“Did you go to that service project with him?” Whitney asked first thing when she walked into the apartment.

“Yes,” Livia said.

She squealed. “Annnd?”

“He’s nice,” Livia said. “But nosy….”

“Nosy? About what?” Whitney asked.

“My ex-boyfriend came up and now he won’t stop talking about him.”

“Uh oh,” Whitney said. “He must sense a story there.”

Livia sighed. “I saw some friends from back home too.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Whitney said. “How were they?”

Livia shrugged. “Same as always. Nice but kind of fake.”

Whitney pulled a face. “I hate people like that.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what to do. They want to hang out--” Livia sighed.

“Why not try it once? Sometimes when you get people in a different situation they surprise you.” Whitney hauled her backpack to her room. “How was Ares?” she asked.

Livia followed her. “No problems. How was home?”

“Good. I missed my mom something crazy. It was nice to be back. My brothers were super excited to see me,” she smiled. Then she frowned. “Have...you heard from family yet?”

How did Livia explain? Especially, without revealing anything about Caesarea?

Honor Pius had come to Caesarea the summer she’d turned eighteen and engaged in a romantic fling with Drusus Fabius--rich, patrician class, influential, talented orator. Then she’d returned home to Italy. She returned a year later with their young son--Livia’s brother Hyrum-- in tow and demanded he marry her, forcing him to break off an engagement with a woman he loved. Their awful marriage had lasted twelve miserable years. Livia knew she shouldn’t blame her mother for the fact that her father was an abusive drunk. That was on him. But she was furious that mom had stayed so long. Maybe that was unfair, but Livia didn’t care. She’d had to suffer the consequences of her mother’s life choices and that was epically unfair.

Honor had left Caesarea and refused to ever return after her abusive Aquila house husband--Livia’s father--had been put in prison for life. After that their family had been so poor, their life had been so hard. Her mother hadn’t even told Livia about being Taurus house. She had even forced Hyrum to keep the secret from her and her other brother Lucas, too.

That meant that Livia’s family was considered Rogue--a status that had made her life very difficult in the past year. People in Caesarea didn’t trust her and so had a very difficult time accepting her. Livia’s relationship with her mother was strained before she’d found out she was Taurus house. Afterward, she couldn't call it a relationship at all.

“You know, my mom lives with my stepdad,” Livia shrugged. “We don’t talk much.” She’d let Whitney think her stepdad was the reason why she didn’t talk to her mom. Livia felt guilty about it because Tad was actually a decent man. He’d done right by Livia and her brothers and sometimes she missed him. She missed him more than her own mother. Livia felt the pain flash across her features.

Whitney’s eyes widened. “Seems like a hard situation.”

Livia tried to smile. “I’m close with my brothers Hyrum and Lucas.”

“Did you grow up around here?” she asked.

“No, we moved all over,” Livia said.

“Oh?” Whitney replied with interest. “Where else have you lived? Where did you live before you came here?”

“I lived with my brother Hyrum and his wife in Montana,” Livia answered. “We were all over the place growing up.”

“Like where?” she asked.

Livia hesitated. “We lived in several places in California. Lived in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania.”

“Wow, you moved a lot. For your parents' work?” she asked.

Livia didn’t actually know. They didn’t technically have to move for work. If she asked her mom now, Livia knew she wouldn’t answer. Mom didn’t like to talk about the past. Livia had been too young to ask why they moved all the time back then. Now, Livia guessed that they moved because Mom hadn’t wanted to be found. Not by Taurus house, nor Aquila house--Dad’s family. She’d gone Rogue.

Livia shrugged, deliberately not answering. “What about you? Where do you come from?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I grew up an hour away from here,” she said. “The first time I came to Cornelia I was in middle school. We were doing a language arts competition. I fell in love with it. When I got accepted it was my childhood dream coming true,” she said.

Livia smiled. It was nice to be reminded that the universe wasn’t always cruel. “Sweet.”

“What about you?” she asked. “Why’d you come here?” she asked.

“Friend told me about it,” Livia said. This was true. Tavian Hall from Rattus house had mentioned it. Livia had looked it up and decided to apply. Livia made her decision when the school offered a half-tuition scholarship.

“Tell me about this friend,” Whitney said.

Livia looked at her, startled. What could she say about Tavian? He was Rattus house, which made him an empath, but she couldn’t mention that.

“He has a twin,” Livia said.

“A boy?” Whitney wiggled her eyebrow.

“No, not like that--” Livia said. “He’s only a friend.”

