Chapter 6: Reveal

Natalie was, at least, good at bluster. She strode from the church, her unlocking completed, with a grin on her face, as if nothing had happened—as if she’d received a class she’d been expecting.

As if she didn’t have a cock between her legs.

Her friends—and a decent portion of Tinford—were there, waiting for her. The cheers came out, and Natalie was pressed in by a sea of congratulating bodies. The mood was infectious, piercing even through the strangeness of what she’d been through. For a second, Natalie pretended the farce wasn’t a farce; she let her unlocking be celebrated, as if nothing was amiss.

And really, it deserved celebration, didn’t it? Weird her circumstances might be, but she’d received a powerful class. One even The Bestower had said would be potent, and unique. Natalie didn’t know what to make of it all ... but it deserved celebration.

The following minutes passed in a blur. As the ultimate event of the night—and unlockings occurring at midnight, well past when decent folk had gone to bed—the festivities petered off.

It wasn’t more than a half-hour before Natalie had, rather than following her parents home, ended up with Jordan, in her bedroom. That didn’t draw any odd looks, from either her, Natalie’s parents, or anyone else. The two of them had been inseparable since they could string words together. Of course Natalie had ended up in Jordan’s room after her unlocking. Jordan had ended up in Natalie’s room, back when it’d been hers.

“So,” Jordan said, closing her door, and spinning on Natalie. “What happened? What is it?”

Natalie’s plastered-on facade melted. She stared, distraught, at her dark-haired best friend, not having a clue how to even broach the subject. Of course Jordan had seen through her. That, at least, Natalie had expected. She’d been getting odd looks from Jordan since she’d walked through the church’s double doors. Jordan had always been able to see right through her.

“I got a weird class.”

How else would she phrase it?

Jordan wasn’t surprised by the announcement. Because, obviously she’d known something was up, and what else, arriving from the church post-unlocking?

“Spill it.”

Natalie laughed, then rubbed her face.

“I don’t even know how.”

“Start anywhere. What, not a fighter type?”

“It’s, uh. A fighter type.” Then, broaching the least-strange part of her situation, she said, “Fighter-mage mix, looks like.”

Jordan’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah.” Then they furrowed back down. “That isn’t it?”

“Not remotely.”

“I’m waiting.”

“I seriously don’t know where to start.”

Jordan pulled Natalie to the bed, and they sat down. She gave Natalie a serious look. “Start anywhere. We’ll figure it out together. Promise.”

It was hard to explain, really, how the words struck Natalie. She couldn’t articulate why, but they hit her like a thunderbolt. Natalie had to force her gaze away from Jordan’s green eyes. Her heart slammed in her chest, all of a sudden, and it wasn’t even from the imminent conversation—and all the awkwardness, and strangeness, it would entail.

Natalie cleared her throat.

“It’s uh. It’s a sex class.”

The lack of grace was intentional. She’d grasped for a way to stop Jordan from staring at her with those intense, concerned eyes, and landed on the absurd sentence.