Common Interests

(So sorry for the delay, guys! Senior year of college is super demanding! I appreciate your patience!)

Christian sighed in the quiet room of scratching pencils. All around him his classmates had their heads bowed with their eyes intensely focused on the paper before them and most all of them were writing their answers. He subtly glanced around him to his friends to see how they were doing. He only shared this class with his sister and William. Nikki was three rows down with her pencil going to work. Of course. She would probably ace this test—just like she aced everything she ever did. He looked for William but found his usual seat to be empty. It was then he noticed William was approaching Sid with his paper in his hand. No. There's no way he could be done. But Sid took it and nodded at him. And there he went. Seriously?! He finished already? The blonde ducked his head a little and jutted his jaw forward in jealousy. Finishing exams was not all William had on him to be jealous over though. There was no way he could focus on his exam now. All he could think about was William going back to his dorm and sitting on his bed and making out with Odette. And he was probably taking his shirt off and showing his stupid twenty-six year old abs and stupid twenty-six year old chest muscles and Odette drooling on them. Christian self-consciously felt his own moderately toned but not muscular chest. It wasn't fair.

An idea sparked. Perhaps there was a way to know about his chances with Odette. Christian quietly slipped out a piece of notebook paper from his book bag and started to scribble on it. He laid down his pencil and wadded the paper up and leaned forward in his seat, aiming with his tongue sticking out of his mouth before he tossed the paper wad.

It struck Nikki in the back of the head and she loudly scoffed in irritation and whirled around, slinging her dark shiny hair. Her piercing blue eyes fell on him and he wasted no time in silently mouthing, "Read it!" while pointing at the paper in the floor.

"What?" she mouthed back in the quiet.

"Read it!" he whispered.

"Mr. James," Sid said from the front of the room. "Down here."

Christian sighed and let his forehead fall to his desk in defeat. He pulled himself out of his seat and walked down the steps to the front of the class. Nikki watched him as others looked on and snickered.

"You can sit down here for the remainder of the exam." The zombie pointed to the floor beside him.

Christian grumbled and took his seat. "I wasn't cheating."

"You know, back when I was alive, students didn't have the audacity to—"

"Oh my God, nobody cares," the blonde mumbled towards his lap.

Sid swiftly swiped up a thick book from his desk and whacked him in the back of his head so hard that Christian fell forward. The class now laughed with no discretion as Christian lay on the floor and squeaked. "Back to work, everyone." Sid leaned back against his desk once again.

As the students looked back to their tests, Nikki quietly picked up the crumpled paper and opened it in her lap. "I need you to use your girl-talk power and find out if Odette likes William please!" She looked up and tried to catch his gaze but it seemed Sid had made him face the whiteboard. Nikki closed her teeth behind her lips and stuffed the paper into her bag and went back to finishing her test.

After she had finished her exam, Nikki went to go eat lunch alone before going to Odette and William's dorm. Odette let her in and offered her some coffee, which Nikki took graciously and sat on the couch with her. They talked for a while about the test she had just taken in Sid's class. Odette had apparently finished it that morning and was finished for the day until their training session tonight. Nikki hadn't forgotten her assignment. When her window of opportunity came up, she took advantage of it. "Is William here?" she leaned to the side to peer down the hall towards his room.

"No, he's not. Did he finish the test before you?"

"Yeah, he did. He didn't come back here?"

"No, I guess not. Maybe he had some other stuff he wanted to do." She shrugged.

"He seems to really go by his own schedule, doesn't he," Nikki said while watching her face and gripping her coffee mug in both hands.

"He really does. But that's okay. It doesn't bother me. Except when he's gone for a really long time and he doesn't answer his phone. You never can tell with him." Odette leaned comfortably against the back cushion of the couch and pulled her feet up under her as she took a sip of her own beverage.

Nikki noticed her mannerisms didn't seem to convey any nervousness or uneasiness about speaking of him. "So… just curious, but… Do you like him? Like, are you attracted to him?"

Odette blinked at Nikki but she didn't look surprised or caught off guard at all. She inhaled before speaking carefully. "I think he's attractive. Would I date him?" She shook her head. "I don't think so."

Now the brunette blinked but more in confusion than anything else. "Why?"

The redhead held her mug in her lap. "Don't get me wrong. Deep down he's a great guy. He just… lacks some things that I prefer a boyfriend to have."

Perhaps Nikki should start taking some mental notes. Surely her brother would want her to. But it wasn't just for her brother. "What kinds of things?"

"Well, like, I want my boyfriend to be sensitive and always aware of my feelings and aware of his own feelings and I want him to communicate with me and I want us to share personal information with each other. And it's not that William is flawed because he doesn't do all that. It's just who he is. And I respect that. I just prefer men who are those things and do those things. And I just… I don't know that William will ever be that man."

Nikki nodded understandingly and it was quiet for a moment as they each looked into their coffee. Her finger traced the rim of her mug. "Do you want him to be that man?"

Again Odette prepared her words with caution. "… I want him to be himself. But I also want him to be the best he can be. For his own sake… I don't want him to hurt himself. Mentally or emotionally." Now Odette looked down and closed her mouth. But before Nikki could question further, Odette looked back up at her. "Why did you want to know?"

She shrugged. "Like I said, just curious. You've been partners for a long time now."

"I love William. He's a wonderful friend. He takes care of me, even if he is oblivious so much of the time. He really tries… What about you? You got a thing for anyone?" Odette perched her elbow on the arm of the couch.

Nikki's nostrils twitched and she felt her face grow warm. "What?"

