We checked into the hotel and hurried up to my room. Though, ‘room’ wasn’t quite accurate, and it had a living room with a bathroom on the left and a bedroom on the right. The bedroom had two beds, which made me think Mark might plan to stay the night.  

“You shower first,” Mark said. “I’ll find something for you to eat.” He slipped out of the room. 

When I came out of the bathroom with my hair wrapped in a towel, Mark was sitting on the floor with a bag of chips. As he tried to open it, he glanced up, and his hands jerked, splitting the bag open and spilling chips in his lap. 

He fixated on the chips. “You’re naked.”

“Yes.” I leaned over to rifle in my suitcase for an outfit. 

“Why?”

“It’s difficult to clean myself while wearing clothes.” I started dressing. 

“I know that. Why are you naked now?”

“I’m not.” I’d just put pants on, so I couldn’t be considered fully naked. 

He glanced up, cursed, and looked back at his chips. “Just put a shirt on.”

“Okay.” That was my original plan. I unwrapped my hair and tossed it over the back of a chair before pulling on a shirt. I went over and sat next to him. 

When I reached for the chips in his lap, he caught my wrist. 

“Don’t eat those. The floor is gross. Here.” Looking a little flushed, he offered me the half-full bag. 

He usually only got this purple after exercising for a while. “Are you okay?” I asked. 

“Y-yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re purple.”

He touched his face. “I’m fine.”

“Okay.” I ate the chips and a pack of Oreos he’d brought back. 

“Can I borrow a t-shirt and shorts?”

I nodded. 

“Thanks.” He picked out an oversized t-shirt and basketball shorts before disappearing into the bathroom. 

After consuming the rest of the snacks he’d brought back, I flopped on the bed. I sank into it and let my eyes drift closed. Even with a dose of Mark’s venom still in my system, the nutmeg had left me exhausted and achy. All I wanted to do was fall asleep and forget tonight ever happened. 

I awoke to a worrying silence. 

Mark wasn’t in the other bed, but it did look like it’d been slept in. The alarm clock said it was almost noon, so I couldn’t really blame him for leaving. Slipping out of bed, I let my tail hang down. I moved to the bedroom door and found a post it note stuck to the doorknob. 

Gone to lunch. Be back soon. 

That was a relief. Not that I needed him around, as I could take care of myself. But it would still be nice to talk to him about what happened last night and what I was going to do with myself now. 

I wandered through my morning routine before settling on the couch and taking out my old phone. It had gotten even worse in the last couple of weeks, now only staying on while it was plugged in. After an age of waiting for it to boot up, I checked my texts. Celest had sent one. 

I’m so sorry dear… I just need some time to sort things out alone. 

I understand. Take all the time you need, I messaged back. 

There weren’t any texts from Mark, but there was an email. 

Check this out. No pressure if you’re not interested, but let me know if you are. Attached below the message was a pdf of the OOU Guardian Study Guide. It covered the contents of the OOU’s entrance exams. 

Me joining the guardians was a terrible idea; it would just increase the chances of me being discovered. Not to mention, I couldn’t afford tuition even with the best scholarships I could find online--and those scholarships wouldn’t even be available this late in the year. Celest could likely pay next year as long as I scored high enough on the entrance exams to get a decent scholarship, but there was no guarantee she would want to talk to me in a year, much less pay for my college. What I should be doing was looking for a job and somewhere cheap to live long term. 

I pulled out my laptop and researched for a while. Every decent job I found required at least a little job experience or a bachelor’s degree--or both. Leah hadn’t worked in high school, so I couldn’t even use her memories to pretend like I had job experience. That left me with the bottom of the barrel jobs making minimum wage. That might be enough to cover rent, but it wouldn’t cover all the other expenses the internet said I should budget for. At least I didn’t have to pay for car-associated costs, since I couldn’t really drive. 

Unfortunately, nowhere in the immediate vicinity had good public transport, so I would have to work or pay for someone to drive me, which wasn’t really feasible. So, walking it was. I would have to find a job and an apartment close together, which further limited my options. 

Mark’s return interrupted my worried spiral. He had several plastic bags hanging from his arms. 

“Did you check your email?”

I nodded. “I looked at it, but I got distracted.”

He plopped down next to me and set his bags on the coffee table. One of the bags smelled like Italian food, which he thankfully handed over to me. It was difficult to eat, because my hand kept twitching against my will. I felt his curious gaze on me, but I’d nearly finished eating by the time he voiced his curiosity. 

“So, what do you think?”

“Very tasty.” I finished the last of the spaghetti and set it aside. 

He chuckled. “I meant the email--what do you think?”

Ah, he was wondering whether I intended to join him at OOU. “It’s a nice idea.”

“But…?”

I shrugged. “It’s too dangerous. Being around guardians all the time--and Olivia will get so pissed that she’s bound to tell someone about me.”

“Let me worry about Olivia. As for everyone else-” He rifled through his shopping bags before taking out what looked like a thick black shirt that was an odd style, kind of like a fitted turtleneck with the sleeves cut off. “You remember when I asked for your measurements a couple weeks ago?”

“Yes.” I was hesitant to accept a gift that would undoubtedly stifle my true body. “I appreciate the thought, but-”

“Wait, I haven’t shown you the best part.” He unzipped the front of the top and opened it to reveal long slits in the inner lining. He twisted a knob on the back of the neck, and a pop accompanied a fine, purple mist that flowed from the slits. 

