Eon Highschool Series

Eon Highschool, a renowned prep school where only the elite and rich can attend. It had everything teens could imagine, clubs for basically anything you could think up, high end sports teams, study abroad programs, great lunches, and interesting classes. It’s said to be better than even the highest ranked colleges, or that’s how the story goes anyway. It’s these rumors that convinced the current school president to transfer from her public school three towns over, despite it being her senior year and she knew literally no one when she arrived. She’d received the role of president due to her grades, attendance, and activities in clubs, even so the school year had started off a bit shaky for her and everyone else however now that the students had all adjusted to things withing the highschool seemed to settle, and she was beginning to see that these rumors about the school were a lie.
Sighing, she pulled down on her uniform skirt wishing it was a bit longer, or that they were permitted to wear leggings underneath the mini skirt. She had never been one to show off much skin, but she had to admit that the uniforms were cute. There were even rumors of some girls coming to Eon for the uniforms alone, this idea only seemed silly to the school Pres. There was much more to look at before choosing a school than the uniform, you had to consider your future over the present.
The loud roar of a familiar engine snapped her back into reality. Her warm brown eyes followed a red mustang as it pulled into the parking lot. She rolled her eyes, wondering why boys felt the need to do such a thing. In her mind a car was a car, no need to show off. The mustang parked along the school’s sidewalk and almost immediately after a boy with dark brown hair stepped out of the driver’s side adjusting his headband. “Naro you know you can’t park there.” She shot him a cold glare and pushed her long chocolate hair over her shoulders; silently counting down from ten. “It was an emergency!” Naro protested raising his hands in the air. “...One.” She counted out-loud through an irritated sigh. As if on cue another teenage boy with onyx hair pushed open the passenger door and doubled over on the sidewalk- car sick.
“Kios don’t barf on the sidewalk!” The president yelled sprinting over to him, briefly  pausing before she made any threats, after all it wasn’t his fault he had motion sickness. “Are you alright?” Her voice had softened by the time she'd reached him and she sounded a little concerned as she lightly placed a hand on his shoulder. Before she could even react she was suddenly being pulled into a tight embrace. “Much better now Danyell.” She didn’t have to look- Danyell could feel his smirk. Kios was the type of guy to do whatever would benefit him, and he didn’t feel the need to address anyone in a way that made them sound above him, making him one of the only people who addressed her using her first name.
A younger girl quietly approached the two taking advantage of Danyell’s shock to snap a picture on her bulky flash camera, meanwhile two freshman girls gasped and whispered to each other. “Do you see that Lila?” Rouge asked in surprise to her petite friend with short purple hair, Lila. The bright flash pulled the Pres from her daze and she immediately tried shoving Kios off. “ISKIOS LET GO OF ME THIS INSTANT!” She ordered with a glare, but the boy calmly ignored her. “Naro pay up!” He called out while finally releasing Danyell. Naro winced turning back around, obviously trying to slip away. “What?! That’s not fair! She didn’t even hug you back!” He protested, covering his back pocket. “Well you didn’t hug Grace at all so you have no right to complain.” Kios retorted, and before anyone could stop them Kios tackled Naro and the two began to wrestle on the sidewalk over Naro’s wallet.
Danyell watched the two blankly then turned to the squealing blonde beside her. “Grace delete the stupid picture, you heard Kios it was just a bet.” She sighed, rubbing her temples. Grace was one of her best friends, but she tended to go a bit overboard- especially when it came to her ships. “What?! Why?! It’ll get great reviews on the blog I promise!” Grace whined hiding the camera behind her back, her bright blue eyes and quivering lip could easily compete with any child’s puppy dog face. Danyell rolled her eyes for the millionth time that day. She was not Kios; therefore she was not going to fight Grace for the stupid picture. “All the more reason to delete it.” She crossed her arms, but a smile curved at the counter of her lips. She could never stay mad at Grace for long; she had been her first friend at the school. Grace beamed realizing her lead in the predicament. “Come on, Danyell! You know I’ll keep it anyway.”  
“Whatever. Just go get your boyfriend off Kios.” She grumbled while turning to walk away. Grace was too happy about keeping her picture to argue with Danyell about the match between Kios and Naro, currently Kios had Naro pinned and was secretly pulling a twenty out of Naro’s wallet. “He’s not my boyfriend!” Grace called after her with a slight blush painted across her cheeks before running over to the boys trying to separate them, though she didn’t have much luck. Danyell turned back with a bright laugh, revealing the small dimples that appeared on the rare occasion she truly smiled. “Sure- I’m going to write a OneShot about the two of you to get you back for the stupid Kios x Danyell Fan blog. I'll call it~ Together." Grace ignored the comment while Danyell continued to have a laugh.
Danyell suddenly felt a light tap on her shoulder and a kind voice silenced her laughter. “Excuse me Pres, but you dropped this.” Turning her head Danyell’s chestnut colored orbs rested on the school’s quarterback, Saron. In his hands was a silver heart shaped locket with a painted red rose on the outside; her mother’s locket. “Thank you so much…” Danyell’s voice was softer than usual and full of sincerity. She carefully took the locket into her own hands and bowed deeply with gratitude, but when she looked up- he was gone. “Where?” Danyell didn’t finish her sentence as she scanned the surrounding area.
***

One moment Saron was talking to Danyell, and the next he was getting dragged away with a bag over his head. Although his first thought was to panic and fight back, he realized it was probably just a prank. “Very funny guys, now knock it off.” He ordered figuring it was Daniel, Ryuu, or one of the other members of the football team. However the person did not release him until opening a door, shoving him into a small space, and slamming it shut. “They did not just-!” He finally had a moment to pull off the bag to see that they did indeed just shove him into a locker. “Come on!” He yelled banging on the flimsy metal door.
On the other side of the locker door Jove smirked as he looked along the halls, it seems no one had seen him. “Good… No one messes with my OTP.” He mumbled evilly as he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and strolled away leaving Saron stranded in the broken locker.
Saron heard a voice on the other side but couldn’t make out what it was saying. “Please?” He groaned, but Jove was already gone. Saron leaned against the locker door in frustration. What had he done? After a few moments the door suddenly opened causing Saron to fall onto the floor. “Another one?” Saron looked up to see a Senior girl he barely recognized, Derek. “So the delinquent strikes again, eh? Maybe next time Jove will pick someone else's locker.” Derek extended a hand, helping him up. Jove? Saron was sure it had been the football team. After all what had he ever done to upset Jove? “Thank you.” Saron murmured as he stood up, brushing himself off and running a hand through his messy white hair. “How did someone like Jove ever become Vice President to begin with?” He asked Derek, who shrugged in reply. It was a mystery.
***

Grace had been trying her best to separate Kios and Naro, but she was afraid if she got too close she’d get pulled into it. “Come on you two…” She pleaded while taking another step towards them. “You’re both taking this a bit too far…” She was about to give up when the answer to her prayers appeared. “What are they doing?” A third boy with raven hair asked with a sigh while motioning to the two wrestling boys. “Sehun!” Kios jumped up with a smile running over to greet his friend. “So you followed through on the bet then?” Sehun questioned giving a nod of approval. Kios beamed, and only Danyell seemed to notice him sliding the dollar bill into his pocket. The action caused her to smile a bit, that was so Kios. “Of course.” He boasted proudly.
Meanwhile Grace ran over to check on Naro. “Are you okay?” Honestly what was with boys and betting over everything? Naro nodded with his usual goofy grin. “Don’t worry Kios isn’t bad in a fight, but he isn’t as good as me!” Grace smiled back at him, he was a weirdo but he was cute when he acted like this. “Whatever you say Naro.” She chuckled and helped him up as the bell rang.


Yep, just another normal day.

The murmurs of excited students quietly floated through the air. Each person was sitting in the hall for their own reason; a new beginning, hopes to a successful future, rumors of cute boys, or simply because the uniform were cuter here than that of the other schools. Although their reasons varied dramatically from worthwhile goals to meaningless dreams, they all shared something in common. They were the Elite, and were reminded of it at every turn in the breathtaking school. The grand hall was filled to the brim with this year’s students, which was quite an impressive amount.
Banners of gold and forest green hung elegantly from the high ceilings, a graceful soaring hawk embroidered in the center of each cloth. The hall grew silent as soft footsteps echoed off the cherry wood floor. An elderly man made his way through the small opening in the vast sea of metal chairs that lead to the stage. Unlike most stages this stage had gold and forest green curtains versus the traditional red curtains, this seemed to bring smiles to the student's faces. The school pride here was unlike any other school they'd visited. The man climbed the stage's steps and walked in a way that showed importance, kindness, and intelligence as he made his way to the podium.
Hovering over the microphone the man stroked his silver beard as he cleared his throat. "Welcome everyone, and thank for choosing Eon as your home for this next year. As many of you already know I am Principal Yukino. At Eon we pride ourselves on the simple achievements accomplished by our students. This school is built up by you, and you have the ability to make this year an unforgettable adventure. That being said it's time to announce this year’s class presidency, chosen by myself for exceptional grades, attendance, and involvement in extracurricular activities. Please stand as your name is called, Secretary- Elaine, Vice President- Jove, and President- Danyell.” Everyone searched through the crowd of people trying to find faces for the names. Elaine, a stern looking girl with long stunning crystal blue hair stood first, her eyes never leaving the podium. Her job was important, as all the other jobs were, but she herself was nothing to make a fuss over, well in her opinion. After Elaine the boy, Jove, stood while adjusting his circular glasses. His silver hair was pulled into its routine neat ponytail and overall he looked quite nice, though his tidy appearance seemed to clash with the smirk he wore as he glanced around the room. Finally a girl with long brown hair stood that no one recognized, that must’ve been Danyell. She glanced to the ground as she bowed in unison with the others, each announcing that they’d do their best before returning to their seats once more.
Yukino nodded in approval then drew his fingers to his lips releasing a low whistle. The students looked to one another in confusion, but their trouble was answered, as a well trained hawk soared into the room. The students watched in awe as the majestic bird of prey soared in circles above them before landing on Yukino's shoulder. After allowing the students a moment to take in the hawk he continued, "As you all know Eon's mascot is the hawk!" He wore a proud smile as he stroked his beard again. "But you'll find we're not one for cheap imitation costumes. So we assign one of the Freshman each year to take care of the schools hawk, they should treat it and take care of it like their own pet. This year I've selected a boy that's a bit rowdy, but has a kind heart. I know will he'll cherish our hawk, Daniel please call to him."
A cute freshman boy with messy brown hair stood looking unbelievably excited, but obviously trying to play it cool. "Yes, sir!" He saluted Yukino then rose his hand to his lips letting out a low whistle of his own. The hawk immediately launched off Yukino's shoulder and circled the students overhead once more before landing on Daniel's shoulder. "Alright, I'm going to call you Mr. Hawk!" He cheered throwing his fist into the air, causing some of the senior girls to chuckle.
He looked like the type of guy that'd be fun to have as a little brother.
***

