The Glass Knight

The cafeteria milled with movement, people rushing to eat before class or drain a cup of coffee to fuel them through the day. Pip lingered near the end of the line, holding her tray in both hands, a cup of orange juice jiggling as she tapped her foot impatiently against the floor.

She needed a date for her double date with Vivainne and Harper. If she didn't get one, she'd end up needing to go with Florence, and he'd never let her live it down.

It shouldn't have been hard. She was a smoking hot badass. The problem was, so was everyone else.

A tray bumped gently against her own, shaking her glass but not enough to tip it over. Nick looked at her with amusement, nose scrunched as she grinned. "Lost?" she asked.

"No," Pip said, shaking her head. She'd braided her hair this morning, something that was easier said than done, into two mildly lopsided french braids. Not having her hair bouncing around her was odd. "Just… looking for something."

"Viv's over there," Nick said, pointing. Pip followed her finger, though she already knew exactly where Viv was. It was hard not to notice her, sitting straight backed on the hard cafeteria bench, long hair cascading down her nearly to her hips. Harper sat across from her, smiling widely.

"No," Pip said quickly, looking away. Why had Nick assumed that's who she was looking for? "Can I sit with you?"

Nick blinked slowly before nodding. "Sure." She shrugged and led the way through the room, finding a free seat at the end of one of the longer tables and sitting down. Nick waved to the group at the other end, and Pip followed suit. She recognized everyone's face but couldn't have told anyone their names.

I need to do better getting to know people, Pip realized before turning her attention back to Nick. She'd avoided the girl for a bit, despite initially getting along with her. It was silly, a grudge she'd held for too long, against someone who wasn't Nick. Then she'd just gotten busy. It was hard to keep up with people sometimes.

"Who's group did you end up joining for Friday's practical?" Pip asked, setting her glass of juice to the side so it wasn't in the way while she enjoyed the pile of french toast and fresh fruit.

"Joined Thomas's," she said with a shrug. "Raesha, Georgia, Remi, and me."

Pip stared at her, trying to put names to faces, but she only knew exactly two of those people. Who were the others?

Nick sighed, shaking her head.

"What?"

"You're bad with people, you know," Nick said, looking back up at her through long eyelashes. "We've been here almost three months, and how many people do you know?"

"More than I did in high school?"

Nick chuckled and went back to her food, skewering grapes quietly. Pip had never seen anyone eat grapes with a fork. It was odd.

"I had a question," Pip blurted out, the words escaping before she had a chance to think about them. In the time it took Nick to look up at her, moving surprisingly slow for a speedster, Pip had a chance to give them a mild once over. Maybe it was a bad idea, but not that bad. And Nick was cute, though she was way shorter than Pip normally liked, being the same height as her.

"Yes?"

"Would you go on a date with me? More specifically, a double date. Viv and Harper are going out, and they wanted to do a double date with me, so I need a date." She winced as she finished speaking. That wasn't exactly the smoothest date pitch she could have managed.

"A double date with… Wait, Harper and Viv are going out?"

Pip nodded. "Yup."

"Huh," Nick said, the sound heavy with implications Pip purposefully ignored. She wasn't one for subtext anyway. The main text was hard enough to read. "And you want me to go with you?"

"If you'd like?"

Nick rolled her eyes. "You could at least flirt with me some first."

"Your face is cute?"

She chuckled. "That's terrible."

"I'm better at fighting."

"Is that so?"

"Most definitely," Pip said. "We still need our rematch, by the way."

"Think you can do better this time?"

A grin stretched across Pip's face as she met Nick's eyes. "Probably not."

"All right," Nick said, rolling her eyes. "I'll go out with you. And give you your rematch. When is this date anyway?"

"Tonight."

"Uh, way to give a girl some warning," Nick said. "What time? And where? And what are you going to be wearing?"

Pip shared the details, then listened as Nick told her that her outfit idea was terrible and she'd swing by after class to make sure Pip picked out something acceptable. By the time they both finished eating, Pip was reasonably certain she'd been entirely out classed, though she wasn't upset about it.

Leaving the cafeteria, she swung by Vivainne, who slowed down as Harper walked ahead.

"Found a date," Pip declared, brushing up against Viv's arm. She never managed to wear anything Pip thought was appropriate for hero training except when they had their combat classes, and today was no different. It was silly, in her opinion, but at the same time, it just made sense.

"Oh yeah?" Vivainne asked, hardly looking her way. "Who is it?"

