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I liked it. Feeling a surge of excitement in the pit of my stomach, I replied.
We’ll see. As long as you’re gentle with me.
The reply appeared on my screen immediately.
I’ll be a puppy, I promise!
Smiling broadly, I decided: I was going to his next class. Jax had promised Mandy wouldn’t be there, and I believed him.
And I might even flirt back in person too!
As I walked towards the tall, broad windows on the exit side, and the booths that lined along them, I noticed that in the corner one, some places had opened up. A whole empty booth, in fact. I moved quickly, to grab a seat by the window before anyone claimed it. Being the only human, I’d most likely be able to sit alone too. Different breeds didn’t seem to share booths, or much else on campus.
Approaching the booth, I placed my coffee down on the table and—
Oh, there was someone sitting there, tucked in the corner beside the window, gazing outwards to the grass. I just hadn’t seen her because of the booth’s high backing.
She turned and looked at me. She was beautiful. With ebony hair, rich, raven locks tumbling past her forearms, the lush curls permeated by shining strands of ruby. She wore a white halter top with a sparkly flame pattern, and her fingernails were alive with a scarlet glow that no varnish could ever have given. Yikes, she had to be some kind of fire elemental. I picked my coffee back up, apologizing in a rush, turning to leave.
Lips breaking into a broad smile, she gestured to the seat across from her. “Please, there’s plenty of room. Go ahead, I’d be happy for company.”
I hadn’t expected that. From my limited experience, elementals were usually either high-strung, surly, sneering, or some combination of all three. “Well, if you’re sure?”
She scooched across closer to me, extending a hand, smiling, and chuckling. “I’m sure. I’m Vesta. A sophomore here. And there’s no need to be afraid.”
I looked at her hand, the fingernails’ glow was somewhere between neon and red-hot coals. Was it even safe to touch her?
She seemed to be reading my mind. Laughing gently, she said, “It’s okay, you won’t get burnt, I promise.”
I clasped her hand in greeting, the skin was surprisingly cool, and sat across from her. “Cecilia. A freshman. Nice to meet you.”
“Me too. You’re human, right?”
I nodded, popping the top off my coffee, nudging my lips into the foam, and enjoying its soft warmth. “Is it that obvious?”
She returned the nod and smiled. Sipping from her latte, also a small one, she clinked it back on its saucer, leaning forward and looking into my eyes. “Wow, your eyes are really pretty, by the way. Do all human girls have eyes as nice as that?”
I scoffed softly. “I think most have much prettier ones, to be honest. You haven’t seen many human girls then, I take it?”
“Just the odd one here or there, working around campus or downtown. Of course, I saw lots growing up. Pre-agreement. Before the world knew about paranormals and feared us. Feels forever ago.” She pursed her lips in thought. “And the few humans on campus I’ve seen, at least up close, are older guys. Visiting professors, mostly. What do you study?”
“I’m doing education. I’m hoping to—well, I mean I will, get my teaching license after I graduate.”
“Aww, that’s really nice. I’m sure you’ll be a great teacher. And it’s really nice to see a human student too. There’s way too much prejudice in New Nebraska, especially against you guys.”
“I have sensed just a bit…”
She grimaced. “That’s too bad. It’s like paranormals decided to look down on humans after the Agreement. But that just justifies human fears and the reason humans wanted the Agreement in the first place. I hope more humans come to study here. You probably know that while most of us paranormals can never leave, you guys can come in if you want. And we need more diversity, more positive interactions between each other.”
I couldn’t have agreed more. And she seemed genuinely kind. The tension in my shoulders and back eased, and I leaned into the booth’s squeaking leather upholstery. “Erm, and you’re a”—I didn’t want to call her anything that might have annoyed her— “a fire…”
Chuckling, she drank from her coffee and nodded. “I was gifted a special relationship with fire, yes. Like my mom and her mom before her. I’m a flame child, which is fairly rare among elementals. We have more control than your basic fire elemental.”
“Flame child? Wow, that sounds a lot more impressive than plain old human does.”
She shrugged. “It has its advantages. Want to see something?”
I hesitated. “Is it a safe something?”
