“Yeah, no can do, pretty girl,” he replies with a shrug. “I’m a ghost. Popping out of nowhere is kind of our thing.”
I sigh, taking an empty seat next to Kaleb, who smiles a greeting. On my other side is Connor diligently working away at what looks like Algebra II, though his writing is nearly impossible to read. He looks up, nods hello, and goes back to work. Donovan is across from me, and Nolan is leaning against the table next to him.
Looking up, I find the rooms haven’t ended. Just ahead appears to be some type of office space. There’s a desk and a computer anyway. Through the arched entryway, I can see bits of electronic parts.What else is he putting together?There’s definitely more to Nolan than meets the eye, though his car enthusiasm is evident everywhere, the major decor being artistic black and white photos of classic cars.At least it isn’t swimsuit models.
“So, are you all staying for dinner? Apparently, we eat like a pack of wild animals, so Alicia needs to know if she should slaughter a second cow,” Nolan asks, after swallowing a bite of a cobbled together sandwich, pulling me from my cursory snooping.
Startled, I look over at him then bury my head in my backpack when they all start chuckling over what he said. Heat radiates up my cheeks, and I pray none of them noticed.One of them can turn into a damn wolf. It’s not that crazy to believe he’s serious.
There’s a chorus of affirmations, then I can feel eyes on me. I peek up from my bag, and Nolan is looking at me expectantly. It takes me a moment for it to sink in that he’s asking me too.
I tuck my hair behind my ears. “Sure,” I mumble. “Just need to text my aunt.”
“Cool,” he answers, then with one hand pulls his phone from his pocket and begins typing away on it, still munching on his food with the other hand. “It looks like burgers for dinner. She says to put in how you want it, or you’ll end up with a surprise. I’m kind of curious what the surprise is.”
Nolan stands up and grabs a tablet that was hiding on the counter. He taps a few buttons then hands the tablet to Donovan
“Depends on how annoyed she is,” Donovan chuckles, entering something in. “I’m not sure I want to bet that it’s a good surprise.”
After he’s finished what I’m now assuming is his order, he passes it over to Connor, who then passes it to me when he’s finished. Sure enough, it’s an app that looks like a small notepad. I copy the others, typing in my name and how I like my burger before handing it over to Kaleb.And here I thought finding out about the supernatural would be the weirdest part of my day.Once Kaleb finishes, he passes the tablet back to Nolan, who hits a few buttons, closes the tablet, and puts it back on the counter.It’s like he lives in a resort with freaking room service and everything!
“Now that that’s settled, time for the boring crap!” Nolan cheers sarcastically, pulling out his Chemistry book from his bag.
I get out my Pre-Cal book and notebook from my backpack and begin the arduous process of solving thirty different problems. Mr. Harris is truly an evil man.
Donovan looks over at me and offers casually, “I’m done if you want to copy mine.”
“What?” I blurt, my eyes growing owlish. “Do you guys copy each other’s homework?”
They blink at me and then roar with laughter. Even Felix is laughing at me, the traitor. Kaleb at least has the decency to look mildly sheepish when I glare at him.
Donovan wipes tears from his eyes. “Yeah, we share the workload. Look, does it take you thirty problems to figure out whether you understand the material?”
“No,” I sigh, running a hand through my hair. This is starting to sound a lot like the logic that got Nolan out of doing the work for US History.
“Then do the first ten problems,” Donovan reasons. “If you feel like you understand it, then you can copy the other twenty from me. If you don’t, tell me, and I can help you figure out what you’re missing.”
I scrunch up my face and admit, “Our class is actually a month behind where I was at in my old school.”
Donovan groans and tosses his notebook to me. “Copy the damn problems, and you get Wednesday’s homework.”
I bite back a smile, nod, and begin copying his work. He has strong block-like penmanship that is easy to read. Once we reach material I’m unfamiliar with, I’ll definitely at least do what Donovan suggested, but until then, this is kind of nice. Saves time, and there’s a warm comradery in this approach. In less than a day, I feel like I belong.
Once I’m finished, I hand the notebook back to Donovan and switch out for my Psychology work. Kaleb sees my textbook and hands me a folder. Opening it, I find it’s filled with loose leaf sheets of notes, the writing neat and precise.
“Mrs. Mills is more of a fan of short essay homework assignments, so no splitting the load, but here are my notes for the chapter we’re on,” Kaleb explains. “Should help with the quiz at the end of the week. Keep them, I don’t really need them. I take notes so that Mrs. Mills feels like I’m paying attention.”
“Thanks,” I reply, taking the folder and putting it in my backpack. “Donovan mentioned nephilim have almost perfect memory. You’re nephilim too, right?”
Kaleb cuts a glance at Donovan, which he ignores. “Yes, I’m a light nephilim.”
“What’s the difference?” I ask, leaning my elbow on the table and propping my head on my hand.
“The angel who banged the humans we’re descended from,” Donovan grumbles into his textbook.
“Wait, really? But this morning it sounded like dark nephilim…” I inquire, trailing off when I notice the severe scowl growing on Donovan’s face.Sensitive subject?
Kaleb lightly places his hand on my shoulder to get my attention. Gently, he explains, “Physically there’s no difference between light nephilim and dark nephilim except the color of our wings, which we inherit from the angels that sired our bloodline. The responsibilities we’ve been assigned from the angels, however, are very different based on those bloodlines.”
