The Academy's Twisted Enemies | Dark Romance

Chapter 8 - The Fluffiest Pancakes

We entered the bus and sat down in a three-seater quietly. The people around us were more diverse than those waiting for the bus: young, old, shady, and model citizen-looking.

It was obvious that we stood out. Our clothes weren't as fashionable, and we looked around way too much. Most people looked away, but those who examined us probably noticed how out of place we were.

I was the first to notice the stares, and I nudged Cecily, whispering, "Stare down. We're getting looks."

She relayed the message to Jeran, and we did our best to blend in better.

When the bus finally rolled into the city bus stop, I could hardly contain my excitement, but I fought to hold it down until we exited.

"Oh my gosh, we're here!" I said excitedly as the noise hit my eardrums at full force.

The city looked like there'd been a lot of improvements over the years. New building designs, new shops, new—

"Whoa," Cecily whispered. "I don't remember that being there the last time we were here."

"That's because it wasn't," Jeran said flatly, clearly disturbed as much as we all were.

There was a ginormous statue of a notorious, murderous villain right in the heart of New Times Square, a bustling, vibrant, and filled-with-screens area of the city replicating Old New York's Times Square. The statue was ugly, as was he, a man with a large beer belly, long, twisted mustache, and balding head. He looked more like one of the various mafia bosses we'd learned about in our history books.

Dr. Zenerith.

"Just keep our heads down, act like normal tourists, and we'll get through this just fine," Cecily urged.

"Agreed," I said. "We're here for leisure. That's it."

"Right," Jeran said. "Let's find the diner I've been seeing on social connectivity."

He pulled up one of the most popular social connectivity apps called Capture, a way to take photos and connect with people. It's similar to the apps Instagram and Facebook that they had in the Premature Era of modern technology. He scrolled through his saved posts until he pulled it up.

"Yes! Found it."

"We should verify the location." I looked around before adding, "We have to stay away from any place heavy with villain activity."

"True," he said, quickly researching the area on his phone. "Yeah, it's fine. Let's go!"

We had to take the train to get there. We entered the station, which was cooled with central air and surrounded by video ads lined in one long electronic block, the video divided by electronic barriers.

That star symbol I saw under the overpass came up once more in one of the ads, with nothing other than a white background. It darkened in color on the screen before the screen faded to black, pulling up another ad about the newest blender that was a must-have.

"No chunks!" Jeran exclaimed dramatically. I laughed slightly until I saw Cecile's pale face.

"What's wrong—"

"I'm fine," she said a little too quickly. "Let's catch the train."

I knew I couldn't press it. They wanted me to be cheerful Azira, and as painful as it was, I fought against my usual inclinations.

We sprinted to the train and hopped in right as the doors closed. Collectively, we let out a sigh of relief before sitting down in the few remaining available seats. We got some side eyes again and looked away and down at the floor.

"What stop?" I asked casually but lowly.

"34th Street... so next stop," he said. The train pulled into the next station, and we hurried off. This train station was much less inviting, not as bright, but still cool compared to the summer heat.

As we walked down another long hall with the same video ads, Cecily squealed with delight.

"Take a picture of me here!" she exclaimed, standing next to the ad with one of the most famous celebrities of our time already pre-posed—the ad was designed for tourists.

The singer's name was Sash. He went from a one-hit wonder to a full-on star. He had so many new hits and was so handsome that all the girls would be jealous, even in the presence of his poster, if they knew someone else had it.

Jeran quickly snapped the photo, and Cecily squealed in joy. "I didn't think I'd be able to catch the ad at all, but I did!"

"Dork," I teased playfully, and she shoved me.

"You know he's hot, stop playing!"

I laughed and shook my head. "I will not condone you drooling over him."

The ad disappeared, and again, the star popped up.

"What is with this?" I asked, slightly peeved.

"Let's go," she said firmly, pulling us away before I could protest.

We ran up the stairs, the diner only two blocks from the subway exit. The neighborhood was bright and inviting, with more residential-looking skyscrapers, despite its dreary train station, and the people, although still keeping to themselves, smiled more.

We entered the small, homey diner, the tantalizing aroma of fresh food hitting our nostrils. The hostess greeted us with a warm smile from behind her hostess stand. "Welcome to Goldeneye Diner. How many?"

"Just the three of us," Jeran said.

"Perfect! Right this way."

She led us to a booth. I slid in first, Cecily next to me, and Jeran let out a dramatic "ahhh" as manspread in the seat across from us.

"I feel I should sit over there to ruin your fun," Cecily said.

"Then you're going to be really uncomfortable," he said. "Because I'm staying spread out."

"Mhm. I'll get you later, don't worry."

Our waitress introduced herself and placed down our menus. Several pages worth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner overwhelmed us.

"This!" he said to us, and we looked at what item he was pointing at. Goldeneye's Fluffy Pancakes. "These are large and fluffy to perfection, not too compact but not too jiggly either. That's what I came here for." He tapped on the menu several times with a happy smile.

"Maybe we should all get it?" I asked although I had my eye on an egg, bacon, and hash brown crepe. The pancakes he was talking about, though, won me over when I saw a waiter bring them over to another group of patrons.

"Yep," I said, folding the menu shut. "Good choice, Jeran."

Cecily nodded. "I'll do the same. But I can't allow you to stay right about these things." He smirked and made kissy lips towards her.

Not too long after we chatted, the waitress came by again, and we gave her our orders. When she came back with the food, it was even more delicious than I'd thought it would be.

The pancakes were covered with a honey drizzle and a fruit compote. They were buttery, fluffy, and so filling. "I can't finish it," I complained. "It's delicious, though."

"I know... it's so disappointing that I don't have more room in my stomach," Cecily said.

"We should take it with us," Jeran said, then paused. I realized why. The sudden silence in the diner was deafening. We looked around and saw others with their heads down. A looming figure approached us with a grimace on his face.