Farrah's house was amazing. The staircase at the entrance was beautiful. It had numerous slender white pillars holding up the polished wood rail. The wooden crown molding around the doorways and edges of the wall still shined. Ornate lamps and a chandelier filled the rooms with light. I felt like I was inside a five-star hotel from the late 18th century. Jack showed me to a room, and I went inside, blown away at all the space. It was the size of my living room back in my home world.

"Am I sharing this room with anyone else?" I asked.

"No sir, this is entirely your room," Jack said.

I stood there and marveled at it.

"Farrah tells me you have some excellent music taste. Come on downstairs. In the basement, I have a wonderful collection you'd get a kick out of.

I turned to face Jack. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For welcoming me into your home."

Jack beamed and nodded. "Of course. A friend of Farah's is a friend of the family. Also, I love the hair."

"Thanks," I smiled. I was shocked that I hadn't seen Farrah yet and didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable.

We went downstairs, and Farrah and her mom were drinking beverages out of a glass mug and chatting about school.

Farrah's face lit up as soon as we made eye contact. Mine did too.

"Rollie! You came! I heard my dad talking to someone, but I thought it might have been my brother! My older brother is supposed to be coming, but I wasn't sure if it was tonight or tomorrow. He isn't sure yet. But never mind that! You're here! You must have got my letter!"

"I did. Yeah, thank you for the invite."

Farrah sprinted toward me and wrapped me into a binding hug. Her mom stood behind her, she was like an older and shorter version of Farrah with a rounder face. Her mom shook my hand.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Audrey. I hope Jack hasn't been talking your ear off."

"Not yet. We're about to check out his albums downstairs, though."

Audrey smirked. "Don't say I didn't warn you. You can feel free to walk away from him at any point in his ramblings. He might not even notice." Audrey chuckled. "I kid, I kid. Welcome to our home. Can I get you anything to drink or eat? We'll be having dinner soon."

"I'm okay for now! Thanks though."

Farrah took me downstairs, and we hung out with her dad, going through his entire vinyl record collection as he put on discs from bands I recognized back home. It was weird to hear them in Lementum, but it was awesome relating with him about music taste. He put on a vinyl record by Bob Dylan as he showed me all of his other stuff. This world felt even more like home, making me realize how starkly different my house was from Farrah's. Part of me couldn't help but feel jealous of what she had.

Jack checked his watch and said, "Oh my goodness, look at the time. We should go fix up dinner."

As we went back upstairs, a dog with long brown fur (more reminiscent of hair than anything) approached us at the top of the steps.

"Sparky! Look who's here! It's my friend Rollie!" Farrah said.

Sparky sat in front of me and licked his nose. He had big auburn button eyes.

"I'm surprised he hasn't barked at you. I mean, he's the sweetest dog, but whenever he meets men for the first time, he usually barks a few times at them."

Sparky wagged his short brown tail and pawed at my leg.

"He seems like an adorable dog. Hello Sparky." I smiled and rubbed the side of his body. And at that moment, it was official. I was jealous of everything Farrah had. I imagined how different my life would be if I grew up in a home like hers.

Her dad entered the kitchen and shot a tiny bolt of electricity into a cube on the wall above the stove.

"The perks of being an electric mage," Jack said as he winked at me.

In the blink of an eye, the stove turned on at the perfect setting, and he started cooking a pale orange loaf. It smelled heavenly, a collection of savory seasonings and garlic.

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"Please, you two can sit. We got a handle on dinner. Don't worry," Audrey said as she walked in.

While they continued cooking, Farrah and I sat at the long dining table in a separate room. They had long, tall candles on the table and cream-colored placemats with a blue flower pattern.

"Usually, we have a small table for the four of us if my brother is around. I don't want you to think we always eat at this table and set up all these nice things." Farrah laughed, a little embarrassed.

"It's okay, it's nice, actually. You should see what the dinner table is like in my house," I said.

Farrah tilted her head. "Hey, I forgot to ask you about something. Do you remember receiving that weird letter in your mailbox without the return address? And then in the letter, it told you about going someplace, and you didn't know where that location was. Did you ever end up going?"

I had to choose my next few words carefully.

What would happen if I broke my promise to Daniel and told someone we met on campus?

I didn't like the idea of lying to Farrah, but I could answer the question truthfully, technically. "No, I never ended up going."

"Did you know where the location was?"

"I never figured out what address he wanted to meet me at. I know it wasn't at Attleton, that's for sure."

"But you remember the name of the location still? Or do you still have a letter? It had something to do with a snake, right?"

"The address he gave me was 1111 Serpentine."

