CALEB
I pushed open the door to Room B1 — and froze.
My jaw dropped.
Two boys stood inside.
One had tousled blind curls and dimples. The other leaned against the bunk, arms crossed.
"Hey," the blonde one said with a grin. "I'm Elijah. This is Cesar. We're your new roommates."
"Oh, I didn't know…" Any words I had to say died in my throat as both of them inched towards me.
They were both so tall, my neck almost snapped back from the angle.
Elijah stretched an open palm to me. "Your name?"
I blinked. "What?"
"You do have a name, don't you?" Cesar said with an odd accent.
My face turned red from embarrassment and I nod shyly.
Get your shit together, Caleb.
"I'm Caleb," I said taking his hand in a firm shake then moved my left hand to Elijah's. "Caleb Ferrars. Nice to meet you."
When they both pulled away, Cesar narrowed his eyes. "You're the human student that got attacked, right?"
My blood froze.
"Leave him alone, Tsar. He's been through enough," Elijah said with a yawn. "I'm hungry. Wanna grab some lunch, Cub."
What?
"I figured since we're roommates now, we should at least have nicknames for each other," Elijah says and Cesar nods in agreement. "Cesar's is Tsar. Mine is Eli and Cub is for short for Caleb."
"But I'm not a young Lion." I protest.
"What about Cubby?" They said in unison.
Jesus Christ.
Did they put them up to this?
"Sure," I palmed my forehead. "I can live with that."
"So wanna grab lunch?" Eli asked again.
"No. I'll do that later. Still lot of work to cover." I gestured to my bagpack and they made an O with their mouth.
"Okay then." They made way to the door.
"You need anything? Soda? Water? Whatever humans like?" Eli asked, half-joking.
Now that he mentioned it, I hadn't even checked out the school café. But going there now would mean enduring stares and whispers. I can't stomach that or my food.
"Nah. I'm good. Thanks though." I said.
"Sure."
Cesar was almost out the door when I called out. Before I could ask anything, they answered like they'd read my mind.
"I'm a Fae short for Fairy," Eli says.
"I'm a Merman." Cesar said.
"Oh cool. I'm … not sure what I am but I'm human. For now." I said.
"It's all good."
"See ya, Cub."
The door closed behind them and I slumped my shoulder.
Phew
That was a close one.
I turned around and finally took in the room. Yep — definitely meant for three. The spacious layout gave it away.
Coral stones lined the walls, glowing softly in the daylight. Three beds, each sectioned off by makeshift walls made of… who even knows what. The center bed had green aesthetics — bedcovers, drawers, pillows, all matching. The one on the right was blue. Definently Cesar's. Mine was on the left with red and white decorations that clashed so bad it looked like whoever dressed the bed got into a fight mid-task over which colour to go with.
There were three separate wardrobes too — green, blue and red. Smart, I guess. It'll help with sorting stuff. I wish my old boarding school was this organized. Back then, I had to but new bedsheets every month until Mom finally said I should go back to being a day student. That wasn't fun either.
I sighed and walked to my side of the room,. collapsing on the bed.
"What a day."
I sat up to take off my shoes when my phone pinged.
Oh, right. I forgot to mention — despite the whole picturesque fantasy vibe of Aethoria, they still used phones and Wi-Fi. At least, recently. I heard Damian negotiated the tech merge with the human world two weeks ago.
Damian.
I winced at the memory of what happened in the clinic. No. Whatever Damian was, "Saviour" wasn't part of it. If anything, he wanted me dead.
Firefly, my ass.
My phone pinged again. I checked it.
A Silvergram DM.
I'd install the app last week and barely touched it. But what I saw made me nearly run for the hills.
From zero followers to 1,000 overnight.
What the heck?
I'd been tagged in a post. I opened it.
It was a picture of me in the library. Captioned : "He doesn't know it, but everytime he smiles, I fall in love all over again."
My cheeks burned. Who was this person?
Their handle : Secretsnap23.
And from what I could see on their profile… they lived up to the name.
Nothing in the bio except : "Lover of nature and music."
