How does he remember who I am? I just bumped into him on the way out. Dara tried not to panic.

But Jack just smiled down at her. Because of course he was taller than she was. “I was kinda worried about you, but the police were shooing everyone away, and since nobody was listed as being hurt during the…” He paused. “Giant robot rampage?”

“Um, yes, it was probably a giant robot. A rampaging giant robot!” Dara said, nodding her head rapidly. “Not magical.”

“Magic?”

Ooops. “Well, um, I heard some newspeople talking about it…”

“Yeah, they always go for the things that get the headlines.” Jack shrugged. “I mean, if you’ve got a choice between a robot, which we have, and magic, which doesn’t exist, what would you choose?”

“Oh, robot!” What exactly is a robot? Some kind of golem that doesn’t use magic? Dara had seen images on Millie’s TV, but she assumed those were fantasies. On the other hand, Jack was talking about it like he had seen them in reality. I need to spend more time studying here, but if Millie dragged me out, this wouldn't be happening! But now I can just say—

“So, who’s your boyfriend, Dara?”

“He’s not—This is Jack. We met when the robot was, ah, going berserk.”

“I heard that. Skeptic, eh?” Millie said. “So, why do you think it was a robot? Some kind of alien invasion?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “No, but the thing is, we’ve already got Big Dogs and other types of robots that can do acrobatics. So someone built a larger robot, and it went berserk.”

“And the superhero who stopped it?” Millie asked.

“Okay, you got me there. I mean, I could see some kind of public theater…” Jack paused. “Maybe they were setting it up and didn’t realize how serious things would get after Hancock Park? The robot goes crazy and, well, that’s all she wrote. The cops aren’t talking about it, because they’d be trying to track down all the manufacturers.”

Millie paused, then turned to Dara. “I like him.”

“Thank you,” Dara said, trying to keep the frost out of her voice. Now we can just go—

“So, you’re at CSUF?” Millie asked.

“Yeah—how’d you know?”

“My magical powers. Also, the employee parking space has one car in it with a CSUF parking permit.”

“Got me. I’m just starting my sophomore year.”

“What? That’s great! Dara here’s new to the state, and she’s starting her freshman year.”

Jack looked at her. “That’s great. I want to say, as an official student at CSUF, that things don’t explode around the school that often, nor do giant robots usually attack.”

“Oh, uh, yes, that’s good! That’s very good!” Dara smiled, but now she was blushing, and why was she blushing?!

“So, you’re hanging out here until school starts again?” Millie said. “I’d figure someone like you would be having fun, living the high life on a European vacay, or something like that.”

Jack blinked. “I’m working at a secondhand store, and you think I have money for European Vacations?”

“Isn’t that what student loans are for?”

Jack paused, stared at Millie, looked back at Dara. “Dara?”

“Yes?” Dara asked, wanting to sink through the floor.

“If you get student loans, don’t listen to her advice.”

“I won’t.” Dara nodded.

“Hey!” Millie said. “I had fun in school.”

Jack stared at the older woman. “Have you paid your loans off yet?”

Dara looked at Jack, then looked over at Millie, and raised one eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe listen to this guy for financial advice,” Millie said. She glanced at Dara, then back to Jack. “So, Jack, since school is getting closer, you wouldn’t know someone who could, I dunno, show a lost waif around the school tomorrow?”

“I don’t work tomorrow,” Jack said. “You haven’t been here long enough to see the school yet, have you?”

“Um, no!” Dara said. “I mean, I will see it when I start, but I haven’t had a chance to get started—“

“She doesn’t see the admissions people until next week,” Millie said. “So Dara, since Jack’s free, why don’t you go with him tomorrow?”

“I—” Dara fell silent. “What about the glasswork?”

“One day won’t kill you.” Millie smiled. “How about this? I have to finish up some paperwork of my own, and you can see Jack by the student union. That’s a great place to go!”

“Okay.” Jack nodded. “Is that okay with you?”

No! “Yes.” What am I going to say? This is like the Winter Festival all over again!

“Great! Well, we need to go on back, so see you tomorrow, Jack!”