After the entrance ceremony the students were asked to enjoy themselves in the grand hall by getting to know each other. For some students that task seemed to be a walk in the park. "Ryuu!" Daniel called out to his best friend since grade school while waving, his arm stretched up as far as he manage. "Daniel!" Ryuu, another freshman who had a kind demeanor called back with a wide grin. "It's great to see you!" Daniel gave him a bro hug before scanning the area again. "Where's Lila?" The question peaked Ryuu's interest as he searched as well. "Haven't seen her." Although neither of the boys would admit it they had both been competing for Lila's affection since kindergarten. She was smart, kind, beautiful, and undoubtedly the only girl that would put up with them.
“You call?" The boys turned to find their smiling friend behind them. "Lila!" They yelled in unison jumping to give her a hug. Lila embraced them as they reached her Ryuu first then Daniel, Ryuu was faster. Lila mentally counted how long she hugged each of them careful to make sure the hugs lasted the same time. She knew the boys did the same, and it had been that way since second grade. One day she gave Daniel a hug that lasted three seconds longer than Ryuu- she didn't want to remember that day.
After the trio had properly said hello Daniel jumped back in excitement while stroking Mr. Hawk. "Let's go do some pranks!" He yelled and started running to the doors, not waiting for a reply. "Alright." Ryuu shrugged and quickly followed not wanting to be out done by Daniel. Lila chuckled while shaking her head, strolling behind them to make sure they didn't get into too much trouble.
***

Danyell watched the three as they disappeared with a sad smile framing her face. They made it look so easy. She wanted to talk to someone, but didn't know anyone. Transfer student problems.
A petite girl with blonde hair noticed the school president standing in the corner, she seemed nice enough so why was she standing alone? Summoning up her courage the freshman approached Danyell. "Hiya, I'm Grace!" Grace gave her a bright smile and extended a hand. Relief flashed across Danyell's face as she shoved her brown behind her shoulder and shook Grace’s hand. "Danyell, it's nice to meet you." Grace nodded in agreement as she studied Danyell. She seemed kind, but a bit distant and formal. Maybe she was secretly shy or sensitive? "I haven't seen you around before, which middle school did you attend North or West side?" Grace asked casually, and Danyell couldn't help but like her.
"Neither, I'm actually a transfer student." She smiled while leaning against the wall.
***

In a different corner of the room three boys conversed in hushed tones. Each of them had dark hair though if one looked closely they could tell the tallest of the boys actually had brown hair not black like his friends. "So Sehun did you ever think of a way to start the school year off with a bang?" A boy with startling red eyes asked while somehow managing to sock his other friend in the stomach in a causal manner. "Ouch! Kios what the heck?!" He grumbled placing a hand over his stomach. "Just making sure you weren't zoning out." Kios reply with a slight smirk. "What do you mean you and Sehun are the ones that always zone out!" The boy growled and started to approach Kios, but Sehun stepped between them.
"Naro, Kios do the world a favor and shut up." Sehun sighed rubbing his forehead. "Now as for Kios' question, I haven't come up with anything. Honestly it's been driving me crazy." Sehun sighed in defeat and leaned against the stage. Jove, who had been eavesdropping through the whole conversation, smirked as an idea came to mind. "Excuse me but I believe I have the answer to your problem, on how to start the school year off with a bang that is."
***

Danyell and Grace strolled through the wide hallway and made their way to the lunchroom. In their earlier conversation they were pleased to find they had the same class right before lunch. As they neared the cafeteria Danyell spotted the two boys from earlier arguing about something. She lightly nudged Grace and tried to understand what was going on, if it was a real fight she'd have to intervene.
"No Daniel, I definitely have the better schedule! I have HISTORY with Lila." Ryuu was obviously trying to keep it causal, but he exaggerated the word 'history' a bit too much. "Oh yeah, well I have CHEMISTRY with Lila." Daniel shot back immediately, also trying to look casual. The two then began to wrestle on the floor for no apparent reason.
Danyell raised an eyebrow at Grace and the two burst into laughter. "I wouldn't try to break that one up; freshman boys tend to get their egos hurt easily." Grace laughed, speaking from experience. "Please, I think you mean all boys." Danyell continued laughing while enjoying the moment. It had been a long time since she laughed.
"Oi, look it's Elaine!" Grace yelled waving her over, filled with excitement. Elaine seemed to hesitate, her blue eyes searching for an escape, but in the end she strolled over in defeat. "Danyell this is my twin sister Elaine, Elaine this is Danyell." Elaine glanced at Grace looking a bit annoyed, "Half sister." Elaine explained to Danyell quickly. Danyell was a bit confused, could twin sisters be half sisters? Apparently so. "Madam Secretary." Danyell addressed her jokingly with a laugh. "Madam President." Elaine responded with a nod immediately, obviously not catching onto the joke. Danyell awkwardly cut off her laughter, and soon a weird silence overcame the group.
Clearing her throat Grace suggests that they share a table, and the other girls agreed walking into the cafeteria. They sat down at a green lunch table when a loud explosion filled the air; it seemed to be coming from the other side of the school. The entire lunchroom turned into chaos as the fire alarms shrieked through the air. Danyell threw her hands over her ears and attempted to gather her thoughts. Someone had to do something, wait she was the president- She sucked up her mixed emotions and stood on the lunch table yelling for everyone's attention.
She was shocked to find she actually received it after a few moments. "Alright, there are three exit doors on every level!" She tried her best to yell over the loud alarms. "There's stairs that will lead you down to ground level! Everyone needs to be careful falling over the railing could have serious consequences! So no " Just when Danyell thought this could go well the ceiling sprinklers went off, and squealing girls returned the room to chaos. Danyell considered trying to calm the room again, but it'd do no good. Besides they'd heard the important stuff. She jumped from the table and starting running towards the explosion.
Grace watched in horror as her friend ran to the fire, what was she thinking?! Before thinking otherwise both she and Elaine sprinted after her. "Are you crazy?!" The two yelled in unison as they reached her. Danyell didn't turn to face them but focused on the task at hand. "Students could have been caught in that explosion, someone needs to help." She explained calmly. Elaine and Grace glanced at each other in surprise, but it slowly turned into the determination as they nodded to each other.
***

Kios coughed violently as the thick smoke filled the room. He looked at Naro in concern, it seemed he’d gotten the worst of the explosion. This had not been part of the plan, then again letting Naro carry out the plans probably hadn't been smart. "Kios we have to get out of here!" Sehun yelled through a series of coughs. Nodding, Kios helped Sehun carry Naro out of the boy’s bathroom.
To his surprise three girls came running around the corner. He vaguely recognized the school secretary and president, but had no clue who the blonde was. "Do you need help?" The president asked stepping forward. What had her name been? "One of my friends got his hand burnt pretty badly." He responded while nodding to Naro. "I know first aid!" Grace ran over helping Sehun lay Naro down and treating his wounded hand with a First Aid Kit she had gotten from Heaven knows where.
"While she's helping him-" Danyell turned to face Kios once more, "What on Earth were you doing here?!" She crossed her arms, obviously suspicious of him. "Well that's... Difficult to explain." He laughed awkwardly, though she didn't seem amused. Sehun took the tension in the air as his chance to escape, but as he began to slip away a firm grip pulled his hand back. "And just where are you going?" Elaine questioned sternly.
At that moment the firefighters and police arrived, and everyone in the room was drenched by their large hose.
***

It had taken a few minutes for all the flames to be put out, but given the circumstances things could have been a lot worse. The police had given the teens towels, and then pulled them all in for questioning. The girls desperately tried to explain to the police that they had no idea what had happened, they had merely gone to help in case students were hurt. The police sighed and sat back in their chairs trying to make a decision. "Their telling the truth, we started the explosion we just didn't mean for it to- well, work so well." Kios finally spoke up, saving the girls but digging the boys a grave.
Danyell decided he may not be a tool after all, he didn't choose the best friends but that didn't make him a tool. The confession seemed to catch the police off guard; they paused for a moment then called Principal Yukino in. "Continue." The head police sighed and took down notes. "Well you see the boy’s senior bathroom is right above the girl’s locker room..." Kios explained realizing that the plan Jove and Naro made probably wasn't the best idea in hindsight. "We thought that if we flushed a homemade explosive down the toilet that the plumbing would blow up-"
"And the water would leak through the wall and you know land on the girls." Naro sighed as he finished the story while examining his wrapped hand. "Things got out of hand." Sehun finished. Saying the police were mad at the boys would be the understatement of the century, but before the police could act upon their anger Danyell started to laugh, which really caught them off guard.
"I'm sorry!" She blushed as everyone in the room looked at her. "It's just they wanted to blow up the plumbing to get- gross water- on the girls of the school, but they did it at lunch break so no one would've been effected anyway. They'd all be out for lunch." The boys stared at her then at each other, they really should've planned this out more. "So what you have here aren't criminal masterminds, just teenage boys." The boys looked offended, "What do you mean by that?" Sehun eyed her angrily. Danyell pretended to ignore his question while eyeing him in a way that told him to shut up, she was just trying to help. Sehun didn't understand what she meant, but Kios nodded in understanding and told him to shut up.
The cops took some time to look things over but in the end it was up to the Principal. "I don't think I have a choice but to expel you. You've done quite a lot of damage." Yukino sighed looking at the grimacing boys. They had expected this. "Wait Principal Yukino, the boys didn't mean to do... As much damage as they did, so can't you cut them some slack?" It was Elaine who spoke up this time, much to everyone’s surprise. "I could kiss you!" Sehun let out a breath, happy to have someone supporting his group.
Grace and Danyell eye each other before continuing. "Yeah, and if you let them stay they could work for the school to pay for the damage." Grace suggested quietly, all eyes seemed to be on Yukino. "And we'll personally watch them." Danyell finally offered her idea, and to her surprise the principal slowly nodded. "If these terms are met they can stay, just see to it that you three watch them carefully."
With that Yukino bid everyone goodnight and left with the police, leaving just the group of teenagers. "So who's walking each of us home?" Kios finally broke the silence, having no idea why the girls had helped them but found it amusing. "Walking you home?" Danyell scoffed in disbelief, "Haven't we done enough for you?" Kios shrugged looking to the other boys. "You did say you would keep an eye on us at all times." She shot him the most annoyed glare that she could manage. "I didn't say that, exactly..." Before Danyell could put the whole idea to rest Grace spoke up, pointing at Sehun. "You get to walk home with Elaine, after all you still owe her that kiss." Sehun's cheeks redden slightly as he processed what was just said.
"That's just an expression! It doesn't mean anything." Elaine just sighed pulling him out of the room with her. "I want to go home, so I'll humor Grace. Goodnight." Sehun relaxed as they left, her 'I couldn't care less' attitude would be easy enough to deal with. "I'll go with Grace, I never got to thank you for helping me." Naro sent her a friendly grin, and Grace nodded with a slight blush of her own. Kios shrugged as the others left looking to Danyell. "Guess that leaves us."
She simply turned, grabbed his hand, and pulled him out of the room with her. "Good, this way I can make sure you don't accidentally kill anyone with your stupidity." She mumbled as they walked, he either didn't hear her or he ignored her. She was betting the second. "You know, the guy who gave us the idea never showed up to carry it out." At this point Kios was just trying to mess with her, but she took it seriously. The only response Danyell could manage was a face palm, this boy was insane.


