The War of Elevens| Book 1 of the Space Thief Chronicles

Chapter 16| Theories on Strange Magical Affairs

Earth

Belle Village, Maine

Melissa sat on her kitchen floor with an army of books spread before her and her twelfth cup of tea in the past ten hours at her side. History books, The Storybook of Seconds, atlases, physics textbooks, coverless and nearly unbound leather journals...they were all spread out before her now in a cacophony of tea-stained symbols, colors, maps, and numbers. She had spent every waking moment pouring over these books the minute she'd gotten back from her meeting with the Board Members and the Bloom about Lilly. Melissa couldn't stop; she had been up all night and now eight-thirty A.M light slid slippery and pale over the kitchen floor and she was so close, so close. 

She had a theory. If she kept studying over these books, she was positive that she would find something to confirm it. 

There came a rap rap rap on the backdoor. Reluctantly, Melissa got up, mind reeling with words and numbers, eyes burning, stomach growling. She tied her hair into a ponytail to make herself a little more presentable and opened the door to Nathan Eccent, who held out a white paper bag and a to-go coffee cup like a white flag. 

"My peace offering," he said.

Melissa narrowed her eyes.

"That's not a very nice look."

She took the paper bag and peeked inside to find a scone. A marvelous pumpkin-spice fragrance filled her nose, sending her empty stomach into violent protest. "Thank you," she said. "Why a pumpkin scone?"

"Think of it as a congratulations-on-not-getting-your-arm-torn-off-by-a-giant-wasp present. I also got you a black coffee." 

"I hate coffee." 

Nathan grinned. "I knew that; I was just hoping you wouldn't take it so I can have it. Really, I just wanted to check in. How's your arm?"

Thanks to her leather jacket, the wasp's mandibles had not snapped Melissa's arm off. There was a tight bandage around her bicep and the wound still throbbed, but she'd live. "It's fine."

"And your leg?"

"Also fine." Her bad leg actually wasn't. After the fight with the wasps, it had been giving her a fit. Whenever she moved it, sharp aches shot from her knee to her thigh. This was common for her after physical exertion, and because she was so used to it by now, she kept list of advantages for leg-pain firmly in the front of her mind. 

Kept her pain tolerance up. Challenged her not to complain no matter how bad it hurt. Reminded her why she spent her heart on wishes involving Nathan. 

Excuses, excuses. 

In the awkward pause that stretched between them, Nathan looked down and Melissa looked up. She could practically read Nathan's thoughts, written so plainly in the pain across his face: Don't you at least want to tell me how Lilly's doing in Elliott Way? Don't you want to invite me in? 

She didn't want to do either of those things. 

"Um." What she really wanted to do was ask him to leave so that she could get back to her studies, but that would be rude, considering the fact he'd helped her ward off the wasps and bought her a scone. "Um...so how's Jake?" 

That was fair, right? She didn't have to talk about Lilly or invited him in but still threw the ball back in his court. 

Nathan smiled. "He's alright. I wish he would get out more, though, but comic books rule his life. He also says that Lilly owes him a favor...so you may want to mention that to her whenever you get a chance to write her. He seemed a little too excited about it."