Juliet stared at her laptop screen. Yes, it said what she thought it did. ReadyEyes808 went to her school. She could meet him if she wanted to. He had given away his personal information without the slightest worry, but the idea of meeting him in person was a little daunting for her.
She realized what she had said to ReadyEyes was fairly irresponsible. She spouted off that line about wanting to meet him while thinking she wouldn’t actually have to. Normally, when she chatted with people on the internet, they were from the other side of the world and a meeting would have been impossible.
What was she going to do?
She abruptly closed her laptop and went for a walk. At first, she was simply wandering, but eventually she found herself looping her way down to the Student Group office and heading toward the Occult’s Addict club room. It was only a coincidence that she happened to pass Safewalk on the way. Who was she kidding? It was four o’clock in the afternoon. There was no way Seth would be walking anyone until after dark, so no matter how sneaky she tried to be about it, there was no possibility of ‘accidentally’ running into him.
In actuality, she didn’t think the club room would be open either. That’s why she was surprised when she turned the corner and saw the door wide open.
She tip-toed up.
When she peeked around the corner, she saw Rylan, with his back to the door, leaning over the office computer looking at some pictures of crop circles.
Juliet smiled. That was one of the topics she said she was interested in. Was it possible that he was investigating it for her? Maybe. Maybe not. Whichever, the idea, no matter how unlikely, put Juliet in a good mood.
“Hiya!” she greeted pleasantly as she paused in the door frame.
Rylan wasn’t even surprised. “You have the stalking ability of a groundhog,” he said lazily without even turning around. “But you’re welcome to come in.”
Juliet found herself a place to sit in the cluttered office. “I had a good time last night at the observatory.”
“Really?” Rylan drawled, closing the open windows on his desktop and turning his attention toward Juliet.
“Was looking at the moon really that boring for you?” she asked.
He smiled and brushed his white bangs off his forehead. “Of course not. It’s just that Taylor and I have been in this club since our first year. The only new members we’ve got in all that time have been the witches and although they can do some pretty amazing tricks, they’re white witches, and that’s the boring part.”
“You prefer black magic?” Juliet asked coyly.
“I would prefer something interesting. Like you for instance.” As he said those last four words his eyes zeroed in on Juliet’s.
His intensity made Juliet jump. “I’m not anything special,” she said, blushing slightly and sweeping away his comment like he hadn’t made it. He was probably just joking anyway.
“We’ll see,” he said, taking a starship paperweight off the desk and balancing it on the back his fingers.
Just at that moment, Juliet got an idea. What if she asked Rylan about her problem with ReadyEyes?
“Hey Rylan,” she started. “Have you ever met someone you know on the internet in person?”
He arched one eyebrow curiously and then laughed. “No, but that’s not to say that I wouldn’t. It would depend.”
“Depend on what?”
“Depend on how I felt about them and what kind of connection we had. If it was a girl, I wouldn’t hesitate. I’d want to meet her immediately—no questions asked. If it was a guy... I don’t know why I would want to meet him, unless he was claiming to be a werewolf or something, and if that was the case, I’d invite the whole Occult’s Addict to meet him, too.”
“Ah, but I’m a girl.”
“So, you’re meeting a guy?”
Juliet nodded.
“Romantic? Ugh! Please tell me that you didn’t meet him in a singles chat room. If you did, I’ll have you banned from the club on charges of being insipid.”
“No,” Juliet countered, quick to dispel his fears. “I met him through my blog. He’s a regular visitor.”
“You have a blog?” Rylan asked inquisitively.
She smiled. “Yeah.”
“Can I have the address, so I can be a regular visitor, too?” he asked, opening his browser and waiting for her to tell him the address.
She told him and he quickly typed it in.
“Ah,” he said when the page finished loading. “This is adorable, and for your last entry you wrote about our meeting last night. That’s really good of you, but I see you haven’t written anything about Seth. Considering the level of your obsession, I half expected that you would have already uploaded the pictures I sold you last night. Instead, you haven’t mentioned his name, but you’ve put my name in three times. I’m honored.”
“I didn’t want to talk about Seth online,” she mumbled, wondering why in the hell she had given Rylan permission to look at her entry. When he asked her if he could look at it, she’d forgotten that she’d written anything at all about him and was only thinking about what his thoughts might be on the formatting. It hadn’t even occurred to her that he would actually read the stupid thing.
