“Zeta?” I called out. “You up? Time for school! You better not be sleeping in.”

I rolled out of bed and walked over to Zeta’s room. My stomach lurched for a second, as her bed was empty. Then I remembered.

“Oh. Right.”

I sat on her bed, tears welling in my eyes.

It was really tough for me when Zeta started school. She was only a town away. Her school was in Sky Clay, a suburb of Litus Empirica. But I was so used to her being around, her yelling about something every hour or so…I’d never had an elongated time without her around (well those first fifteen years of my life, but never as an adult). When she left to her new boarding school, everything was so…quiet.

Zeta’s my everything, in a way. Ever since I became her official guardian through some complicated, painful circumstances, my main goal has really been making sure she was happy in spite of everything. I didn’t like stop having romantic partners or trying to at least, but at the end of the day, taking care of my little sister was at the top of my regular to-do list. Sometimes, that focus did get in the way of me being happy, but after some real good therapy, I learned to balance Zeta being my everything and making sure I didn’t spread myself too thin.

I tried to look on the bright side. With more time to myself, I could meet Pippi more. Now, we both worked at the same university so I could see her at our lunch breaks sometimes. After work, I invited her over for dinner. We worked at the same place, lived in the same apartment building, and were best friends, so we really should be spending more time together. We were both introverts so that was our excuse.

“Are you managing?” Pippi asked when she entered my apartment, obviously immediately noticing the absence of sound that Zeta would have normally provided. I shrugged.

Pippi’s a Kanibari—a different kind of Cani, one that has it from birth and leans way more on the animal side of things, with a full set of fur and a tail and whatnot. Pippi’s an opossum Kanibari, but only shared some features like being super fuzzy and was much cuter than your average opossum. Though I find opossums pretty cute in general, so I don’t know. Pippi has cute round glasses and a bob cut and loves wearing big fuzzy sweaters even more than I do.

We made hot cocoa and gossiped about work, and I gave updates on how I was doing with all my free time. I still had my theater and my little freelance acting projects here and there, but I was definitely feeling the gap of all the Zeta time I was missing.

“Have you thought about getting back on the ol’ horse now that you have all this free time?” Pippi asked.

“Oh…hm. Not really?” I said. “It’s not like I haven’t been trying this whole time, anyways.”

“Sure, but now you can dedicate more energy to it.” Pippi said, winking as she sipped her cocoa. “Is that doctor you keep talking about single?”

I nearly spat my cocoa out. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, don’t act like you haven’t talked about her like, daily to me.”

I groaned. I didn’t mean to. She just came up a lot. Dr. Diast was Zeta’s advisor at school, so I heard a bit more about her when I called or texted Zeta. Since she left for Rising Shards, I texted her constantly and tried to get a daily call in. I could tell some days she was homesick, but she was making more friends than I was used to her having. And yes, she told me stories about her teachers, which included Dr. Diast, who I was more interested in hearing about than the others.

Pippi and I both promised to try and get ourselves out there more. Honestly, she’s more introverted than me so maybe she was trying to get herself pumped up to try dating again with me. We’d do that sometimes, where one of us would want to change something in our lives but needed the other as motivation. We’d gotten on diets, exercise programs, really long TV shows, and more that way.

I got all my dating apps reinstalled and did my best building profiles. And quickly remembered why I hated dating apps.

I had very little luck on them, partially from not matching with anyone I was super interested in, or me getting scared by conversation and closing out of them right away. I wasn’t cut out for the dating app life, but for Pippi I had to try. The first month passed pretty quickly, at least. The university’s semester starting made work a bit busier. I didn’t manage a single date in that month, but I did get a few matches.

* * *

I got some unfortunate news from Zeta the day she had to do her Fang Fair presentation. Namely, that she and her friends had forgotten to do it. In a call screaming in my ear about how screwed she was, Zeta asked me to ‘use my charming ways’ on Dr. Diast of all people to try and help her out.

I was on my lunch break at work, my food untouched as I buried my face in my palms.

Lunch breaks shouldn’t be this stressful. Lunch breaks were ideally where I could slightly recharge from arguing with students trying to barter late fees or what have you. I finally unburied my face and got my phone out.

“This is for Zeta,” I said. “It’s just for Zeta. It’s for her, right? Because if she gets in trouble. Then we’re in trouble. Because that other school is the bad one. So it’s just a simple phone call. Just to help her. And not to talk to Dr. Diast. Definitely not to charm her, ugh. Who am I even talking to?”