"Nick."

"Nick?" Vivainne's face remained blank even as confusion entered her voice, turning to glance quickly around the room. Her gaze landed on the small speedster before recognition flashed. "Oh, she was at your party. I'm glad you found someone."

"Yeah. I was worried I'd have to take Florence."

A single bark of clear laughter escaped Vivainne's thin lips, painted with a light layer of something shimmery. When the light caught on them, Pip couldn't look away, not until Vivainne looked down at her. She had to glance down, unable to stare into her dark eyes without showing something on her own face. "What a terrible idea."

"I know, right? I think I'd die of embarrassment."

"I'm pretty sure he'd laugh you out of the room before you even finished asking."

The rest of the school day passed in a blur. Power training, where Pip spent most of her time focused on training her ability to summon and telekinetically control pieces of glass. She would have rather focused on improving her armor for the upcoming trial, but that could come later. Her armor was, for the most part, entirely functional, even if she still wasn't happy with it.

Nick met her as the class finished, forcing Pip to take her back to her apartment.

"Which one is yours?" Nick asked as she stepped into the apartment, tracking her shoes across the floor. Deciding not to say anything, Pip took off her own and led the way to her bedroom door. She fumbled with the doorknob as Nick approached, giving her an amused look as she squeezed past.

"What is it, Pip?" Nick teased. "Never had a girl in your bedroom before?"

"No," Pip protested, closing the door behind her as Vivainne stepped into the apartment. She caught a glimpse from the taller girl as the door shut, stomach squirming.

I have to get over this, Pip thought, the feeling not going away. She's going out with Harper. That's that.

"Really?" Nick asked. The mattress squeaked, and Pip turned around to find Nick sitting on her bed, staring at Pip with a shit eating grin. "Never?"

"No, I mean, I have," Pip sputtered.

"Are you lying?"

"No," Pip said, more firmly this time. "I have. I thought you were supposed to be finding an outfit for me, not laying on my bed?"

"A girl can dream," Nick muttered, crawling off the bed. She made her way over to the closet, small compared to what Pip was used to, and threw it open as Pip turned on the overhead light.

Pip's suggestions for an outfit were promptly thrown out as Nick dug through the closet, pulling out clothes she couldn't even remember packing. Probably Mai's doing, if she had to guess, though she couldn't be certain.

"Ooh," Nick cooed, pulling out a colorful, patched dress that made Pip's stomach twist. "This is pretty."

"Not that one," she rushed to say.

"Why not?"

"Just… not that one."

With a hum, Nick set the dress to the side and continued to pull out outfits. Finally, she picked out a purple dress that Grandma Thalia had bought at some point, and Pip finally gave a nod of approval. That worked.

"This too," Nick said, grabbing some sort of thin, almost see-through cardigan. Small, white flowers patterned the sheer fabric. "It goes well with the purple."

"All right," Pip agreed reluctantly. What were cardigans even for?

"I'm going to go get dressed," Nick said, standing and brushing off her knees. "Unless you want me to stick around…" She winked as Pip's face went pink, then laughed, the laughter following her to the door and out of the apartment. In the silence that followed, Pip dressed, slow to move as she put on the dress and undid her braids, leaving her hair in waves that fell past her shoulders.

A knock sounded at the door, barely a knock at all.

Pip opened the door to find Vivainne on the other side, shoulders hunched in a soft, off white dress.

"Can you help me zip this?" she asked, turning to the side.

Pip swallowed the sensation of hunger in her belly and nodded. "Sure!"

Vivainne turned, pulling her hair to the side to reveal the small of her back, skin pale as the moon, specked with tiny, dark freckles. Pip brushed one with her thumb.

Vivainne sucked in a sharp breath. "Pip?"

"Sorry," Pip said, grabbing the zipper. She eased it up slowly, the dress pulling tight around Vivainne's narrow frame. It clung to her hips and chest as she finished zipping it up, allowing Vivainne to turn back around.

"It's tighter than I remember," she said, running a hand across the front of the dress, where the neckline scooped all the way to the top of her cleavage, supported firmly in the form fitting dress.

Pip had to pull her eyes away. "Probably all the muscle you're putting on. I didn't think you were a dress person."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Oh, I'm not," Viv said. "But, Darcy loves shopping and took me before I came out here, and insisted I get at least one dress. For graduation, at least."

"I'm pretty sure we're in our supersuits for graduation."