"Ah, that's where my confusion came from. Just like the gemstone."

"Why are you asking about it, though?"

Farrah shrugged. "I was curious about it. It was a peculiar letter. But you know who has more knowledge about the island here in Hartsera than anyone else I know?"

I leaned in closer.

"My mom. My parents are electric mages, and she works with the energy department, repairing electric lines and inspecting buildings. She has a whole map of Hartsera."

Audrey popped her head into the dining room and smirked. "I heard the word, Mom. Did you need me for something?"

"Yes, actually. I was wondering if you knew where a certain address was," Farrah said.

"Yeah, I probably know it. What do you have for me?"

"1111 Serpentine."

Audrey tapped her chin. ”I can't say I know it off the top of my head, but I will think about it as we're finishing up dinner. And then I can check my map. What's over there?"

"Nothing, except that Rollie received a letter to meet someone there a little while ago."

"Huh. Okay. I'll let you know if I come up with anything." Her mom returned to the kitchen with her dad to finish dinner.

Farrah and I talked a little bit before her parents came in, delivering each of us a plate reminiscent of the dinners I had on campus at Attleton.

Audrey sat down, pulled a scroll from her cloak, and unraveled it at the table near the end.

"What are you doing, sweetheart?" Jack asked.

"Farrah and Rollie asked me about an address, and I found it rather curious... I just needed a moment to look at this." Audrey studied the map for a couple of minutes.

"Your dinner is going to get cold," Jack said.

"So, Farrah, are you sure that's the address where someone wanted to meet Rollie?"

"Yes, without a doubt," I said.

Audrey nodded and rubbed her chin. "So, Serpentine is a branch of the pier here at Hartsera. It's not on our official registry at work because it's an abandoned building at the moment."

A shiver shot up my spine. "Are you sure about that?" I asked.

"Well, Serpentine is a street on the pier,” Jack started. “Audrey and I go there sometimes to frequent the pubs they have. They're a fun place for locals to hang out. Although I wouldn't stay out there too late, someone might try and steal a few coins from you in that area. But it would make sense if there was an abandoned structure.”

"Well, the letter was definitely unusual. And it didn't have a return address. I work the front desk at the Fyron Dormitory, and I don't even know how it got in Rollie's mailbox," Farrah said.

"Rollie, I wouldn't look too much into this. Perhaps it was a prank. But I will say it is rather bizarre," Audrey said.

"Where did you say it was on the map? In relation to where we are," I said. I stopped eating, although it was hard to because the dinner was delicious. But I stood up to get a better view of the map.

"Well, we're here, and the pier where Serpentine street is would be right here." Audrey pointed at the scroll. At the edge of the large city had a label with the Hartsera Pier. Then she dragged her finger a few blocks to the right and pointed at the house. "It's walking distance, although a bit of a distance. A trolley cart would get you there in no time. We could stop by tomorrow morning and take a peek if you'd like."

"Yeah, that would be great," I said. "But you really don't have to do that."

"Nonsense, we would be happy to give you some help. Sounds like you're dealing with a bit of a creep here. Did you tell that head counselor guy about it?"

"I did, and he said he would have taken me to the meeting place to try and help," I said. I felt terrible fibbing, although it was a little white lie. "But ultimately, we decided not to go after I was, uh, you know, attacked by a hellion on campus."

"Sheesh. I heard about all that stuff. I can't believe it. That Principal Pine has got to get a handle on things," Jack said. His voice raised with anger, which was a little surprising to see.

"I think Principal Pine is pretty cool. I like him so far." I shrugged.

"Yeah, but two incidents like this are not good. Not a good look from our alma mater."

Farrah stared at me wide-eyed and slightly shook her head. Then I felt like an idiot. She probably didn't want any focus brought on the hellion incident. Just like me.

"Rollie, how about you tell us what life is like in your home world? I know my parents have millions of questions they wanna ask you," Farrah said.

Way to change the topic.

Farrah's parents both ogled at me.

"That's right, you're from the other world!" Her mom said.

I nodded, and they asked me a barrage of questions, all of which were easy to answer and made me feel like a celebrity in an interview.

What's it like going out to eat? What are everyday foods? What do people do for fun? How do they use energy and technology? How do people travel around? Is it true that your world is massive? Is it true that there are rare gemstones in abundance that we use here?

It was fun answering all of their questions. However, I told them I was still relatively young and didn't have quite the experience many others had. I also told them what my living situation was like and that many people were vastly different in how they lived. Her parents were stunned, but it was all stuff that Farrah knew since she had asked me questions and told me to describe life from my home area. She was the only one that took such a fascination with it.