Reading Between the Lines

Chapter 13: Application

"Ready?" Naishal chuckles as he notices me rubbing my eyes.

"Totally," I declare confidently, the grogginess still present in my voice.

Look, I had my reservations about coming to the Netherworld. Despite how amazing it sounded, I was still scared of what to expect! I mean, wouldn't you? Having scary creatures that could easily rip your throat out living around you is terrifying. And yeah, I've definitely had more incidents where I hid behind the others whenever I saw other creatures completely shifted and doing their thing.

But it's my 14th day here. And progress check? I don't hide anymore. Somehow, I've adjusted to the creatures running and the random transformations. That's probably because the others constantly shift around me to go on runs, and they've even TAKEN ME ON ONE.

Seriously. I literally rode on top of Vinnie while she ran towards the lake. And worse, she kept messing with me by constantly swinging me on top of her. Yeah, that sounds very, very wrong. But it was surprisingly really fun.

But can I just say? Wolves are BEAUTIFUL. They surprisingly look even better than the pictures show. If I could pick my favorite though, I'd definitely pick Vaibhav's wolf Vayu. The speckled fur with yellow eyes is just gorgeous.

Anyway, now I feel way more comfortable here. I'm more indifferent to naked people changing behind trees, I now visit a magical lake every night whenever I need a break from life, and I now actually talk to people in the neighborhood whenever I get a chance. A human living with fictional creatures is a great conversation starter apparently!

Because of how comfortable I've gotten, Naishal has started me teaching me more about their world too.

Every Friday for the past 3 weeks, Naishal has been giving me weekly sessions called "Werewolf 101" to help me learn about the Netherworld instead of reading boring textbooks. I admit, the idea of someone teaching me all of this stuff was very overwhelming... and kinda boring. I have a big problem with getting bored, and it was something I had to get over in order to do well in school.

But he's a really good teacher! He can make even the most difficult things sound so simple and fun, and he makes sure that I always remember them. So far, I've learned about the formation of the Sempiternal Plane and werewolf classifications, and even when it sounded so hard to comprehend, I still remember every detail.

Seriously, he's that good of a teacher. I don't even need to have all-nighters to make sure my brain remembers everything anymore!

Besides the learning, it's also helped me learn more about him in general. I've come to realize that underneath the hotness, chill personality, and earrings...

He's a massive, massive nerd. The man is frickin' brilliant.

He loves classical music, he's won aerospace competitions at the national level, and his entire room is full of different airplane and spaceship designs that he's made. The best part? They've stacked aside his life's collection of basketball trophies.

You're telling me that he's not only stunning, but he also manages college basketball with a 4.0 GPA and an aerospace internship? And he's one of the most likable people I've ever met?

He truly is a jack of all trades. I gotta take lessons if I want to come anywhere close to him!

Speaking of lessons though...

"Today we're learning about mates. Ooooo," he snickers while he uses his sword pendant to make a virtual whiteboard that flashes right in front of him.

"Ahhh," I tease back as I adjust my butt on his bed and pull out my notebook.

"Do you already know about mates from the books you read?" he questions while he writes the word "Mates" on top of the virtual whiteboard with a white pen from his desk.