The Academy of S.I.D.E.

No. 3: Coffee and Questions

Anomaly (n): Something that deviates from what is normal, standard, or expected.

Virgil had looked it up the second he'd gotten home. He wasn't surprised that it basically confirmed that he and Masquerade---whatever his real name was---were freaks.

He'd also looked up where Eden Coffee was. Turned out, it was only a couple blocks away from his house.

Figuring that he didn't have much to lose, he'd woken up a little early in order to get ready. Of course, that meant that he had to feed Klaus his lunch, since he was technically supposed to do that on weekends (which was part of the reason why he always slept in late).

"You're up early," his dad noted, wandering in. "Got a date?"

"Something like that," Virgil muttered, taking a swig of coffee.

His dad smirked. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Woah, woah, woah, not that kind of date," he said, holding up a finger. "One of my friends in stage crew wanted to do a study... thing... for a test we've got in Chemistry. A straight friend," he added (mostly to avoid teasing---there was no way Masquerade was in any way heterosexual).

"All right, I'll lay off you," his dad told him. "Where's the study thing?"

"Eden Coffee," Virgil answered truthfully. "I'm gonna walk over there. It's at one."

"Any idea when you'll be back? Don't forget, your mom's going to her singing class, so it's Nine-Nine night."

It occurred to Virgil that he really didn't have any clue what was going to happen during the meeting with Masquerade. "I dunno when we'll be done," he said. "But I'll text you when we finish, okay?"

"Okay, sport."

His mom poked her head in. "Verge, honey, are you going to clean your room today?"

"He's got a study thing at one," his dad told her.

"Well, you've got a half hour to clean, then."

Virgil laughed. "C'mon, Mom, I can't clean my room in a half an hour. You know how insane it is."

She gave him a look over her glasses.

"Okay, I'll go clean," he decided, heading to the stairs.

.......

Virgil cautiously pushed open the door to Eden Coffee. It was pretty old-fashioned, but it felt cozy. The only other people in there were two girls in flannel laughing together, a couple baristas... and Masquerade in the corner, munching on a cheese danish while reading a battered copy of Good Omens---the Crowley cover, not the Aziraphale cover.

"Yo," he called.

Masquerade looked up and brightened. "VIRGIL! Wonderful to see you! Come, sit, I saved you a seat!"

Deeply regretting this, he walked over and sat down in the plushy armchair. "Chocolate croissant for me?"

"I also took the liberty of getting you a black coffee," Masquerade said, scooting the cup over to him. "It's as dark and bitter as your angsty, emo soul."

Virgil cocked an eyebrow. "You're a real comedian."

"Oh, there's no need to flatter me." He leaned forward, resting his head on his gloved hands. "But let's disperse with the pleasantries for now. I imagine that you have a lot of questions, so here's what I'm offering. You ask me ten questions, and I answer them honestly..."

"I'm with you so far."

"And then I have to ask you ten questions, and you have to answer them honestly," Masquerade continued. "And before anything else, you should know that another power of mine is being able to detect lies and see past illusions. One of the reasons why I track down new Anomalies."