by Tesha Geddes
“Anyway,” Erica said, “I didn’t mean to bother you. Just wanted to introduce myself. I’m bushed from moving, so talk to you in the morning?”
Kaida nodded.
She shut the door after Erica left and laid back down on her bed. It had been an overwhelming day. She’d moved far from the only home she’d ever known, applied for several jobs, checked out a magic book, attended a pack barbeque, and met one of her roommates. However, the most overwhelming part was how friendly everyone was. She wondered how nice they’d be when they realized how different she was.
Chapter 4
Kaida woke bright and early the next morning. Judging by the soft light coming through the window, it was too early for the library to be open. She didn’t hear any movement in the dorm, so Erica was probably asleep. She quietly gathered up her toiletries and slipped into the bathroom.
After a two-day bus ride, and a busy first day at the college, the long minutes under the warm spray of the shower felt heavenly. After washing her hair, she was tempted to stay in even longer, just to enjoy the warmth, but then she remembered that her roommate would probably want to shower too. She stepped out and it was then that she realized her mistake — she didn’t have a towel. She looked at her old clothing and frowned. It was too dirty to dry herself off with, and she didn’t want to go around smelling like yesterday’s barbeque. She couldn’t dry herself off with her clean clothing because she needed to wear it. She sighed. There was nothing else to do — she’d have to shift and dry off in her other form.
It took a minute to coax her dragon out, but eventually Kaida transformed from a petite young woman into a tiny dragon. She was the only full-grown dragon she knew that was small enough to safely transform inside a shower. Curled up, most dragons were the size of her dorm, but Kaida could fit comfortably inside a large cereal bowl. Her violet eyes were the same jeweled tones as in her human form, and her silvery lavender scales matched her hair. A crest of horns curled up and back from the top of her head and an undulating dorsal ridge ran from her neck to her tail, which ended in a fan-like membrane. The membranes on her wings were so thin they were translucent. Delicate silver talons tipped each of her toes.
The shift had dislodged a lot of the water that had been clinging to her human body and it landed on top of her with a splatter. She shook herself and sneezed out the water that made its way into her nose. She wasn’t concerned about the extra water — her dragon form ran hotter than her human form, though not nearly as hot as a fire drake. She shook the extra water off and just as she stepped out of the shower, she heard a sound that made her blood run cold — the quiet jiggle of the doorknob as her roommate opened the door. She’d forgotten to lock the door.
Erica stared down at Kaida in stunned silence for a moment before she found her voice.
“Kaida? Is that you?” she asked.
Kaida nodded.
“I am so sorry! I should have knocked. I didn’t realize you were in here!” Erica apologized profusely as she shut the door.
Kaida stared at the closed door in shock. Not only had Erica not made fun of her, but she hadn’t even kicked her out of the bathroom, and she’d apologized on top of that. Kaida slipped out of the bathroom a few minutes later, dried and fully clothed. Erica was sitting in her own room, reading a book with the door open.
She looked up when Kaida walked out and said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in on you like that.”
“It’s my fault,” Kaida said. “I should have locked the door.”
“Regardless, I should have knocked,” Erica said, then hesitated before continuing, “I didn’t realize dragons could shrink.”
Kaida grimaced — here it came. “They can’t,” she said. “What you saw… that’s as big as I get.”
Erica paused for a moment before bursting into laughter. “And here I thought dragons were supposed to be big and scary!”
Kaida winced. “Dragons are big and scary. I’m just… different.”
“Oh,” Erica said, looking uncomfortable. “I’m sorry. That was pretty thoughtless of me. Please don’t burn my sheets in my sleep.”
“I can’t,” Kaida said with a sigh, “my breath weapon is purification, not fire.”
“Oh. So, if someone spat in my drink, you’d be able to purify it and make it drinkable again?”
“Yes,” Kaida replied, “but do people spit in your drink frequently?”
“You must not have siblings,” Erica said with a laugh and then pulled out her phone. “Anyway, can I get a picture of you in your dragon form? My parents are not going to believe that my roommate’s a dragon.”
“No!” Kaida shouted, panicked. “Please, no pictures, and please don’t tell anyone what I am.”
“It’s okay, I won’t if you don’t want me to,” Erica promised, holding her hands out placatingly.
Kaida looked at her skeptically — she was grateful Erica had promised but wasn’t sure how well the other girl would keep her word. But she had no other option but to trust her.
“Thank you,” Kaida said.
“No problem,” Erica said with a smile. “If I expect you to respect my privacy, I need to respect yours.”
It was a simple, but profound statement, and not something Kaida had ever experienced.
“Anyway,” Erica continued, “after I shower, how about we go get breakfast?”
“Oh, um, I don’t have any money for food,” Kaida mumbled.
