might've damage honked their horn and speed off rather rudely in the other direction.
"Willow!" he screamed, but he did so with a fond smile plastered onto his face. She was wide-eyed and staring out the windshield. Looking at him with a sheepish snort, she stated "You were supposed to turn left, not right."
Alfie simply turned the wheel and waited for the stoplight to turn green. "You know, at this rate we'll be dead before Jerome logs on."
"Well, why don't we check right now?" grabbing around in the back seat, she patted the soft interior until she grasped the leather bag that hopefully held his laptop. Swinging it wildly, it nearly hit him in the face. Willow didn't even apologize, she just ripped the device from the bag and turned it on. Alfie began driving again-watching the map more carefully this time-and soon, a familiar voice shouted out, "Let me guess, a wrong turn somewhere?"
Somehow, Alfie managed to groan and laugh at the same time as Willow stifled her giggles. "And I'm sure New Yorkers are treating you two well?"
Jerome's face went slack and serious. His blonde hair was greased back and his blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "People here can be so rude. And we're British."
"Nothing we can't handle," a girl's voice said as Joy's face popped onto the screen. Her brown hair was straight again, held back by a pretty flower head band. She smiled brightly. "Hi Willow!" she exclaimed, making Willow squee in delight.
Joy's brow furrowed on screen. "Are you in a car?" she asked, and Jerome chuckled in the background. Alfie rolled his eyes, waiting for Joy to put the pieces together. "You're not there yet!?"
Willow turned the screen to Alfie, and he sliced across his neck before he caught sight of Joy's annoyed face. She pouted for a minute before Jerome said, "Okay Joyless, lemme grill him out." Alfie's friend appeared once more. "So how's college treating you?" he asked, obviously stalling.
"Great, actually. First semester just started, business school rocks." Turning the corner again, he tried to make eye contact with the screen.
"Well," Jerome laced his fingers in a very classy way which made Alfie snort. "I've gotten a job."
Alfie raised his eyebrows appraisingly. "Is that so?" he said, but he was proud of his bro. Jerome may have always been a slacker and a prankster, but he was amazing at business as well.
"Yep. I start interning for some hot shot business next Wednesday," he didn't smile, but there was one threating the grace his face. "I though they were sleazy dirtbags until Joyless over here reminded me,"
"That you are one, so you'll fit right in!" Joy finished his sentence. Alfie and Willow laughed, knowing their friend quite well. Alfie had no doubts Jerome might thrive there.
"Oh my god dude, that's incredible!" at the same time of his outburst, he turned left again, before Willow said, "Look out!"
Alfie had managed one way or another to end up at a dead end cliff. Stepping on the breaks, he skidded to a stop and watched as the car almost tilted. Outside he could see miles and miles of the ocean's glistening waves, and people down below watching in horror as Alfie started carefully reversing.
Jerome's head tilted ever so slightly and his grin diminished. "What was that?"
Willow looked at him sharply and Alfie hung his head. "I know, I know," he said, giving the car a quick U-turn. "I was supposed to go right."
Mara Jaffary sat on the balcony of her building, though she wasn't relaxing. Scattered about in the warm breeze of California's September her foldersand papers lay, nearly crinkling in the summer heat. Her filtered reading glasses only did so much. Adding a few drops of solution to her rapidly drying eyes, she sighed miserably.
"I'm so swamped," she groaned.
Next to her, someone cackled. "Mara, Mara, Mara." The voice soothed. She gave her friend Ruby side eye. She was currently sunbathing while 'doing' her arithmetic homework for Garvin's class. "You need to learn to relax."
Compared to this Cali native, Mara's rich brown skin tone looked pale and dull. Her brilliant gleaming tan skin might've started out like Mara's, perhaps at birth. How she didn't have tumors raging along her skin was beyond her, but her perfect skin made Mara jealous.
Holding down her papers from the oncoming breeze, Mara scoffed. About three weeks into the semester, and she was already drowning in assignments. Granted, none of them were due until a few weeks, but Mara liked to be ahead. Her English assignment sat untyped on the makeshift desk she'd stolen from the rooftop, and her laptop whirred away.
Ruby sat up, plopping her notebook on the floor. "Look, Mara, this is college, okay? It's the real world. If you go around acting like this for the rest of your life, you'll never know what roses smell like." Ruby was an English major, with a minor in anthropology, which made her feel like she knew everything.
Mara sighed. "I wasn't valedictorian for nothing, you know! This is just how I organize myself," she quipped back, gathering up stray pieces of Paper and shoving lightly into her binder pocket. She was starting to swelter in the heat, her hair sticking down on her head. Her white flowy tank rustled, and her choice in pants was causing her thighs to sweat horribly.
Finally deciding that it was enough, she stood up and piled everything on top of each other. "Watch my stuff," she told Ruby, who took off her sunglasses. "I'll be back."
Ruby nodded, though she went back to tapping her pencil and scribbling down notes. Mara fixed her shirt before grabbing up the decorative cloth bag she had gotten as a birthday present from her mother. She opened the hatch door and climbed down the stairs, thankful for the cool air circulating about.
