by N. A. Hydes
“Raining? Wet socks aren’t really my thing. I’m not sure I want to go camping in the rain. I will talk to Doug. I don’t think he will want to go either. I will let you know what we do.” He leaned over and kissed Jennifer deeply. “Go make an A, my go-getter.”
“Thank you for lunch.” She smiled brightly.
Jennifer walked into the building. Amy, the short red-headed girl who sat beside Jennifer in Art and lived in her dorm building, came over to Jennifer.
“Who was that?” Amy asked.
“Matt, my boyfriend,” Jennifer answered.
“He is dreamy,” Amy commented while twisting her red hair.
They walked into class together.
Art History was only on Tuesdays, and Jennifer liked that it left her Thursdays open to study or rest, but she didn’t enjoy the class’s length. By the time the clock reached two-thirty, Jennifer was exhausted from listening to the professor. She had tuned out the last part of the lecture. When it was over, Jennifer packed her bag and began the long walk back to her dorm in the cold, misty rain. Unfortunately, she had left her umbrella in her dorm room. Amy, who lived in the same building, was long gone. She wished Matt would whisk her back to her dorm.
By the time she made it to her room, she was cold and wet. She changed clothes into her pajamas and warmed up a can of tomato soup in the microwave. She didn’t feel like studying, so she took a sleeping pill, grabbed a book off the shelf, and read until she fell asleep.
27
At Home
Matt sat at the dining room table in his apartment, staring at an empty bowl of cereal. He had stayed up all night studying for the calculus test he was to take in a few hours.
It bothered him that the only person he could think of was Jennifer. He wondered what she was doing. He picked up his cell phone and auto-dialed her number.
He heard fumbling, then a breathy, “Hello.”
“Camping is out, but we might turn it into a guy’s night out. We are thinking of playing drinking games here at the apartment. Can I convince you to have a movie night Thursday? I have something special planned.”
There was a pause, and then Jennifer answered, “Sure, but please do not wake me up early tomorrow. I want to sleep in.”
“Did I wake you?” Matt asked.
“Yes. Why are you up?” Jennifer asked. “You are the night owl who scheduled all your classes in the afternoon.”
“I know, right? I have a calculus test. I studied.”
“You studied for math?” Jennifer sounded shocked. “Other than practice repeatedly, how do you study for math?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know? I’m not handing out my secret ninja sauce.” Matt smiled to himself.
“Clever,” Jennifer said. “I better get to class. Good luck on your test.”
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon. After my class. Okay?”
Matt could hear a noise in the background. It sounded like Jennifer was moving. Finally, she answered, “Sure. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye, Matt.”
“Bye,” he said before he hung up the phone.
Matt picked up the bowl and went to the sink to clean his breakfast dishes.
28
Sleeping Pills
Thursday morning, Jennifer woke to the sound of the door closing. Her stomach swam, and she looked for a bucket or something she could use to catch vomit. As the waves of nausea slowly passed, Jennifer remembered her dream, which was filled with hazy people walking sideways one second and as expected the next. It was like watching a broken TV set, except in 3D. It made Jennifer sick to her stomach.
Willing the room to stop spinning, she closed her eyes. The door opened, and she glanced at her roommate as she entered.
“Oh, Jennifer, you look pale,” Belinda commented as she walked over to her bed and picked up the bottle of the over-the-counter sleeping pills on the nightstand. “Did I see you take these pills last night?”
Jennifer tried not to move as she looked over towards Belinda. “No,” she replied. “I took the ones in the yellow bottle.”
Belinda picked up the bottle, twirling it. “Oh, I know why you are sick. These made my aunt sick for days. I heard my mom and my aunt talking about it. A few years ago, my aunt’s husband was having an affair, so she started taking these pills to sleep through the night. She got so sick to her stomach she thought she had overdosed. Went to the hospital and everything.” Belinda put the bottle back on the table and patted Jennifer’s arm.
Jennifer groaned and closed her eyes.
The nausea passed in the afternoon. Jennifer took her time taking a shower and preparing to head to the library to study. Despite bringing her prep material, she found a book on fashion through the centuries and grew engrossed in an article on Victorian-era fashion trends.
“Is that a fashion book?” Matt’s whisper on her neck caused chills down her spine.
Startled, Jennifer looked towards him and closed the book. She smiled without showing teeth. “It is.” She put the publication on the table near her and yawned. “I know I should be studying. Did you know Queen Elizabeth loved sugar and her teeth were disgusting?”
Matt offered Jennifer his hand to pull her out of the chair. “No,” he said as he pulled her up.
“’Tis true.” Jennifer, standing, stretched again. “It started a black teeth fashion trend. I wonder what dentists would think about it?”
Matt snickered. “Some would like the increased income.”
Jennifer started placing the abandoned class books scattered about into her bookbag. “I think dentists would have been horrified.”
“Wasn’t Elizabeth single?”
Jennifer thought about it. “I think so.”
“Yes.” Matt grabbed Jennifer’s book bag from her arms. “She was the virgin queen.” He smiled smugly.