I had Diast’s number through the few appointments Zeta had over the summer with her.

“She probably doesn’t even remember you,” I said, having more courage than I thought I would by quickly pressing the call button. “It’s fine. It’s fine! It’s just a phone call.”

I immediately hung up the phone.

“This is why I’m a librarian.” I said.

“Phone trouble?”

Pippi approached with a tray of Ultra Taco. The university had an Ultra Taco on campus, but their food didn’t taste the same as the tasty garbage would get at a real one. Crap, totally forgot we were meeting for lunch today.

“Hi, Pippi…” I said.

“Forget we were meeting today?” Pippi said.

“Yeah…”

“Was I right about phone trouble?” Pippi asked as she sat down. “Or is it library trouble?”

Pippi did IT at the library, so while we worked in the same place, she was usually busy fixing up computers while I was busy fixing up books.

“Because if it’s library trouble, I did get you this.” Pippi said. She gave me some papers that immediately brightened my mood.

“Wait, you got them?” I asked.

“Well, I was looking into a transfer too, so…” Pippi said.

“Thank you,” I said. “Maybe we’d have closer offices there…”

“It’s no problem!” Pippi said. “But judging by your slouch that wasn’t the main trouble, was it?”

“Yeah…you were right the first time, it’s phone trouble,” I said. “Calling someone trouble.”

“Ohhhhh,” Pippi said. “Is this the one you met at that festival?”

“No. What?” I asked. Of course Pippi would bring up my failed infatuation with an amateur singer I met at a concert. “Met” is a stretch, earlier in the summer I brushed past her after she performed, then followed her pages and had a horrific attempt at trying to start a conversation through her fan page, where I was informed by whoever was running it that they didn’t know her. It’s a miracle I even reinstalled my dating apps after that catastrophe. “That’s long done. This is the doctor that—"

“Oh, hot doctor!” Pippi interrupted.

“Shh!” I said, my arms swinging around like my chair legs had fallen out on me. “I didn’t say hot doctor…”

“Yeah, but your tone when you talk about her does.” Pippi said.

“She’s Zeta’s doctor and also her advisor,” I said. “So it’s weird. Zeta flaked out on a project, and now she wants me to call to help her out. But…ugh. Let’s just eat first.”

I got the conversation turned away from my problems to hear about Pippi’s work woes. She was doing better than me at our mutual dating challenge at least, she told me she had a date that weekend. But even the promise of a date couldn’t stop her from going back to venting about work issues.

“So it sounds like we both really need the transfers, huh?” Pippi said.

“Maybe…” I said.

“Well, think about it.” Pippi said. “Also, just call her already.”

“Mmmm…” I winced. “Lunch is almost over…”

“Then it’ll be a short call, even better!” Pippi said. “If you don’t, you’re gonna make yourself mope about it all day. Just get it over with. It’s for Zeta anyways, right?”

“I guess…”

“I’ll leave you to it.” Pippi said, leaving to give me alone time to call. I was very grateful for her there, as she pushed me to finally make the call. After some very intense dial tones, I heard the call get picked up.

“Hello?” Dr. Diast asked.

Crap, it’s really her, I really should have rehearsed this, crap crap crap–

“Sorry,” I said. “My service er. Cut out. Earlier. Hi, hello. This is Stella Faleur.”

“Oh, Stella,” Diast said. “I was wondering what that call was. I assumed butt dial.”

“No, yeah, no. Yeah. No.” I said, hating my sudden inability to speak. How can I recite the entirety of Edwind’s Treatise plays on stage, yet talk this badly on the phone? “I’m just calling to–“

“I’m glad you called actually, funny timing as Zeta just came down with some Feral Flu.” Diast said.

“I know she should’ve…” I said. “Wait, huh?”

“Don’t worry, it’s all under control, no real bad side effects, and she’s safely locked up in her room now.”

I was already a bit mad at Zeta for forgetting her presentation, but Feral Flu on top of that?

“She didn’t…” I said.

Feral Flu’s a Cani illness that’s spread through bites. It basically makes you go werewolf (or were-whatever your Cani animal is) for a day, and because it makes you more, well, feral, you have to be locked up in a bedroom, so you don’t go on a rampage trying to eat all the nearest food.

“She probably did, yeah,” Dr. Diast said.

I sighed, already coming up with some choice words for Zeta for getting Feral Flu.

“Kind of a rite of passage though, right?” Dr. Diast said.

“Huh?” I asked.

“Feral Flu. Don’t tell me you never got it to get out of something.”

