into the Academy under the full guidance of my mentor, Professor Lightpaw. I had worked as hard as students nearly twice my age, and making friends as a child was hardly on the menu. I’d always been the outsider, but I’d grown to accept and thrive in that position. It wasn’t until much later, when I’d reached university level, that I finally made my first friendship bonds within the divination community. I’d never had a chance to know family life or a true childhood.
For some reason, Markos was the first “normal” person I’d found myself able to completely open up to about these things. Even though I hadn’t known him for very long, there was just something about him that made me feel comfortable. In a way, he made me feel normal—which was a major feat.
I changed poses, balancing on my head with my hind legs and tail jutting straight up into the air. I did my best to keep the focus on the energy flow through my body and away from these distracting thoughts, but my concentration shattered when my desk phone jangled loudly on its cradle. I tumbled to the side like a felled tree and quickly popped back up in human form and ran to grab the call.
“Moonstar Dating Agency,” I said.
“Kole? It’s Markos. Hey, listen…” I felt my heart drop as I anticipated what he was going to say. I’d considered this possibility, seeing as how Elise had said how stubbornly resistant he’d been to getting readings done. “About today, I completely forgot about Elise’s parent-teacher night at school. Can we reschedule?”
“Of course,” I said, masking my disappointed tone.
“I’m sorry, Kole. I know you went into the office just for me. I swear, I’m not trying to make excuses to get out of this. Trust me, I don’t want to go to this thing. Gotta prep myself for a barrage of passive-aggressive insults and a whole bunch of dogshit.”
“Are they that horrible to single alphas?” I asked.
“It’s fucking annoying as hell to deal with, I’ll tell you that.”
“I could accompany you,” I said without thinking. “Perhaps it’d make things easier on you. Only if you’d like, of course.”
“Would you? It would make a big difference… but you don’t have to do that. It’s really nice of you to offer.”
“It would be helpful for me to learn a bit more about Elise’s school troubles.”
The line was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, okay. If you really don’t mind. Trust me, it’s not gonna be any fun.”
“That’s alright,” I said. “Ah… there is a problem. I don’t have a car.”
“No worries. I’ll come to pick you up.”
Just like that, it was decided. I hurried home to get ready, flung open my wardrobe, and sifted through it until I had something I liked, a black flowy silk long sleeve, black slacks, and a wide-brimmed felt hat—black, of course. He knocked on my door the moment I finished buttoning my shirt, and I adjusted my glasses, pulled the hat brim down, and checked myself in the mirror.
“Good,” I told myself, nodding. “I look good.”
“You look good,” Markos said, grinning when I opened the door. “Black is definitely your color.”
“My only color. Much better than the other day, I think,” I said.
“I like the hat. I should get me one of those. Think I’d look good in a hat like that?”
I laughed. “I think you would. You’d look good in anything.”
He looked at me, and I kept my gaze straight ahead, suddenly too shy to make eye contact after letting that compliment slip. Markos opened the car door for me and shut it after I sat inside. I didn’t know if it was just my overactive imagination, but this felt like more than a trip to meet Elise’s teachers.
“How are you?” I asked, in an awkward attempt to not be awkward.
He glanced over at me and pulled the car onto the street. “Good. I’m in a much better mood now that you’re coming with me. I really appreciate this, by the way. You didn’t have to do me such a big favor. It’s funny, even though we’ve only known each other for a few days, it feels like it’s been much longer.”
“I’ve had the same thought,” I said, surprised.
“Maybe it’s Elise, you know? That’s what I figured, at least. You two get along so well.”
“We do,” I said, smiling as I thought about her. “She is really a delightful person. She’s the first child I’ve had any kind of meaningful connection with.