And So It Began

The school buzzed with eager anticipation, from the whispering girls, to the nervous boys desperately scraping cash together. Tomorrow would be White Day, the Japanese holiday where boys give gifts to girls to express their feelings of love, gratitude, and friendship, basically a reverse Valentine’s Day. The school was in full holiday mode, and the art club was diligently working to decorate the large campus though the process was a bit slow. "How's everything coming?" Danyell inquired walking into the art room, as school president it was her job to oversee preparations and schedule a time the next day where the male students could present their gifts.
"Honestly we're a bit behind, but don't worry I'm working twice as hard to pick up slack! We'll be done before you know it." The art club president was a kind, hard working girl that Danyell liked very much. Looking up from her latest painting the girl gave Danyell a warm smile while pushing back her blonde hair, paint splattered all over her white T-shirt and jean shorts. "Zofia, you're amazing!" Danyell smiled looking at all her paintings and stretches, they were all truly impressive. "It's really nothing special." Zofia waved aside the compliment in a modest fashion, "Are you an artist Pres?" Danyell was taken slightly off guard by the question but she supposed it was because of her interest in Zofia's work. "I guess you could say that, but I spend more time writing and dancing then working on my paintings or sketchbooks." She responded honestly as she took a step back, taking in a particular painting Zofia had made.
It was a boy and girl's silhouettes holding an umbrella as they strolled through a brightly colored park, the sun shining behind them. Something about the picture made her smile, it really showed the romantic side of White Day. "It's great you have so many interests." Zofia grinned brightly picking up the painting Danyell had been eyeing. "After tomorrow if you want this painting I'd love for you to have it. It makes me happy to see someone admiring a piece of my art so much." Danyell was surprised by Zofia's generous offer, but immediately nodded yes. "That's so nice of you! I'll have to find a way to pay you back."
***

Grace excitedly waved from her usual seat at the girl's lunch table when Danyell walked in. "You finally made it!" Although Grace was usually happy she seemed a little over the top today which meant one of two things, Kios and Danyell had finally started dating or she, like the rest of the school, was thinking of White Day. Danyell knew for certain it was the second, Elaine on the other hand could see it both ways. "Oh guys I'm so sorry, I didn't think making preparations for tomorrow would take so long." Danyell pulled out her homemade lunch and took her place across from the twins. "Are you excited for tomorrow Madam President?" Elaine had still never caught onto that joke but Danyell thought it was cute now, the twins were like the little sisters she'd never had.
"Absolutely!" Danyell responded without missing a beat, a wide grin framing her face. "I have a feeling Kios might get me something, err you know in honor of our- friendship." The twins looked at each other then burst into laughter, Danyell and Kios had grown close these last few months but they wouldn't exactly label it as a friendship. More like friends with benefits. "Hey cut it out!" Danyell turned bright red as heads turned towards them in the cafeteria. "Anyway aren't you guys expecting presents from say- Naro and Sehun?" The twins both stopped laughing and looked down at their food. Elaine was the first to react, simply flipping her bright blue hair over her shoulder and shrugging. "Sehun can get me something if he wants I don't really care." Grace looked back up at Elaine wondering if she meant what she said, then turned to Danyell. "I'm not expecting anything really... But if Naro does get me something I bet it will be better than what Kios gets you."
"A bet huh? Isn't that the boy's thing?- You know what, I'll take that bet, Kios will definitely get a better present than Naro." Elaine sighed and shook her head, did it matter who gave the best gift? "Leave me out of this." She picked up her lunch tray and left to dump the scraps into the trash. "Alright- loser has to embarrass herself in front of the boy who gives her the present." Grace challenged her with a smirk while extending a hand. Danyell tried to think things through clearly, should they really bet over something like this? What if the boys found out, would they be upset? "Deal." Danyell nodded and shook Grace's hand with a determined look in her brown eyes; she was not embarrassing herself in front of Kios.
***

The next day the entire school was even crazier than the day before. Danyell had decided it was best to present presents first period so that the students might actually focus on their classes the rest of the day. "Morning!" Grace called running over to Danyell and Elaine. She had, had a bit of a late start that morning because the school library, where Grace worked, had been busier than usual. Apparently today was a great day for girls to check out smutty romance novels, Grace didn't have the heart to tell the squealing girls that today would not be the day they met a hot werewolf or daring vampire that would confess their love for them, or any day for that matter.
"Good morning!" Danyell called out giving her a wide smile while Elaine simply nodded. "So you ready for the bet?" Danyell challenged quietly, her eyebrow raised in a cocky fashion. "You'll regret asking that when the boys show up." Grace countered with a small chuckle. The girls may have something on the line, but anyone could tell by the way they joked with one another that the bet was just for fun. They had no intentions of going overboard like the boys often did. "You two have fun with that." Elaine rolled her eyes and walked away wanting nothing to do with their games.
***

Ryuu calmly made his way through the halls scanning the crowds for Lila. He had saved up as much money as possible to get her the silver charm bracelet she'd been eyeing in the mall window for weeks. Nearly everyone in the school came from wealthy families so he knew she could ask her father for it, but for some reason she always refused to ask for money. She worked for everything she had; Ryuu had always loved that about her.
After searching for a few minutes he didn't bump into Lila, but Daniel instead. "Ryuu!" Daniel smiled eagerly, running to embrace him in a bro hug as always. "Hey Daniel!" He shot him a grin as well as he pulled away from the hug. Backing up he noticed the wrapped present in Daniel's hands, causing a bit of jealousy to surged within him. "Is that for Lila?" He tried his best to keep his tone unconcerned and distant, but wasn't very successful. "Huh, oh you mean the present?" Daniel laughed forcibly, shoving the gift behind his back with one hand and petting Mr. Hawk with the other. "Yeah- it's in honor of our friendship-" Liar. "Is yours for her too?" This time it was Ryuu's turn to force a laugh. "Yup, you know to celebrate our friendship... And stuff." Also a liar.
The boys silently stared each other down as if willing the other to tell the truth, but neither of them spoke. They'd always done this, because if they could pretend the other didn't have feelings for Lila then they wouldn't feel the need to fight over her- as much. "Well have you seen her?" Ryuu asked somewhat casually, he always had to break the arguments or Daniel would hold on to them forever. "No... I know let's ask Rouge!" Daniel beamed pulling Ryuu with him towards where the girls were waiting. No matter what Ryuu vowed never to lose his best friend, not even for Lila. Little did he know Daniel had already done the same.
***

Naro, Kios, and Sehun made their way towards the grand hall, where all the girls stood in groups chatting with one another in excitement. "Are you sure this is necessary?" Sehun sighed in annoyance as he followed behind the other two. "I mean sure you two have become great- whatever you want to call it, with Grace and Danyell but I hardly talk with Elaine." Kios chuckled slightly, obviously hiding his embarrassment about being called out. "We call it being friends; maybe you should try it sometime. Anyway friends or no Elaine dug us all out of some serious trouble earlier this year, and you know her the best out of all of us." Kios probably would have let him off at that if he hadn't continued to complain. "You do realize you had the flowers before we suggested you go get her something this morning." A pink tint graced Sehun's cheeks, and he immediately grew silent.
Revenge was sweet. "Do you see Grace?" Naro asked scanning the groups of girls in the ground hall, but there were too many to keep track of. "Well someone's excited." Kios laughed looking at the wrapped package in Naro's hands. "What'd you get her anyway?" Naro smiled as his mind wandered to the first time he’d met Grace. "Something she'll love."
***

Daniel and Ryuu finally found Rouge among the crowds of girls and ran over to her. "Rouge! Have you-" They began in unison but were quickly interrupted. "Seen Lila?" Rouge finished for them, shaking her head. "Honestly! The only reason you two talk to me is to learn something about Lila! Where she is, what she likes, who she likes- like I'd ever tell you that one. Do you ever bother to ask what I want? We're friends too!" The boys had both known Rouge for about as long as Lila, but even so they wouldn't exactly call her a close friend. "Umm, what do you want?" Daniel attempted lamely knowing he didn't have enough money left to buy anything.
"Nothing from you two." She sighed tossing her hair back- did all girls do that? "Though I met this cute senior boy... I'll know if he's the one for me if- he buys me a bunny." She nodded firmly like bunnies were the rarest most valuable thing in the world. "Okay- but why a bunny? Mr. Hawk might eat it." Rouge scrunched her face in disgust as she looked between Daniel and the hawk on his shoulder. Ryuu had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Why would anyone eat a bunny?! They are the cutest, sweetest, most precious things in the whole universe!" Daniel scratched his head trying to figure out if this was a trick question, "Because their hung-"
Ryuu quickly covered Daniel's mouth with his hand giving a nervous smile to Rouge. He was too young to die from Rouge's rantings. "Haha, you mentioned a senior boy? Are you talking about Kios? He seems kind of- taken." Ryuu was careful to be truthful, and yet spare himself from further rantings. "Hmm, you mean big brother? No, of course not! I already asked him when he and the president are going to get married three times." Ryuu and Daniel exchanged looks while Rouge laughed. "Rouge, Lila remember?" Ryuu sighed starting to get annoyed. "Fine, she's sick so she stayed at home." Rouge sighed as well, though hers was from boredom. The boys looked at each other again this time with wide eyes. What if Lila was really sick? "Hold on Lila I'm coming!" Daniel yelled immediately sprinting out of the school, Ryuu paused wondering if it was smart to ditch, but in the end followed after Daniel as always.
***

After waiting for what seemed like eternity Naro's voice called to the two girls from behind. "Hey Naro!" Grace responded casually, like she hadn't been waiting for him all morning, as she turned around. "Morning Danyell." Kios called after Naro with a sincere smile. "Oh, morning Kios." Her small smile betrayed her indifferent tone. "We're you expecting us?" Kios asked jokingly, while Danyell prayed she wasn't blushing. "Expecting you?" Danyell shrugged looking at Grace briefly. Let's keep this a secret. Grace was happy to oblige, slightly nodding then looking at the gift in Naro's hands. "It's for you!" Naro grinned in his usual childlike manner, gently placing the gift into her hands. "I'm going to find Elaine." Sehun muttered as he trudged away. "Does he have something against Elaine?" Danyell asked Kios while watching Sehun disappear into the crowd of students, holding bright flowers behind his back. "The world will never know what goes on in Sehun's head... That matter aside I got you something as well Danyell."
Kios handed her a heart shaped box of chocolates that had been hidden behind his back. Danyell blushed slightly as she took the box into her own hands. "Kios... Thank you." It was all she could say, for some reason she could never express her feelings for Kios through words. As she took the lid off the box she was surprised to find what appeared to be a handwritten note resting on top of the chocolates. "What's-?" As she reached for the note Kios suddenly grabbed it. "Oh that's nothing to worry about!" Kios ran away quickly but not as fast as he would've liked. Danyell had seen something she couldn't even imagine seeing until that moment, Kios blushing. Kios never blushed. "Hey wait a minute, that note is mine! You gave it to me!" She yelled angrily as she chased after him.
Grace watched the two 'fight' and desperately withheld a squeal. How were they NOT dating? After firmly repeating in her mind that now was not the time to take a picture she turned back to Naro, glimpsing at the present in her hand eager to know the content. "Thank you so much, Naro!" Grace smiled as she carefully unwrapped the package. Inside was something that was both unexpected- and disappointing. It was a copy of Charlotte's Web, a children's book. Why had Naro gotten her a picture book? She forced her smile to widen as her eyes studied the cover. "Naro, oh my goodness! I'm- at a loss for words. Thank you!" Naro smiled proudly, he knew she'd love it.
***

