Page 22 of Vexing the Viper

"Questions? What kind of questions?"

"I want to know more about you. Friends should know things about one another," I tell him honestly. Niko is such a secret to me, and I want to know him better. Plus, maybe if I do, I can get over the fact he hated me for no reason. I really do want to be his friend, and that means knowing more about one another.

"Fine, but only if I can ask you questions too."

"Okay." I smile. "Hmm. What should I start with? Is Niko your full name?"

"No. It's Nikolai. But only my dad calls me that."

"Nikolai," I repeat quietly. "I like that."

"Is King your full name?" He asks the same question, and I laugh at how unoriginal he is.

"Ah, no. It's actually Kingston. Just always went by King since it's shorter. Do all of your snakes have names?"

Scoffing, he looks at me as though I'm crazy. "Of course they do. Why wouldn't they?"

"What are they?" I ask, scooting closer to admire them. Only one hisses at me, and I recognize him as Coby, the one that hates me.

"There's Coby, Rob, Bo, Art, and Lox. They all have their own personalities, but they're linked to me. What I think, how I feel. I can control most of their actions, but sometimes a little bit of their own personalities peek through. Hence, Coby and his assholey ways."

"You two are more alike than you think," I mutter, my eyes widening when I realize he heard me perfectly. "Eh, whatever. You know I'm right. You were an asshole."

"You’re right. I was.” He pauses, twirling his pencil around in his hand. “So, why did you decide to come to Creelin U? Out of all the universities out there, why did you pick this one?"

Rubbing the back of my neck, I take a second to think about how to answer and decide to tell him the truth. "Creelin U picked me. It wasn't the first one on my list. Actually, it wasn't really on my list at all. But my first two years at Washington State, I sat on the bench the whole time. The coach didn't want to risk playing me when he had his starting catcher ready and willing, so I was a bench warmer. But one game the catcher got hurt and I got to play. Apparently, your dad saw that game, because the next thing I know I'm getting calls and emails from Creelin U asking if I would be interested in a transfer. And at first, I wasn't thinking about coming here, but I didn't want to sit around watching everyone else play. I wanted to play myself, so when Coach called me again, I said yes. And I don't regret it. I love being here."

"Wow. Well, I know my dad loves having you on the team, so to him, you made a good decision." Oh, damn. I knew Coach was the one who picked me to join the team, but hearing he loves having me is a big deal. I can only hope to make him proud.

His eyes catch mine, and for a second I think about leaning in and kissing his lips. The moment ends quickly when Niko glances away and clears his throat.

"Can I ask you a personal question? And you don't have to answer, but it's been bugging the shit out of me, and I want to know," I inquire, hoping he’ll answer.

"Sure."

"Why do you hate humans so much?"

Niko leans back in his chair and scrubs his hands down his face. One of his snakes playfully bites his finger, and I snicker, loving that they have fun with him. "I don't hate all humans. Honestly, I don’t hate any of them. But, the majority of them view me differently. And I get it, I am different, but I hate the stares and whispers, the pointing and laughing. It's an insecurity of mine. I don't get to shift like many other monsters. This is my one and only form, and sometimes I want to hide away from it all. Other monsters don't look at me out of the ordinary because they get it, but humans? They treat me differently."

"But not all humans treat you that way, right?" God, I never imagined Niko would feel that way. To be honest, I never really thought of the fact that monsters have other forms and they might not feel comfortable in them. I’m starting to understand Niko more, and why he was so standoffish when I first arrived. He was worried about how I would treat him.

"No, not all. But most." His voice trails off, and he looks over to the shelves filled with books, completely lost in thought. "I've had some bad experiences with them. Creelin U was the one place I didn't have to worry, since all monsters have forms other than human. But then… they let humans in, and I felt like I didn't belong anymore. I don't belong with monsters, and I don't belong with humans."

"I don't see you any differently. You're just Niko to me. Asshole Niko," I joke, my chest warming when he cracks a smile at me. I take a second to really look at him, and while the snakes are a dominant part of him, they aren’t what I notice first. The first thing I see when I look at him is the gorgeous smile that spreads across his face when he’s playing with his snakes. Or the way his laughter gets higher when Mateo says something really funny. Or the fact that, even when he was grumpy, I still wanted to get closer to him.

My heart hurts for him. I can see why he was a dick before. He may not see it, but him acting that way was just him trying to protect himself. I need to show him not all humans are the same.

11

NIKO

The past weekhas flown by so quickly, Saturday easily creeping up on us. King, Mateo, and I made plans to hang out at our dorm room and have a roommates night. Mateo and I used to do this a ton with our roommate last year, but we haven't done one yet this year, so we roped King in, and I'm surprised he said yes. I'm kind of excited to hang out with him.

King and I have been getting along a lot easier now that I've apologized, and we had our talk the other day in the library. We've been friendly and had our tutoring sessions, but this will be the first time we're spending time together as friends. Mateo has been smug the whole week, saying it was because of him that we're finally getting along.

I shuffle into the common area, King and Mateo already waiting for me. "Alright," rubbing my hands together, I smile at each of them gleefully, "before we do this, we need some drinks. Let's head over to Brainz Liquor."

"What's that?" King asks, his brow furrowed as he looks back and forth between Mateo and I.

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