Chapter 21: Cheeky chicken

Chapter 21: Cheeky chicken

"How dare you tell a lady she's dirty!?" Medusa tapped the floor with her foot.

"I mean, you are..." Realizing his blunder, Uriel quickly changed his words. "Looking great today!"

"Oh! thanks... I guess..." She replied shyly.

They walked side by side on the campus, although Uriel was mostly on a tight schedule these days, he was certain Mister Scofield would understand if he took the evening off. After all the first year students had been through, the least he could expect was to be given a small break.

"Hang on a minute please, before going for lunch I have to call my boss and tell him I won't be coming in today." Uriel said as he took out his flip phone from his pocket, but it didn't have battery and it was off.

When Medusa noticed this, she quickly took out her phone in fear that a cryptid might be lurking nearby, but Uriel hurried up and explained.

"Don't worry, It's nothing, I just forgot to charge it."

"Whew! Don't scare me like that!" She said after heaving a sigh of relief, but she still confirmed that her phone was working properly.

"I can't call him and he'll get worried if I don't show up, would you mind accompanying me to the library?"

"You work at the library!? that's incredible! I knew you were smart but I didn't think it was like that." She said in amazement.

"Don't make assumptions, I'm just a janitor there. If it wasn't for mister Scofield's help I wouldn't have been able to pay my ticket."

"I see... maybe It would have been better that way..." A somber expression that started as a shiver crawled up to her face.

"I bet many students think that way, but I don't... I came back after all. There's something I wanted to ask you, but this is not the right place and I'd rather discuss it over lunch." Uriel was set on asking her for help to discover what was his trait about and how to tap on its power.

"Uh, sure..." Her past expression gave way to an odd feeling in her stomach, a mix of nervousness and anxiety. Something that felt bad and good at the same time, something she had never experienced again. It was similar to fear, but at the same time, similar to excitement.

Medusa kept silent during their trip to the library, she waited outside for just a few minutes until Uriel came back and then they kept walking around the campus.

"Oh crap! I don't have any money on me!" Uriel said out loud. "I'm sorry, I'll have to make a quick trip to the dorms too."

"Is this an orange!? I've only seen them in movies! Wow, it's texture is not what I expected." He said caressing the fruit's skin.

"Yes, I love them after a good cup of cheeky chicken." She chuckled.

The sweet and citric taste sent Uriel in a two way trip to heaven. He had never, ever, eaten anything but synthetic food. For Medusa it was just a fruit, but for him it was a whole world of experiences. From the juiciness to the flavor, even the crunchiness was a surprise for him. He could only describe it as an explosion inside his mouth.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" Medusa said blushing slightly and pressing on her cheeks with the palm of her hands, her pretty and tough girl appearance heavily contrasting with her meek attitude.

"Oh, that!" He said after coming back from his culinary experience.

"I wanted to ask if you would like to help me uncover the nature of my trait... I know there's something else, there's a hidden... What happened? why are you frowning?" He changed the course of his speech when he noticed she was upset for some reason he couldn't understand.

"It's nothing, continue..."

"But..."

"I said, continue!" She said loudly.

Not wanting to upset her even further, Uriel proceeded tell her about the hunch he felt and how he could sense some sort of energy coursing his body but didn't know how to tap into it.

"I see, but what do you want me to do?" She shrugged.

"I was thinking, since you have a trait maybe you could tell me how does it feel like or how do you activate it." He said in a pleading tone.

"I don't know much about traits, maybe you could ask Luna. I mean, I would love to help you, but all traits are different and they should feel different too."

Dejected, Uriel sighed and lowered his gaze. It wasn't sadness but the mix of all the negative emotions he had experienced so far in life. Ever since his parents disappeared it was as if an unlucky star shone all the time over his head.

Medusa stared at him for a few seconds and thought he was even cuter than she had initially thought. She had been feeling drawn towards Uriel, but up to that point she didn't know the reason, because he wasn't that attractive compared to others. There was, however, a certain charm to him, something that she couldn't explain.

"I'll help you!" She said decisively.