It seemed like he’d acclimated to life on the East Coast a lot better than I had—made friends, joined clubs, all that sort of stuff. Though I couldn’t help but wonder why he’d never had a girlfriend. With his creamed-coffee skin, his cheesy bright smile, curly dark locks, deep amber eyes, lithe physique, the faint accent (almost British) that made him sound more sophisticated than I knew he was—you’d think he could have found someone. Sadly, poor Vik was a bit of a coward around other girls. If only he were as brave with them as he was with me, he’d probably have someone by now. My own lack of attachment, on the other hand, was no mystery. There just wasn’t anyone that seemed to understand me here. Finding a friend in Bree had definitely been the exception, but don’t even get me started on the Portsmouth boys.

“Very good, thank you,” Vik answered Bree. “But listen, you won’t believe what my parents got for Miskatonic!”

Probably some old broken pottery or slabs of concrete or something, I thought. Vik was always geeking out about ancient artifacts and figurines and all that. I could understand why. His parents were archeology professors, and growing up Hindu probably made him really big on mythology. I couldn’t blame him too much for it.

“What’d they get?” inquired Bree nonchalantly as she ripped open a bag of chips.

“Well,” replied Vik excitedly, “it’s really famous. They say it’s cursed, even! My parents have been wanting to get ahold of it for decades.” He looked at me like he thought his next words would make my day. “It’s this creepy old book called the…” He paused dramatically. “Necronomicon!”

A book? Now that, I hadn’t expected. Vik knew how I loved books, especially old ones. When I usually thought of archeology and that stuff, I thought of pots and arrowheads and junk. But even if it were unreadable and ancient, a book was something I could get behind.

“What’s it about?” asked Bree.

“If it’s ancient,” I said reasonably, “he probably doesn’t know yet.”

“Actually, I do know,” Vik corrected. “They say it’s an eldritch tome of forbidden magic!”

Bree laughed. “Spooky stuff!”

“I know, I know!” said Vik. “Who knows, though? It’s so rare, maybe it does have some power.”

“There’s no such thing as magic, though,” said Bree, munching on a chip. “They’ve done studies. Still sounds fun, though.”

“I was thinking that later, after school…” Vik went on. Yet as he continued to talk, I found myself drifting off. The memory of the waves from my dream, crashing against the rocks. The memory of the majestic boy, gazing at me with royal, commanding eyes that shone with the emerald light of eternity. The sweet smell of saltwater in the moist air…

“You wanna do it, then?”