Page 13 of Dryad, Try Again
The same monster who tasted sweet, like strawberries and summer watermelon.A boy who grew into a sexy man…
I shake my head of lustful thoughts and put on my yellow apron. Given the way Kovi ran off last night, he’s clearly embarrassed. He likely doesn’t want anything to do with me. He shifted into his horrifying wooden form?the memory sends chills up my spine?and ran off. He hasn’t texted me or anything. This is a good thing, though…right?
I’m barely able to wrap my mind around it all when I turn on the coffee machines. The zombie busboy has taken down all the chairs and is opening the locked gate, signaling the start ofbusiness. Seth finishes counting at the cash register, then turns to me.
“Oh, hey Tanner.”
“Morning Seth.” I try to give him my friendliest smile.
“Listen.” He lowers his voice and leans closer to me while I refill the grinders. “I had no idea that Kovi…that he was your…that you knew him.”
I nod and half shrug. “I get it. It was…a million years ago.”I only had forest nightmares until I was a teenager.
“But still, that shit sounded brutal from Kovi’s point of view.”
I gulp and fixate on the brown coffee beans. No secrets between best friends, I suppose. “Yeah, well…”
“I hope this doesn’t affect your time at CU, or your decision to work here. Because you’re a good employee.”
I look at Seth in shock; he seems genuinely concerned. “I need this job. And I want this education.”
“That’s great. But if you don’t want to chat with me anymore outside of work, I understand.” He turns away, and I notice two students enter. “I’d still like to be friends with you, but…”
“Friends is good!” I say quickly. “I’m the new guy, I have a lot of work to do, and I could use some buddies, monster or otherwise.”
“Glad to hear it, bro.” He puts out his fist, and I happily bump it.
We spend the next five minutes serving coffee and pastries to the customers. With them settled, I get back to wiping the counter. Seth takes a new customer’s order, then taps me on the shoulder. “One more unprofessional thing before I teach you how to make a mummy matcha latte?”
My smile fades and I fixate on the cups in front of me. “Mhm?”
“Kovi is…a good guy. The best friend a monster could ask for. And he’s good at not accidentally shifting, we all are. So like, don’t let that deter you from getting to know him.”
I nod. Before I knew he was a dryad, Kovi and I were on track to hook-up city. And once upon a time we were friends. Maybe there is something between the two of us, but it’s all so soon. I’m starting a new school and a new job. It’s not like I can get over my fear of tree monsters so easily.
“I’ll…think about it,” I mutter.
“Good man.” We share smiles, and Seth proceeds to open ingredient compartments. “So, this is where we keep the matcha…”
On Friday,the end of my first week at CU, a tough realization dawns on me: my academic career so far didnotprepare me for this. It’s one thing to be new to the world of monsters. It’s another to be completely overwhelmed by my first week of environmental science classes. I’m saving enough on tuition to afford books and a new laptop, but a fancy computer doesn’t help when you can barely interpret the lessons.
It’s not as if they’re speaking a secret monster language. The professor is a shifter of some sorts, and yes, monsters sit near me in the lecture hall. But that’s irrelevant?I honestly can’t keep up.
Public school didn’t care, and community college was a nice and slow pace; university is a different story. I’m tasked with studying all sorts of environments worldwide, as well as plant life cycles. And later in the semester we’ll be learning about how the Halloween Wave affected our ecosystems. Maybe I can go to office hours, but my two jobs mean my schedule is crazy.
I’m walking out of the lecture hall past the crowds of monsters and humans hoisting their backpacks and chatting. I can barely wrap my mind around what we learned today. I sit my frustrated ass on a bench as students wander in and out of the various rooms.
Before I can do anything, my phone buzzes.
“Hello?”
“Tanner! How are you, sweetie?”
“Aunt Hannah! I’m, um…well.” I don’t have the heart to tell my grand aunt that I’m struggling academically. She’s spent the last seven years supporting me, despite living on her retirement fund. She’s the only stable family I have, but I can’t rely on her to pay my tuition here or anywhere else if I flunk out. She has her medical bills to pay, and I want to pitch in.
“Are you working this weekend?”
“Pretty much every weekend,” I reply with a smile. “I can get you groceries on the way home. How’s your breathing?” Working construction gigs on the weekends isn’t the most relaxing job, but it’s consistent. That and the pizza gig got me through community college. My labor experience is why I’m majoring in environmental sci in the first place. Working at Mummy Mocha is so different, but I need to do what’s available to get a free ride here at CU.
