Something Ike Wouldn't Want Overheard

With History of the Magisterial Court over for the day, I leave the place to get back to my real work. Or maybe have fun. Or a drink. So much I really should do, but nothing I need to, necessarily. I’m only about six steps out past the classroom door before Ter comes up beside me. “Isaac,” she says, “I think we ought to talk.”

I look over at her. I can tell, this isn’t one of those optional conversations from the slightest hint of a true seriousness to her normal blankly stern face. “What’s up, Ter?” I ask, partially just to annoy her.

“Walk with me a moment,” she replies. That tells me everything I need to know. She’s serious about this talk, whatever it is going to be about. And what it is about will be something I don’t want people to overhear. There’s a couple of those it could be, I suppose. A couple weeks ago, I did ask her for help sorting out some things with a few friends in the Midwest.

“Sure,” I reply, “Anywhere in particular, or just not here? Cause I think I could use a break.”

“From?” she asks. She knows what I mean, she’s just being cruel asking.

“Life? Existence? Whatever else goes with it?” I offer up some suggestions. The slightest hint of a smile flashes across her face, telling me my joke hit. Not well, mind you, but it hit.

“That can be arranged,” she replies with that same hint of a smile, pulling out her phone. She starts texting someone. Not sure who but, curious as I might be, I know better than look over her shoulder and sneak a peek. That’s the sort of move that gets one an upset blank stare, which I’m sure also goes along with never being able to get ahead in life in general.

“Meanwhile, how’s conquering the known world going?” I joke. Well, half-joke. Like one of those jokes that is really probably kinda true.

She looks up at me from her phone. “Fine,” she replies, entirely seriously, then adds on half-jokingly as well, “Easier than the unknown one.”

If it were anyone else, I’d assume they were simply making a play on words from my known world. But this is Ter. And that means she probably figured out what that favor was actually for. “Fine, I’ll shut up for the moment,” I reply.

She goes back to her phone, and we descend out to the quad. Ali and Nat are walking and talking out from Kon, heading towards the dorms. “Ike,” Ali asks, pulling Nat over to me and Ter. Not ideal, probably. There are only one or two of those things I wouldn’t want shared with the general public that I’d be alright with even my best friends knowing. “What’s up?”

“Hey yourselves. Nothing much here, just getting out of class. You?” I ask to be polite. After all, Ter is still doing work on her phone. She must be writing a novel on that thing.

“Same, basically,” Ali replies, “Hey, we got a couple things we ought to do, but then we were going to hang. You in?”

“Might be a bit busy, how long you think it’ll last?” I answer honestly. Even without a conversation with Ter on the docket, I’ve always got a lot I need to do.

Ali shrugs. “Starting in like ten, fifteen, and lasting however long we feel like going before we sleep.”

“Actually, I’ve got a thing for the next half hour, so it’ll be like forty-five minutes before I’m there,” Nat adds.

I nod and smile. “I’ll try my best to be there.”

At this point, Ter finally finishes whatever she was arranging. “Done.” Then, seeing the pair talking with me, nods to each. “Alina. Natalya.”

“Therese,” Nat replies politely.

“You ought to be going along, right?” Ter says. So she knows whatever Nat’s thing is.

Ali asks, “So, you want to hang, keep me company a bit while Nat’s off doing something mysterious?”

Ter looks at me, curious how I’ll respond. Probably. Or just bored. I can’t quite tell those two apart, they’re both so common and often come across her face around the same time. “Sorry,” I say, “Nat’s not the only one with mysterious things.”

Nat chuckles at that, as does Ali. The intended effect. A pleasant way of saying I’m busy. “Well, then, see you this evening sometime,” Ali says as she heads for her dorm.

Nat nods to Ter. “Don’t kill him, please. He’s occasionally useful.”

Ter looks at Nat, the slightest hint of a smirk on her face. I can see it, and so can Nat. Strange, I don’t remember her being this good at speaking Ter-face, but whatever. Ter then jokingly adds, “I will try. I promise nothing.” I laugh, as does Nat. Nat then hurries off to do her mysterious deeds.

Ter then looks at me. “Follow, we’ve a walk ahead of us.”

“I’m sure,” I say, thinking on where we might be headed. I mean, I’m trying to escape everything. Where would Ter take me to do that? Where does she have friends which can also serve as an escape. As we walk and I think, I realize that the only places I know Ter frequents are places I do as well, or at least did. The whole rest of her life is a big question mark. I really need to get better at figuring stuff like this out, if I want to do as Ter joked and conquer the unknown world. Our walk heads through town, towards the edge of town on this side of Betty Hill. The strip mall. I hope she doesn’t expect me to go shopping with her as an escape. Besides, that’s hardly private. That’s where the Walmart is, so the Magister Apprentices, and Magisters for that matter, frequent the strip mall a lot.

As we cross onto the lot, I finally ask. Or, well, blurt out, “You do know this place isn’t private. I mean, of course you know because you’re you, but you know, right?”