“So,” Jennifer said as she grabbed Matt’s hand. “Where are you taking me tonight?”
“Oh…” Matt squeezed her hand. “First, we are going out to eat.”
Jennifer’s stomach growled. “And where are we eating?” With her stomachache this morning, she had neglected to eat. But now that the sickness had passed, she realized she was starving.
“It’s a surprise.” He led her down the stairs of the library and out to the garage.
“And after?” Jennifer asked.
He looked around the area. “Also a surprise.”
He opened the vehicle door so she could get in before walking over to his side. The bookbag he threw behind the drivers’ side.
“So, is this like one of those official dates? Or are we picking up someone to go with us?” Jennifer asked.
“Jennifer,” he said, mimicking surprise. “Are you saying I like to spend our dates with other people?”
“Matt, we have been dating for a while, and we have yet to have a date by ourselves.”
“Point,” Matt agreed. “Though you’ve slept in my bed with me. We were mainly alone then.”
“Now you are making me sound cheap. Like I’m easy,” Jennifer joked.
“I wish.” Matt squeezed her leg. “On both accounts. Cheap and easy would be my kind of date.”
Jennifer moved his hand as Matt pulled into a Japanese steak house.
“Oh, wow. I can’t eat here on my student budget.” It impressed Jennifer.
“Well, it’s a special day,” Matt commented.
“What day is it?” Jennifer was curious.
“Our first official date was a month ago today.” Matt seemed to sit up taller. “It is our monthiversary.”
“Um, our first date was when we went to the track with a group so they could drink every time they went around the track until they passed out. Whose idea was that anyway, drunk track running?”
Matt huffed as he parked the vehicle. “No, that wasn’t what I was referring to.” He got out of the truck and opened the door for Jennifer. “I was talking about the ice cream afterward. And it was Colin’s.”
“Colin has some of the dumbe
st ideas,” Jennifer mentioned. “I believe he was with us when we got that ice cream.” She took Matt’s hand as he led her into the restaurant.
“So was Belinda,” Matt answered back. “Hey, are they still dating? I forgot to ask Colin.”
Matt put their names on a seating list and led Jennifer to the bench. Jennifer relayed the story of Colin and Belinda as she understood it.
29
Lonely
Petr was craving hibachi and decided tonight he would eat down the road from campus at the Japanese restaurant. He brought with him a briefcase filled with papers to grade. He asked the server to seat him at one of the tables in the sushi area away from the grill and bring him a sweet tea.
When she returned with his drink, he had already pulled out a paper and started reading over the essay. He knew he wanted the hibachi chicken plate, so he quickly ordered and engrossed himself in his work.
He wasn’t sure what caused him to look up. Perhaps his brain registered Matt’s or Jennifer’s voice. There they were, backs to him, sitting at the hibachi grill.
Petr watched as Jennifer whispered something into Matt’s ear, and Matt responded by putting his arm around her and laughing.
Petr felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time: jealousy. He wasn’t sure why. Perhaps he was missing something he never honestly had, or maybe sitting alone at a restaurant inspired the feelings.
He wondered what he would do if he met someone as attractive as Jennifer, and she was fawning over him like that.
Jealousy was a destructive emotion, so he shoved his feelings down, put away the papers, and started watching Jennifer and Matt for any signs that one of them could be the dragon.
When the food came, he ate and paid as fast as he could. Petr planned to beat them out of the restaurant.
Sitting in his car, he waited for Jennifer and Matt to leave. About thirty minutes later, the two of them came hand-in-hand out to Matt’s truck. Matt was a gentleman and opened the door for Jennifer, offering his hand so that she could step up into his vehicle.
Petr followed as Matt left the city and headed for the country. Eventually, he got off the road in an area that looked like a cow field. Matt got out and put some sleeping bags and blankets in the truck’s bed. He helped Jennifer onto the truck, and they both lay under the covers, looking towards the sky.
As he sat there, Petr felt the sting of jealously again. Matt would point, and Jennifer would laugh. Or Jennifer would nuzzle against Matt.
The stakeout was lonely. Petr was lonely.
It was getting cold, and yet Matt and Jennifer stayed under the blankets.
“What are you doing, Petr?” he whispered to himself. His car was still running, so he turned around and headed back towards the city, leaving Jennifer and Matt alone. If either of them was the dragon, he couldn’t tell by the way they were behaving. Neither one of them seemed to be going through any kind of massive metamorphosis.
30
Losing Her Mind
“Jennifer,” said a strange woman standing over him.
“Go away,” he said, but it sounded feminine.
“Jennifer, seriously. I know you and Matt were out late last night, but you need to go to class. You are going to be late.”
Jacob looked for his wife beside him, but she wasn’t there. He stood up, quickly surveying the room.
Belinda jumped back. “Whoa, calm down, Jennifer.”
Jacob felt his fists balled at his side, ready to fight. But this was Belinda, and she was a friend. He relaxed his hands, and his shoulders followed.
“Are you okay, Jennifer?” Belinda seemed concerned.
