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ChapterThirteen
“Your breath is awful, do you want some gum?”
You could have heard a pin drop in the crowded living room of our suite. I stared at River, my jaw resting against my chest in shock. Ben turned bright red and laughed it off, but he turned his head just enough that he wasn’t facing River anymore, his mouth barely open.
River’s cheeks reddened when she realized her offer hadn’t been as quiet as she intended, but she just lifted a brow. Embarrassment would only make her double down.
Jesse guffawed while Darrio muttered a quiet “damn” beside me. Rocky covered her mouth to suppress a giggle while River sat staring at Ben. When I realized what she was waiting for, I turned to Darrio and buried my face in his shoulder.
We’d all gathered after a particularly difficult test in Focused Projection, ready to unwind after the stress of directing our powers toward distant targets. Movies and snacks had sounded like heaven, and River, to my surprise, had offered up our suite.
“Well?” River demanded, and Ben looked at her blankly.
“Well, what?”
“Do you want the gum or not?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure, I guess.”
River got up and headed to our room to retrieve it, and I shot Ben a sympathetic smile when he glanced my way. I kept my voice low when I tried to reassure him.
“She didn’t mean anything by it. You know she lacks a filter, I’m sure your breath is fine.”
“No big deal. Friends bust each other’s chops, right?” Ben grinned, but his discomfort was obvious. Jesse wasn’t helping, resisting Rocky’s quiet urging to shut the hell up. When she took pebbles out of her pocket and chucked them at his head, he winced and finally quieted down.
“I’ve wanted to ask for a while now, Rocky, what’s with the pebbles?” I tried to divert everyone’s attention, and a peek over at Ben showed some of the tension had left his shoulders.
Good. Poor guy. I knew Jesse was going to leave some mouthwash on his bed at some point, just to fuck with him.
“It’s a kind of way to center my power. Imagine being outside and getting emotional as the Goddess of Pebbles. All the little rocks start shaking and freak people right out. I made another new girl cry our second week here, I felt so awful.”
“So what do the pebbles do?”
“It’s the rocks closest to me that start rattling first, so the ones in my pocket absorb the energy. But they’re also great ammunition when dealing with Jesse. You’d be surprised how often I have to throw them at his head.”
“Yeah, and then you get mad when you can’t find them, you jerk.” Jesse’s toddler pout was ridiculous on an adult face. He’d opened up so much, losing a lot of that reserved air he’d arrived with. All thanks to Rocky.
“Which is why you carry a bunch in your pockets, too.” Rocky smirked at him, and Jesse tried to fight off a smile. He lost. They were adorable. There had to be more to their relationship than just being study partners.
“Do you really?” Ben asked, looking intrigued by the idea. Hopefully he wasn’t considering walking around with a lighter or matches for River. That could only end badly.
Speaking of River, she walked out and joined us as Jesse answered, “Yeah, it helps her to have them, and sometimes she forgets. Better for everyone if we have a backup supply.”
River dropped down beside Ben again, and we all looked at her expectantly.
“What?”
“Didn’t you go in there for gum, Riv?”
“Out. I need to get some more.”
“Good luck. I don’t even know when our next chance to get off campus will be.” Rocky sounded despondent at the thought of being trapped here for an indefinite stretch, and I felt her pain. I might not be the biggest extrovert, but being forced to see the same people day in and day out was beginning to make me want to befriend the next stranger I encountered.
“Why don’t we just go?” Everyone whipped their heads around to look at Jesse, who shrugged. “If a group of us left campus and came back, what’s the worst they would do?”
“You can go if you want to,” I told him, “but count us out. I’m not risking the wrath of literal gods for a night on the town.”
Darrio squeezed my hip where his hand rested in silent agreement. Good, because he wasn’t going anywhere without permission. As much as I worried about something happening to me, I was more concerned about what they might do to him if he broke the rules.