Lila sneezed into her handkerchief while flipping through the TV channels. 300 options to choose from and yet nothing was on- typical. Finally to irritated to continue surfing through channels she left it on some infomercial about a 'miracle curler' you could get for five easy payments of 19.99! What a bargain! Not. At least she could make fun of the lady's fake amazement. As she reached for a glass of water her door suddenly flew open, and in ran Daniel and Ryuu. "Lila don't die!" Daniel cried out as he and Ryuu tackled her with a bear hug. Lila was astonished by their sudden appearance, but before she could tell them to release her and that she was alright she barfed all over their shirts. Their grips had been too tight.
"We're really sorry Lila we weren't thinking about our actions." Ryuu shook his head as he walked back into her room. Lila's father had given both the boys one of his T-shirts to wear for the time being, the shirts were baggy and too long but it was better than their original shirts. "It's alright you guys." Lila gave them a weak smile, she seemed a bit pale. "You didn't know that would happen, but why are you here? Shouldn't you be at school?" The two glanced at each other then pulled their gifts out of their backpacks. "To give you your presents." Daniel smiled and handed his gift to her.
Lila stared at the box wrapped in blue paper then accepted Ryuu's gift which was wrapped in green, she had forgotten about White Day. Inside Ryuu's package was the charm bracelet she had been wanting while in Daniel's was the matching charm necklace, did they plan this? "Oh my gosh, I love them! How did you know?!" Lila beamed and gave them each a light hug. The boys studied each other mentally having an argument about whose gift was better, and who had copied who. Though deep down they were both happy, because they'd made Lila smile.
***

Elaine, Danyell, and Grace decided to walk home together at the end of the day since they had some time to spare. Grace's mood had been a bit down in the dumps since this morning, though the other girls had no idea why. Naro had given her a present and been extra nice all day, maybe it had to do with grades? "I never did get that stupid note from Kios." Danyell's cheeks puffed up with anger, she had been grumbling about it all day. "If it was stupid why do you want it?" Elaine hid a smile behind her bundle of flowers. Danyell's cheeks immediately deflated and reddened. "Because it was mine." She retorted lamely, she'd never admit anything more than that.
"Anyways, what Naro get you?" Danyell asked Grace both desperate to flip the conversation and genuinely curious. They had been walking for some time now and Grace prayed thanks to the heavens when they passed Danyell's road. Perfect timing. "Well- he got me- Danyell isn't that your street?" Grace raised an eyebrow pointing to the street behind them. Cursing, Danyell said her goodbyes and ran back to her street. Elaine and Grace continued to walk in silence towards their home. Elaine had never been one to listen to feelings and such. She was too cool headed to be pulled into other people's drama, however she often had the advice Grace was looking for which made Grace tempted to take the risk of upsetting her. "What'd he get you?" Elaine sighed in defeat, Grace had been staring at her for five minutes now.
The blonde's blue eyes widen as she studied Elaine. "You mean you actually care?" Since when did Elaine care about her problems? She wasn't trying to make it sound like Elaine was a bad sister but it wasn't like Elaine to do something that normal siblings would do. "Whatever you want to think is fine." Elaine rolled her eyes walking a bit faster, this could be quick and easy or it wasn't happening at all.
Grace stopped walking and looked at the ground. "He got me Charlotte's Web, a children's book." Grace looked at her shoes in defeat, she didn't want to seem ungrateful but this wasn't the type of present she'd hoped for- it held no meaning. Elaine paused and looked at her in surprise, shaking her head. "So you don't remember then? I'm surprised since you talked about it so much." Elaine sighed a second time and continued walking, Grace quickly running beside her. "Forgot what? You're not making any sense."
"Charlotte's web was the first book you taught Naro how to read, it was also the first book you read to a person who wasn't a family member... It seems Naro was very thoughtful when choosing his gift." Grace stared at the book in her hands, a new feeling taking over her, gratitude. How could she have been so disappointed with such a meaningful gift? And how did Naro still remember which book she'd read to him first? They'd read tons of books together. "I- I see." Grace smiled at Elaine, hugging the book close to her, she'd cherish it forever.
***

After White Day had passed most of the school had returned to normal, though the White Day Madness wasn't over for Danyell and Grace yet. They had a bet to settle. The two girls walked to lunch together to find a new girl sitting across from Elaine, Zofia. "Zofia, it's great to see you!" Danyell smiled sitting next to her.
"Hello, I'm Grace." Grace sat next to Elaine and glanced over at the new girl with a smile. "Zofia." She smiled back then looked at Elaine. "I hope it's alright for me to join you guys, Elaine and I hit it off in Math today. She thought you wouldn't mind." Elaine shrugged in agreement, Zofia had a laid back personality much like her own. She'd fit right in. "Of course it's fine!" Grace nodded her agreement to Elaine decision, pulling out two homemade lunches. "Ah, Grace? Why do you have an extra lunch?" Danyell questioned biting into her grilled cheese sandwich. Grace's cheeks glowed lightly as she picked up the lunches. "Well I 'lost' the bet. So I have to embarrass myself in front of Naro." Grace mumbled, just wanting to get the whole ordeal over with, she'd rather embarrass herself in front of Naro than admit the meaning of her book to Danyell.
Danyell laughed as she watched Grace awkwardly walk to the boy's table. "Hey Naro..." Grace whispered trying her best to act causally. "Oh hey Grace!" He smiled up from his school lunch, the other boys did as well trying to figure out what was going on. "Well- you see- I-I" Grace took in deep breath summoning up her courage. "I made you this lunch!" She finally spat out, her blush deepening. Naro grinned and took the lunch without hesitation. "Wow thanks Grace!" Grace nodded mumbling that it was no big deal, then was pulled back when she tried to walk away. "Why don't you two go to the roof to eat it together?" Danyell suggested turning Grace back to face Naro. How had she gotten here so fast? Naro shrugged and picked up his things, "Sure why not? Let's go Grace."
He put his arm around her in a causal manner and the two headed towards the roof. "I'll get you back for this!" Grace threatened quietly as they left, causing Danyell to laugh again. "Please, it's payback for the fan blog." Kios moved from his seat and stood beside Danyell watching his friends wander off. "You want to explain what just happened?" He asked her, amusement in his tone. "You want to give me that note?" She shot back while rolling her eyes. "Touché."


(~Earlier on White Day~)

"Hey what's this?" Derek opened her locker to not find the usual random kid falling out, but a single red rose instead. Jove must've skipped today. "Who left this?" She wondered out-loud picking up the flower. She'd never told anyone her locker number; she didn't even think Jove knew it belonged to her. The corners of her lips curved upwards slightly, it was a mystery.


The Madness Continues

Eon had finally calmed down after all the White Day madness and things now seemed back to normal. In the library a petite blonde pushed her long locks over her shoulder to better view her book. Grace wandered through the library somehow managing to read the newest adventure novel while organizing the rows of books, a skill only she seemed to be capable of. To encaptured in the story, Grace didn’t even notice Lila approaching with a book in her hands. “Umm, sorry to bother you but do you have time to help me check out this book?”
Grace blinked a few time before shutting her book and nodding to her fellow freshman. “Of course!” Grace beamed, taking her book and quickly scanning it. “There you go!” She handed the book back to Lila happy to see someone else reading for no real reason, it showed that they loved reading as much as she did. “Thanks Grace!” Lila smiled and waved goodbye as she made her way to class. Even though they were in the same grade that was the first conversation Grace and Lila had held this entire year. Grace was so advanced for her age she actually took Senior classes and was on track to graduate with Danyell and the others. It made her feel very proud, but also saddened her. She would never truly know the people her age.
“Grace, I need help with another word.” Naro wined from across the library throwing his head down onto the table in defeat. Grace chuckled and placed her book by her backpack then made her way over to Naro. “It says eradicated Naro.” Grace smiled and helped him sound it out. “Oh, I see now! Thanks Grace!” Naro shot her one of his childish grins while nodding in understanding. Suddenly a bright sparkling light filled the room and an angel appeared out of its beautiful rays. “Teaching Naro to read? Afraid I already did that .” He announced in a sassy yet calm attitude while flipping his hair in an elegant manner Grace had thought only girls could pull off.  
Grace and Naro eyed the blonde in confusion not knowing if he was real or an illusion. “Who are you?” Grace finally asked deciding it was better to look crazy then feel crazy. “Why I’m the fabulous Nuh.” He responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world then, with a wink, disappeared in the same sparkling light. After the light slowly faded away Grace finally snapped back into reality looking at Naro with a raised eyebrow. To her surprised he looked just as confused as her only responding with a small shrug.
***


Ms. Reisha, a kind student teacher, sat in her desk located at the front of the English classroom. She casually called out each student’s name for roll call and was astonished to find that Jove was actually in class today, though his mind was obviously somewhere else. Well it was an improvement at least. “Alright everyone listen up!” She called out cheerfully after finishing roll. “Today we have a new student, Adrienne would you introduce yourself?” Adrienne was a quiet girl who had taken a seat at the back of the class. She gave the teacher small smile, truly wishing she didn’t have to but not wanting to be rude.
The new girl made her way to the front of the room and looked out at her fellow students. “Hello… My name is Adrienne, and I’m an exchange student from America.” She announced quietly with a bow. Jove, who was reading a book to pass time, briefly glanced up to see who this new girl was and froze as soon as he saw her face. Within a few moments Jove rose from his seat and made his way over to the new girl, took her hand, and forcibly dragged her out of the classroom. Only muttering, “We’re skipping”, to the teacher as they reached the door.
Both Adrienne and Ms. Reisha yelled at him to release her, while Danyell glared at him from her desk. Though even through the commotion Jove never let go of Adrienne's hand, and no one moved to stop him. Jove wasn’t usually cruel towards women, so he wouldn’t hurt her, but he did what he wanted. No one was crazy enough to try to stop him. The room grew silent as the door shut behind Jove and Adrienne, no one was really sure what to do. Eventually Kios and Sehun decide to take advantage of the situation and quietly start to stand hoping to make a break for the door.
Without even glancing up from her workbook Danyell grabbed the boys, who she was sitting between, and pulled them back down into their seats. “Don’t even think about.” Sehun groaned and banged his head against his desk; he was already in too much trouble so he couldn’t just blow her off like he wanted too. “You didn’t stop Jove.” Kios points out, but dropped it as soon as she shot him an icy glare. This wasn’t worth a fight but maybe he could make it a good deal for both of them…
***

The football team practiced on the field having gotten special permission to practice for the upcoming game during school. “Saron catch!” Ryuu yelled as he chucked the football to him, just before Daniel tackled him to the ground. Saron cursed as he caught the ball immediately letting it drop onto the ground. The loud whistle blew and student coach Kama ran over to Saron. “What was that?! You had that!” He shook his head angrily, this was going to be a big game he didn’t need his quarterback dropping balls.
Saron blushed slightly in embarrassment as he showed Kama his hands. They were cut pretty badly and the bandaging was obviously an attempt made by Saron himself.  “How did that happen?” Kama asked, sounding a lot calmer. “I was dethorning a rose…” Saron responded quietly, causing everyone else to grow silent as well. The whole team stared at him in confusion until couch gave him permission to go to the nurse. Saron nodded quickly, his white messy hair shaking with the movement of his head as he ran off hoping no one understood what he was talking about.
***
   
After practice Daniel and Ryuu decided to race each other to their last period class that they both happened to share with Lila. They laughed as they playfully shoved one another into lockers. “What do you bet Saron dethorning a rose for a special girl yesterday?” Ryuu half joked as they neared the classroom. “He’s in .” Daniel joked back while sprinting harder.
    Derek who was standing at her locker overheard the yelling freshman, and started to dig through her locker. After finding the rose she’d received she held it up and looked at it carefully, was it the same one?
    The two boys ran into Math to find Lila in her usual desk. She looked a lot better today. “Lila!” They yelled in unison and gave her a group hug. Lila laughed and hugged them both back, it was nice to be back at school with her friends. Though it was nicer to know she wouldn’t barf on them again.
***

