856 C-5, Rain Month 2, Moon 28
I stepped out of the portal and began making my way to the classroom.
Hopefully she’s not too down about the test. Wait...maybe I should be more worried if she did too well. What if she stands out too much? Oh no. Please let everything be normal...
I opened the classroom door, a little anxious.
“Oh, Karen. Right on time,” Professor Tellion said, looking up from her book.
“Any...problems?” I asked nervously.
“Hmm? No problems. The exam began and ended without incident. Everything was perfectly normal.”
“Whew... That’s a relief.”
“I can’t say I understand what you could have possibly been worried about,” she said before turning to El. “You are free to leave now, for the first time since the exam began. I’ll have the results of your exam within a few days. Thank you for staying for the entirety of the exam.”
El, who had her legs on the desk, put them on the ground and walked toward me. How long has she been waiting for me? I don’t even see her test on her desk. After excusing ourselves, we walked out of the classroom and into the hall.
“When did you finish?” I asked.
“Not too long before you arrived,” El responded. “More importantly, I believe there was talk of a late lunch break?”
“Yeah. I’m surprised you remembered that. So, wait, you really finished the test? That’s amazing.” My eyes widened.
“Please,” she snorted. “It was child’s play.”
“You know that only a few students have actually finished that test, right?” Yours truly included.
“Well, now there’s one more. Anyway, I’m famished. To the dining hall!”
She’s really trying to change the subject. It was as if she was trying to distract me from something. “Did you stay in the classroom the entire time?” I asked, suspicious.
“What kind of question is that? Where would I have gone? Why would I feel the need to leave? When would I even have had the time to leave? Who or what gave you the idea that I left?”
“I don’t know. Just asking. No need to get so defensive. Sheesh.” Yeah, she definitely didn’t stay put. But I guess at the very least, she came back. So no harm done...probably. “Do you know what you want for lunch?”
“Parfaits.”
“Don’t you want something a little more filling like—”
“Parfaits.”
“No, I mean like—”
“Parfaits.”
I rolled my eyes. Why the heck is a member of the strongest species in the world addicted to parfaits? “Fine. But you’re getting actual food too.”
“Agreed. I’ll have a rack of troll ribs.”
“For the last time, they don’t have troll meat! What’s up with that? Like, I kinda get that it’s a delicacy to your people for some crazy reason, but you guys have to eat other foods too, right?”
“Just parfaits and troll meat,” she said sarcastically.
I gave her a deadpan stare, not even justifying her blatantly false answer with any further acknowledgment.
“I’ll order for you.”
“Be sure to order at least five parfaits. I need my energy.” She blissfully grinned, drool beginning to drip from her mouth.
“Uh-huh...”
It was really hard to believe that the very same elder dragon who’d arrived here as a bloody mess, ready to kill me, had become a parfait-loving, regular girl. Maybe things will work out after all. Doesn’t look like there’s anything to worry about her fitting in. Maybe the combat placement exam will go well, and she won’t try to go too overboard or do anything that’ll out her as a dragon. Suddenly, I began to feel optimistic about everything.