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“Any time.”
I try to put what I think I learned last night out of my head. Alexei’s wearing a t-shirt again and I can almost convince myself that I imagined that scar.
I can’t be in this apartment anymore while I’m feeling like this. I put my coffee in a flask and tell Alexei I’m going to the library.
“Wait, shit, are you gonna be okay by yourself?”
“I’m fine.”
“I won’t be long.”
I call Alice and ask her to meet me, and if she can call Mischa and ask him to come over and watch Alexei for an hour.
She’s waiting for me at the campus coffee shop when I get there, sweaty and out of breath.
“What happened to you? You look like you just ran a marathon.”
“I need coffee.”
“You don’t really look like you need stimulants, if I’m honest, you look wired.”
I let her order me a lemon tea.
“What did Mischa say?”
“He’s going over to your place right now.”
“Good.” I nod.
She gives me that eyebrow. “Why couldn’t you sit with Alexei? Did you two have a row or something?”
“No. Not exactly.”
The barista brings my tea over and I make a huge point of stirring it while Alice watches, trying to figure out if I should tell her or not. I’m gonna go crazy if I don’t tell someone. I think I already am half way there. And there’s no one I trust more in the world than her.
“I think Alexei is Kelsier38.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I think Alexei, my roommate, is the guy I’ve been talking to online for the past year.”
She frowns. “How could that be? Did you sleep last night? You sound delirious.”
“No, not really, but that’s not it. I figured this out before I’d been awake all night.”
She puts her coffee down and leans back. “I don’t understand. How on earth could Alexei be this Kelsier guy?”
“I don’t know. And I know it sounds crazy, but, he has all the Mistborn books.”
Alice gives me that eyebrow again. “You do know Brandon Sanderson is a best-selling author?”
“And Stephen King!”
She doesn’t even humor that with an answer.
“And he has a scar exactly like Kelsier38’s, on his shoulder.”
“Okay, you should have led with that. What?”