The Necklace: The Trial Realm

Chapter Eleven: Bobs, Boobs, and Burgers

Bob, as it turned out, was pretty lack luster as far as a new shifter friend went.

Granted, he was a shifter, but he'd come from a strict family that didn't believe in allowing other species shifts until the age of maturity, which he was only a short few weeks away from when he found his virtue stone, so he only had one story to tell.

"A bug?" Yael's facial expression went from a full on giddy grin, to an open mouthed grimace. "All the creatures at your disposal and you chose a bug?"

Bob ruffles his long russet colored hair out of his narrow dark eyes. "Look, you've got to have had a relationship with the creature you morph to when you're young and just getting started." He explains, the curves of his cheeks turning a deep pink. "I was kept at home a lot, and in my room there was this...well, I had a bug."

"You formed a relationship with a bug?" Yael deadpanned and I quickly jabbed him under the ribs with my elbow, making him turn an impressive glare my way before he sighs. "Fine, sorry, what was the bug's name?" He asks instead, using his overly chipper tone of voice.

Now Bob's whole face was bright red and his eyes stayed down while he fiddled with his empty tray in front of him. "Just never mind."

"No," I reach out and shake his tray, making him look at me. "I really want to know." And I did. It may not be that cool, becoming a bug of all things when shifters could become anything, but who was I to judge? The only thing I could be was me.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Yael adds, a look of shame on his face and his lips downturned. "I was rude."

Bob still doesn't want to make eye contact, but he goes on anyway. "Well since you have to have been in contact with the other creature for some time to build a familiarity to it, my only chance before I left home to come here to actually try out shifting was with the bug that lived under my bed." A thin smile begins to pull at his lips as he spins the tray around. "It was weird...like one second I'm me, and then the next...The whole world seemed different because I was so small. Even though I was in my own room, the whole thing was foreign. Dust on the ground was a mountain. I just...was. And the whole couple of minutes I was able to hold the shift, the bug under my bed just watched me. He seemed happy..." Bob's smile spread to me and suddenly I was wishing I could have become that bug too. "I felt like he was honored that I'd walk in his shell. That I'd chosen him to share that with." Bob seeming to remember we were even here snapped his eyes back up to us. "Pretty stupid, I know."

I could picture it all in my head, even though I'd never seen such things, and I felt the little chills on my arms. "Not stupid at all." I shake my head. "Pretty freaking unbelievable if you ask me."

"My girl Mali, as usual, is correct." Yael dips his chin, eyes light again. "I'll never look at another bug the same way."

Bob just nodded once. I didn't really know why Yael had latched onto him, he was so quiet and shy, but Yael was just Yael I guess. Anyone and everyone was someone to him, and that was a reason to love him. I want to be more like that.

As the thought crosses my mind though, a group of girls walk into the mess hall, noses high in the air, but eyes glaring my way. Their leader was Courtlyn, apparently she was the lucky recipient of Oliver's arm this week.

More than once since Maxum mentioned to me that Oliver has a different girl on his arm regularly, I've overheard other similar rumors. It didn't matter to me though, as long as he kept his promise and took me to the other realms, I didn't care what he chose to do with his free time.

I just wish his free time would stare at someone else for a change.

"I see you've got a fan club." Yael whispers in my ear and Bob turns to discreetly look over his shoulder.