Danyell strolled casually to the student presidency room during her break between classes. Elaine had been working on paperwork all day and she was a little concerned, Danyell had helped her during lunch but if Elaine wasn’t done she’d probably call her seventh period teacher and let her know that she had to help out. When reaching the room Danyell walked in and looked at Elaine who had both an impressive pile of completed and uncompleted paperwork beside her. “How’s everything coming?” Danyell asked mainly out of politeness.
“Madam President.” Elaine greeted her without even looking up from the pile in front of her. “It’s going as well as we can hope for, Grace and you really helped me out at lunch, but it will still take some more time to complete.” Elaine spoke as if the task was no trouble when Danyell knew how boring it really was. “How about I help you again?”
Danyell moved forward, but as she pulled up a chair to sit by Elaine a stranger from behind placed a firm hand over her mouth and began to pull her away. Danyell started to panic knowing most wouldn’t be stupid enough to pull such a prank on her so… Was this a real kidnapping? She started to fight back but in the end was still pulled out of the room by the mysterious person, the door slammed shut behind them. “Couldn’t just ask her out…” Elaine sighed somehow managing to keep her sapphire eyes on the papers the entire time.
Danyell attempted to elbow and kick whoever was behind her but had little luck, he evaded everything she threw at him. Whoever this guy was he was even better at fighting than her which wasn’t very common. She began to tear up as she started to travel upstairs and heard another door up and close. “Calm down.” The voice that released her was both calm and irritating. “Kios-” She began angrily but he cut her off, she didn’t care for his ability to ignore the parts of a conversation he’d rather not discuss. “You know you’re stronger than I thought! You even hit me a few times.” Kios chuckled and Danyell noticed a bruise on his arm, which in her opinion he totally deserved. “But there was no way you could’ve beaten me, I’m the national champion for Judo.” He finished while continuing to laugh. “I might be impressed if you weren’t also part of the chess team.” She shot back coldly, “...And I do Karate.”
“Touché.” Kios smiled not bothered by her comments at all, which only made Danyell’s anger grow. Why would he pull a stupid stunt like this? Sighing and giving him one last glare she glanced at the door that lead back down to the school. “Now I’m late for class, thanks for that.” She smiled sarcastically and started to walk to the door, but Kios stepped in front of her blocking her escape ruit. “Come on Danyell, you’ve been working way too much lately. You need to take time to relax like anyone else… And I noticed you weren’t at the lunchroom today. Did you even eat?” Danyell was so extremely mad with Kios she was determined to get around him and go to class, but his last comment made her pause. He noticed that she didn’t eat? Was he actually trying to look out for her and not just ditch class? Danyell bit her lip as she looked at the door Elaine could really use some help…
“Ditching one class couldn’t hurt.” Kios looked at her with a pleading smile though his gaze was cocky, he already knew he had won. “One time. That’s it you understand?” She muttered and sat down by the bars of the roof. Kios smiled proudly and nodded as he sat beside her.
***
   
That afternoon Jove had been on his best behavior. He was the perfect tour guide. He showed Adrienne all the cool things their city had to offer, the best place to hang out, and even bought her Ramen for lunch. Though he didn’t ask her about it first, just ordered a second of what he was having. Adrienne was totally confused by his kindness- and his possessive attitude towards her, though she had been having fun. Once they were done eating Jove lead her to a small park.
The park looked just like the ones she had grown up with in America. It was simple, but had the necessities; a tall slide, a teeter totter, a bench under the shade, and a swing set. Adrienne didn’t know why Jove had brought her here but she was happy because it reminded her of home. Swings had always been her favorite growing up so she made her way towards them and sat down without thinking about it too much. To her surprise Jove walked behind her and started to push her. The act was done silently but in a kind manner, and somehow felt familiar.
Jove let out a long sigh and shook his head slightly as he continued to push Adrienne. “So you really don’t remember me?” The question took her by surprise and Adrienne had no idea how to reply. Should she know him? They just met that day, right? She tried her best to respond but wasn’t sure how to answer him without disappointing him, so she simply shook her head no. “I see…” Adrienne turned her head to face him and discovered that he was staring at her intensely, though his thoughts seemed to be somewhere else. “You know I grew up in America as well.”
That really took her by surprise. A lot of the people at Eon were American but most grew up in Japan, thanks to family occupations and such. “I had a shy next door neighbor. She was kind and strong willed yet kept to herself- which I had always found very interesting. We always went to play in a park like this one and I would push her on the swings. She always loved the swings.” Adrienne’s eyes widen as he retold his childhood her hand immediately reached for the necklace she always wore under her clothes. He couldn’t be… “We worked together so well we even agreed to get married when we grew up.”
Jove chuckled like the promise meant nothing but deep down he had always planned on keeping that promise. Adrienne couldn’t speak, she couldn’t even move but Jove kept pushing her despite her reaction. Around her necklace was a gold ring that her first crush had given her as children. It was proof of their promise.
***
   
Naro and Grace had decided hang out on the roof during their free period. Most students that had seventh hour release went home early, but they always liked to stick around to go home with their friends after school. The girls usually walked while the boys drove in Naro’s mustang. Truth be told all their friends owned nice cars but were too lazy to pay for their own gas, on top of that Naro’s dad was the CEO of one of the nicest car companies across the globe which meant he had all the latest technology installed before it even came out. Sometimes Grace felt awkward around him since she was accepted to Eon on scholarship for academics, luckily he never seemed to mind.
    When they walked up onto the roof they were both surprised to find Kios and Danyell already there. Naro smiled and almost called out to them but was quickly silenced by Grace who covered his mouth and drug him behind a large vent on the roof. Naro moved her hand away and raised an eyebrow at her before figuring out that she wanted to spy on them. ‘Okay.’ He mouthed with an excited grin. Grace smiled back at him and pulled out her camera quietly turning off the flash.
    Danyell grabbed her backpack, oblivious to the unwanted eyes, and pulled out her homemade lunch. Opening up her lunch bag she pulled out a slice of chocolate pie she made the night before and took a bite. She smiled proudly as she swallowed, it was really good! Danyell had always loved to cook and now she could cook just about anything. Realizing that Kios was watching her eat, she awkwardly pulled her pie down from her face. “Do you want a bite?” She asked quietly trying to not make the conversation any more awkward than she already had. Kios smirked and grabbed her hand pulling it to his face before biting the same place she had just bitten.
    Grace squealed inside herself as she frantically snapped as many pictures as she could. Naro on the other hand watched in disbelief as his jaw dropped. How could Kios have the guts to be so forward?
    Danyell blushed madly as she quickly pulled her hand away. She wanted to yell at him, but she didn’t know what to say. She had offered him a bite… The whole situation was embarrassing but over and done with. Kios gave her a satisfied smile, she wasn’t too bad when she was flustered. “That was great! I didn’t think it was possible to find someone who could cook almost as well as I can.” Danyell just rolled her eyes and laughed, giving him a light punch on his arm. His compliments always seemed to end up complimenting himself as well, but she was secretly happy. “Why are you blushing?” Kios finally questioned with a cocky eyebrow raised. Why was he so full of himself all the time?! “I’m not!” Danyell’s cheeks grew brighter as she protested.
***
   
Back at the park Jove smiled at Adrienne and checked his phone, it was already time to go. Feeling a bit disappointed he caught her swing and held it in place so she could jump off, which she did after staring at him in confusion for a few moments. “Well schools just about over now so we should get going. I’ll walk you home.” Adrienne was taken back by the demand but went along with it in the end nodding and following him down the street.
    The walk back was a peaceful silence only broken when Adrienne directed Jove to turn. After a while of walking they finally reached Adrienne’s home which was large though not as large as his. Adrienne placed her hand on her necklace again and turned to face Jove though her goodbye was cut off by a sudden kiss. She froze and eyed Jove as he held the kiss for a few moments not knowing how to react, but just as suddenly as he started the kiss he ended it and waved goodbye walking away like nothing happened. Adrienne blushed lightly as she watched him go both angry and pleased.
***
   
The final bell rang through the school and the tired student eagerly started to go home. Kios stood up and offered a hand to Danyell, which she accepted, then pulled her to her feet with ease. “Alright you two can come out now.” He called out casually, catching Grace and Naro by surprise as they started to plan their escape route. “You knew?” Grace slowly made her way out from behind the vent followed closely by Naro. Kios simply smirked in response when Sehun burst onto the roof looking particularly mad. “You guys ALL skipped and you didn’t tell me?!" Grace was tempted to tell him that she and Naro didn’t have a class that hour but she didn’t think it would help much.
    While Sehun glared at everyone Danyell was just starting to process what was going on, her cheeks stained red. Grace’s laughter broke the silence as she pulled out her camera and showed the images to Sehun. Sehun’s anger slowly faded away and was quickly replaced with an amused smirk. “Priceless! Those have to go on the blog!” He laughed while eyeing Kios and Danyell, he had been wanting some blackmail. The president's brown eyes widened as she looked from Grace and Sehun to Kios who had a blush of his own. Grace wouldn’t have… “Wait, wait you haven’t seen the best one!” Naro laughed along with his friends and grabbed Grace’s camera showing Sehun his favorite picture. Grace would have.
    Danyell was so embarrassed she wanted to curl up into a ball and die. She prayed Naro and Grace had come onto the roof after the pie incident. “DELETE THOSE THIS INSTANT!” She roared and tried to snatch the camera away but Naro was too quick. “And since when does Sehun look at Grace’s blog!”


The Embarrassment May Never End

It was the day every highschool student dreamed of. The birds were chirping, the sun was rising, and yes, the students were sleeping. After a week of school no one dared to rise before 10am knowing they’d need their rest for when school ruled back around the next week. Midnight cram sessions for assignments, due to the plague teachers referred to as ‘procrastination’, really took its toll on the growing teens. Adrienne was just one of the many students enjoying her dreamless slumber when an unwelcomed ring filled her room. She groggily picked up her alarm and threw it against the wall before curling up again, but to her dismay the ringing didn’t stop.
    Groaning, the dark haired beauty sat up and realized that the ringing was her phone then sighed before answering it. No one ever called her; didn’t they know it was standard to text or kik now a days? “What?!” She yelled in anger not bothering for manners, whoever it was had lost their right to her kindness when they called her at 6am- on a Saturday. A deep chuckle came from the other line followed by a sarcastic, “Good Morning Sleeping Beauty, get up and dressed we’re going out.” Adrienne froze at the sound of the voice then slowly looked at the caller ID. Her ocean eyes widen as she read the name, Jove. How was it even possible? She had never exchanged numbers with him and yet he was registered in her phone, and she was willing to bet she was in his.
Adrienne pulled the phone up to her face once more in an attempt to argue or at least ask where they were going but Jove had already hung up on her without say goodbye. Would he always be like this? After thinking it over Adrienne sighed and forced herself out of bed heading towards the shower while mentally wondering why she did what Jove told her to do in the first place.
After taking the fastest shower she could manage she quickly threw on some shorts and a graphic T before heading downstairs. When she reached the living room she was shocked to find Jove sitting on her coach. How did he get in? She had locked the door last night… “Big house for one person.” Jove commented while scanning her home. Adrienne paused for a moment to think the situation over before responding, “My parents stayed behind in America, they sent me here because they wanted me to have the best education possible.”
Jove finally looked over at her with his usual smirk. “Not bad.” He complimented, giving her a small nod of approval while adjusting his glasses. “Though we’ll both need to make a stop at my place for a change of clothes.” He stood up causally then headed to the door and opened it for her. Adrienne was a surprised by his compliment and good manners as she quietly walked out the door spotting a black Corvette in her driveway. He didn’t look bad in casual clothes either, though she’d die before saying it out-loud. Jove quickly moved to the passenger side and opened the door for her, then shut it behind her when she got in. After they had both gotten settled they drove in silence to what Adrienne assumed was Jove’s home.
When they reached their destination Jove opened her door once again and she wasted no time getting out since he seemed to be in a hurry today. Adrienne briefly got to take in the amazing home, which was even larger than her own, as Jove rushed her into a large room. As soon they entered a maid ran to her with a smile and urged Adrienne to follow her. Adrienne slowly glanced at Jove who nodded slightly as he turned to leave. “Just do what she says.” He ordered before leaving to get ready himself.
The next few hours were spent trying on formal dresses, sitting in a chair while the maid tried thousands of different hairstyles on her, and nearly dying as the maid applied makeup to her face. Adrienne was just glad she had showered beforehand. When they were finally done the maid moved Adrienne to a full length mirror and smiled proudly as Adrienne gasped. In the end Adrienne’s long raven hair was in simple barrel curls, she wore a little makeup, and a stunning blue sleeveless dress, everything was simple yet breath taking.
“Not bad at all.” A voice followed a knock on the door as Jove looked her up and down with a smile. She blushed slightly and nodded in thanks, Jove was wearing a tux, his ponytail seemed a little more princely, and to finish it off he wore a matching tie. How had he known that she’d pick this dress? “Well let’s get going, we can’t keep father waiting.” He helped her gather the train of her dress as they walked to the car. Adrienne couldn’t help but wonder what was going on, and who was Jove’s father? She sat back against her seat with a sigh knowing better than to ask such questions.
***
   
