Page 17 of Dryad, Try Again
TANNER
“Hey, wait up!”The female voice sounds vaguely familiar to me, so I slow down. A girl approaches me, and I recognize her from class. We both just got out of Intro to Monsterkind, so she must be human. Fellow students amble by us, some shifting into their monster forms. Winged creatures and giant snakes brush past, but no one bats an eye, and I too, have grown accustomed to the colorful student body. “I haven’t seen you since the party.”
My face falls. “Oh.” Shit, now I remember: she’s one of the human transfers who walked with me to the bonfire.
“I’m Shonda, by the way.”
“Tanner.” No one’s listening to us as we walk past the digital TV screens mounted on the gray marble interior of the lecture hall.
“How have your classes been?”
“They’ve been okay. Not bad, not great.” Good would be too strong of a word, but I’m doing a lot better since my study date six days ago. I mean, my study sesh. Not a date.
“I hear that. You headed to dinner in the dining hall?”
“I wasn’t, but you reminded me I need to eat.”
“Oh, awesome. I could really use a fellow human to talk to about this Monsterkind class.”
“Let’s do it,” I reply as we walk toward the main dining hall.
Fifteen minutes later,we’re chatting over food. People and monsters mull about, enjoying their meals, and I’m already used to the ambiance of the cafeteria. “So many family members of mine are monsters,” Shonda says, pushing her pasta around. “When they opened up the infamous Creepin U, I had to jump at the chance to join.”
“That’s very noble of you,” I reply. I sip on my Ghosta Cola and lean back. “I gotta say, it’s been a while since I’ve talked to other humans my age.”
Shonda pushes up her glasses and studies me. “Well, a bunch of us became friendly at the welcome party.”
I bite back a grimace, but Shonda must be perceptive as she leans in. “I heard about you and that tree shifter guy.”
“He’s a dryad,” I mutter. My cheeks burn?doeseveryoneknow about my childhood kiss?
“I’d be mortified if a monster assaulted me as a kid.” She looks down at her plate and muses, “Lord knows my cousin used to mess with me, but it’s different when you’re family.”
I shake my head. The instinct to protect Kovi swells up in my chest. “It’s not like that. He didn’t…assault me.”
Shonda sits back. “Well, you said he stabbed you in the face with a branch, so…” Her voice trails off, and I frown.
“It was an accident. We were boys, roughhousing and, uh…”
“Oh! So you’re friends?”
I think back on last week’s study session. The electricity between us felt so charged in that tiny study room. But I needed to ignore it in lieu of schoolwork. Still, just recalling him hasme aching to touch his smooth dark stubble.I wonder if he still tastes so sweet as a man…
I clear my throat. “I guess.”
“Have you spoken to him since?”
I nod. “Yeah, actually we study together.”
“Ah.” She gives me a coy smile. “I know what that means.”
“What?”
She looks back down at her food. “I went to another university for two years. I know what group study sessions lead to.”
“I would hardly call the two of us a group.” I shut my mouth, but not before Shonda’s eyebrows jump.
“The two of you only?”
