Page 49 of Ordinary Secrets

“You’re all nervous and shit.”

Liz knows how much I hate playing mind games, so she gets straight to the point. “She seems sweet.”

“Who?” I ask, even though I know exactly who.

After Arella and I returned to my backyard party, I refused to leave her side. I felt Liz’s glare on me the entire time. Every time I made Arella laugh, Liz didn’t miss it. Anyone who noticed that probably thought Liz was jealous, but I know better.

She doesn’t approve of me flirting with Ordi women, which I’ll admit I tend to do sometimes just to get them into bedwith me. She probably thinks that’s all I’m trying to do with Arella, when that’s not the case at all. Would Liz approve of me befriending Arella if I told her that this woman could be the key to saving innocent lives from the Royals’ violence? I’m not sure.

Liz calls me out on my bullshit. “You know who I’m talking about. Ari. You seem really into her.”

“Sure.” I try to sound nonchalant. The last thing I need is for Liz to lecture me about women again.

“How into her are you?”

With a long sigh, I set my guitar down. “Are you about to reprimand me? ’Cause if so, we should go sit on the couch. It’s comfier.”

Liz heads there, and I follow her.

“You know what I’m about to say,” she says, plopping onto the cushions.

I do the same. “What? That I shouldn’t be fucking around with Ordi women?”

“Yes!” She gives me aduhface. “You’re the only Zordi I know who actually finds Ordinaries attractive. They’re meant to be our friends, not our partners. Plus, it’s breaking the second most important Zordi law.”

That second law was only established to enforce the first one. Since we aren’t allowed to reveal anything from the Zordi world to an Ordinary, we’re not allowed to engage in sexual or romantic relationships with them, either. Getting too close to them means there’s a higher chance of exposure. Exposure means a scrub for the Ordi and z-prison for the Zordi. Depending on how bad the exposure is, sometimes it means death.

There aren’t a lot of Zordis who like sex with Ordis. Most people think it’s bizarre. Like as strange as it is to chew on glass or to purposely burn your own hair off. To me, sex with Ordinaries feels just as good. Better, actually, because it’s risk-free. Zordis can’t catch Ordinary illnesses, and they can’t catch ours either, meaning we can’t transfer STDs. And since we can’t reproduce with them, why not take advantage of the pregnancy-free sex?

“You’re lucky you’ve never been caught doing it with an Ordi,” Liz says as she leans back against the couch.

“The only way for me to get caught is for another Zordi to report me,” I say. “Since you’re the only one I see regularly, I think I’m fine.”

“Either way, Ari’s sweet and innocent, and that’s dangerous for a guy like you.”

My face screws together. “A guy like me?”

“You know I think you’re a great man.” She chuckles lightly and cocks her head to the side. “Complicated, but still great.”

“Why do I feel anotherbutcoming?”

“But... as soon as a girl starts to haverealfeelings for you, you always drop them like they’re lethal.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Hey,” I say with a finger up, “the last Zordi I dated used me to make her ex-fiancé jealous.”

“What about the girl before that? The really busty Black one.” Liz puts on her thinking face. “Kelly?”

“Keelah.”

“Yeah. What happened to her?”

“She cheated on me, got pregnant, and tried to tell me I was the father.”

Liz’s jaw drops. “Were you?”

---