Daughter of Nox

Chapter Thirty-Five

"You did what?"

"Kissed." Freya looked up from tying her boots. "You do something like this," she puckered her lips, "then you press your mouth to the other person's mouth."

Etta's mouth hung open in shock.

"You're doing it all wrong." Freya pointed a finger at her puckered lips. "See, like this."

Etta's mouth snapped closed. "I guess it's finally happened. I officially don't know who you are anymore." She threw her hands into the air. "First you tell me that you kissed some guy that I haven't even met, and next you'll be confessing that you're planning on helping the Separatists invade Academy."

"That's a tiny bit of a jump, don't you think? I mean, I've barely even started planning the invasion."

"Don't think you can distract me with a clever turn of phrase, Freya Airm." Etta glowered at her. "I've been asking you to introduce me to your mystery man since your romantic night blowing each other up in the sims, and you haven't lifted a finger to make it happen."

Freya went back to tying her boots so that she didn't have to meet Etta's eyes. It wasn't that Freya didn't want Etta to meet Alexander, it but the situation was complicated. She and Alexander had met up a dozen times since that first night but Freya still didn't know what their official status was. Were they a couple? Or were they just the kind of friends that liked to kiss whenever they got the chance? Explaining the situation to Etta seemed impossible when she couldn't explain it to herself.

"I want you guys to meet," Freya said. "But I figured it could wait until after the break. He's been busy getting ready to go home so I didn't want to bug him."

"Where is home, exactly?"

Freya hesitated before answering. Alexander always seemed quick to change the subject whenever the topic of parents or home colonies had come up. Freya hadn't thought much of it. After all, she wasn't keen on talking about her own father, and there seemed to be a mutually unspoken understanding that their time together was better used for nonverbal pursuits. But now that Etta was asking, Freya was acutely aware of this glaring hole in her knowledge about him.

She made a mental note to ask him about it later, but decided to skirt around the details with Etta for now.

"He's from out near the Rim," she said, hoping that Etta wouldn't want much more of an explanation than that.

"When he gets back you'd better let me meet him. I've been wondering where you've been disappearing to. And I want to know how he gets around without setting off a million alarms."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Freya said.

For all the reservations she had about letting the two of them meet, spending time with him had made Freya feel certain that he and Etta would get along perfectly. The two of them loved slicing, unlike Freya whose eyes glazed-over whenever Etta started on a computer rant.

Freya checked the time on her comm. "I've got to go." She stretched her arms over her head. "I want to get over to the sim bays and get a little warmup before the rest of the Novices get there."

"Slag me, I forgot you had Flight Trials today." Etta's eyes went wide. "Are you feeling good about your chances?"

"Considering that I'm about to flame Pavo Traytra and all of his stupid, too-tan-faced Core-Wordler friends, I'd say yes." Freya stood from the bed and gently twisted at the waist the crack her back. "By the end of the day I should have precisely zero strikes on my record, and Pavo will be out of Academy for good."

Etta grinned. "Theres the old vindictive Freya I know and love." She gave Freya a mock fist across the chin. "Go get 'em kid."

Freya rolled her eyes and made to leave, when a wave notification bleeped from her datapad. She picked it up from the bed, hoping that it was her father, but felt her irritation build when she laid eyes on the sender.