It was beautiful out today, and Sehun would’ve loved nothing more than to play soccer in the park, or read a good book under a shady tree. “Stupid.” He muttered angrily under his breath while kicking a rock on the sidewalk. Why is it he had to go to school on a Saturday? He deserved time to relax like all the other students. Sehun rolled his eyes as he mentally pictured Kios retelling the event of how they blew up the school’s bathroom at the beginning of the school year. “Okay.” He finally admitted out-loud with a sigh. “So maybe I deserve to help the others clean the school, but honestly it beneath me.”
    He continued to grumble to himself as the academy came into view. “Hey Sehun!” Kios and Naro called out in unison while climbing out of Naro’s Mustang, Kios looked a little sick which was honestly not a surprise. Sehun gave them a short wave and wandered over wondering what it is they had to be smiling about. “Do you have the key?” He asked Naro who pulled simple keys out of his pocket and gave him a thumbs up as Kios’s cell started ringing. Kios pulled his phone out of his back pocket and smiled at the caller ID before answering. “Hey Danyell, what’s up?”
    “Hello Kios. I need a favor.” Danyell’s voice sounded embarrassed and stressed, her words came out a little faster than she had intended. “Shoot.” Kios replied with his usual laid back attitude. There was a short pause before she quickly explained her situation. “I need you to come with me to a meeting tonight. It’s really important and I can’t miss it! You’ll need to wear something nice and pick me up at eight!” Kios smirked as he pictured how badly she must be blushing at the moment.
“Are you asking me on a date?” Every word was laced with amusement, it must be really important if she summoned the courage to call him up. Not that they were anything more than friends of course. Danyell was so embarrassed she couldn’t find a proper answer or think straight for a few minutes. “Just be there!” She begged praying he would tease her anymore. Kios looked to the school sadly and let out a quiet sigh. “Look, I’m really sorry but it's Saturday which means the boys and I have to clean the school. With just the three of us it usually takes up all day.”
Danyell thought the situation over then gave a determined nod from the other line. “Well the meeting is tonight, so hold on and the girls and I will be there to help in a minute, bye!” Kios chuckled as she hung up and did the same while Sehun laughed. “Still not going to admit you two are dating?” Kios quickly shot him a challenging glare before turning to Naro. “Elaine and the girls are coming to help; they should be here any minute.” Kios smirked slightly as Sehun fell silent at the mention of a certain bluenette. “Well let’s get started, I’ll leave the key in the door so they can get in.” Naro suggest to which the others nodded as they headed inside.
When the girls arrived they looked around for the boys but only found Naro’s Mustang. “Where’d they go?” Grace asked as they continued to search. “Over here!” Elaine called when spotting the key in the door then turned it until she heard a click. Everyone followed her inside and soon found Naro and Kios in the main hall. “Hi guys!” Naro waved with his childish grin then froze for a few moments. The girls wondered what was wrong with him before noticing the two looking all of them up and down. “You guys look different without your uniforms on!” Naro announced happily, returning to his normal personality. “Not bad.” Kios agreed while walking over to them and handed Danyell a mop. “Let’s finish this quickly so we can get going!” Heat rose to Danyell’s cheeks as she nodded and took the mop, though her eyes never left Kios.
Sehun finally made his entrance from the back room, his arms full of cleaning supplies. “Thanks for coming to help, but I recommend spending more time working and less time staring into each other’s eyes.” He remarked bluntly with a small smirk at Kios and Danyell receiving death glares from both of them. Before Danyell could think of a comeback Elaine calmly walked over, placed a hand on Sehun’s shoulder, and dragged him away to work. Everyone watched them as they left, Kios and Naro mentally betting on whether they’d ever be a couple. Though the girls really couldn’t tell what they were doing as Kios nodded yes and Naro nodded no.
Grace and Danyell stared between the two boys who had been nodding continually for a few minutes now. “I know!” Grace suddenly exclaimed while clapping in excitement. “Let's split up to get done faster!” Danyell nodded and grabbed Kios hand pulling him with her to the West side of the school. “You’re with me.” Kios simply shrugged and followed her out. “So how about we take East side then?” Naro suggested with a bright grin. “Okay!” She smiled as well as she picked up a broom then the two set out to work on the floors.
***

Today was the day- Ryuu was finally going to do it. The sun was so hot; Ryuu blamed it for the sweat dripping down his brow. Wiping his forehead he tried to walk with more confidence, but couldn’t stop his feet from dragging as he forced them forward. He wasn’t cut out for these kinds of things. Finally the sidewalk split off to his destination, Lila’s house. Jealousy raged inside him when he saw Daniel already there, his hand raised to knock yet he never did. Ryuu walked over to his frozen best friend and tried to sound casual. “What are you doing here?!” He was apparently a terrible actor because even he couldn’t deny the jealousy and anger that laced his words.
Daniel looked upset as well as he turn to face Ryuu. “Oh hey Ryuu- Who me? I was just asking Lila if she wanted to… hang out." He chuckled a bit too loudly and cleared his throat. Ryuu rolled his eyes and gave him a small glare, how long was he going to lie? “Well why are you here?” Daniel challenged bitterly which made Ryuu’s anger fade and guilt replace it. “Same.” He finally responded as Daniel stared him down. How long were they going to do this?
After staring at each other in silence for a few minutes they both sprinted towards the door as fast as they could with their arms raised. “Knock!” Daniel dared with an eyebrow raised. “Take your own advice!” Ryuu shot back and the two began to wrestle on the ground, rolling around on Lila’s porch. “Just knock you wimp!” The sound of their fight could be heard from the farthest end of the road. “If it’s so easy you do it!”
Lila sighed as she watched them out her window, how did they not expect her to hear them? “How long do you bet they’ll stay out there before leaving this time?” Lila asked, turning her head to the short haired blonde on the floor with paint splattered all over her clothes. “Last weekend it was four hours right...? I give them three.” Zofia shrugged while working on her latest painting. Lila chuckled in agreement then sat beside her to help. “Yeah I bet they’ll leave by then.”
***
    Throughout the day Jove had driven Adrienne all over the town. They ate at a fancy restaurant, had a lesson on social manners, and he even forced her to take dancing lessons. Adrienne sighed as she was once again loaded into Jove’s Corvette, all this and she still hadn’t met Jove’s father. “I know you’re exhausted but hang in there, the day is nearly over.” Jove commented with no particular emotion as he drove. Adrienne quietly obeyed and stared out her window to watch the setting sun wondering why he was even asking this of her. What was their relationship to one another?
    As they drove Jove flipped on the radio and began to sing along to an old rock song. For some reason the song brought a memory to her mind though she wasn’t really sure how the song went, but it was sad and sweet and she knew it complete, when she wore a younger girl's clothes. “Well we’re all in the mood for a melody, and you got us alright.” Adrienne eyed Jove in surprise as he sang along, he was really good. Jove smirked slightly and pretended not to notice her stare, by the end of the school year she would definitely be his.  
***
   
After working diligently on the floors Grace and Naro had finally finished and had moved on to the windows. Grace stood on a ladder to get the high windows while Naro stood beneath her getting the low windows. As Grace reached down to dip her sponge in the bucket she accidentally knocked it over spilling the water all over Naro. “Ah, Naro I’m so sorry!” Grace exclaimed while climbing down the ladder as fast as she could with a clean rag to help. Naro smirked as Grace gently started to wipe his face and quietly grabbed his bucket dumping it over her head. “N-Naro!” Grace sputtered and glared at him, but it soon turned into a challenging smile.
    Grace grabbed a nearby sponge and flung it at Naro before running away from him with a laugh. “Watch out you’re gonna get it now!” Naro laughed as he picked up all the sponges he could carry and chased after her. Grace continued laughing as she spun on her heels to loop around him but slipped on the water that flooded the floors. Naro, unfortunately, was unable to catch himself as he slipped right behind her, falling right on top of her. Both of them froze as they stared into each other’s eyes their faces just inches apart. Each of their cheeks glowed lightly as their eyelids slowly slid shut and they leaned closer-
    “Naro, Grace!” Danyell yelled sprinting down the long hallway and turning the corner to see them, well not quite kissing. Even though Danyell was mad and panicked the sight caused her to freeze along with the three other who had been a short distance behind her. “We’re not doing anything!” Naro yelled as his eyes fluttered open and he quickly pushed himself off of Grace. Grace jumped to her feet and looked at the ground, her face the same shade as a ripe tomato. They had been so close.
    “No time for that.” Danyell finally recovered from her shock and shook her head. “Please tell me you have an extra key!” Danyell begged and finally caught her breath while pushing hair out of her face. “No- why?” Naro tilted his head in confusion and glanced at Grace, trying to find some way to make her not feel embarrassed but not coming up with anything. Kios stepped forward and held Danyell’s hand, both to calm her and to make things less awkward between Grace and Naro, then gave Naro a grim look. “The girls left the key in the door, they didn’t realize it locks automatically after you twist it.”
    “They did what?!” Naro yelled and looked around the group. Kios shook his head and eyed Sehun who was obviously trying to control his anger. “To be fair we never told them… How were they supposed to know?” Sehun shook his head and glared at Elaine as she attempted to pat his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter now does it? There’s no way out.” The group looked around at each other not sure how to react. They were going to be stuck here until someone came and found them, and no one came to the school Saturday night…