“Ummhmm,” she said, teasing. “So this boy has a twin?”

“Yeah, Tavian and Adrian.”

“Two boys?”

“Yeah. We met in high school. I actually dated their younger brother, Arik. So, they’re good friends. Very close to my other brother, Lucas.”

“So, you just have the two brothers?” Whitney asked.

“Actually…” Livia said. “I have a step-sister. She’s nine months old.”

“Whoa! That’s a gap,” Whitney said.

“Yeah, uh, my Mom almost died,” Livia said.

“Is she okay now?” Whitney gasped.

“Better. Not back to how she used to be, but better,” Livia said.

Whitney’s face fell. “Oh, no. That must have been so hard for your family.”

Livia nodded. “Very.”

Livia had almost gone home to help but Hyrum wouldn’t let her. He’d flown out with his wife Caecilia instead and stayed for eight weeks. That meant Livia had been in Caesarea completely alone. She’d had an internship with TARP--the Trauma and Rescue division of the Caesarean Security Patrol. When the chief director, Justin Aurelius, had become aware of her situation he’d taken her into his home. His wife Flavia was also Taurus house and had treated Livia like family. Livia missed Flavia way more than she thought she would.

Whitney put her arms around Livia and hugged her. Her roommate pulled away before it registered to Livia to hug back. Livia's cheeks pinked but Whitney waved it away like it was no big deal. Livia let her embarrassment over her awkwardness fade away. Whitney wasn’t the sort to hold it against her and there was no one she could gossip to about it either.

***

As if Livia’s melancholy over her family situation had summoned Hyrum to the rescue, he called Livia that evening.

“I haven’t heard from you so I’m assuming the car didn’t break down on you halfway there?” he joked.

Livia scowled. Hyrum had worked hard to convince her to sell her car before she came out to Cornelia Africana. “Still driving,” she said.

“Quin collected cars,” Hyrum said. “I inherited four. I use one. Caecilia uses one. The other two sit around in the garage. Take one off my hands, Liv.”

Their uncle Quin, the previous paterfamilias of Taurus house, had passed away almost two years ago now. His death had been the impetus behind Livia’s discovery of Taurus house.

“I like my car,” Livia argued.

“It broke down on you last month,” Hyrum said.

“But I fixed it. It’s fine,” Livia insisted.

Hyrum sighed. “I’m worried it’s not reliable anymore. You’re too far away for me to help you out there. She’s done good by you, Liv. You made a smart choice, but it’s time to graduate to a new car.”

Livia didn’t want to part with her car. She had paid money to fix it last month. It would be fine. She didn’t want to change anything else right now. She had wanted one thing in her life to stay the same. That meant keeping her car. “Hyrum, I’m fine,” Livia said.

“Stop being stubborn,” Hyrum growled. “I’m giving you a new car. Take it.”

“No.” Livia refused. “I told you my car is fine.”

There was a tense silence on the line. Livia closed her eyes and waited for Hyrum to erupt into a tirade about how she was ungrateful and childish.

Instead, he sighed. “Right, you let me know if you need anything. Remember, I had to accept a lot of help from Tad to get through school. He sent me gift cards twice a month to help with groceries and he paid for my gas when I drove home.”

“I’m okay, Hyrum.”

“I know, but if you ever aren’t--”

“I’ll ask you for help,” Livia said, annoyed.

“Good. You like school?”

“Yeah, But...Corvin is here.”

“He is?” Hyrum asked.

“Yeah, and some other Caesarean kids.”

Hyrum laughed. “The tables have turned! Be nicer to them then they were to you.”

“Why should I?” Livia asked.

“Honestly, Liv, a lot of people just need to be taught the right way to help. Imagine if more people in Caesarea knew how to help people that were new. Wouldn’t it be a better place?”

“Yes, Hyrum,” Livia agreed, impatient.

Except, Livia knew that Corvin should know how to be kind. She didn’t understand why his demeanor was so cool around her. Though, she wasn’t warm to him either. She didn’t see that changing any time soon.

“You feel like I’m lecturing you--”

“It’s your default state.”

“Just think about it--”

“I’ll be nice,” Livia said. “But I don’t expect to see them much.”

“How’s your roommate?” Hyrum asked.

Livia spent more time on the phone with Hyrum than she expected. She told him all about Ares, her classes, and her roommate Whitney. The sound of his voice was familiar and comforting. The longer they talked the more her melancholy thawed. When she ended the call there was even a grin on her face to match the warmth in her heart.