“Why not?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered blankly, clearly playing dumb. After meeting Seth last night while carrying her poster of him, she felt the remorse of a hopeful groupie. He was not going to fall in love with a girl who adored him by putting a poster of him on her wall, especially because he didn’t even know he was being photographed. That settled it. No more buying pictures of Seth from Rylan. No more ridiculous behavior. At least, that was what she told herself.
“Well? Wasn’t Seth as good up close up as he is on paper?” Rylan asked, rousing her from her thoughts.
She had to act like she didn’t care. She shrugged her shoulders and asked him if he liked her layout.
“It’s beaut,” he said, before he clicked on her comment bar and saw a comment posted by ReadyEyes.
It was one Juliet hadn’t even seen yet, because she had been so caught up in his email she hadn’t bothered to check to see if he had commented on her blog.
It read, “Your student group sounds fascinating. I wish I had the time to participate in something like that. It really fits the image I have of you. Make sure you write a detailed post about your next meeting. I would be really interested in hearing what crazy stuff you get up to.”
“Is it this guy, ReadyEyes808?” Rylan asked.
“Yep.”
“He sounds like a wanker. I wouldn’t bother meeting him if I were you.”
Then, to Juliet’s horror, Rylan clicked on his name and was directed to his blog. There was his post Step into the Confessional. Juliet wanted to close the window to stop Rylan from reading it, but she dared not wrestle the mouse out of his hand. Besides, if he loaded it once, he would be able to read it anytime he wanted, even if she stopped him from reading it in front of her. She paced around the room, smothering her urge to stop him. Maybe he’d change his mind about ReadyEyes being a wanker, but Rylan probably thought that everyone except himself was nothing.
When he was finished reading he turned to Juliet and said, “I’ve changed my mind.”
“Really?” she asked, totally shocked.
“Yes. I think you should invite this guy to come to the meeting on Friday. Do you think he’ll be able to come?”
“Yeah, probably. He told me he has classes here.”
“Really? Then you should definitely invite him. Like I said, it would be interesting to get some new blood in here and he sounds warped. He’d probably make a good boyfriend for Taylor, so make sure to invite him.”
“Wait, are you sure?”
“Yeah. Besides, we’ll watch your back and make sure nothing bad happens.”
“Okay,” Juliet nodded. She was a little bewildered, but what Rylan said made sense. Inviting ReadyEyes to the club activity was a perfect way for her to meet him for the first time.
“So, it’s almost five.” Rylan said. “Want to go out to supper with me?”
“A date?” Juliet asked, perking up a little bit.
“Not a date. Remember that Taylor and I are still playing our little game?”
“Oh right. No one knows whether the two of you are both female or both male.”
“Yeah, and I don’t want to blow my cover. Taylor’s still having a lot of fun laughing at everyone for not being able to figure out the truth.”
Juliet frowned. “Well, if you’re not a guy, then you’ve fooled me. Sometimes it even feels like you’re flirting with me.”
“I am flirting with you, but it’s up to you whether you want to flirt back... knowing what you know,” he said, meeting her eyes again in the most serious way.
In just one second, Juliet made her brain think of him as a woman instead of a man and it made her feel dizzy. “If you’re a girl, then you’ve got the whole ‘guy’ act down perfectly.”
“And if I’m a guy?”
“Then you shouldn’t play with my feelings for your amusement. Be honest about who you are,” she said, getting up and leaving the club room.
“Hey, what about dinner?” Rylan called after her.
“Some other time,” she said over her shoulder.
He got up and went to the door to talk to her. “Wait. What are you going to do instead?”
“I think I’ll see if I can instant message ReadyEyes. I’ll invite him to our meeting this Friday.”
“I’d rather you ate with me and put ReadyEyes on hold. Do you really like him that much?”
Juliet took a deep breath before she answered him. “Listen, I know that it really shouldn’t matter if you’re a girl or a guy in order for us to be friends, but I’m having a hard time reacting to you. I don’t want to put any pressure on you to reveal your true identity to me, but I’m…”
“Straight,” he answered for her, looking bored.
“Yeah.”
“Well, why did you have such a hard time saying it? It’s obvious, especially after the way you were chasing Seth last night.”
“Sorry,” Juliet flushed. “That’s a little embarrassing the next day. I’m just…”
Rylan waited patiently for her to finish.
“I just would feel a lot more comfortable if I knew whether or not you are what you seem to be.”
