Page 64 of Dream Girl
The sunken sitting area on the third floor now had a gaming chair with a pillow that saidfuck off.Evan sat on the couch holding Riley, who had her face pressed into his chest.
Riley was crying,her anise scent salty with sadness, which made me want to hurt someone for her. She was essentially our pack’s child. I’d known her all of her life.
“Hi.” I put my stuff on the chair and joined them on the oversized couch.
“Fuck of the morning to you, too,” Riley mumbled.
“I got your meeting request. Is the fancy pizza arcade sufficient, or does this warrant something else?” I asked softly, holding them both. They were my family, and we’d been taking care of each other for a very long time.
After my father had died, my mother and I moved to Rock Springs, a little over an hour away from Rockland. She wanted to be close to her university best friend–Evan’s mom. My mother had since returned to Greece. But moving there had been just what we needed.
“Meeting request?” Evan’s eyebrows rose, and glanced from me to her and back again.
“I worked hard last night and today. You and Jett have to work. I deserve some fun on my day off. Your IT department sucks, hire me,” Riley said.
“As soon as you’re sixteen. That’s when you’re old enough for a work permit–and as long as your grades don’t suffer,” I told her. Her birthday was in November.
“Really?” She sat up, brightening. “The fancy pizza arcade can cure anything.” Her look went sly. “We need to play the dance game.”
“I suppose.” I gave her a fond look. She thought I hated the dance game, but I actually enjoyed it.
I turned to Evan. “Is everyone all right? What did Dependent Services want?”
If everyone was this upset, it didn’t feel routine.
“I know we were waiting for Riley’s next physical, but I think we should have her officially tested today,” Evan said softly.
“Oh. I see.” I got out my phone to make an appointment for her at the private clinic we went to.
“Tested for what?” Riley’s head cocked. “Brilliance?”
“Rare designations. We could swing by on the way to the fancy pizza arcade, then have ice cream after. Since doctor visits get ice cream.” I found an appointment on my phone and booked it.
Riley thought for a moment. “Am I that chaotic, adventurous one?”
“A kappa? No.” I shook my head. They were nearly extinct, mainly because they were impulsive thrill seekers that chaosed themselves right out of existence with their fun-loving, but not usually well thought out ways.
Evan pulled her to him. “I suspect you’re a theta. Thought that for years. Your doctor said that since you showed up as a beta on the test they did in middle school, that I should waituntil high school to test you again. That’s usually when the rare designations appear.”
“What’s a theta?” Her look became curious as she leaned into him.
“Hyper-independent, smart, misanthropes who like to collect wealth.” Evan grinned.
She pushed him away and flipped him off. “You’re shitting my dick. Don’t call me out like that.”
“It’s an actual designation. My mother was pretty sure I was going to be a theta,” I replied, pocketing my phone. “They’re closer to alphas than betas.” My father had been an alpha, my mother a beta, but there were thetas on my father’s side.
Evan’s parents had been betas, and him being an omega was a surprise. But genetics could be funny like that.
“They must not have gotten into all that in health classes.” Evan frowned.
“We only got the basics in biology–more than last year, but nothing interesting. We have the big health class next year. Wait, so I’m not broken?” Tears welled up in her eyes.
Evan brushed away her tears. “Never. Even if you don’t designate as a theta, you’re still not broken.”
My heart ached, and I squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry you think that.”
“I… lately…” She wriggled out of Evan’s arms and hugged her knees to her chest. “One of my teachers gives me shit about not having lots of friends and my activity choices. Then this asshole Dependent Services lady is like, ‘Don’t you feel abandoned being on the first floor? Don’t you feel excluded living at school? Don’t you miss your sisters? You do all these chores for money, like you’re a maid?’No, you fuckwad. Ilikethe independence of being at school.”