“My treat,” Erica said without hesitation. “As long as you like cinnamon rolls — there’s a bakery nearby that I hear makes the best cinnamon rolls with a to-die-for cream cheese icing.”
“I’ve never had a cinnamon roll,” Kaida admitted quietly.
Kaida was the only dragon with a sweet tooth, not that she’d ever been allowed to indulge it.
“Then we absolutely have to go,” Erica said cheerfully.
❀
Shortly after eight, with a stomach pleasantly full of cinnamon roll and eggs, Kaida sat down at one of the library computers. She only had one new email… a response to the library job application. She took a deep breath, crossed her fingers, and opened the email. They wanted to interview her. She let out a shaky breath, hardly believing her luck. It wasn’t a job offer, but it was a step closer to employment. Now she just needed to nail the interview. She replied to the email, letting them know she could come in whenever was most convenient for them. Her hands were shaking as she hit “send”.
She decided to run to the bookstore and pick up her textbooks while she waited. Her scholarship covered the cost of the books, and they were already reserved for her, so all she had to do was show her ID when she picked them up. She dashed over to the bookstore on the ground floor of the student center, only to find that it was closed. With nothing else to do, she decided to explore the campus a bit until the bookstore opened, then she would grab her textbooks and go back to the library to check her email.
Her exploration of the campus led her to a quaint koi pond with a bench and overhanging wisteria trees. She sat on the bench and enjoyed the view. Dragons preferred hot and dry climates, so she wasn’t used to seeing so much greenery. She looked at the hanging branches and imagined for a minute how much fun they’d be to climb. She hadn’t been allowed to spend much time in her dragon form, especially not where someone could see her. She shook herself — she couldn’t take risks like that. If any of the other dragons discovered she was here, she’d be dragged back to Drake City and never allowed to leave –– or worse.
Reluctantly, she tore herself away from the peaceful koi pond and continued exploring. Though the campus wasn’t busy, it wasn’t deserted either. There were a few people wandering around, and though none stopped to talk to Kaida they all greeted her with a friendly smile. It was shocking how differently she was treated here by complete strangers compared to how she was treated back in Drake City. Most of the people looked like students, but a few looked like employees.
She noticed a man walking in fron
t of her looked too old to be a student, but he was also carrying a stack of heavy books. Suddenly, he stumbled and the books tumbled out of his arms. Kaida hurried forward to help him. When she reached him, she realized a few things; he was a lot older than she had thought, and all of the books he had held were magic ones. She silently helped him stack the books, but when she reached the last book, she paused. She could sense it. It was sad. Tears pricked her eyes as she held the book.
“What happened to it?” Kaida asked, blinking back tears.
The old man regarded her thoughtfully for a moment before replying, “It got caught in a potion explosion. Most of its pages are ruined.”
“That’s terrible!” Kaida exclaimed.
She looked at the book in her hand and carefully cracked it open. The pages were coated in a shadowy green stain that seemed to move in the light — it completely obscured everything it covered.
“Can it be fixed?” Kaida asked.
“I’m not sure,” the man responded.
Kaida turned the pages thoughtfully, pursing her lips.
“Do you have any ideas?” the man asked quietly.
Kaida frowned — it was one thing to sneakily purify a book when no one was looking. It was another thing to intentionally use her powers in front of someone. The sad book trembled in her hands.
“I might,” she relented. “Do you mind if I try something?”
The old man nodded. Kaida took a deep breath and exhaled a silvery mist over the pages. Her frown deepened as she concentrated — the potion stain was a lot harder to purify out than the ketchup stain had been. It probably had something to do with magic from the potion getting tangled up with the magic of the book. Her magic won out in the end and the stain lifted from a few pages. She sighed — it was going to take a long time to purify all of the pages.
The man raised his eyebrows in surprise and said, “I have been looking for a way to get rid of that stain for over a decade.”
“I’m sorry,” Kaida said.
“Don’t apologize, just finish the job,” the man said kindly, but firmly.
Kaida nodded and did as instructed. It took several minutes and by the end, she felt lightheaded and slightly weak. Once finished, she handed the happy book back to the old man.
“Follow me,” the old man ordered as he took the book back.
Kaida tried to protest, but the man was adamant. Kaida sighed quietly and followed, supposing that she could always run away if needed. To her surprise, the old man led her back to the library. She followed him past the circulation desk and into the offices in the back. He opened an office door without knocking.
“I want her,” he announced to the surprised-looking woman behind the desk.
“You can’t have her,” the woman replied. “Not yet anyway.”
“Why not?” the man demanded. “You’ve been after me to get an apprentice for ages. Now that I’ve found one, you object?”
“She needs to fill out the paperwork first so we can hire her,” the woman explained. “We also need to have a discussion about job requirements, hours, and compensation. And have you even told her what the job is yet?”