“Well, work hard. Maybe you’ll be the first one to figure it out,” he said smoothly before he grabbed his coat and switched off the clubroom lights. “See you later, Juliet.”
Juliet walked to the elevator with him and playfully smacked his shoulder with the flat of her hand. “Hey, don’t be in such a hurry to say ‘good-bye.’ We still have to take the elevator together.”
Rylan stepped into the elevator with a sigh and pressed the button to take them down. “Isn’t the fun almost too much?” he said sarcastically.
***
Even though Juliet said she was going to try to get ReadyEyes online, it took a lot of nerve to log into her account to invite him to chat with her. She agonized over it for most of the evening before she finally did it. In the end, the only reason she was able to press the ‘finish’ button was because she kept telling herself, “He won’t be online. He won’t be online. Even if his status says he is, he’s probably away from his keyboard.”
However, he wasn’t AFK, and he accepted her invitation.
“Hi,” Juliet typed hesitantly.
“Hi,” he replied immediately.
“This is going to take forever,” Juliet moaned. Then she got down to business typing to ReadyEyes what she had on her mind. “I was really intrigued when I got your email saying that you attend the UofA. I go there, too.”
It was a second before his answer came through. “Really? Do you still want to meet me?”
Juliet was a little reluctant to answer, but Rylan had said the whole Occult’s Addict would stand behind her. “Yes,” she typed. “My club is meeting this Friday in the Forestry’s greenhouse at midnight. Would you like to come?”
“I have to work,” was his response. “But give me a little time, and I might be able to find a replacement.”
“It’s okay. If you can’t make it to this meeting, you could come to the next one. My club is called the Occult’s Addict.” She posted the link to their web page. “You can look at the schedule on their site. I just joined, so I’m not listed as one of the members, but I’m very interested in it, so I can pretty much promise I’ll be at their meetings from now on.”
“I’ll be there. I already found someone to take my place.”
Juliet gawked. “That fast?” she typed.
“Yeah. I’m at work right now, so it was easy.”
“Should you really be playing around on the internet when you’re at work?”
“You make it sound so irresponsible,” he responded. “But it’s not. A couple of other guys are playing on the Playstation.”
“What kind of job do you have?”
“A very respectable one, I assure you.”
“It sure sounds like it.” She added a wink made out of a semicolon and a right bracket.
“Well, do you want to tell me your name, or do you want to leave it a secret until the last second?”
“Isn’t that more fun?”
“Then how will I know you?” he typed.
“Let me think…”
“...I’m waiting…”
“Okay, I’ll be wearing a green sweater.”
“I’ll see you then, but right now I’ve got to go. Got a call.”
Juliet’s mood went a little flat as his icon turned red. Juliet stayed online until she went to bed, but ReadyEyes didn’t sign in again. It was too bad, she thought, she wanted to get to know him better before they met.
After turning off the lights, she stretched out in bed and thought about Seth, Rylan and ReadyEyes. If things went well at the meeting on Friday, she’d get to meet ReadyEyes without much trouble, he’d leave before she did, Rylan wouldn’t cause any trouble and she’d get to call Seth for a walk at the end of the night.
***
Juliet didn’t see ReadyEyes online again before their meeting. He didn’t email her, he didn’t comment on her blog, and he didn’t make any new posts on his own, which Juliet thought was amazing considering how many girls posted on his blog to express their sympathy regarding his wretched state. Most of them sounded a lot like her. Was he planning to meet all of them? Yuck! She was starting to doubt the sanity of promising to meet him. If Rylan hadn’t offered her the safety of numbers, she would have backed out by now.
Even though ReadyEyes didn’t write anything in his blog, that didn’t stop Juliet from writing in hers. She wrote several entries. She posted a paper she wrote for one of her classes, posted one of her poems (inspired by the poster of Seth on her closet door, though she wouldn’t have wanted to admit it), and one where she ranted about the increasing anxiety she felt with midterms coming up.
Since she’d given Rylan her blog address, he became a regular visitor. Though he didn’t admit his name, his alias was Force_of_Destruction. At least, Juliet didn’t think it could be anyone else. For the post that housed her paper, he said what he expected her grade to be (he was only off by two percent when she got her paper back on Friday morning). For the poetry, he pointed out a spelling error and commented on how innocent she was.
His exact words were, “Poor child, still wishing to be a vampire’s victim. If only I had fangs to turn your throat to ribbons, then I’d have your heart, and the rest wouldn’t matter to you.”
