“Hey, Arenya.”
Arenya turned in her seat at the dining facility to face the young man. Her eyes widened. He had close-cropped blond hair, a cocky smile, piercing green eyes, and an outfit that showed a lot of care went into him trying to look like he had put no care into how he dressed. He appeared to be a couple years older, though Arenya wasn't quite sure how much. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place where she’d seen this person before.
None of that was what caught Arenya off guard, however. Rather, it was the flowers he held in his hand.
“Hello. How do you know my name?”
The young man laughed. “Everyone knows your name, Arenya! You’re the talk of the school. Everyone who didn’t see how well you filled those channels yesterday heard it instead. I was there, you know. Great job.”
Arenya nodded. “Right... You were the lab manager at the time. You know, it was only three channels. I don’t think that would be impressive enough to get the entire school talking about me.”
“Okay, so it wasn’t just that,” the young man admitted. “There’s also the part where you’re gorgeous, and hang out with the Blond Ice Queen everyone else is too scared to approach. But anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me?” He casually held out the flowers.
What.
Arenya stared, mouth hanging open. Every piece of the man's bearing exuded pure confidence. At last, she found her voice.
“Are you a Follower?”
The young man’s smile vanished for a moment, then returned, but looked almost frozen and forced. “What?”
“I asked if you’re a Follower. Or interested in becoming one.”
“Well, umm, you see… I’d do it for you! How hard is it to become a Follower?”
“It isn’t something you just do. It’s a serious commitment. Followers are the scions of the will of The One Above. The One Above created our world, our past, our future, and He sees all that was, is, and ever shall be. He wishes for justice, and bringing His vision of the world to fruition is the task of the Follower. Much is asked of us, but we fulfill each request as best we can. We eat only the permitted food, for instance. - well, that's the idea. I've had to rely on some leniencies lately, since it's hard to find decent stuff at the school. We follow His teachings and the teachings of the Dragon Lords who interpret His will. It’s tough, though, because so many people don’t agree on what the ancient dragons actually said. Some people really push things and say that they may not even have existed, and they just do whatever makes sense to them, but my family is more traditional. Each day, we…” She trailed off as she realized the young man was looking away. “You aren’t listening, are you?”
“Well, I'm trying, but I don't know what most of those words mean.” The young man’s smile fractured a bit more. “But come on, why does any of this matter? I’ve got a great place we can go and everything.”
Arenya chewed her lower lip for a moment. “I only date Followers, or people interested in becoming one. It’s one of the teachings of the ancient ones.”
The young man’s smile took on a hint of aggression. He held out the flowers again, more forcefully. “Come on, it's just getting coffee or something. How much harm could that cause? Ya'el was willing to have some fun, and she's a follow-whatsit too. She told me the sages or whatever were just a bunch of senile old men anyway. Come on, let’s go.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Arenya stood, took the flowers from his hand -
“Great, now that’s what I’m t-”
- and threw them to the ground. “Never call me a 'follow-whatsit',” she muttered, fists clenched. “The Ancient Ones were the wisest dragons who ever lived. If you don’t want to listen to them, fine, but they were not a bunch of senile old men.”
As the young man sputtered in inchoate rage, the people Arenya had been waiting for finally entered. Cartalis, Drav, Zelzad, and Ya'el approached the table.
“Drav!” said the young man. “Good to see you. Can you get a load of this chick? She’s just like the Blond Ice Queen, giving me the cold shoulder for no good re-”
“Shut it,” said Drav.
The young man stopped in place. His jaw worked up and down, but no words came out. His eyes went back and forth between Drav and Cartalis.
“I see you have yet to break your habit of incessant womanizing.” Cartalis looked at him with a fire in her eyes Arenya had never seen in her before, a quiet fury that would still the heart of anyone who saw it. “Do yourself a favor and get out of my sight before I take the choice away from you.”
The young man turned to Arenya. “You’re no better than her!” he shouted, pointing at Cartalis. “When you find yourself alone wondering why you’ve nobody there to keep you company, don’t come crawling to me.” He stormed off, slamming the door to the dining hall behind him.
Only after he left did Arenya realize how quiet the room had become, or how many eyes were on them. She slowly sat and gestured to the others to do the same, as conversation began to resume around them.
Zelzad sighed. “Such a tool,” she muttered. “Zander’s not always like that, but he’s so used to getting his way and having any woman he wants throw themselves at his feet that he doesn’t understand what no means.”
“You might be the first woman who’s ever rejected him,” said Drav.
Cartalis grimaced. “Second. He was nicer to you, Arenya, if you can believe that. He didn’t even wait for my answer and instead took me by the arm, so sure he was that I’d already agreed.”
Arenya hissed. “What did did you do?”
“I kicked him. In the testicles. Hard.” She smiled. “He couldn’t walk straight for days. I believe he was the one who gave me the Blond Ice Queen moniker after that.”
Ya'el gasped. “That was you? He always said he got into a fight outside a dorm building and beat up three other students.” She clapped Cartalis on the shoulder. “That is so aweso-”
“Don’t touch me.” The look Cartalis gave Zelzad was a shadow of the one she’d given Zander, but Zelzad flinched back anyway.
“Listen,” said Zelzad. “I know you don’t like me or my boyfriend, but you don’t have to be a jerk about it.”
“Get your friends to stop calling me the Blond Ice Queen, and we’ll talk.”
“Stop talking like you’re trying to show off that you know so many words, and we’ll talk.”
Arenya held up a hand. “Let’s lay off each other, okay? I called us here because I have an idea.”
Everyone turned to her, though Arenya noticed Zelzad and Cartalis were still glaring at each other out of the corners of their eyes.
“I was thinking we could collaborate with your band.”
Cartalis’ eyes widened. “You want me to what?”
Drav blinked. “You want her to what?”
They looked at each other. Arenya couldn’t tell who was more surprised.
"Yo, let's do it!"
"Ya... Ya'el?" said Cartalis. Now everyone looked surprised.
"Well, Cartalis, you were working on focus design, right?"
Cartalis hesitated, and then nodded. “Indeed.”
“And Drav, Zelzad, you were looking into better effects for your show coming up, right?”
They nodded. “Yeah,” said Drav.
“Arenya, I bet you were thinking that Cartalis could help your group out with effects. Specialized focuses for smoke creation, or lights, or sound amplifying, you know?”
Arenya forced her jaw to close and nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly the kind of stuff I was thinking of."
Cartalis grimaced, but nodded. “I shall do this. Conditionally.”
Zelzad said “No way” at the same instant Drav said “We’re in”. They each looked at the other for a moment.
“Come on, honey,” said Drav. “She’s a genius at focuses. Put your rivalry aside for a moment.”
Zelzad sighed. “Fine. What are your conditions, Cartalis?”
“I have two requirements. My focuses may be used only on songs I approve. I wish to view all lyrics and any I find too... insipid, you shall go without my help.”
Zelzad sighed. “We’ll show you the list later. And your second?”
“Arenya and I just finished our main focus construction for Professor Kazurist’s course. It requires testing. May one of you spar with Arenya while she uses the focus so that I may view it under load?”
“I’ll do it.” Ya'el extended her hand. “Deal?”
Cartalis took it and shook. “Deal.”