Navigating Hermes (Book Two)

Chapter Eighteen

Hello! You're probably getting tired of hearing my usual spiel so I'll keep it short. If you're enjoying or have any theories, let me know! This chapter is another hint that will help you put the puzzle together. Don't forget to vote if you actually like the chapter. See you next week! - Amy

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     Julie thought her sleep had finally improved since the nightmare, which really ended up being a look into the past where she'd experienced Hermes killing Argus. She barely thought about it anymore and things were less awkward when she hung out with the god. However, she woke up on the ground of, what took her a few moments to realize was, her university's main cafeteria.

     "What the heck?" Julie stood up, looking around at the faces of many people she somewhat recognized. She walked around, confirming no one could see her until she came across a booth and gasped at the face she was met with. Julie was looking at herself, only it wasn't a reflection. She watched herself drinking an overpriced smoothie for lunch while clutching the phone she hadn't had since her first year of university.

     "Julie," a man's voice called.

     Julie turned around as her younger self looked up from her phone and watched a very familiar person approach. "Devon?" It was a guy from her political science class that she'd slept with twice.

     "Wait a minute," Julie said as she watched herself and Devon interact. "I remember this." Once the words left her mouth, she understood what was happening. "Shit, this is another real past event," she worried.

     Julie sat down on the empty chair in front of herself and watched what had happened only a few years ago play out again in real time. After a bit of flirting, Devon asked her out to drinks and Julie added him to her friends list so she could message him later that night to meet up.

     Julie groaned when Devon walked away, remembering how clingy he'd been after she made the mistake of agreeing to go out with him a second time. Not only was he a sloppy kisser, but he was also kind of dumb. Thankfully, he transferred universities within a few months after dropping the course.

     When Devon made real distance between them, Julie started feeling a pull toward him. She hadn't felt the pull last time, but decided to follow it anyway. She ran after Devon, who was heading outside and frowned when he looked around to see if anyone was following him. "What the heck?"

     Devon walked behind a building, Julie following right behind him, and found a secluded corner. She was confused at what he was doing, but her mouth dropped open as Devon transformed into Hermes right in front of her eyes. "What?"

     "So easy," Hermes chuckled to himself, shaking his head before he disappeared along with his backpack. 

     "Maybe this is a dream," Julie shook her head. She pinched herself hard, but yelped from the pain, not waking up. Suddenly the world around her started to morph and Julie found herself sitting in a karaoke bar with a few of her old friends. 

     Julie walked up to her friend Sally, who was wearing a 'Happy Twenty-First Birthday' sash and was attempting to sing, completely off key, into the microphone. "Jesus she was so sloshed that night," Julie laughed and watched herself walk into the room, wearing the same green dress she'd worn for her friend's birthday. So this is real.

     An attractive man entered the room, holding a few drinks, and sat down. Julie watched as her former self sat on his lap and flirted with him, admiring his Afro fade hair cut. "I don't even remember his name," she murmured to herself before turning away when they started making out. The only thing she'd remembered was that he was an exchange student from Kenya. She probably wouldn't have remembered that much if it weren't for her having distant relatives on her mother's side of the family living there.