“Yeah,” Jennifer answered. She breathed slowly, feeling her fight-or-flight anxiety slowly bleeding away. “I’m going to take a shower.” She looked around for her shower basket to go to the communal shower.
In the bathroom, she turned to face the row of mirrors. The face staring back seemed familiar. Jennifer touched her lips and eyes slowly.
“Jennifer.” Amy came out of a shower stall. Her hair and body were wrapped in towels.
Slowly, Jennifer turned to face Amy, leaving her hand on her cheek. “Yes?”
Amy shook her head, said, “Whatever,” and left the bathroom.
It seemed to happen more slowly today, for Jennifer to remember where and when she needed to be somewhere. She was late for her first class by ten minutes.
If the professor hadn’t reminded her, she would have forgotten to turn in her paper for History of the Modern World. She was given a test back and had received a ninety-seven, but Jennifer couldn’t remember taking the test. She understood the concept in math and, in record time, finished her homework. Everything, school-wise, was going great.
She was on her way to the cafeteria to grab some lunch before her English class when she heard a metallic clank.
Jennifer looked around to see if she had dropped anything. Off in the corner of a bridge she had just crossed was her special pen. It was leaning out over the edge over a dry creek bed. Most people would have left the writing tool, but she had had the pen since she was twelve and always replaced the ink when it ran out.
Putting her bookbag down near the pen, she leaned over and reached. She smelled the man before she noticed him approaching. As she stretched, barely able to touch the edge of the cap, he quickly got down on all fours beside her and reached as well. He had a strong musky odor, similar to Matt, but something was off. There was an underlying bitter smell, like mold or sweat. Petr had a similar slight bitter scent, but he wasn’t overbearing like this man.
He had long thick fingers with well-manicured nails that seemed to push the pen over the edge, where a few seconds later, there was a thud as the pen hit the rocks below.
“Rats,” Jennifer said. “That was my favorite pen.”
He stood first and dusted off his dark denim jeans. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He had a thick, masculine voice and a slight accent Jennifer couldn’t place. “I tried to grab it.”
Jennifer looked up to stare at the light, bright blue eyes of a stranger. He was very handsome with an aristocratic nose, high cheekbones, and long, dark blond hair pulled into a ponytail. “Let me help you up,” he said. Perhaps his accent was Nordic? He reached his hand out to help Jennifer.
Jennifer, a southern girl, allowed him to pull her up. Her skin crawled at his touch. She found his outfit odd, a dark suit jacket with a light pink tee-shirt underneath, paired with jeans and combat boots.
When she was standing, he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a pen, saying, “Here,” as he handed it to Jennifer. “I have another in my pocket.” He didn’t have a book bag; although he looked the right age to be attending college, he didn’t seem to fit.
“Thank you, but I will grab another in my room.” Jennifer smiled and grabbed her book bag. “I’ve got to be off,” she blurted and started walking towards people and the cafeteria.
He followed, walking beside her. “No, really, I insist. You see, I’m starting college here next semester, and it would be nice to know at least one person on this,” he paused for a second, “campus.”
“Thank you.” Jennifer took the writing utensil but did her best not to look at the man. There was something about him she didn’t trust, and she couldn’t tell what it was.
She quickened her pace to get away from the man.
He sped up and matched her stride. “My name is Johan,” he said as he got a few steps in front of Jennifer and turned around, stopping her in her tracks. He offered her his hand to shake.
Jennifer tried a polite smile as she ignored the hand. “Johan, I am Jennifer. And I am really in a hurry. Thank you for the pen.” Stepping out of his path, she started walking again.
He continued to keep pace with Jennifer. “Maybe when I start school here in the spring, you would like to get something to eat?” He waited for her to respond, and when she didn’t, continued, “I mean as friends.”
“It’s a big campus, but if we see each other again, su
re, sometime,” she said, as noncommittally as she could.
Her heart raced as she moved as fast as possible without running towards the cafeteria. For most of the walk, she felt his eyes staring at her, watching her. Her heart didn’t slow down until she was in the mezzanine surrounded by other students.
31
Immortals
Johan stood, watching Jennifer leave. She was beautiful. He wasn’t surprised by her height; most dragons and potential dragons were tall, but her green eyes were amazing. And she smelled so good; he could eat her, literally.
As soon as she was out of reach, he walked back towards the bridge to the university’s admissions office. He needed one of his brothers to hack into the computer and see what classes she had this spring. He had to make sure he was in at least one of her classes.
Johan realized he didn’t have to tell Jormungant. He could keep this one for himself. There were two ways to live for an eternity, and both involved a dragon’s heart. Fortunately for Johan, he had already found one of those uses and was already immortal. Now he could consider the second option of making her fall in love.
He made her nervous. He liked that, and it excited him. Johan had been married once. He even had a child with his deceased wife. But he loved the game—especially a contest with such a high price.
Johan arrived back at the bridge. He smiled to himself and remembered seeing Jennifer for the first time. There was no way to mistake the wonderful aroma pouring from her. She smelled so much of dragon he would have known her with his eyes closed. He imagined her naked in his room, begging him to take her. It was a quick thought that vanished as his phone rang.
