Chapter 5 If You Are Dead I'm Killing You

Leona barely had the door shut before the air in the dorm apartment was sucked out by the sheer force of Maya and Sarah’s indignation. They were standing in the living room like a two-woman welcoming committee for a fugitive.

"Oh, look! She lives!" Sarah cried, throwing her hands up. "Where were you? We left fifty messages, Leona! Fifty! You couldn't answer one time just to say, 'Hey guys, I’m alive and haven't been kidnapped by a cult'?"

Maya was leaning against the kitchen counter, her arms crossed. "We were ten minutes away from calling the precinct, Leo. We were going to draw up flyers. I had the whole 'Have you seen this bookworm?' planned out."

Leona stood there, the morning sun hitting her messy braids and grass-stained sundress, and the blush didn't just creep—it exploded. It started at her collarbone and raced up her neck until her entire face was a bright, guilty shade of peony pink.

"I... I was busy," she managed to squeak out, reaching up to try and smooth a particularly wild stray hair.

"Busy?" Maya’s eyebrows shot into her hairline. She walked over, circling Leona like a shark. "You're wearing the same dress. Your braids look like they’ve survived a hurricane. And you have that... that look."

"What look?" Leona asked, though she already knew.

"The 'I just spent the night somewhere i shouldn't have' look," Sarah teased, joining the circle. "Details. Now. We want the full report, and don't you dare skip to the end."

Realizing there was no escape, Leona slumped onto the couch and gave them the "light smut" version of the night's events. She told them about the shots of Jack, the "hot zone" crawl into the elevator, and the way the world just felt blurry and perfect.

"And then," Leona said, hiding her face in a sofa cushion, "I might have... at some point... called him Superman."

The apartment went silent for exactly one second before Sarah and Maya erupted into hysterical shrieks of laughter.

"Superman?!" Sarah wheezed, clutching her stomach. "Leona, the man was wearing an Iron Man shirt! You broke the cardinal rule of nerd-dom!"

"I know! His roommate Ben was literally mourning the death of continuity in the kitchen this morning," Leona groaned into the cushion. "He poured out his coffee in protest. I think I single-handedly ruined his life."

"Forget Ben," Maya said, grinning as she nudged Leona’s shoulder. "Was the 'Man of Steel' worth the hangover?"

Leona looked up, her blush softening into a small, private smile as she thought about the coffee date at four.

"Yeah," she whispered. "He definitely was."The room went deathly silent for exactly one heartbeat before Maya and Sarah let out a sound that was somewhere between a cheer and a tea kettle whistle.

"Oh my god," Maya gasped, her jaw practically hitting the carpet. "Leona Graham, did you just—out loud? With your actual mouth?"

Leona felt the heat flare up again, but this time, there was a defiant little spark in her eyes. She leaned against the doorframe, a stray damp curl from her shower sticking to her cheek.

"I’m just saying," she said, her voice dropping into a slightly more confident tone. "He was definitely worth the hangover. And between the 'superhuman' hands and the moves... let’s just say the pilot knows exactly what he’s doing. I was breathless more than once last night. And then again this morning."

Sarah actually fell off the arm of the chair. "This morning?! You mean after Ben’s coffee-pouring protest? Leo, you’re a legend! We assumed you were sleeping one off somewhere."

"I told you," Maya said, pointing a finger at Leona while looking at Sarah. "I told you she had it in her. The quiet ones are always the most dangerous. One night out and she’s already out-performing the rest of campus."

"He called it a 'mission,'" Leona added, a wicked little smile playing on her lips as she remembered the feel of his hands on her waist. "And I’d say the mission was a highly successful, multi-stage operation."

"Stop, stop, my heart can't take it!" Sarah shrieked, fanning herself with a magazine. "Go! Get out of here! Go meet your Man of Steel before we die of secondhand blushing. But if you come back tonight with a 'Part Three' report, you're buying the pizza."

Leona laughed, grabbing her purse and her phone—still stubbornly displaying the Superman "S" thanks to her roommates' meddling. She took one last look in the mirror, checked her lopsided, glowing reflection, and headed out the door.