I laughed, feeling some flutters in my stomach. I definitely had gotten Feral Flu before.

“Oh my god, I remember I got it once because I didn’t want to be in a relay…” I said. I had to be kept at my school for the night, so I don’t think Zeta ever had to be aware of my Feral Flu. That was when our parents were still…so she wasn’t alone at least.

“It was always gym for me too!” Diast said. “So I guess this Fang Fair is Zeta’s relay.”

“Right…” I said. “So she’s not…in trouble?”

“She’ll probably have some kind of punishment, but like I said you can’t punish too harshly for a rite of passage like this.”

“That’s true.” I said.

My giggly relief was met with concern, as I now was in a conversation with Dr. Diast. I thought about just wrapping up immediately, as I didn’t want to be a bother.

“Well, I’ll call her then to check in on her. Thank you, Dr. Diast.” I said. Alright, almost said 'hot doctor' there but didn't so if I stop now this could be a win. “I don’t want to keep you if you’re busy with Fang Fair stuff…”

“Oh no, you’re fine,” Diast said. “I’m on my break.”

“Me too!” I said, realizing that came out probably a bit too eagerly.

Alright, please don’t screw this up now, I thought to myself. I wanted the conversation to feel how it felt when Zeta had her first Cani appointment with Diast; where it felt like our words were flowing together, where we felt like perfect scene partners.

“I, uh…” I said, completely blowing my end of the perfect scene partners thing.

“Hey, so how have you been?” Dr. Diast asked, jolting me out of my silent self-deprecation. “It’s been a while since we talked.”

“Yeah, too long,” I blurted out. I held the phone away because I thought I was gonna groan, but on the other end I heard Diast laughing.

“Well, conferences are soon so maybe we’ll talk then.” Diast said. “Everything else going well for you?”

“For the most part, yeah,” I said. “Everything’s pretty much always the same in the library here. I could really use a spa vacation right about now.”

“You and me both,” Diast said.

I looked down at the paperwork Pippi gave me. Only she and I knew what they were about.

“I’m actually…thinking about a transfer.” I said.

“Oh?”

“Not too far…or I mean, I’m not too far from Zeta right now, but I wouldn’t mind working at a campus closer to her. And since it’s within the state, I’m thinking of transferring to one in Sky Clay.” I said. “Say, do you know anything about the Taramin college there?”

“Hmm, can’t say I do,” Dr. Diast said. “But did you say librarian? There is an opening for one here if you wouldn’t mind going from a college one to a high school one.”

I felt like someone had just slapped me with an electrically charged hand.

“Wait, here as in at Rising Shards itself?” I asked, nearly squealing.

“Yep, there’s a new wing that’s almost finished and they want to beef up staffing.” Diast said. “It’s internal right now, but I could pull some strings and get you an application."

“Wow,” I said, completely taken aback. “Yeah, that’d be amazing if you could send that.”

“Sure, I’ll get it to you.” Diast said.

“Thank you!” I said. I noticed the time. “Crap, I better get back, my lunch break’s almost over.”

“Oooh, same here, glad you said it, I wouldn’t have even noticed.” Diast said. “I’ll keep in touch about Zeta if anything gets weird, but she should be good now.”

“Great, thank you.” I said. “Alright, bye Dr. Diast!”

“Yep, see ya.” Diast said. "Oh, and one more thing...you don't have to call me doctor."

"Oh...sorry." I said.

"No, no! Don't be sorry," Diast said. "Just call me Evy. Or Evaline, that's the full...some people also say Eva, but it sounds a bit too...I dunno. Not my vibe, I guess? Yeah, anyways. It feels weird to have a friend give me the whole title."

"OK," I said. "You can keep calling me, Stella though. Because I uh, don't have...a title." For some reason, I thought I could salvage this one and kept going. "Unless you count library tech, which obviously isn't the same as doctor in…stature or..." I don’t know why I kept talking. I don’t know why Diast didn’t just hang up on me there.

"Of course," Diast said. "I'll let you go though, it sounds like a Fang Fair presentation either just exploded or imploded."

"Alright, good luck with all that!" I said. "I'll talk to you later, Evy."

"Talk to you soon, Stella."

I sighed. I really didn’t want to go back to work now. I still had to call Zeta, so I’d have to find some time at work to go someplace where I wouldn’t be bothered.

I was thrilled the call went well. I wished I could call Dr. Diast back already. Or, call Evy back.

Evy. Dr. Evy Diast. 

I really liked that name.