I took his hand, leading him towards the hermitage.
"See," I started nervously, not daring to take a step closer. "This is wear I happened... the dream."
"You had a dream...on the lawn?" he asked laughing.
"No, no," I said blushing. "I...woke up there..."I froze.
"What is it?" he asked, glancing cautiously over his shoulder. I slowly cast a glance at the girl in the dark sweatshirt, sitting hiding behind a book at the side of the Hermitage. My Hermitage.
My glance quickly transformed into a scowl. "How did she find it..." I panicked.
"Hush, don't make a big deal out of it. She realize it's of value," he answered wryly. Odd always know what to do. He certainly wasn't a Jeremy, but he was...smart. But that wasn't the word. He was perfect. Maybe that was the word.
"Hey," he waved coming closer. I followed.
The girl tucked her eyes back behind the book, trying to pretend she didn't see us. Once Odd had bridged the gap between us and the girl, she really had no choice but to look at us.
There was a pause where she only stared. "Hi," she finally said standing up. "...Am I supposed to be here...should I leave?" she glanced at our conjoined hands.
"Actually-" I started.
"No. You're absolutely fine," he said smiley and clocking his head. I glanced at him in despair. He returned my glance with a shrug. He stared dead center into her cold hazel eyes. "...Do you...uh...have a name?"
She didn't bother looking down like she had before. They were locked. "Ebony. I'm...uh...new here."
"Wow...uh...yeah..." he broke the lock with a hammer. "Oh, uh, this is Aelita," he said letting go of my hand to gesture towards me, as I attempted to brush away my scowl, "and I'm Odd."
"Hi," she said, brushing past us. "I'll get out of your way."
"Wait..." he said, as I flicked my scowl to him. "We'll come with you," he said smiling again.