I snatched the shirt and peered through the slits. Flexible, metal ribs and spinal cord ran along the inside of the lining like weird corset boning. Miniature violet crystals set in the metal glowed as they formed small portals between each rib. Twisting the knob caused the crystals along the spine to be covered by thin metal plates, and the portals flashed out of existence.

“This is incredible.” And likely very expensive, especially since he’d had it custom made in so little time. It had a high neck, high enough to cover my true body’s head, and the combination of metal and thick fabric would shield my true body against injury in a sparring session. Not to mention, the portals would keep my true body cool and well-fortified with magic.

“I knew you’d like it. Try it on.”

I started to take my shirt off, and Mark turned away. When I slipped the top on, it fit like a glove. It had better fit; I’d given Mark a ridiculous number of measurements. Turning on the portals, I stood to check my range of movement. My true body was tightly fixed in place, of course, but my feathers didn’t catch on the silky lining. I bent and touched my toes. It took a little more effort than usual, but it was definitely possible. 

Grinning, I sat on the couch and threw my arms around Mark’s neck. “Thank you so much. I love it.”

“I’m glad.” He turned back to face me, and when I started to take my hands down, he took hold of them. “So, about OOU…?”

It was still a big risk, one that I wouldn’t have considered if I had a modicum of common sense. “I want to, but it’s not like I can.”

“Why not?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but school starts in three weeks, and I haven’t taken the entrance exams, much less passed them.” 

He waved away my concerns. “With your memory and physique, you’ll do great.”

“If the test is timed, my memory tricks won’t do much good.”

“If you do well on the physical test, you only need a sixty on the written test.”

Even with the time it took to retrieve memories from Leah’s brain, I could possibly get a sixty percent--assuming he was talking about percentages. But passing the test wasn’t the only hurdle. Money was certainly a bigger one. OOU’s tuition costs without scholarships were ridiculously expensive, even by a Walker’s standards. I didn’t want to bring it up and make him feel obligated to pay it, whether or not he would actually do it. 

“I’m sorry. I think I’d like to, but I really can’t.”

Frowning, he fiddled with my fingers. “Why not?”

Could he really not guess my reasons? “I’ll be busy working.”

“On what?”

“A job, Mr. Trust Fund.” I tried to sound jovial, but I couldn’t eliminate all the jealousy from my voice. Leah would’ve had a hard enough time dealing with a menial job after her relatively spoiled life, but I’d only spend a few weeks on Earth. What I was facing now was completely unlike anything I’d done before. There was every chance I would fail miserably and end up living on the streets, struggling to buy enough food for a human host as well as my true body.

“Why do you want a job?” Mark asked. 

I slipped my hands from his grip and sat on them to avoid flicking him in the forehead. “Do I really have to spell it out for you? I don’t have any money. I need money to eat, and I would like to have somewhere to live that isn’t a cardboard box.”

He shook his head. “If money is the only reason you can’t go to OOU, I’ll pay.”

“You don’t want to do that.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t.”

I rolled my eyes. “Humans offer things they don’t mean all the time.”

“Well, I’m offering you something I do mean.” 

“Well, I can’t accept it in good conscience.”

“If someone offered you a scholarship, would you turn it down?”

I shook my head. 

He gave me a funny look. “What if this hypothetical scholarship came from some old rich dude who just wanted his name on something that made him look good?”

“I-” I could see his point, kind of. “It’s different. Scholarships are awarded on merit or by random chance. And as far as I’m aware, the people who give them don’t expect anything in return.”

“I’m not offering a loan. It’s a gift, free and clear. I’ll email you a document saying as much, so you’ll have proof it was a gift if I ever were to change my mind.” At my hesitation, he continued, “If it makes you feel better, I’m already paying for Olivia’s tuition and room and board. I offered to help Vince, Kiara, and Nicole. Vince turned me down, Kiara’s scholarships already cover everything, and Nicole transferred teams before she could give me an answer. So don’t think I’m doing this because I’m trying to get something from you or because I think you’re a little kid--or whatever else you’re worrying about.”

All of a sudden, my worries seemed less important than what he’d just revealed. This whole time, I’d assumed Olivia was a jerk but not enough of a monster to risk my life out of spite; I’d thought that was why she hadn’t told anyone about me. But if Mark was paying for her college, it would explain why she’d listened to him about keeping my secrets. It also meant that there was a time limit on how long she would keep my secrets; as soon as she graduated, he wouldn’t have nearly as strong a hold over her. Assuming, of course, that he’d promised her the money but hadn’t paid her yet. If he’d already given her the full amount, she’d chosen to keep quiet of her own accord. 

“Have you paid Olivia already?”

“No, I’ll pay her school costs directly.” He frowned. “I hope you’re not asking me to break my promise to her.”

Did he really think I would ask him to go back on his word? He knew how I felt about honesty and trustworthiness. The only reason I’d asked him to lie to me about my secret was because the alternative was being locked up or even killed by the guardians. 

“I’m not asking-” There was a hint of indignation in my voice, but I forced myself to sound neutral. “It wouldn’t make sense for me to ask that of you, anyway, as Olivia’s continued cooperation in maintaining my secret is entirely due to her desire to maintain your approval.”

“That’s not true. She doesn’t want you dead. Gone, sure, but not dead.”

“Agree to disagree.” I retrieved my laptop and started reading the OOU study guide. 

Leaning in to read over my shoulder, Mark murmured, “Does this mean you’ll go to OOU?”

“It means I’ll try to pass the entrance exams.”