A familiar head of sakura-pink hair walked into the classroom. He placed his bag down near his desk. I went up to him and placed my book on top of his head. He looked up as I smiled and greeted him. “Morning.”
He nodded and greeted me the same.
I took the open book off my head while asking, “So Akio, how did it go yesterday?”
His back stiffened. He nervously ruffled his hair, clenching at his pink tufts. “Um, we made up.”
“Made up? Meaning, no more misunderstandings?”
He nodded with a forced smile.
“Did anything else happen?” I lifted one brow.
“Yea, he,” he gulped, “we slept toge-”
The book from my hand collapsed onto the floor. I leaned forward with wide eyes. “You guys did WHAT?”
Sen came up and greeted the two of us. “Hi, guys!”
Akio’s head darted towards Sen, but I was still staring at him. “Did he force you to do it? Isn’t that too sudden for two people who just started dating?”
Sen gasped. “Aki-chan is dating someone?!”
Akio frantically covered his mouth with his hands, vigorously shaking his head. “I’m not!” He furrowed my brows. “I don’t know what we are…”
My shock started to wane. I began to feel annoyed. “But you guys did it?” I crossed my arms, my eye involuntarily twitching. “I’m cursing that mosquito son of a–”
“We didn’t do it! We, um, spooned.”
Sen grinned. “With whom?”
Akio muttered. “Nikolas.”
The boy became wide-eyed.
Akio’s left hand clenched onto his right wrist. “If you see me differently now that’s fine, but I hope that doesn’t change our friendship.”
Sen shook his head, glaring at Akio as if he was hurt by his words. “What? Why would I? I’m surprised because I didn’t know Nikolas was your type.” He smirked.
My brows raised in surprise at Sen's reaction. It made me relieved somehow.
“That means you like tall, strong, silent men.” Sen gasped. “Does that mean you have a thing for blonde guys or maybe that doesn’t matter to you? Oh! Do you like men who-”
I put the palm of my hand on Sen’s face. “Please, calm yourself.” I fixed my glasses and shifted my attention again to Akio. “In that case, the two of you aren’t official?”
He looked down at his lap and shook his head.
“I think that’s fine,” said Sen with a smile. “You two like each other, right? Eventually, when the time is right, you can become official.” He crossed his pointer and middle fingers while giggling.
With the sound of the school bell prompting the start of the school day, everyone went to their assigned seats as our teacher entered the room to begin the lesson.
I can't believe Nikolas and Akio's relationship is progressing. I started to think to myself. Who am I to call Nikolas hopeless when I'm just as hopeless, or in comparison, worse…
As the lecture continued, I spontaneously formed a plan in my head. I subtly smirked to myself, playing all the possibilities, yet I knew how faulty that plan would be.
Monday (12/20/XX) 5:10PM
I stood beside my teammates as they all changed into their school uniforms. My teammates quickly put their clothes on and left the room.
Akio had to go somewhere so he left right before practice ended. I think he mentioned it was family-related. This meant only Ryunosuke and I were in the locker room.
Ryunosuke peered over his left shoulder as I was buttoning up my white shirt.
He asked, “Hey Sen, are you busy tomorrow after school?”
“No, why do you ask?” I grinned. “Are you asking me out on a date?” I giggled while covering my mouth.
Ryunosuke pulled his shirt over his head. “Well, I wanted to ask if you would be my date for a dance.”
I tilted his head. “Dance?”
“The Winter Solstice Ball.”
I gazed at Ryunosuke with a dumbfounded look.
Ryunosuke sighed and snapped his fingers. Out of thin air, he was in an entirely different attire. There he was, wearing a black wizard hat that matched his robe, its inner forest green fabric resembling his now emerald green eyes. He had a white long-sleeve collared shirt with a black vest embroidered in silver, fitted black dress pants, and shiny black dress shoes.
I gasped at the sudden change. It must've been a party trick. “How did you do that?!”
“I’m a wizard,” said Ryunosuke.
I laughed. “This dance is a costume party? It's weird to have a costume party in December.”
Ryunosuke lifted a brow and flicked his pointer finger up. Miraculously, my sports bag started to levitate.
My jaw dropped as a smirk grew on Ryunosuke's face.
Ryunosuke inched closer to me, gently putting his pointer finger under his chin. “Will you be my date to the ball?”
He held my chin with his right hand. No longer wearing his glasses, I could see directly in his eyes. Unable to break eye contact, I could see Ryunosuke's emerald diamond-shaped earrings sway in the corner of my eye as he pulled my face closer to his.
Something was warning me to run away, but my body wouldn't listen. I gulped in fear, hesitating to move. I frantically grabbed my sports bag and ran out of the locker room.
My legs moved on their own as I slapped my hand on my sweat-covered mouth.
-
I absentmindedly fondled my earring with my fingers, tracing the diamond shape of the gemstone, as the bustling and light chatter of the mansion filled the air. As I studied the crowds, my eyes began to hurt seeing how many couples were there. I let out a heavy sigh, regretting my tactics a few hours ago.
Suddenly, my eyes caught sight of a familiar shade of pink, transforming my solemn face into a delighted one.
“Good evening, Akio.”
“Nice seeing you here, Ryu.” Akio smiled.
I sipped a turquoise elixir from one of the glass cups that were placed on the table. “I didn’t know you were coming.” I smiled. “If I had known, I would’ve asked you to be my date.”
Nikolas gave me the coldest look and I chortled, amused by the vampire’s reaction. Nikolas is too easy to mess with.
Akio reached for the cup that was standing in front of him, but I stopped him by waving my extended hand. “Wait, don’t drink that,” I snapped my fingers, and suddenly the liquid inside the glass turned clear. “Now you may drink.”
He turned to Nikolas while gingerly drinking from the cup. “What was originally inside?”
“Mermaid juice,” I replied. “It’s not from actual mermaids, mermaids make it, but it’s poisonous for humans.”
Akio gulped. “Is there anything that I can eat here?”
Kazu nodded. “There’s chocolate snails, fingers in a blanket, chimera buns and dragon jam, and my favorite, roasted turtle and owl!”
His head slowly turned to me, his eyes pleading for help.
“There’s also roasted chicken,” I tucked a stray bang into my hair, “and I can conjure some rice for you if you want.”
Akio grinned and grabbed onto my hand with both of his. “You’re such a lifesaver.”
Once most of our meals were eaten, Nikolas asked if Akio wanted to slow dance. Students with their dates began dancing as they descended from their tables.
I watched in envy as the two floated gently down to the dance floor. I rested my left cheek on my left hand with my elbow on the table. I wondered how it would've been if Sen was here with me, how he would've looked in a tuxedo. I closed my eyes in disdain.
Sen probably thinks I'm a creep. I painfully thought to myself. I'm such a loser.
-
The moment I got back home, I couldn't think properly. I went straight to my room and lay down on my bed. I could feel my heart racing and a strange feeling in my stomach began to form.
“Ryunosuke is a wizard?” I said to myself.
The fact that he was a wizard didn't phase me much. I thought it was rather amazing. I must've been because he indirectly confessed to me and suddenly invaded my personal space. My fingers traced my chin as I remembered the way he held my face to his own.
I started to scream and hid my face in my pillow. Out of nowhere, I was reminded of Ryunosuke's scent. I lifted my face from my pillow and realized that Ryunosuke had slept in my bed multiple times WITH ME IN IT.
All of those times we slept together… It made me think about our sleepovers in a different light. I started to feverishly roll around on my bed.
“Curse you, Ryu. You're all that I can think about now…6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3eYUZGjU9
