The Order of Huntsmen

The Celestial

Lahela yelled at me four times that afternoon for bouncing my leg during our lecture. I tried to stop, but my mind was running a thousand miles a minute and I couldn't stop fidgeting.

"It's going to be great," Lahela assured me as we walked out of the lecture hall.

I didn't know if I believed her. I'd agreed to go on impulse and I was regretting it. I was also pissed at myself for allowing Andrew to influence my decision to go, even though he didn't even know about it. "I'm sure it will be," I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt.

I didn't listen as Lahela rambled about the argument she'd gotten into with her father the night before over a family soup recipe. I added a polite "hmm" or "no kidding" every now and again.

"I can't believe he won't tell me what Grandma used to add to give it that extra spice. I get that she didn't teach me, but it's so stupid that I can't know. 'Make your own recipe, Lahela. It's tradition.' Yeah, well, Dad, tradition can kiss my ass." Lahela puffed out her bottom lip as she pouted. As much as she would claim it didn't bother her, it did. She stopped when she realized we were standing outside the men's dorm.

She gave me a wicked grin. "I guess I'll see you in a few hours." I swallowed. She tapped at her chin for a moment and then snapped her fingers. "I forgot! There's no dress code, but try to look nice." She leaned in and gently prodded me with her elbow. "Who knows, you might catch yourself a New York girl." She winked.

I tensed. I tried to ignore the dread in the pit of my stomach and tried to mask it with a laugh. "Very funny. I'll see you later." I nearly sighed in relief when she took the hint and said goodbye, leaving me to spend the next few hours giving myself an ulcer. I prayed to whoever might be listening that I'd have the apartment to myself.

As most things in my life went, no one was listening to my pleas. Or, they just didn't care. I deflated a bit more when I opened the dorm door to see not only Andrew and Daire, but Lukas and Ben as well.

Lukas and Ben greeted me cheerfully, while Daire never looked up from his textbook, and Andrew looked a little frustrated that Lukas and Ben talked to me so freely. That put a little wind back in my sails.

I set my bag in my room before joining Lukas and Ben on the new couch sitting in the room, facing a wall that would soon have a TV. Ben handed me a partially eaten bag of gummy worms, which I took hesitantly. "Thanks," I mumbled.

Ben nodded and tried to say what I thought was "no problem," through a mouthful of chips.

I rubbed the arm of the black couch and said, "Nice pick, Daire."

"Naturally," Daire replied.

I felt my face twist into something sour but did my best to ignore it. I cleared my throat and pointedly ignored Andrew, who was leaned against the kitchen sink. I could feel the chill of his glare from across the room, but it didn't bother me. At least that's what I told myself.

Ben tossed a nearly empty chip bag on the floor in front of him. He leaned back and snuggled down into the material. "Hey, Orion. How do you feel about football?"

I popped a gummy worm in my mouth, ignoring the way the sourness made my jaw clench. "I mean, it's cool enough."

Ben shrugged. Then he looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "And how would you feel if I asked you to come to our first game on Friday?"

I froze up. Several thoughts ran through my head at once.

The first being, if Ben was playing football, so was Andrew.

The second, that was twice in two days that someone had invited me to something. I thought for a moment that it might be a set up of some sort, but even I had to admit that was ridiculous.