“Emery!” 

There’s no answer. Of course there isn’t. Emery probably left long ago.

The nightstand looks so empty without the picture. And I know exactly who took it.

I rush down the dorm hallway with bedhead and boiling blood.

How could she? I told her everything, I trusted her, I…

I’m running down the hallway so fast that I almost levitate off the ground. 

Where the fuck is Emery, where the fuck…

My head crashes into someone’s stomach as they fall to the ground. 

Ah, Jesus.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, moron!”

Noelle’s glaring at me, their eyeliner annoyingly perfect. They’re also clutching their stomach and struggling to stand up.

“I’m on my fricking period!”

Oops.

“My bad,” I say. I try not to cry out in pain–my head hurts so much. 

I reach down and pick up my halo, it’s so warm. The moment I put it back on my head the pain fades away.

I clear my throat. “Uh, do you know where Emery is?”

“Ugh, why?” They check their phone. “Great, now I’m late.”

“Please, it’s important.”

Noelle sighs. “I don’t fucking know. Probably Angel History. I don’t even know why she takes that class, it’s boring as hell.”

Angel History. I reach into my backpack and look for my schedule. Angel History is on the 20th floor, which means I have to take the nearby elevator. 

The moment I reach the elevator, the doors are closing.

“Wait!” I scream. 

Don’t close, please…

The doors stop, then open. Gray’s standing there, her hair even messier than mine. Her backpack looks like it’s been burnt then glued back together. 

“20,” I say and step in. The first thing I notice about the elevator is that there’s writing everywhere. Mostly just people complaining about the Academy. Lots of dick drawings. There’s even a whole story on the ceiling.

It’s silent on the way up. When the elevator reaches 20, Gray steps out first.

“Angel History?” I ask. 

“Yeah,” she says and tugs on her hood. 

“You still doing science?”

“Yeah, I am. My schedule’s kind of spontaneous.”

“Same.”

The Angel History door’s covered with pictures of angels with too-sparkly halos and demons with sharp horns holding guns.

“Door’s kinda biased,” Gray says as she opens the door. “But don’t tell him I said that.”

An angel with a thick halo and red wings stands in the front. He’s wearing a pin that reads, “Mr. Right”. He looks no more than 20, but Gray did say that your looks don’t really show how old you are. Mr. Right’s standing at the front of the class, pointing to the projected slide on the board. His face freezes when he sees us.

“Gray,” he says in a sickly sweet voice. “Sit.” 

“Yes, Mr. Right,” Gray grumbles monotonously.

Mr. Right looks at me. Stares, to be specific.

It’s my goddamn horns, isn’t it? 

“What a special fellow you are,” he finally says. My palms are dripping with

sweat. He’s looking at me, up and down, like he’s figuring out what part of me he wants to dissect first.  

Creep. Creep. Creep. CREEP. STOP IT.

“Sit,” I hear.

I pick the only empty desk left–the one at the back. Gray’s sitting in the front, for some reason. She should’ve picked the one at the back.

I scan the room, looking for Emery. Everyone’s bigass heads are blocking my view. 

Why do I have to be so short?
Kneeling on my chair, I can finally see the whole class. And since I’m at the back, no one’s going to complain about me blocking the view. It’s a win-win. Not for Mr. Right, though.

“Mr–” he starts and stops after remembering he doesn’t know my first or last name.

Your mom.

“Chiro,” I say after much deliberation.

“Mr. Chiro,” he says and points to the board. “Can you tell me why angels

and demons are divided? Can you tell me why demons are terrible and vicious and threatening to the whole world, not just Heaven?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Emery. She’s talking to this angel that I’ve never seen before:  black hoodie and jeans. Emery laughs at something they say. 

No. NO. Stop.

Before I know it, she’s leaning in and their lips meet.

No. I don’t care. Leora. Right. Somewhere. Emery’s not worth my time. I’ll just ask her where my picture is and leave. 

“Mr. Chiro?”

I snap back to the present. 

“Yes?”

“Can you answer my question?”

“Uh…” I try to remember what he said. “Uh…they’re evil?”

Mr. Right sighs. “Pay attention next time. Please don’t kneel on your chair.” He turns the class. “We are separated by opinions and traits. Demons have always preferred destruction and…”

I don’t hear anything after that, just the gross sounds of Emery and the angel I’m totally not jealous of.

Keep lying to yourself.

“Hey!” I run up to Emery as the bell rings. “Hey, Emery!” 

She turns around, talking to me for the first time today. “Hi?”

I catch my breath. “Where’s the picture?”

“Excuse me?”

“The picture. The one that was on my bedside table.”

“I don’t know. When I woke up it was gone. I swear to God I didn’t take it.”

Sure, slut.

“What d’you call me?”

Shit. Did I say that aloud? Shit, shit, shit.

“Gotta go,” I say quickly and run away.