“You’re in good shape, Avery,” I protested. It was true—despite the fact that he lived on cream and sugar with a little coffee mixed in for most of the day, my Coven-mate looked great. I knew he was shorter than most of the boys in his gym class, but that didn’t make him a wimp.
“Well thank you, your Majesty.” Avery made me an elaborate bow. “If only you could convince our sadistic gym teacher of that. She has it in for me, for some reason—possibly because she doesn’t approve of my orientation.”
“Uh…I sort of thought she was same-sex oriented herself,” I objected, thinking of the extremely butch Coach Vaquez. I don’t like to stereotype people but she kind of gave off a vibe, if you know what I mean.
“If you’re implying that the coach is gay, you’d be wrong,” Ari said flatly. “Or if she is, she probably despises herself for it.”
“Excuse me?” Kaitlyn glared at him. “What an awful thing to say!”
“I’m sorry, L’lorna,” he said, frowning. “I am not trying to be hateful or rude, I’m only stating the facts. Unfortunately our society—Drake society—is extremely homophobic. You know that Jalli and Saint and I don’t feel that way, but most of our people do.”
“Of course we don’t,” Jalli piped up. She grinned at Avery. “I think you’re wonderful, Avery—I wish I had a best friend like you! I’m always so jealous of Kaitlyn and Megan and Emma.”
“Well, thank you, Jalli.” Avery gave her a warm smile. “I think you’re the bee’s knees too.”
Which made Jalli giggle.
“Ari is right,” Saint said, speaking up unexpectedly. “Anyone who is different in Drake society is disliked—even hated. And you are taught to hate yourself too, if you are the one who is different,” he added grimly.
“Look, the world of the Others is just way behind the human world on this particular point,” Avery said honestly. “You think my father was happy when I came out? Absolutely not—he still avoids me like the plague. You ought to see Christmas at our house—you can cut the tension with a knife.” He looked sad for a moment, then lifted his chin. “But the point is, you can’t let other people define you. You have to love yourself and tell everybody else to go f—” He caught Jalli’s wide eyes and I saw him pause. “To go screw themselves,” he finished at last.
“Well said, Avery!” Griffin murmured. “It’s not easy being an outcast—I know from personal experience.”
“That’s so true,” Kaitlyn agreed.
Of course Griffin had been framed and punished for a murder he hadn’t committed and Kaitlyn had been ostracized because she’d been so badly scarred by a house fire, but I knew what they meant—it isn’t easy being different.
Whether it’s because of how you look or who you love, the world can make it tough on you to stand out from the crowd.
“Well, I really do need to get to bed now,” Avery said. He had put everyone’s dirty dishes in his “magic cleaning cupboard” and the Norm Dorm was neat and tidy. “I need my beauty sleep so I can look my best while I’m climbing that rope for Coach Vasquez tomorrow.”
“I can tell her to let you out of physical education, if you like,” Griffin offered mildly. I knew he had done that for Kaitlyn, back when the Drake coach was being so horrible to her.
But Avery shook his head, a look of determination in his blue eyes.
“Thanks but no thanks, Griffin. I appreciate the offer, but I’m not going to let her beat me.”
“As you wish.” Griffin nodded, a look of respect in his eyes.
“My Drake—” Saint began.
“Should not be involved in my gym class in any way,” Avery finished for him, firmly. “Thanks roomie, but I just don’t think it’s safe,” he added apologetically.
I didn’t think it was either—especially considering that Saint’s Drake—which was cursed—seemed to feel very protective of Avery for some reason.
It seemed like a dangerous situation to me. I knew that in Drake society, the Drake often fell in love first and the human they were tied to followed after. It made me wonder exactly how Saint felt about my Coven-mate. Did he care for Avery in some way? Or was it just his Drake that had taken a liking to the short, blond boy who was one of my best friends in the world?
I wondered if I would ever find out—then decided it was probably better if I didn’t. Even with my new-found magical power, the idea of the dark presence that lived inside Saint scared me to death. It had killed people before—girls who had tried to tame it. And I remembered how it had felt when it simply stepped forward to order the skink out of my ear—like a creature of death and destruction, darkness and flame. How could anyone love something like that?