"Yeah, she knows this," Vivainne said with a shake of her head. "Are you ready? Are you… leaving your hair like that?"

Pip swatted at the piece of fluffy pink hair that had fallen into her face. "Why? Something wrong with it?"

"It's just… everywhere," Viv said, shaking her head. "Let me fix it."

She grabbed Pip's hand before she had a chance to protest, dragging her into the bathroom. She placed her in front of the mirror with nowhere to look away, and grabbed a hairband.

A shiver ran down Pip's spine as Vivainne's fingers ran through her hair, picking at small knots and smoothing them out. After a few moments, skin tingling more and more with each touch, Vivainne began to work Pip's hair into small, matching buns, leaving her hair down in the back.

"There," Vivainne said, stepping back with a satisfied smile. "That's better."

Pip breathed, for the first time since Vivainne touched her. God, had she been breathing? "Thanks," she managed, meeting Vivainne's eyes in the mirror. The intensity that met her kept her rooting in place, struggling to speak. "We should get going now," she finally managed.

"Oh, yes." Vivainne broke eye contact, pulling back sharply and all but running out of the bathroom. Pip stared after her, wishing she could ask her to come back, to keep staring at her like that. But she couldn't. And maybe she was just seeing things.

Nick and Harper were waiting for them when they reached the lobby, Harper in a pair of velvet, green pants and a dark button up, Nick in a short, flouncy dress that went well with Pip's own. Nick did have a good eye for fashion, apparently.

"Oooh." Nick's eyes went wide. "I like the hair. Very… hipster."

Pip frowned. "Hipster. Are you trying to insult me?"

Nick stuck out her tongue.

"You look amazing," Harper said, reaching out for Vivainne's hand. Pip couldn't help staring as Vivainne slowly gave over her hand, the memory of those fingers in hers too strong to shake.

God. I'm fucking pathetic.

Nick must have sensed it too, because she poked Pip in the side just then. "Stop staring," she hissed. "You look like you want to eat her."

"Do not," Pip protested. "And I'm not staring. I'm waiting."

"Sure."

"I hope you like the place I picked," Harper said, turning to them. "Florence recommended it."

"I swear, Florence could be a walking guide to this city," Pip said with a shake of her head. "I don't know how he has the time."

Harper shrugged. "Money, I guess?"

Pip shrugged. If she had to guess, her family was just as well off as Florence's, and she didn't know her own city nearly as well as Florence knew this one. But her mother was a bit of a homebody, and Athena was always busy, not to mention having so many siblings never made it easy to go anywhere. Just going out to eat was a whole ordeal, and Mum's food always tasted better.

They walked to the restaurant, a decision Pip regretted as sweat dripped down her legs in the late autumn heat and her thighs began to chafe.

The restaurant certainly didn't look like a restaurant as they entered, the main floor a cutesy grocery style store. Before she had a chance to question it, however, Harper led them to an elevator with one of those grate style doors, and up they climbed. All the way to the roof, where they stepped out into the sunlight and a small rooftop patio filled with glass tables and decorative wire chairs.

"This is cute," Nick remarked, glancing around.

A host met them, wearing a white suit that had to be terrible in this heat, and greeted them before leading them to the waiting table. He removed the little placecard marking it as theirs, left them with some menus, and retreated.

Harper pulled out a seat for Vivainne, taking the seat across from her. Nick darted around the table and took the seat beside Harper before Pip had a chance, forcing her to slide into the seat beside Vivainne.

She shifted her hair to the side, trying to put some space between Vivainne and herself, where it felt like her skin was burning at her very presence. As if she was sitting here with Florence's radiating heat, and not just Vivainne's ethereal beauty.

"I feel like I should have brought sunscreen," Viv remarked, glancing up at the sky.

"Oh," Harper said, following her gaze and frowning. "I didn't think of that."

"Here," Pip said, shrugged out of the sheer cardigan. "Put this on." She held out the cardigan, balled up in one hand, and gave Viv a small grin. "I don't really get cardigans anyway."

"Thank you," Viv said, accepting the cardigan. She pulled it on, the flowers matching the embroidered ones on her white dress. Across the table, Harper frowned, and Pip quickly grabbed the menu.

I should never have agreed to this, she thought, struggling to get her eyes to focus on the words. Just her luck, they were written in cursive. Why did the universe hate her? Why did restaurants hate dyslexic people?

