Zodiac Academy

24. Our People

  Still no response from the Zodiacs after a full twenty-four hours of our return. I was starting to get restless and bored. The only person who could keep me company was Jaxson. Everybody else had classes. Even Char went to some of his classes.

  For the millionth time today, I bounced a ball off the ceiling of Char's dorm. It was Jaxson's second home of sorts and Char allowed us to hang here when we got bored of my room.

  His room was painted a dark navy, he had multiple bookshelves filled with books, and posters of metal and rock bands covering the walls. His bed was shoved into the corner and was decorated with more navy blue sheets and a bright blue pillow. Everything was dark in his room except for a few book covers and the pillow.

  It was cool if I was being honest. Jaxson had long ago picked up a Spanish book and started flipping through its pages. He was halfway through the book when I finally decided if I tossed this ball one more time I was going to break my hand.

  I slid next to him and leaned in. "Teach me the language," I said.

  He leaned away from me, pausing his reading to glance at me. "That's against your sign."

  I rolled my eyes. "Okay, smarty. I'm bored out of my mind. Just read it to me then."

  "He has English books in here somewhere. Go find one." He looked back at the book.

  "I don't feel like it."

  "I don't care."

  I groaned the entire way to a bookshelf and as I searched for a title I could actually read. I know it was childish. However, I didn't care.

  Finding the English section, I stopped groaning. Finding an interesting book was going to be the annoying part. Sometimes titles could be deceiving. I searched the entire shelf for an interesting one.

  None of them were making themselves known. All the interesting ones were hiding. Probably on another bookshelf entirely. And I was not going to sit here and shuffle through fifty books just to be rewarded with a meager storybook.

  "C'mon, Jaxson, let's do something. I'm bored."

  "I thought you were gonna read." He flipped a page and continued reading.

  "No," I whined, "I can't find anything good."

  "It's only three in the afternoon. How are you ever going to survive?"

  "Don't mock me."

  He sighed deeply. Scooting to the right, he tapped the now empty spot beside him. "Come over here. I'll read it to you."

  "From where you left off?" I asked. I practically skipped to his side and slid down beside him once again.

  Jaxson shook his head. "How could you suggest such a thing? A book as good as this deserves to be read more than once."

  "Geez, okay. Just start reading."

  He began to read aloud in Spanish. I pinched his shoulder and he laughed. "Alright, alright. I'll speak in your mundane native language."

  I huffed and he began from the beginning. The way he read was captivating. He was so animated, too. Every time it was a different person speaking he would change the pitch of his voice, when it described a noise he would make the effect, and whenever there was an emotional scene he played it perfectly.

  I watched him read aloud for a long time before my eyes started to get heavy. I rubbed my eyes and sat straighter. There was no way I was going to fall asleep. It was a very interesting book and Jaxson made it all that much better.