"Tim?" Odette sang. "It's okay to have a crush on someone's boyfriend."

"Oh. No," she chuckled. "Tim's great. He's just a little…"

"Nerdy?"

"In a good way. Just not my type."

Now Odette laughed. "He and Katy are really cute together, aren't they?"

"They are. Too cute sometimes." She rolled her eyes. The two girls went on talking about couples at the academy and Nikki was surprised to learn about Alex and Cicero, but only for a moment. It actually made more sense. Once Nikki had finished her coffee she bid goodbye to Odette until the evening when they would continue their training. She went back to her dorm and quickly acknowledged Tim and Katy who were watching a movie on the couch and slipped into her bedroom and shut the door. Nikki flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. So, Odette didn't want to date William. That was good news. She quickly typed a text message to her brother to let him know how the talk went but her gaze was still vacant as she looked through the window beside her. Nikki's hand slowly slid down beside her mattress and her fingers tucked under it and felt around until she found the photograph. She pulled it up to her and lay on her side with her knees up under her chin. She held the picture in both hands and stared for a long time, as she always did when she took it out. Soon her finger traced the outline of his broad shoulders and her eyes focused on his wrinkled brow with his face turned towards the setting sun. The pinkish-orange light delicately lit up his face. Odette didn't want to date him. That was good news.

(Page Break)

William stood by Dr. Stein's classroom as students filtered out carrying their books and backpacks and chattering to each other. When there was a break in the flood he slipped in and approached the scientist's desk and didn't waste time. "I don't want to do the group training anymore."

Dr. Stein didn't even glance at him as he erased the diagram he had drawn on the board. "And why is that," he said flatly.

"Because resonating with Odette is bad for her and I don't want to do it anymore."

The teacher turned around and started sorting his things from his desk back into his bag. "Lord Death has chosen you to be a part of the group he sends to the East. I'm afraid you have to continue the training."

"The black blood is getting in her through me more and more. And it gets worse after every time we resonate."

"You knew that was going to happen. We all knew it was going to happen. That's why you and Odette were supposed to continue your private sessions with me. But you didn't want to." He said simply as he sat down in his rolling chair, the classroom now completely empty except for the two of them.

"How do I keep it from happening," William said evenly.

"You can't keep it from happening. As long as you two are partners, she will always be infected and it will never go away—"

"What if we weren't partners anymore."

"She's already infected. It's not going to go away. If you weren't partners anymore, it would only probably stop the spread of it—"

"Okay." He nodded.

Dr. Stein looked up at him, the light glinting from his glasses. "You think Odette would be okay with that proposal?"

William looked down at the surface of his desk and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You two are a great team. And she likes you. And you like her. I don't recommend splitting up."

"Well, could you do some kind of transfusion on me? Could you take the black blood out of me?" He asked eagerly.

"That would only work temporarily. Your brain is what infects your blood, William. I could replace your blood with regular blood and in a week it would be black again."

"Then what about my brain?"

Dr. Stein leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head with a throaty giggle. "Brain transplant, huh? Of course I can. But that's frowned upon I'm afraid. And I no longer have access to such tools."

William narrowed his eyes.

"Don't ask." The doctor sharply twisted the screw in his head once.

William sighed and leaned forward with his hands on the teacher's desk. "I'm—desperate, okay? It's getting to her and I have to stop it."

"As I've told you before, you can't stop it. You can only manage it and try to keep it under control. And the only way you can do that is if you listen to me."

"We've done the talking-to-each-other thing. She even—she made up a game where we—… We're communicating now; I get it. That's what you wanted. We're doing that and it's not helping."

"There's something else we can try. But you're not going to like it." Dr. Stein shifted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"What is it."

He looked up at him seriously and laced his fingers in front of him. "I show you how to help each other keep it in check while you're resonating… by resonating with me."

William blinked. "… You mean like me, Odette, you and Marie?"

"No. You and I."

He lowered his chin. "… You and me," he confirmed with disdain.

Dr. Stein nodded.

"… How in the world would anyone benefit from the two sociopaths of the academy resonating?

"We can understand each other. You and I have that ability and others here don't."

William kept watching his eyes. He really was serious. "Why can't I just hang out with Lord Death again? When I first came here, he and I would train together and we did fine. That's how I got to where I am now; him and Odette calmed me down. And Marie."

"I'm afraid Lord Death has his hands full with the situation in the East. He doesn't have the time to devote to you that he did when you were new here. This is our last shot."

The younger man sighed heavily and looked around the classroom, hoping another idea would come to him.

The teacher caught his attention again. "I'm asking you to trust me this one time. You and I can help each other if we can just get on the same page. Your concern is Odette, correct?"

He clenched his jaw and stared at the floor.

"I am concerned about her as well. Let her wellbeing be your impetus. You would do anything to protect her. And I'm offering you a chance to do that. And…" Dr. Stein stood up and went around his desk and lazily leaned on it beside him. "If it doesn't work, I'll do the blood transfusion."

William looked up at him.

"It's not fool proof. And we will have to do it weekly. And you will be very fatigued. But it will delay the spread and buy us some time until we figure out what else we can do."

He watched the man's eyes. They didn't seem threatening. But almost every time he interacted with Dr. Stein, his eyes never seemed like anything at all. And that was worse. It made him cringe to his very core to think that he could be submitting to be his experimental specimen with agreeing to be his weapon partner temporarily. But what choice did he have?

Dr. Stein stuck out his hand to shake. William sighed through his nose. But he grasped it and gave it a firm shake.