“Right,” Jack said. “I’ll look forward to it, Dara.”

“Me as well!” Dara said, pasting a smile that she hoped didn’t look too fake on her face. The blush was normal. Everyone blushed. Perfectly normal.

Millie waited for the explosion, but Dara remained silent until they were out of the little plaza and walking down the street.

“You knew he was working there,” Dara said.

“Course I did. I talked to the owner. Granted, I didn’t know you’d met him during the fight, but I did ask if there was a nice guy who might be willing to show someone the sights working today.” Millie glanced over at Dara and raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. “You don’t think I’d set you up with some complete unknown? I mean, what if he was a slumming vampire? Or a robot from another dimension? Or a—“

“Why?” Dara said. “I have to go to school, I agree, but I don’t need a…”

“Someone closer to your age?” Millie shrugged. “Look, Kid, friends and acquaintances are one of the things in life that keep us from buying axes, painting them red, and freaking out other people by talking to them on the bus. You don’t have to marry him, hell, you don’t even have to hang around him if you truly don’t want to stick around, but is it such a terrible thing to give him a chance? To maybe not just stay in the house all the time?”

Dara kicked a little pebble down the sidewalk. “I don’t always do that well with people…”

“Oh? Why? Do you summon demons in your sleep?”

“What—no! Demons don’t exist, like I told you.” Dara sighed. “I just enjoy books. They make sense.”

“Books were written by people—at least here. Where you come from, I’d expect some of ‘em were written by dragons.”

Dara snorted. “No. But I mean, I don’t stay in the house all the time…”

“How many times have you asked to go out when we’re not going to see Sheila, Mike, or something spooky that wants to murder us?”

“None, but I—“

“How many times have you just come out of your room and sat on the couch and vegged?”

“I need to get to work!”

“You have been working. You almost blew up my house, remember?” Millie glanced over at Dara like she had once looked at Maria when Little Sis was over working.

Maybe one day, the pang from those memories would go away.

“That was a mistake.” Dara’s voice was sullen.

“And lemme guess, it was a mistake you made because you were getting impatient and worried and you were starting to spin around in circles thinking of all the things you could do.”

Dara looked up at Millie. “I—how did you know?”

“Because I’m older than you, and unlike you, I’ve had to cram for the Bar Exam.” Millie lowered her voice, forcing Dara to strain to hear her, a tactic she’d been taught back in law school. “Look, Kid, the thing is, you’re going as fast as you can. And I’m not upset about your little accident. But you keep going this way and you’ll make things worse. You’ll start missing things you wouldn’t, so you need to relax. And pragmatically, not looking like a strung-out junkie when you’re in college is also a good idea.”

“I…” Dara deflated. “But why a guide?”

“Because you can’t hang around me at school and you need to learn how to fit in. You can either do it with someone guiding you, or try to do it by yourself. Guess which one is more likely to work?”

Dara shouldered her pack of clothes and stared at the ground for a few moments. “Fine. But I’m not going to give up my work.”

“I don’t expect you to. In fact, if you get into a better headspace, I expect that you’ll do better than you’re doing right now. And who knows, maybe there’s something at the university that can help you.”

“Nobody knows magic here.”

“No, but we’re no slouches at science. Think about what Mike was able to do. Maybe there’s a way to find the gems with some kind of science gadget.”

Dara blinked. “Is science gadget a technical term?”

“Beats calling it the thing that goes beep, wouldn’t you agree?”

Dara giggled, some of the tension fading from her expression.

Good. That’s what we need, Millie thought.

“Now, since we are trying to save money, let’s go home and I will show you a mystery like you’ve never seen before.”

“What?”

“I will cook… with the stove!” Millie raised one hand to the sky. “And show you the mysteries of homemade pizza!”

Millie waited for Dara to say something. She was silent.

Finally, Millie looked down. Dara had her face in her hands.

“Something wrong?”

“Yes. People are staring,” Dara said, her voice faint.

“It’s good for them.” Millie grinned and took Dara by the arm. “So let’s get home and get some food in you. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

Dara just groaned.