"I was told we have to order the sweet potato salad," Harper said, opening her own menu. "Florence recommended it."

"Florence?" Pip wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I've ever seen him eat a vegetable."

"No, that's not true," Vivainne said, eyes glinting. "There were peppers and onions on the pizza we ordered last time."

"Oh, and avocado in the sushi rolls," Pip said, snapping her fingers. "You're right, my bad. He only eats vegetables if he can't avoid them."

Viv giggled, and Pip laughed alongside her, shoulders shaking.

"I'm pretty sure he eats vegetables," Harper muttered. "This artichoke pasta looks good."

Pip glanced down at the menu again, frowning. "I can't read this thing, so I'm fine with whatever," she said, letting it fall to the table.

"You can't read it?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Dyslexia," Pip explained. "Cursive especially is a pain."

"Oh, I forgot," Viv said, leaning over. "I can help."

She quietly read off the menu as Harper glared, staring at Pip as though she wanted to bite her head off. Pip swallowed and kept her head down. She couldn't exactly tell Vivainne not to, not without making everything awkward. More awkward, that was.

The server came and went, taking their order and the menus with them. Without anything else to do, Pip drummed her fingers against the tabletop, the glass thrumming quietly beneath her.

"So," Nick began, drawing the word out. "How did you two meet?"

Pip glanced to Vivainne, then at Harper. Which of them was she referring to?

"I got invited to Pip's eighteenth birthday party," Viv said, glancing at her. "Then her grandma decided I had to come along on her trip to New York to see the program location, so I tagged along. That's when we became friends, I guess."

"Not that you made it easy," Pip remarked. "You hated me the first time we met."

"And you thought I was a delinquent."

"I mean, weren't you, though? By technicality, at least."

"Technicalities don't count," Vivainne said.

"Why would you think that?" Harper asked, shaking her head.

"Because I was doing Unity ordered community service at the time," Viv admitted, ducking her head. "I did something stupid. What I don't understand is how you never got it." She fired the last comment back at Pip.

"And why would I get community service?"

"Illegal super fights?"

"You make it sound like I was beating people up," Pip said, shaking her head. "I was just beating up people's summons. That's not illegal. Only the betting is, and I wasn't doing any betting. I'm smarter than that."

"Still," Viv said, twisting to talk to her easier. "I don't think it's fair."

"I did get grounded," Pip admitted. "And then my mum made me join this school group for supers. The Losers—that was their official club name, by the way—needed so much help you could definitely count that as community service."

"Wow," Nick said, the word dry. "I guess I'm pretty boring then."

"Me too," Harper said. "I cared too much about getting into the program to do anything so stupid."

"Like I said," Pip began sharply. "I wasn't doing anything illegal. I never threatened my spot in the program."

"Not that you could," Harper said. "With your family, did you even need to apply?"

"Yes, I did. Took forever for them to give me my acceptance letter too." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back, glaring at the girl. Why did she have to be so hostile? It wasn't like Harper was making any effort to talk to Viv.

"The whole application process was different from what I expected," Nick said, fingers drumming a consistent rhythm against the table. "I half thought I'd have to find some secret hero base or fight my way through a tournament or something. What made you decide to join the program?"

Pip shrugged, not sure who the question was directed at. "I always knew I'd be a hero."

"I knew I wanted to be a hero when I got rescued by one when I was young," Harper said, the words stiff.

The food came before anyone had a chance to say more, the table falling into tense, awkward silence.

"Florence was right," Viv said, covering her mouth as she finished chewing. "This is really good."

Pip glanced at her plate. "Can I try?"

"Sure."

Pip finished the bite on her fork before stabbing it into Vivainne's salad, trying to get a little bit of everything.

"That is good," Pip said, mouth full.

"Maybe after this we can go and try out the bakery down the street," Harper suggested. "It's this little french place."

"Oh, is it Bonjour Bakery?" Viv asked, looking up. Harper gave a slight, reluctant nod as a grin stretched across Viv's face. "That place is nice. We went there a few days ago."

"It was good," Pip agreed after a moment. "There's this pastry that's like a croissant with chocolate in the middle?"

"Pain un chocolate?" Vivainne said, her accent smooth and distinct.

"Do you speak French?" Pip asked, looking at her sideways. "And why didn't I know this?"

Vivainne shrugged, pink coloring her cheeks. "A bit. I went to a French daycare as a child. My mom is French and she wanted me to learn some of the language. I don't really remember it though."