Juliet was a little annoyed by his remark. It was true that she was fascinated by the dark majesty of a vampire, especially by the romance and mystery of that kind of relationship provided, but she didn’t often reflect upon the price that had to be paid. In short, she had never considered being murdered by a vampire, and when she did think of it, the idea seemed ridiculous. Instead, his cynicism only diminished her pleasure dreaming of a dark lover. It felt like Rylan had seen through her visions and wanted to point out the obvious evils she ignored with the power of her idealism. She hated him for bringing it up when she what she wanted wasn’t a fantasy. Seth was unattainable, but what was so wrong with dreaming about him?
Monster, she thought angrily before she typed her reply. “With that sense of humor, even if you had the sharpest canines in the world, my throat would still be out of your reach.”
She didn’t believe that Rylan could melt her heart after he had offended her, but when she complained about the course load and how much work she had to do, he was awfully sympathetic.
“I’m sorry, my dear,” he had written politely. “I know what you’re going through. We all go through it at this time of year. If you tell me what courses you’re taking, I might be able to help you. I think I wrote an essay like yours for a philosophy class I took. Please come by the clubroom and I’ll give you all the help you could possibly want. And if things still go wrong, I’ll cram you full of junk food and then I’ll let you admire my photo album (there’s something there I know you’ll be interested in).”
Then he signed it, “Your loving pal, 4ofD.”
Juliet wouldn’t normally have been touched, but she didn’t have anyone to turn to when it came to school work. His offer meant something because she knew he wasn’t bluffing. He really would help her. Besides, when was the last time anyone had paid that much attention to her? She couldn’t even remember.
***
Juliet slipped her green sweater over her head. It was an old sweater, but it was the one she promised ReadyEyes she would wear that night. As a matter of fact, it was her secret weapon. She looked fantastic in green because of her eyes, and the soft pond-water green of that sweater made it the most accenting piece of clothing she owned. It was short through the body with extremely long sleeves and a charming boat neck, but that wasn’t the most charming thing about it. It was fuzzy. When she paired it with a long bodied white tank top, the straps showed at the neck and the body of it covered her stomach, which was good, considering how cold it was.
After putting on her jeans and enough black mascara to make her eyelashes catch any man’s attention, she felt like she was ready to go. At ten to midnight she left her dorm room and headed toward the Forestry’s greenhouse. Once she was half-way there she realized that she should have called for Safewalk to escort her, but it was already too late.
“Next time,” she promised herself as she hurried, but she still felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner.
The Forestry’s greenhouse was an extension of the main building and it was actually closer to her dormitory than the science building. It only took her a few minutes to walk there.
Juliet approached the doors, peering speculatively through the glass.
“Wow,” she whispered appreciatively. “I didn’t know there was a place this beautiful on campus.”
Through the glass windows, she saw the interior of the greenhouse. There were cement walkways, glistening fountains, steady pools of water, exotic trees with foreign crimson blossoms. As she opened the doors and entered, she heard the chirping of birds. The members of the Occult’s Addict were already assembled in the center, and the witches were setting up dragonfly-shaped patio lights around the center of the room.
“This place is amazing,” Juliet breathed, as she stood in the middle of their arrangement.
“Yeah, it is. Haven’t you been here before? It’s one of the sights on campus. And look, there are fish in the fountains,” Taylor said.
Juliet saw the white and orange koi racing through the water.
“They’re just here during the cold season. They’ll be in the outside fountains this summer.”
“Hey,” Juliet said, looking around. “Where’s Rylan?”
“Oh, he’s somewhere. He’s probably pouting. He’s been in the foulest mood today. Something’s bugging him. But what about you?” Taylor asked, suddenly changing the topic. “I hear you invited a guy you met on the internet to the meeting? It’s good of you to incorporate your date with our club. We can always use more members, you know.” Heady excitement was lighting up Taylor’s eyes.
“Yeah, he should be here any second. Which reminds me,” Juliet said as she took off her coat. “I told him I’d be wearing a green sweater.”
“So, you don’t know what he looks like?”
“No. Is that bad?”
Taylor answered, but Juliet didn’t hear her because just then, the most astonishing thing happened. Seth Halkias, the director of Safewalk, the object of Juliet’s wildest and most passionate dreams, walked through the door.
Juliet’s heart felt like it took a plunge in the fountain behind her—the fountain of good fortune—and she didn’t even have to throw in a quarter.