As she crossed the hallway to her dorm, she noticed a stack of mail right outside the door. A few letters and packages. She also noticed the "do not disturb" sing latched onto the door. Rolling her eyes, Mara turned took her key from the lanyard around her neck and pushed her way through the door, closing her eyes.
"Alex?" she cried out, hoping to get an answer back from the bubbly blonde that wasn't from her bedroom.
"Alex," she asked again, he British accent sound very alone in the dorm. She shrugged, going through the mail as she opened her drawers, searching for a pair of shorts she could wear. September in England would've never been this hot, she recalled.
As she tossed her pants into her dirty hamper, Mara separated the mail into a stack-one for her and one for Alex. Most belonged to Alex, but she did receive one letter and one parcel. Setting Alex's stuff down on her bed, Mara slipped both the letter and the parcel into her bag. She rummaged through their fridge and grabbed a coke before she shut the door very loudly.
Walking through the halls, her slippers made a noise she would be more comfortable with if she wasn't so alone. Where is everyone? She asked herself as she skipped up the stairs.
Of course, out in California, there was plenty to do. This wasn't her little boarding school that studied Egyptian culture, no; like Ruby had so roughly put it, this was the real world. These were adult she was dealing with. And as she opened the roof door back into the heat, she realized that she was an adult too. The idea scared her a bit.
Beyond a girl who was smart and worked hard, Mara had her doubts. Frankly, she knew she wasn't like all the other girls in Anubis house, despite the whole "Sibuna" thing. People like KT, Patricia, and Joy could handle themselves quite well. Heck, even Willow had known about the society before her. People who'd saved the world before probably thought college was nothing but a waste of time.
And then there was her-humble little Mara who, despite her best efforts, was never anything more than smart and hard-working. She wasn't bold, or outspoken like the others, but nonetheless she'd played her part, and to her that was enough.
Ruby looked at her from the tops of her frames. "Took you long enough. What did you do, take the long way?"
"There is no long way," Mara deadpanned, producing the two pieces on mail she received. Ruby, being the busy-body she was walked over to her. She sat cross legged in her bathing suit and grinned evilly as she jacked the package from Mara.
"Hey!" the girl exclaimed, trying to pull it back into her lap. Ruby held it as far away from possible, and read the tag out loud.
"Dublin, Ireland," she read quickly, before quirking a brow at her friend. "Who do you know who lives in Ireland, and why haven't you told me about them?"
Mara looked incredulously at her. "I've only known you for four weeks! What did you expect, an oral biography upon our friendship? No! This is personal Ruby, and I'd like it if you gave me that parcel back!"
At that, ruby relinquished her grip on the small box and laughed lightly. At Mara's glance she sniggered, "You are so British."
The black haired girl sighed, pushing Ruby's unnaturally red hair off of the box before pulling a pair of scissors from her bag. Careful not to tear the box raggedly, she pulled the tap from the other side of the box, successfully opening it. Once she looked inside, she blushed and smiled.
Ruby smashed her head close to Mara's, tilting her head to get a better look. "What is it?" she prodded.
Mara lifted the necklace from the box. On the chain was the pyramid of Ra pendant-her valedictorian necklace. She put in on over her shirt and admired the way it hung-not like a badge or anything fancy, but some sort of wearable artifact. It reminded her very much of the Anubis household.
Looking far off over the edge of the building, she through about them, not for the first time. The sun was over the horizon, reminding her of the last time she'd seen them all-stopping Lord Ra from raining down his fury on Earth. Rubbing it between her fingers, she was snapped out of her thought when Ruby called out "Who sent you this?"
Mara would've normally been reluctant to answer, but instead she smiled wistfully. "My boyfriend," she said, looking Ruby in her brown eyes. "His name's Fabian Rutter. We met in that boarding school I was talking about…"
The gray early morning would've been bleak if not for the influx of student on the grounds, meeting new freshmen and transfer students. Cars and taxis pulled up in front of the red brick school and it's newly painted black Iron Gate. From the outside, this place was a fresh new campus for an old building.
KT Rush was moving boxes from her inherited truck. She had a smile on her face as semi-familiar faces passed her by, patting her on the shoulder or screaming in her ear. Yep, she thought to herself I'm finally here.
Though she'd been to a boarding school in England for the past two years, Kara Tatianna considered herself a Dallas native. She hadn't been born here, no, but this place was just teeming with her friends, and people she considered her family. She'd been gone a long time and she missed it.
But she'd had worthwhile memories at The Thoth Academy in Britain. Thinking about it made her cry sometimes, as she'd learned over the summer; joining a boarding school for your junior year isn't a fabulous idea. Cracking her neck, she walked the halls, which reminded her of the institute where she'd rescued Harriet. Oh God, that seemed so long ago.
Finally reaching her destination, KT pulled up her key-her room key, that is. The gold and blue moon key flashed for a minute, before she patted it safely back into her shirt. AS she dropped the box on a nearby table, KT remembered some of the last words one of her best friends had told her:
"I swear to god KT, if you lose your key, run into any gods, or get into any fucking trouble down in Dallas, I will find you."
