When Josey arrived home, she pulled the book out. She cleaned off the cover and opened it close to the middle of the book. The page was on step 5, "A way to a man's heart is through his stomach". [This must be a joke. How can someone love you because you feed them good food?] The question was perplexing. They lived in a society where chefs made the main courses or meals were pre-made. "Maybe I should start from the beginning", she whispered to herself.
Before she knew it, the sun was coming up. She had stayed up reading and making plans with the information that she had gathered. Josey also ordered seven of the same fashioned hoodies, ranging from gray to black.
Once her bag was packed, she washed up and prepared for another irritatingly dreary day. Recently it felt like her parents were never anywhere to be found. They were gone to work by the time she woke up and came in while she was asleep. If they didn't leave little "I love you" and "make sure to eat dinner" notes around the house she would have thought they abandoned her.
[That's silly.]
Walking over the threshold felt like she was preparing to re-emerge into the world. But right now she was engulfed in darkness, still in the womb, steadying her body with Mother Fate's every movement. Being force fed the realities of this world against her will. Just like yesterday nothing changed on her walk, except that today her clothes matched the sky. Dark, grey, and unwavering.
[How disappointing.]
The monotonous events of her days in Nethersigh seemed to weigh heavily on her as soon as she stepped on campus.
[Cue Leon]
Three hours passed. Study time at the library started and ended as quickly as it began. They started packing their notes and other study materials. Collin was speaking to Leon about a gathering but Josey tuned them out and focused on her thoughts. The only light she saw in that tone deaf eighteen shades of grey world, was that one day she could see and speak to Cofer again. It's had only been five days and she felt more lost than ever.
"Josey! Are you still going to attend the tea party?" Collin asked with a little hope in his voice.
"Tea party?" She paused to contemplate his reaction to "Hell no." versus "Why not?".
"Sure...Why not? [Final answer] Josey looked back at him with a slightly mischievous grin.
"The tea party will be held in the garden behind the main building," Collin declared.
"Collin, are we all walking over there together?" Leon asked.
"Lizah asked that we do not enter the gardening area with Josey." Collin looked down at the ground and his words trailed off.
"No worries Collin. It does not bother me." She spoke curtly.
Promptly following the collecting of their work, they headed over to the garden. Collin and Leon entered the gardening area ahead of Josey as planned. The young nobles, Collin, and Leon gathered around tables of linen and fluffy cookies, laughing and seemingly getting along. She was definitely hesitant to walk into this den of fake facades and virtual knife wielding back stabbing snobs. While she sat in her trance, thinking about the mediocrity and utter cringe worthiness of this event, she heard her name being called through the glass window. Being snapped out of her thoughts, this was her queue to tread lightly into the world of nobles.
Entering into the garden, she felt like an exotic animal being put on display. Leon approached her first. She looked at him with a scowl on her face and said, "I thought she said 'Join ME for tea.' This is a whole damn party."
"Let's try to pull our punches, Josey." Leon whispered in dismay.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the Duchess and Princess approaching. Josey curtsied and lowered her head with respect.
"Thanks for joining us, in such an orderly fashion Josey. I hope you aren't offended." She stated. Obviously understanding that their request was offensive.
"No offense taken. I am glad to be a humble participant in this gathering." Josey stated in the most genuine tone she could muster.
"Is this the creature?" She heard a male noble ask upon entering their space.
"Why yes it is. This creature goes by Josey." Duchess Lizah giggled while explaining.
"Creature? So what would you be? Oh noble sire of pettifogging." Josey stated in a provoked manner.
"Your statement was made to belittle and discredit my existence. Was it not? Then feel free to stand by it. It is always great to understand ones standing amidst the absurd." she continued. The silence that had fallen over the crowd of nobles was deafening. Leon and Collin's mouths were draped open as if she had insulted the king himself.
“Wait. This isn't one of the king's sons,right?”, she thought to herself.
The young man burst into laughter. "Wow you are definitely different. You are the first to ever insult me. I can only assume you don't know who I am. How distasteful." He said with a smirk on his face.
"While I do not know who you are, I do not conform to your hierarchy of abuse. Therein lies the conundrum." she snidely remarked back.
"I like her." The young noble stated joyously.
"Josey this is the Crowned Prince of Lichter and the Grand Duke of Nethersigh, Prince Solvain Lichtand" Princess Crema quickly stated to reduce any further misunderstandings.
"Prince Solvain Lichtand, thank you for gracing me with your presence." she bowed and curtsied. [Moving on]
"I will leave first." Josey said and quickly turned to remove herself from their presence. As she walked towards the door, Leon caught up to her.
"Won't you stay Josey? I am sure everyone now understands not to be rude to you."
"You mean rude in my presence? I don't have the disposition to tread lightly today. Leon."
Before Leon could retort, Duchess Lizah came over. "Josey, you would dishonor my house by leaving the tea party early?"
[She did have a point. Not only will I have to answer regarding my words to the Grand Duke but also make amends for a social faux pas. How bothersome.]
"I do apologize Duchess. I will gather my constitution and join the others." she started to get angst.
Leon guided her towards Collin and his group of friends. She could see that they were already worried about looking friendly with her.
"Leon let's just get some drinks." Josey said prior to reaching ears distance from the group.
"Sure."
They walked over to the punch bowl, a butler served them drinks. "Leon, why do you think they invited me here? I am obviously not welcomed."
"This may be their attempt at getting to know you. I know Princess Crema wanted to know more about you. While the Duchess probably thought you would be an easy target." Leon explained.
"How charming...." she sarcastically stated.
"So Josey what are you studying?" Princess Crema asked while requesting a drink. [I didn't even notice her behind us. I wonder how much she overheard.]
"I am working on my PHD in inter-dimensional analytics." Josey stated.
"Phd? But you look so young. May I ask how old you are?" the Princess asked confused.
"I am 20. I started at the university when I was 13." Josey proudly stated. Many of the other nobles heard her statement and came over to ask questions. Princess Crema seemed most interested in her early university years.
After the 65th question, she could no longer pull together a smile to appease her newly found fan base. Most of the nobles at the garden party were in their late 20's, so they were highly amused to be in the company of a genius.
---
“It's been almost 6 days since I last touched or spoke to Josey. I wonder if she has been as lonely without me as I've been without her?" Cofer thought aloud while walking to his favorite coffee vending machine in the main building. [Josey has changed.] Cofer had caught sight of her on campus yesterday. She was dressed in all black. Even though those weren't her usual colors, she still looked as beautiful as ever. He couldn't help but stare. “I guess I stared for so long and intensely that Josey felt me.” Cofer thought to himself.
[She felt me.]
Cofer finally arrived at the main building. The main building was filled with muffled laughter and classical music. [I wonder what is going on?] Upon entering the cafe, he saw his beloved standing with some nobles in the garden courtyard. [Josey?] She wasn't laughing or crying. She was just existing. [Beautiful] Cofer stared out the window at the student nobles and wondered how she ended up with such a crowd. For some reason, seeing her bring happiness to these random nobles made his chest hurt. With that deep sadness, he turned from the window and continued his journey to the coffee machine. "Good for her," he whispered.