“I may have skipped a few steps,” the old man admitted sheepishly.
The woman behind the desk stood up and looked at Kaida thoughtfully.
“You wouldn’t happen to be Kaida, would you?” she asked.
Kaida stared at her in shock. She had no idea what was happening.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“I’m Stacy,” the woman replied. “I emailed you about an interview for the assistant librarian position.”
“Is she the one you wanted to interview for my apprentice?” the old man asked.
Stacy nodded.
“I guess you have good instincts sometimes,” the old man muttered.
Stacy looked at Kaida and smiled as she said, “You’re probably really confused. Mathis here is a bookbinder for magic books — he’s been looking for an apprentice for a long time. After I heard about you from Addi, I wanted to interview you for the position of Mathis’ apprentice.”
“Oh,” was all Kaida could think of to say.
What followed was a whirlwind discussion about job responsibilities, hours, compensation, legal disclaimers, and a stack of paperwork. Luckily, the apprenticeship was part-time with flexible hours, so she could easily work around her class schedule. The legal disclaimers mostly involved not divulging trade secrets and not suing because of any harm a cranky magic book could cause. The paperwork was difficult to understand, and there were sections Kaida had to leave blank.
Stacy glanced over the paperwork when Kaida handed it back to her. “It looks like you’ve forgotten to put down a phone number, and we’ll need your bank account information for direct deposit. You can just bring in a voided check for that later.”
Kaida shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t have a phone or a bank account.”
“I see,” Stacy said thoughtfully. “Well, I might be able to get you a physical check for your first paycheck, but that’s really frowned on as direct deposit is faster and more secure. As soon as you’re able, I recommend opening a bank account. There’s a branch of a popular nationwide bank at the student center. Paychecks are sent biweekly, with the next one going out this Friday. As for a phone, many superstores carry some pre-paid options for pretty cheap. That should get you by until you can sign up for a plan yourself. We just need a way to be able to reach you in case of an emergency.”
Kaida nodded mutely.
“Great!” Stacy said with a grin. “Mathis can give you a tour, and I’ll get your paperwork submitted. Most likely, HR won’t finish processing the paperwork until the end of the day, so why don’t we plan on your first official day being tomorrow?”
Again, Kaida just nodded.
Chapter 5
Kaida returned to her dorm a few hours later and sank onto the couch. Not only had she found a job, but it was also a good job with a guaranteed promotion once she completed her apprenticeship, and it paid well. It also wasn’t customer service, which was a huge bonus. Due to the nature of the job, it would be easy enough to work around her class schedule. She had no doubt that if it hadn’t been for Addi, she wouldn’t have this job. Hopefully, she’d have the chance to thank her soon.
“You okay?” Erica asked as she walked into the living room. “You look a little stunned.”
“Yeah, I just got a job,” Kaida said, then briefly explained what had transpired.
“No. Freaking. Way.” Erica said. “I am so jealous.”
“You’re jealous of me?” Kaida asked — no one had ever been jealous of her before.
“Of course!” Erica exclaimed. “Mathis Silvermoon is the best magical bookbinder on this side of the hemisphere… probably the whole world! I’ve been obsessed with magical books… not that I’ve had many opportunities to handle them. Being chosen by Mr. Silvermoon is a huge honor — I’ve heard he’s rejected dozens of apprentices over the years.”
Kaida’s heart plummeted into her stomach.
“What if he rejects me?” Kaida asked, more to herself than to her roommate. “What if I’m not good enough?”
“Kaida,” Erica said patiently, “look at what you’ve already accomplished. You cleaned up a magical book that a MASTER bookbinder has been struggling with for over a decade! You did something he couldn’t do. You’ll be great at this, just be patient with yourself.”
But Kaida couldn’t ease her worries. “What if that’s all I can do? What if all I can do is remove stains from old books?”
Erica gave her an exasperated look and said, “Almost everything else dealing with binding and repairing magical books can be taught. The only thing that can’t be taught is how to communicate with the magical books… and you’re already leaps and bounds beyond the average person in that regard. Pay attention and work hard and you’ll do great.”
Kaida gaped at her roommate. No one had ever been this supportive… especially no one who
knew about her deficiencies.
“What?” Erica asked defensively. “Do I have something in my teeth?”
“No,” Kaida said slowly. “You’re just being really nice.”
Erica shrugged her shoulders. “Not really. I’m just being a decent roommate. Anyway, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”
“Not sure.” Kaida shrugged. “I thought it’d take me longer to find a job, but now I have one and I don’t start until tomorrow, so…”
“Well, I need to go pick up my textbooks, but then I was going to explore downtown a bit. Care to join me?” Erica asked.
“Textbooks!” Kaida exclaimed. “I was going to get mine, but then this apprenticeship thing came up and I totally forgot.”