Eddie Miller had been standing right next to her as her plane took off for America. She, Patricia, Joy, Mara, and Jerome were headed on tickets for different cities on the same day. KT was taking a one way to Pennsylvania, and in late July would be rounding around to Dallas for college. Eddie was digging his nails into her skin playfully, but she swatted his hand away.
"Oh yeah?" she'd taunted, looking him right in the eye. "How are you going to find me without your Osirian powers?"
He'd held a hand up to his heart and gave a hurt look. "Ouch," he muttered, and she pushed him aside. They stood in comfortable silence, until her flight number was announced. Wrinkling her nose, she looked at Eddie, who smiled right back. "Take care KT. I'll miss you."
"Oh, you won't have to worry," she said with a sly smile, though she could feel tears streaming down her face. "You'll see me in your dreams, remember?" He'd slapped her arm lightly, before hugging her tightly, and sending her on her way.
As she was coming out of her reverie, someone knocked on the open door. KT jumped up in surprise.
"Yes?" she asked, coming closer to the doorway. Standing there was an older woman, possibly forty with gray-brown hair and bright blue eyes despite her crow's feet and sunspots. She wore a blazer and pants despite the heat that day.
"Excuse me," she asked kindly, and KT brushed her hands off on her pants. Sure, the last of her stuff was sitting in a hot car somewhere in the huge parking lot, but KT figured this was important.
"Are you Miss Kara Tatianna?" she questioned, and the younger girl winced. She wasn't a huge fan of her given name. She politely corrected her by saying, "Yes, but you can call me KT."
"Okay Katie," the woman said, and before KT could open her mouth to correct her once again, she pulled out a clipboard and turned her attention away from her, and onto the sheet of paper. "It seems there's been a change in roommates. You're old roommate, Anna Sun will no longer be assigned to this room, due to and error in programming."
She told KT this like she already knew what was going on. She opened her mouth to say something again, but the woman curtly nodded and just left, leaving a very confused KT standing alone in the hall. Sighing, she picked up her keys and closed the door behind her, ready to make her trek across the campus to her truck.
As she walked, she began thinking more and more. She clutched her chain and pulled the key out just so she could feel it. On some day's KT can't believe that the events she's been through were real. America was so laid back, so non-fictional; it's where she'd always been and suddenly; she'd given the key to stopping great evil and save the world! Stepping into Anubis House was a curse and a Godsend. Which, given their most recent situation, KT was really deciding whether it should be God or gods.
As she gripped the last box out of her father's blue truck, KT closed the door with her foot, and locked it before throwing those keys into the box. Looking down, she inspected the contents: Teddy bears and things won at various carnivals with Sibuna, those chopsticks she'd had in her hair for Business Day at Thoth Academy, and several other things.
One thing she was particularly interested in pulling up was a gold frame with a photo in side. AS she opened the door into the Dorm room hallways, she picked it up and examined it, careful not to trip and fall.
The picture was of three of them-Herself, Fabian Rutter and Eddie Miller. Fabian was on the left of KT, a sincere smile on his face. Eddie was on the right of her, and both of them had the most ridiculous open-mouthed face ever. His green eyes were wide, and he had this crazy look that made her smile.
As she kept looking at it, she fumbled around for her dorm key, before the door swung open. There was a girl standing in the door way, and she gave a surprised "Whoa!" when she saw KT. Popping her head behind the box, KT smiled.
"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly, worming her way into the door. "Just had to get these," she announced, dropping them on the same table as before. She noticed a few new suitcases that weren't her's. She eyed them before the other girl stepped back in holding a small dry erase board.
"It's okay," she said, and KT noted that she seemed like a nice person. She had long dirty blonde waves of hair. She was dressed in a white striped shirt and a pair of khaki shorts with Keds. She stood on tiptoe just to reach the height of the door she was trying to tack something to. KT noticed this, and grabbed a footstool before something bad happened.
"Here," KT told her, and slid it next to her foot. Her new roommate smiled as she stepped on it and tacked the little hook to the door. She hung the dry erase board and scribbled something on it before closing the door.
"Thanks," she finally replied, as she huffed and sat on the counter. KT leaned against the table in the middle of the kitchen. Eyeing the blonde girl, she tried to see if she was wild or boring. Her tiny frame and long hair reminded her of Willow, as well as her nature, but her features also gave a liking to Eddie.
Despite this being the first time they'd ever met, KT swore she knew this girl. But she didn't know how.
Finally, the blonde hopped down from the counter, and approached KT. As she came near, KT said "So, I'm guessing your name isn't Anna Sun?"
She laughed good naturedly. "No, that isn't my name, but I am rooming here, I'm pretty sure."
KT smiled more warmly. "Good," she stuck out her hand. "My name's Kara, but most people just call me KT."
She took it firmly, and KT realized that even though she was small, she wasn't to be underestimated. Now she was thinking that she was more like Joy than anything else. She smiled with her teeth, but it didn't seem fake. Shaking her hand, she told her, "Well Hi KT, My name's Nina."