To Be Continued

The neighborhood had finally grown quiet as the sun started to set. Ryuu and Daniel had been wrestling for so long they found it nearly impossible to stand as they stared at Lila’s door one last time in defeat. Even after all that she hadn’t just opened the door? Apparently she wasn’t going to make this easy for either one of them, though that hardly discouraged the boys. Ryuu slowly forced himself to his feet and extended a hand to Daniel. “I guess we waited too long…” Ryuu sighed and shivered slightly as the cool evening breeze brushed against his bare arms. Daniel accepted his friends offer and pulled himself up while nodding in agreement. The two boys stood in silence for some time, not really sure where to go from there.
“Wanna go catch a movie?” Daniel finally offered while running a hand through his messy brown hair. Ryuu beamed at his buddy and gave him a pat on the back as they walked down the street. It was moments like this that reminded him how close they truly were. “That sounds good.” Today, and possibly even in the future, Ryuu may not have the girl he wanted but he had the next best thing. The goofy, childish, prank obsessed, brunette he called his best friend. Daniel laughed as Lila’s house faded from view, not bothering to look back. “Can you believe how long we waited? That has got to be a new record!” Ryuu tipped his head to the sky in laughter before giving Daniel a high five.
    Zofia stood by the window in amazement while scrubbing paint off of her face. “Six hours? That is dedication.” She moved back to Lila while nodded approvingly as the boys faded out of sight. “You’d be lucky to end up with either one of those boys.” Lila’s cheeks felt a little warmer than usual though she blamed it on a nonexistent illness. “Well don’t tell them that.” She muttered giving her a short nod in agreement. Zofia chuckled and started to pack up her things, although she would’ve love to stay longer she had places to be. “It’s time for me to head out, but thank you so much for having me stay over!” Zofia was glad being the art president had brought her more than just extra time to practice, it had also brought her new friends. Although she wasn’t a shy girl she always kept to herself making it difficult to have close friends.
    Lila smiled and grabbed one of Zofia’s bags as they walked to the door together. “That’s what friends are for.” Lila’s comment was almost too quiet to hear as she looked to the ground. Besides Ryuu and Daniel she didn’t really have many friends either, it felt nice to have a girl around to chat with for once. Zofia’s grin widen as she rubbed Lila’s head. “Let’s do this again soon.” She waved as she walked to her car never turning back to see Lila waving her off as well.
    Zofia climbed into to the old Jeep her father fondly referred to as ‘The Chariot of the Gods’. Her father was a history teacher at a local community college, while her mother was a ‘freelance artist’. In other words, although the family wasn’t struggling they were not in the same social class as Lila or some of the other students that attended Eon. She drove her father’s old rig, and attended school on an art scholarship but Zofia had never minded any of these things. The hard times had taught her to work and the sad moments had taught her tears solved nothing in life, maybe that had been why she loved art so much. She could work hard, express all of her hidden emotions, and find pride in the outcome. Every brush stroke brought a new piece to her story.
    Her soft sea-green eyes scanned the night market for a parking place while she blew a stray golden strand of hair out from in front her face. Finally spotting an open lot she pulled in and pulled her hair up into a ponytail before climbing out of the car. Stuffing her hands into her pockets she strolled along the numerous stands selling everything one could wish to buy, though she wasn’t interested in shopping. “What do you mean 6,500 yen?! That’s way too expense for such an item!” Even in the loud busy market one could still make out Derek’s voice. Zofia chuckled as she strolled over to the stand where she heard the ruckus, you could always hear Derek before you saw her. Though it gave her some reassurance to know that there were some other classmates that had to live paycheck to paycheck.
    “How about you just don’t buy it?” She suggested as her pinkette friend came into view. “Zofia!” Derek yelled out as she tackled her with a hug then turned back to the stand. “But I really want that vase, and it’s way overpriced!” Zofia smiled and rolled her eyes as Derek continued to whine before noticing the shopkeeper. The elderly man looked like he would blow a gasket any second so, not wanting to find out what it would be like when that happened, Zofia quickly stepped in front of her friend. Derek had been a friend of Zofia’s since third grade so she wasn’t surprised by his anger, who knew how long Derek had been bugging him. “I’m sorry for the trouble, my friend and I will be leaving now!” After giving the man a brief apologetic bow she quickly pulled Derek away from the stand.
    Derek tried her best to pull free from Zofia’s hold though Zofia had always been stronger than her. “Come on, Zo! Let’s go back, I’m sure I’ll convince him!” Derek gave her the best puppy face she could muster and then resorted to shouting at random when it didn’t work. Being caught off guard by Derek’s tactics her grip loosened and her friend was able to slip away, quickly attempting to run back to the stand though never making it. Before Zofia could do anything Derek run straight into a taller figure who she recognized from school as Saron. Saron quickly extended a hand to Derek, “Are you okay?” His tone was apologetic like the whole accident had been his fault and not Derek’s. “Oh, locker boy!” Derek accepted his hand and pulled herself to her feet with a grin. “I’m just fine, thank you very much, but it’ll take more than that to keep me down!”
    Zofia stood back with a raised eyebrow as she watched the two interacted. Did she even want to know what locker boy was referring to? “Sorry about that Saron, she’s in her- well, her normal mood tonight.” She chuckled and walked over to them while ignoring Derek’s glare. Saron shrugged and studied the girls, “It’s fine I’m not hurt, anyway what are you so worked up about?” Saron asked Derek which earned a groan from Zofia. He had no idea what he had just gotten himself into. Derek’s cheeks puffed out in anger, “The shopkeeper over there has a really pretty glass vase, but he’s asking 6,500 yen for it! Can you believe that?!” Zofia had learned to tune Derek out in years past, so she almost didn’t realize when the rant ended a few minutes later. “I see, well let’s go see what we can do about that.” Saron announced with a determined grin as he walked towards the booth, Derek right behind him.
Zofia’s jaw dropped as the two began to argue with the poor shopkeeper once again, remembering that they were both on the debate team. "Oh boy..." She sighed as she hurried over to break it up.
***
   
Back at the Academy Danyell and Grace had pretty much lost it. The group sat against the hallway wall and watched, having no idea what to do, as the two girls banged their heads against the wall across from them. Their heads moved in unison though they never even glanced at each other, maybe best friends could communicate by thought? Elaine sighed as time continued to pass, apparently they weren’t going to give this up. “Way to go, you broke them.” She lazily looked to Kios and Naro, the whole situation was annoying but not worth getting angry over. Kios looked genuinely offended as he stood and gently drug Danyell away from the wall. "She's stressed because she's missing an important meeting, I have nothing to do with this!" Although Kios wasn't truly mad he was worried about Danyell which made his tone sound harsher than he intended. It was unlike Danyell to totally give up and do something as pointless as hitting her head against the wall. Even if she wasn't good under stressful situations this was just- off.
Naro quietly followed Kios' example and lead Grace away from the wall, though he never protested. Grace's breakdown was actually, or at least partially, his fault… but it had been an accident- sort of. Naro carefully tugged Grace around to face him and sighed at her glowing cheeks that were somehow visible in the dim school. “Grace, please calm down.” He whispered tucking her hair behind her ear. It felt weird to be comforting a friend like this, but you dealt with girls differently than you would with boys right? “No one is judging you, and when all this is over no one will remember.” He promised while sending a glare to each group member to make sure he was heard. Normally they would’ve laughed at Naro for trying but it was weird to see how much it bothered Grace, so they all nodded slightly and looked away pretending that nothing had happened.
While the others worried about Grace Danyell slowly crept back to the wall but was pulled back by a firm grip. “That won’t solve anything Danyell, you’re going to have to talk this out.” Kios sighed and shook his head, he was not used to dealing with people, and girls were even harder to deal with than most men. He paused before looking at the others, he’d have to worry about her later. “It’s getting dark and I have no idea how to turn the lights on once they switch off automatically- and I’m also hungry, so does anyone have a plan?” His voice sounded worn down, but then again so did everyone else’s. The group of teens stared at one another in silence not having any clue what to do from there either. They had all worked hard that day and it had taken it's toll. As the minutes seemed to grow into hours Kios felt Danyell gently squeeze his hand and blushed slightly realizing he had yet to let go of her’s. "I have a plan, kind of..." She announced quietly, he was glad to see her at least speaking again.
***

Adrienne felt like she had been driving in this stupid car all day. It wasn't like the seats were uncomfortable or Jove's singing had gotten on her nerves, she was fine with both of those, but she was dying to know what was going on... And she still didn't know who Jove's father was. Just as she was contemplating taking a nap the car finally came to a stop at the building she vaguely recognized as City Hall. Jove got out of his seat and opened Adrienne's door before she even had a chance to reach for the door handle. Jove's attitude today was sweet, but also possessive in a way. She felt like if he announced that she was his girlfriend there was little she could do it to stop it from being so. Though it wasn't like she minded being Jove's girl- Adrienne quickly shook her head and exited the Corvette, lacing her arm though Jove's as he held it out to her. Now was not time for such thoughts.
As they entered the hall Adrienne realized the whole building was decorated in neat gold and green banners and gasped quietly. "Jove this is... A school " Adrienne was cut off by a familiar wise and powerful sounding voice, it was only then she noticed its similarity to Jove though the man's was a bit kinder. "Jove right on time as usual." Yukino, dressed in his usual school robes, grinned at Jove before looking to Adrienne. "So you're the girl I've been hearing so much about, though I met you during enrollment, it's still nice to officially meet you Adrienne." Adrienne had the urge to choke though unfortunately there was nothing in her mouth to choke on, Principal Yukino was Jove's father?! "Nice to meet you as well, Sir." Adrienne quickly bowed which earned her a chuckle from both Jove and his father. Did she say something wrong? Maybe she should have addressed him as Principal? Straightening up again she eyed the two of them in confusion before Yukino spoke again. "Sir is a bit formal when addressing one's future father in law. You should call me Yukino or Father." His smile grew at the second option, obviously favoring it, then he gave them both a short wave before moving away from them. As he walked away Adrienne was left speechless though Jove didn't seem bothered at all. Chuckling he offered to pour Adrienne some punch. The blonde took in a small breath and nodded in reply, following him to the punch bowl.
Jove poured the red punch into two glasses in silence, handing one to Adrienne and drinking out of the other. Adrienne reluctantly followed his example and drank in silence, getting tired of the stupid party already. Although they were being boring in the corner Adrienne couldn't help but notice the couples in the middle of the hall dancing, which seemed to be the main event. It looked like they were actually having fun, and Jove did made her take dance lessons in these stupid high heels she was seriously considering ditching... Jove observed her quietly and followed her gaze to the dance floor before looking directly into her eyes. "You shouldn't get used to me always being such a gentleman..." He warned knowing he had been a little extra polite that day but it had simply been because he wanted their first date to be memorable. Setting his cup down he walked over to her with his arm held out to her. "But I suppose one dance couldn't hurt."
Adrienne was honestly blown away by Jove's offer but not in a bad way, the gesture was really- sweet. Gently setting her glass down as well she laced her arm through his once again and allowed him to lead her to the center of the dance-floor. As a new song began to play she made sure to keep a comfortable distant from Jove, taking one of his hands in her's and placing her other on his shoulder. Jove smirk as he placed his hand on her hip and started to lead her in a simple waltz. Today had showed Adrienne yet another side of Jove and yet they all seemed to be the same, he was the ultimate mystery.  Though she was starting to enjoy that, he was undeniably different than any other boy she’d ever met. Jove gave her a pleased smile while gently spinning her around and pulling her back in even closer than before. The action caused heat to rise to her cheeks and Jove’s smirk to return. “Will I get another kiss after this?” He asked with mock innocence. “How about a slap?” Adrienne counted with an icy glare which only caused him to laugh.
Yukino smiled as he watched his son and Adrienne swirl across the dance-floor both looking perfect in their own unique way, Thea and he had definitely arranged for the right girl to come meet Jove. Well, meet him again. His beloved wife Thea had remembered the girl when they were in search of a bride for Jove, he used to always talk about her as a child. Luckily the girl came from a good background and her parents were old friends. Little did the two know the arrangements had already been made for their marriage, though he was happy they would love each other. Everything was going perfectly which pleased Yukino immensely. It would take a strong girl like Adrienne to save Jove from himself.
***

