Of Fae and Hate

Nerys waves a hand, “I’m fine, just overexerted myself with all the walking around campus today,” she lies. I want to point out to her that the lie is a shitty one since fae don’t get exerted easily, but everyone knows Neryssa doesn’t quite live up to fae standards so Stunson doesn’t question it.

Neryssa swipes a hand over her forehead and it's purely for dramatics. “Can you point me to the bathroom please?”

Great, she’s going to get this over quickly then.

The plan was for her to ask about the bathroom after we’d been here for a while, but I don’t protest the quicker route.

“Just this way,” Stunson says, moving away from us. Neryssa sends me a look before she follows Stunson.

I bite down on the inside of my lip, propping up against the wall and lingering in the foyer. When Stunson returns, she offers me another one of those smiles. “What made you change your mind about joining Kylu X?'' she asks before gesturing for me to follow her into what serves as they’re living room.

Now that there isn’t a party going on, the room appears bigger. There’s a white rug with ornamental prints sitting between two white leather couches. Stunson sits on one and I sit opposite of her.

“I haven’t exactly decided to join yet,” a lie, because there’s nothing to decide. I’d never be a willing member of Kylu X. They’re like those sorority girls I’ve seen on human shoes before. Everything with them is about status and looks, I have those without needing to be crowded by a bunch of other girls who secretly think they’re better than me.

No, I’ll stick with being a lone wolf who has a circle of groupies that follow me around. At least the groupies know to keep their distance. The Kylu X girls fancy themselves some sort of sisterhood.

“Well, I think it would be a good place for you,” Stunson says and she starts going into a long spiel about the benefits of having your sisters at your back and living outside of the dorms. She’s so long winded that it takes me a long time to realize Neryssa hasn’t popped back up yet.

How long has it been?

I pull my phone from my pocket, not bothering to be discreet.

Fifteen minutes.

She should have been back by now.

“One second,” I cut Stunson off, glancing up at her. Her eyes are wide as she’s topped in the middle of her animated speech. “I forgot my mom needed me to text her a confirmation on the wedding date.”

Two lies.

Mom doesn’t text and that woman has had my wedding date picked out since she found out she was pregnant with me.

I click on Alik’s name in my messages.

Neryssa hasn’t come back down.

His response comes before I can even put my phone down.

We’ll be outside in two minutes, let us into the house.

I’m not surprised that they’re within close range of the house. Alik is a control freak, actually he’s just plain controlling, period. It's why he always gets his shit in a twist about my hookups. He can’t stand the idea of anyone else being in control. Nine times out of ten, he’d started heading this way as soon as we left, banking on something going wrong.

I sigh, waving my phone with a fake smile on my face. “Sorry, I’ve got to give her a call, apparently there’s been some sort of mix up with the dates. I’m going to step outside but I’ll come back in whenever she’s done talking my ear off.”

I don’t give Stunson time to reply and I pray that she’s actually forgotten that Neryssa is here and doesn't try to check on her.

“Of course, I’ll be in the kitchen.” She rises to her feet, rubbing her hands on her pants.

I watch after her until she disappears completely from the room. I move to the front door, pulling it open. Alik, Fox, and Brynsyn stand outside with matching worried expressions on their face.

I open my mouth to tell them I’m pretty sure that Neryssa is fine, but Brynsyn presses a finger to his lips.

I glance behind me before lowering my voice. “Glamor?” I ask.

Brynsyn nods.

Well at least that takes off some of the pressure of sneaking them inside without them being seen.