Nevertheless, as a zen master, Lily had a great plan for managing her active lifestyle, and her secret was avidly ignoring it all until it could no longer be avoided. It worked wonders. She hadn't even looked at her YouTube channel in weeks.
Sometimes, though, life threw those unavoidable curveballs, like a full moon, or an advisor who locked the scheduling until they could meet with a student who was maybe delinquent on a few fees here and there. Lily happened to be on her way home from one such curveball, a hand limply holding a series of papers dotted in black and red ink. She considered the stately oak outside of her apartment as a way to relieve the low feeling in her stomach, but decided against it, feeling a bit proud for beating out her instincts. She was rewarded with a beautiful stranger outside her doorstep, a letter in hand.
"Um." She paused, looking the fanciful outfit down and up before running a hand over her face. "I...think the LARPers live in South Wing?" Normally she would have been all about making some clever quip, but she'd used all of her wits at the financial aid office and she needed a nap. But the youth was unphased, and only extended a hand to her, showing her own name in crisp, curled handwriting.
"Well s**t, the LARPer is me," she said with a befuddled stare, palming the letter with a free hand. She inspected the calligraphy for a moment before looking up to ask if she was getting punked, only to find an empty hallway. It was about then that she caught the whiff of burning that made the back of her mouth run dry. Otherworld stuff.
Her first response was to slink inside and drop the letter on her desk unopened, the top of a sturdy pile of transcripts and credit card offers and medical bills that had also remained sealed. Her mat was still on the floor from the last time she'd used it, and like clockwork she folded herself over to stretch, releasing the burdens of the day thusfar by reaching for her toes. She went from one form to the next, flowing slowly but intently as she felt for the way her body stretched and compressed. But even as she went to inversions, she couldn't get the horrible acrid smell out of her nose, the feeling of smoke in her lungs. When she started a headstand and stumbled, Lily placed her head on her hands as she shifted into child's pose, doing her best just to breathe.
She didn't want to, but she had to open the letter. Without even looking, she reached up to the surface of her desk, imagining heat as she felt for the smooth card stock among standard envelopes. She dragged it down to seated, letting a shower of loose papers fall in her wake, but took no effort in cleaning the mess as she tore the wax seal and began to read.
"Court of the...no," she murmured to herself, but she knew better than to try and refuse an invitation to the otherworld. It's not as if she had any real control over when she crossed in and out of it, and she'd already been pulled there at someone else's whim at least once. Whether or not she liked it, she was going, and it even looked like it was on her to bring a +1, because of course she was. It wasn't like her dating prospects had tanked since she's become half a furry and indirectly mauled a much of innocent people.
Sighing, she pulled out her phone and began to thumb through her contacts. Nasir would understand, but he had Wil and it would be weird to drag the two of them even deeper into this than they'd already been. Everyone in the pack had people they were going steady with (even if Jamie and that blonde kid didn't know it yet), and most of her classmates had been at Blackfriar's. Falco had been understandably off the radar, she was still unsure if she could call Zac 'dude' or not, and if she asked Temperance she was pretty sure the girl's head might actually explode.
She paused as she hovered over an older number, a tutor who had been friendly enough. Nathaniel? Yeah. She bit her lip, considering if he had seemed weird enough to already be in the know, but after a moment's thought she sprawled out and began to type.
To Mathstar
hey so remember how neither of us got to go to prom
If he was as smart as he seemed, he wouldn't bite. In all honesty, Lily wasn't sure which outcome she preferred.
kuropeco
for mention