She looks over at me, a little hint of that I’mma take your soul out from your body to it. “Yes,” she says. The implication, of course, is informing me never to imply she didn’t know what she’s doing again. Then, as though to counteract her previous statement of knowledge, she heads in the direction of the theater. It’s the only theater in town. Sure, today is a weekday and nothing’s opening, but no doubt people are going to be there. That said, in spite of my incredulity, I don’t want to incur her wrath, so I keep my mouth shut. We head around to the back, to an employee entrance. Some guy nods to Ter. “Therese,” he says.

“It all ready?” Ter asks the man. His name tag says ‘Ray’. A dumb name.

This Ray nods and opens the employee door for us. “First one on your left,” he informs me. Ter smiles a bit more than usual, likes she’s putting a face on, and shakes his hand. Weird. “I’ll be right into the booth,” he says, putting his hands into his pockets as he leans on the door to keep it open for us.

I lead Ter to an empty, dark theater. The door has a sign on it, saying the projection booth is malfunctioning, and the showtimes are moved. I open the door and head in. Ter follows. I sit us down in the middle of the seats. “So, who the hell was that?” I ask.

“Not the topic of today,” she replies. So he’s a friend of hers, or a secret she holds. Or both.

“Fair enough. So is it just the darkness, or are we going to get something showing?” I say, not sure which one I’d prefer.

“Darkness. A diversion must hold some truth to withstand the pressure of reality,” she answers honestly, also giving me good advice, which is weird.

“Is this about Chicago?” I want to know exactly how much she knows, and what she’s getting on about here.

She shakes her head, the movement of which I can make out in the darkness better than her facial expressions. “The advice, likely. The conversation, no.”

“What do I owe you for that advice?” I press. She only gives advice when it suits her.

She cocks her head a tad. “Honesty, in the conversation,” she answers. So it’s going to be one of those talks.

“Only if you agree this, whatever it is, stays between us,” I shoot right back.

Her head uncocks. “What do you think Ray ensured?” she muses.

I shake my head. “I don’t mean now. I mean for as long as whatever we’re talking about is relevant.”

“Fair enough. To paraphrase myself, they wouldn’t be secrets if I talked about them,” she replies. I think she’s mostly joking on that last bit, but it’s much harder to tell without the light. I wonder if that’s part of her intent, having this chat here. When I remain quiet just a bit longer than natural, she adds in, “I simply want to understand so I can plan accordingly. No one else need be involved.”

“Alright, what’s this about?”

Ter leans back. “What do you think?” she says, definitely joking. Then, she answers me and I understand the joke, and all the rest of it, much better. “Sierra.”

“Oh. That conversation,” I say, leaning on my opposite chair arm.

“Yes, though likely not the one you think,” she responds.

I can’t help but smirk a little bit. “So you’re not going to tell me that I’m making a mistake or that it’s all terrible, or that I’m hopeless or whatever?”

Ter shrugs. I can tell she’s doing her little hint of a smirk, even though I can’t make it out. It’s in her voice as she says, “You seem to already know all that.” She sighs and adds, “Besides, I am not you. Your poor choices are between you and her. Nothing to do with me.”

“Then why ask about it?”

She turns in her chair as much as they allow, facing partially towards me, at least. “I already told you.”

To plan accordingly. Whatever she’s planning probably doesn’t involve me, not any more than it did before. Meaning it’s something to do with Sierra. I wonder what that is. Shaking my head, I reply, “I agreed to honesty, what do you want to know?”

Ter nods. “Let’s start with the easiest for you to answer, and the hardest. When it started, by all indications and accounts it was something of an addiction, on both parts.” I nod along. I never told her that, but she’s Ter. Also she was there on the night it started. Of course she knows. “Is it still?”

“What?” I ask, baffled by the question.

She repeats herself. “Is it still only a sort of addiction?”

She’s right when she says she was starting with the hardest question. I mean, how am I supposed to answer that. It’s not like I really understand what’s happening here. I try to answer her, “I… It’s like, well… You know how… Ugh, work brain.”

Ter bails me out. She’s been staring at me as I think. “I see. Interesting,” she says. The conversation continues, discussing as best I could her feelings, and the future, and what I want out of the world in that respect, and how she’s been acting. Everything about my strange relationship with the perfection incarnate that is Sierra. Past, present and future. It’s an hour long conversation.

As we wrap it up, she gets a text. I check my phone as well. There’s a message from Bertie. Might be important, but it probably isn’t. Things are mostly sorted at the moment, aren’t they? Ter shakes her head at her phone. “Sorry to cut this short, but I think I have enough of an understanding. And I need to check in on someone.” She stands up to leave.

“Sure thing,” I say, about to open the email.

She looks at me, seeing what my mind is thinking about, in spite of the darkness. “Enjoy your evening with Alina, Jason, and Natalya. And whoever else they end up bringing on their adventure. Remember, you can’t live only in the future.” She walks out.

I spend another minute sitting in that seat, staring at the unopened email on my phone. Finally, I make a decision. Bertie can wait until tomorrow. I text Ali, ‘Where are you guys at now?’