"I didn't realize your mom was French," Pip said. Vivainne's mom was a sensitive topic, but this seemed fairly mundane. "Did she not talk French around the house?"

"No."

"Huh. Weird. Mum would always speak Mandarin around the house, especially when we were all little."

"That's gotta be handy for talking when you don't want people understanding your meaning, provided there aren't other Mandarin-speakers around," Nick said.

"Oh yeah. Let Mum tell us to stop acting like fools with a smile on her face," Pip said with a grin. "And then I'm Greek too, though Mom never spoke Greek around the house. Honestly, I'm not sure if anyone in my family knows how to speak Greek."

"Well, you could always learn it," Vivainne suggested.

"I don't know, I was awful with Spanish in school," Pip said. "Too many things to try and keep straight. I can barely keep English straight in my brain, I don't think I need to add anymore languages to the mix."

"Well, if you've already visited the bakery, I can find another place," Harper said forcefully. "I wish we were a bit closer to where I grew up. There was this Jewish bakery I'd always go to after school."

"Maybe," Vivainned said, not looking up at her. "I think we have training after this, though? Preparing for the test?"

"Yeah," Pip agreed, nodding when Viv glanced at her. "I booked the room the other day. Can't let it go to waste."

"Sure." Harper stabbed her fork into the salad in front of her, so hard it slammed against the bottom of the bowl. "We'll go some other time."

"That might be nice," Vivainne said noncommittally. "Oh, Pip, do you remember where your grandparents get their ice cream from? I was thinking about it the other night."

"Thinking about their ice cream?"

"It was pretty good ice cream," Vivainne said.

"I have no idea," Pip admitted. "But I can ask. Though, if I ask, Grandpa Grant is going to insist on us coming over to eat dinner with them."

"That wouldn't be too bad."

"Okay, I'll ask them," Pip said.

Nick pushed back from the table abruptly. "I need the bathroom. Pip, help me find it."

"Help you find the bathroom?" Nick grabbed her arm as she asked the question, dragging her out of the chair and toward the elevator they'd ridden up here.

"I'm pretty sure there's one on the bottom floor," Pip said, stumbling into the elevator behind the girl who was just an inch or two smaller than she was. The door shut behind them, beginning the slow trek down to the bottom floor.

"I don't actually need to go to the bathroom," Nick said, rolling her eyes. "I just needed to talk to you."

"About what?" Pip asked, frowning.

"About this date," Nick said. She crossed her arms over her chest. "If I was actually invested in being here with you, I'd be really upset right now."

"Upset, why?" Pip asked.

"One, you've pretty much ignored me this entire date. And also Harper. And Vivainne has ignored Harper. You can see how that's a problem, right?"

"I—"

"I don't really know what's going on here, but it's painful, and you really should figure this whole thing out," Nick said, waving a hand. The elevator dinged as they reached the bottom, doors sliding open. She punched the up button before they could open all the way.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me," Nick said. "Although, I'm never going on a date with you again."

A laugh escaped Pip's lips. "That bad, huh?"

Nick nodded emphatically. "You're a pretty bad date, Pip."

She let out a deep sigh. "That seems to be the consensus."

The doors opened back onto the rooftop, and Pip came face to face with Harper. Something in her dark eyes flashed before she stepped around Pip, barging into the elevator as Pip stepped out.

"Need to go train," she muttered. Nick shot her a look before stepping back into the elevator.

"I'll head back over with you."

The elevator door closed, leaving Pip alone on the roof. Alone until she spotted Vivainne standing by the table, shouldering her purse.

Pip darted over, feeling eyes stare as she ran across the rooftop. Well, they could stare, even if this was none of their business.

"Harper left?" she asked, dreading Vivainne's response. Would she be upset? Angry at Pip?

Vivainne shrugged. "Paid and said she had to go. What about Nick?"

"Went with her," Pip said.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Pip said with a shrug. "Pretty sure she was just here for the food anyway."

Vivainne let out a small chuckle. "Fair enough, I guess. Do you want your cardigan back?"

She reached to pull it off, and Pip quickly stopped her. "No, keep it. It looks better on you anyway."

A blush crept across Vivainne's cheeks as she met Pip's gaze. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry your date was bad."

"It's not your fault," she said. "You were the only good thing about it. Want to head back?"

"Maybe we can stop at that bakery on the way?"

The smile that lit across Vivainne's had butterflies filling Pip's stomach. "That's a great idea."