And over 500k followers.
Jesus Christ.
They're popular.
I scrolled to the post — just 30 minutes old — with over 5,000 likes and 2,000 comments.
Were they in the library with me? Why would this person take my phot and write that?
"He doesn't know it, but everytime he smiles, I fall in love all over again."
Could it be… Dominic?
But no.
The sideprofile of Secretsnap23 didn't match his. Dominic had sharp jawlines and striking features. This guy… was different — softer jaw, long black hair flowing to his neck. Eyes so green, I nearly drowned just staring at them. Even from the side, he was… beautiful.
Men aren't supposed to be beautiful but he was.
I remembered the DM and opened it.
Secretsnap23: I'm sorry I tagged you without telling you first. You looked so beautiful I couldn't help myself.
I blushed. "What?"
Secretsnap23: That came out wrong. I'm sorry.
Secretsnap23: Do you want to hang out?
The message was sent 4 minutes ago.
Do I ignore it? Respond? My fingers froze. What if we became friends and he turned out to be another James?
What if —
Secretsnap23: I'm sorry if I startled you. I just… miss you.
My mind blanked. I had to reply.
Me: Miss me?
He read it but didn't reply. Now, I felt even more uncomfortable.
Me: Who are you?
Just then, a soft click came from my window.
I rushed over and looked outside.
No Secretsnap23.
Instead, a tiny onyx box, carved with delicate patterns, sat neatly on the windowsill.
My phone pinged again.
Secretsnap23: Open it.
I took the box inside and lifted the lid with shaky hands.
Inside was a single ruby, wrapped with a sleek black ribbon. The red gemstone shimmered against the black.
Beneath it was a note, folded once. No name. No greeting. Just a single line in unfamiliar handwriting:
"Smile again, love. You don't know what it does to me."
The note smelled faintly of citrus and sandalwood.
It was him.
My phone pinged. It was another message from Secretsnap23.
Secretsnap23: Do you like the gift?
Me: I don't know what to say… Thank you.
Secretsnap23: It's alright, love
Me: Who are you? Why are you doing this?
Secretsnap23: I'm sorry I can't tell you what my name is but it's certainly not Dominic.
Me: You're not Dominic?
Secretsnap23: No. I don't know who that is but I don't like being called a name that isn't mine.
Me: so what do you call you then? Secretsnap23 is kind of a mouthful.
Secretsnap23: it's not.
Me: *sends eyeroll emoji* whatever.
Secretsnap23: Have you had lunch today?
Me: Not hungry.
Suddenly, I heard a light tap on the window. Again.
I looked up.
A tiny Fairy hovered outside, barely managing to carry a brown package that looked twice her size.
I opened the window and helped her in. "Oh my — are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just sign here." She whipped out a brown parchment and an inked feather.
"Okay…" I set the package aside and signed.
"Thanks. Enjoy your meal. And don't forget to leave a review!" She zipped away before I could ask her anything.
My phone pinged again.
Secretsnap23: It's beef burger and soda. I had it smuggled from the human world. You like it?
My heart fluttered.
How did he know those were my favourites?
I opened the package. The smell hit me and I nearly cried. Burgers.
Me: I love it. Thank you.
Secretsnap23: If you need more, just say the word.
Me: How do I ever repay you?
Secretsnap23: Let me in tonight. I want to hold you in my arms again.
Me: But I have roommates. They'll notice
Secretsnap23: They won't. I promise.
Me: okay. Say… 10pm?
Secretsnap23: Brilliant. I'll be there.
Me: I'll leave my window open… I assume you know I live in a dorm now, right?
Secretsnap23: Dorm Gloria. Room B1.
Me: Now, it's giving stalker vibes.
Secretsnap23: *sends laughing emoji* It's called watching, love.
And suddenly, I wanted to hear him call me love out loud.
Me: 10 o'clock then… I'll be waiting.
Secretsnap23: See you later, love.
I left the chat box and checked my followers again. Now at 1.5k. The post? 7k likes.
This isn't so bad.
Is it?