“So your plan doesn’t have anything to do with getting out of the school or turning on the lights, you’re only concerned about Kios’ hunger?” Sehun shook his head as followed the group to the academy’s Home Ec. room. Honestly this whole situation was so annoying, why bother even thinking about food at a time they should be making escape plans? Sure he could eat but someone had to be the logical one. “Just shut up Sehun, I hear your stomach growling too.” Danyell grumbled as they entered the room which shut Sehun up for the time being. “Hey I’m not complaining.” Kios chuckled while digging through the cupboards and pulling out random ingredients he saw fit to use in cooking. Danyell gave him a small smile as she dug through the fridge putting some meat and other key ingredients beside Kios then pulled out some spices from who knows where. The others simply watched them work not knowing how to help without getting in the way. It was interesting to watch them work together without ever speaking, they seemed to have gotten pretty good at reading each other by expressions even in the dimly lit school.
While everyone was watching Kios and Danyell cook Naro decide to test his luck and sit beside Grace, but she immediately moved to the corner. Still not speaking to him it would seem. Sighing Naro tried to think about what he could do to make Grace normal again but he really didn’t know if there was an answer to such a question. “Made I should ask Grace-” He thought out-loud before shaking his head. “Oh yeah…” While the others did their own things Sehun braved a glance at Elaine and slowly moved closer to her feeling a bit jealous. Kios and Danyell had held hands even if it was only for a few moments, and Grace and Naro had almost kissed, so why had nothing happened between him and Elaine? None of it made any sense to Sehun- it wasn’t like he wanted anything to happen… but weren’t these situations supposed to be an opening for romance to develop? Agh, he had been reading Grace’s blog too much! This wasn’t a silly romance novel and even if it was he’d want no part of it.
Elaine briefly met Sehun’s gaze, why was he moving closer to her? On top of that he had been staring at her for quite some time… Oh! He must’ve been afraid of the dark! Elaine knew that some people never got over that fear and could only imagine how scared he was in the massive dark school. She gave him a reassuring smile and placed her hand on top of his. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing to fear.” She did her best to whisper so only he could hear, a guy like Sehun would not take kindly to the others teasing him. Sehun’s eyes widen as he tried his best to explain that he wasn’t afraid of anything but the words got caught in his throat.
Seriously for being the most normal one in the group she sure could be weird, what was there for him to even be afraid off? He wanted to tell her all the things on his mind in his usual distant tone but her hand was freaking on top of his. He couldn’t think, he was probably blushing worse than Grace. “Umm, right- thank you.” He whispered back and tilted her hand so he could hold it, which she didn’t seem to mind. After shooting him another reassuring smile she turned her attention back to Danyell and Kios. So it was the wimpy thing to do but he would take what he could get- for now.
Danyell and Kios seemed to finish whatever they were working on and stuck the completed large glass pan into a gas oven at the edge of the room. Kios gave Danyell a warm smile to which she nodded with a smile of her own. Naro stood by himself against the wall and was starting to feel really awkward, so he did the first thing that came to his mind. Walking over to the far cupboards he grabbed a cup and filled it with water, then made his way over to Grace dumping it directly over her head. “Naro!” Grace gasped while rubbing the water from her eyes but paused when she saw his usual playful grin. Maybe she had been overreacting a bit, and the others did agree to pretend it never happened… “Better?” Naro asked cheekily while extending his hand down to her, with she accepted and pulled herself to her feet. “Much better actually.” She giggled with a matching grin. Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief, finally things could go back to normal.
A series of annoying beeps rang through the air. Hurrying to pull the food out of the oven Danyell called out to the others to come eat. After handing everyone a plate of lasagna the group began to eat in silence trying to figure out what to do next. It was now completely dark in the school which made seeing ten feet in front of you nearly impossible, they really needed a plan at this point or at least a place to sleep. “Wait a second, didn’t we use headlights for night games in gym not too long ago?” Danyell asked Kios who placed his hand in his chin in thought. “Yeah it wasn’t that long ago…” He nodded and stood up, “Let’s go check out the gym.” He suggested and headed to the door. “Wait!” She called out looking a bit frantic as she looked to the others. “Why doesn’t Grace and Naro go look for the headlights while we go- look for a place for everyone to sleep.” She finally announced when thinking up an equally important task for them to do. Kios gave her a pointed look but the others didn’t seem to notice her odd behavior. “Sure!” Grace stood up with a grin and pulled Naro out the door with her, who didn’t protest. “What do you want us to do?” Elaine asked while standing up, never letting go of Sehun’s hand, she didn’t want him to feel anymore afraid then he already did.
“You’re on clean up.” Kios shrugged as he made his way out the door with Danyell wondering what her deal was. “So are you going to talk to me yet?” He eyed her but kept his distance. Danyell rolled her eyes and walked a little faster. “Was I ever not talking to you?” Kios shook his head and chuckled while easily matching her pace. “I think you were, though I suppose I could be wrong.” Danyell paused for a moment while tucking her long hair behind her ears. “The meeting I’m missing is a really important event… As school President it was my responsibility to make sure it went well and to help schedule the dates for the upcoming school fair, you know to help draw new students to Eon.” Kios paused before gently placing his arm across her shoulders. “Everything will work out, I’m sure Yukino will forgive you- I can talk to him if you’d like.”
Kios’ reassuring smile actually provided some comfort to Danyell and she managed to smile back at him. “I’m sure you’re right, and no that’s fine I can explain on my own.” Taking in a deep breath to relax she gently slipped out of Kios arm and continued walking but Kios never followed. “Why avoid the gym?” He finally questioned, his black hair covering his eyes as he looked to the ground. He wasn’t upset, after all he had no reason to be, but what Danyell saw was slightly worse, curiosity. By nature Kios was very inquisitive, once he had a question he didn’t give up until he found an answer. She wasn’t getting out of this. After deciding that walking away wouldn’t help her she slowly looked towards him. “...Water.” She whispered, heat rising to her cheeks from embarrassment. Looking up at her in befuddlement he slightly raised one of his eyebrows while clearing his throat. “And what does water have to do with anything?” For a girl that tried to seem so normal she sure was weird sometimes.
Dang, this was not cool. Danyell tried to think up any possible way to make her reason sound less pathetic but failed miserably. “...It’s so dark I was afraid I might fall into the pool by mistake, I’m betting Kama didn’t actually close it.” Kios’ laughter did not make her feel any better about her weakness. “Is that what you were so scared of? If you had gotten wet you could’ve just changed into some clothes from your gym locker.” Did he really take her for that kind of girl?! “No moron, I can’t swim!” She punched him in the arm knowing that it probably wasn’t going to hurt as much as she wanted it to. Taking his laughter as a sign that she should’ve punched harder she growled at him in annoyance and began to stomp down the hall once more, though he caught up with her almost instantly. “Hey calm down, I’m sorry alright? It’s just weird to think that even you admit that there are things you can’t do.”
The brunette rolled her blue eyes as she looked up at him, was that a compliment or an insult? “Shut up, I’m not that cocky.” She muttered knowing he hadn’t meant it that way but arguing with him was more entertaining than having a regular conversation with him. Shaking his head with a quiet chuckle Kios grabbed her hand and gently pulled her with him back to the Home Ec. room. “Well I already know where we can sleep so let’s go get the others.” Of course he did, this whole walk had probably been to annoy her. Her cheeks puffed out in anger as he pulled her behind him. “...And Pres, There’s no need to be embarrassed I won’t tell the others.” Danyell cursed under her breath as her cheeks started to glow, but she couldn’t help it. Hearing him call her Pres was kind of cute… “I know.”
***

Grace tucked her long blonde hair behind her ears as she dug through the gyms cabins, squinting in an attempt to see better in the darkened school. The back room really creeped her out and unfortunately Naro wouldn’t come keep her company. “Naro, you know you could at least try to help!” Grace called out while listening to the sound of his basketball bouncing against the gym floor. “But I might never get the opportunity to do this again!” Honestly what boy had a goal to make a shot from half court in the dark? He probably just decided he wanted to when he saw the basketball next to the hoop. Grace sighed and continued her search before feeling a cool metal object, quickly pulling it out in excitement she ran out to the gym. “I found a handheld!” Grace slide her thumb up the side of the flashlight, finding the switch and flipping it on just in time to see the basketball swishing through hoop hanging from the far wall.
“OOOOOOOHHHHHHH!” Naro grinned as he ran around in circles faster than Grace had thought to be possible. Pausing a moment to take in the feat, Grace shook her head and chuckled as she grabbed Naro’s shoulder and pulled him out of the gym, carefully avoiding the open pool. Naro happily allowed himself to be pulled back to the Home Ec. room wearing a proud smile. He had made a basket from half court in the dark, which took some major skill! “You saw that though right?! Please tell me you saw that!”
***

Back inside the Home Ec. room Sehun and Elaine had finally finished cleaning up the cooking mess and waited for the others to show up. The two waited in silence which really bothered Sehun, but Elaine didn’t seem to mind it at all. Braving yet another look at Elaine he tried to find any sign of her feeling uncomfortable, but she only appeared to be very relaxed. Lowering his gaze to their hands he quietly sighed. “You don’t have to hold my hand if you don’t want to.” He whispered while shaking his head. This whole time she had never released his hand, which was sweet and all, but also very nerve-racking. Elaine smiled gently and shook her head. “I don’t mind, so don’t worry.” Sehun looked around at the cluttered room and tried to think something else to say but was saved by the others finally returning.
“I found a flashlight!” Grace smiled proudly pointing it at Sehun and Elaine, only then being able to tell they were holding hands and let out a high pitched squeal. “Don’t point that at people's eyes moron!” Sehun yelled out in embarrassment luckily causing Grace to immediately point it to the ground. “I made a hoop from half court in the dark!” Naro broke the silence either not realizing what had just happened or choosing to ignore it, it was hard to tell with him. “Who hasn’t done that?” Kios shrugged as he looked to Naro with a smirk. “W-What?! There’s no way you’ve done that!” The girls sighed as the two started to argue, well not exactly arguing more like Kios taunting Naro over something he’d never actually done. Grace sighed and tried calm Naro down since he hadn’t seemed to pick up on Kios’ bluff. Honestly why’d they always have to tease Naro? There were plenty of other options…
“Not to interrupt but where are we sleeping?” Sehun sighed impatiently and moved towards the door, it was late, he was tired, and his hands were starting to get sweaty. He rather not have Elaine remembering holding his hand as a bad experience due to being nervous. “Oh right, follow me.” Kios shrugged and strolled into the hall in his usual mysterious manner, the others following behind him. “Wait I wasn’t done!” Naro whined as he slowly followed his friends bring up the back of the group.    
***
   
By the end of the night Adrienne was absolutely exhausted. Jove’s one dance had turned into many more dances, though she really couldn’t complain since their relationship was mainly built on actions and silence anyway. Dancing was the perfect activity for them. Adrienne found it humorous that they could dance for hours in silence, a task most would find extremely awkward, and still truly enjoy every minute of it. As much fun as the night had been she had welcomed it’s ending, all that time she’d spent swirling with Jove on the dance floor had brutally murdered her feet. Dang high heels. “Oh come now, it wasn’t so bad.” Jove chuckled as he walked her home, he had claimed Town Hall wasn’t far from her house though Adrienne knew Jove was just trying to prolong their time together.
    Shrugging, the blonde glanced over at the calm boy who quietly whistled as they neared her street. “I suppose it could have been worse.” Jove shot her a lopsided grin, obviously finding amusement in her attitude as they approached the door. Adrienne offered him a small smile in return then pulled a key out from under her doormat, placing it in the keyhole and turning it until she was greeted with a small click. Walking into her home she paused briefly as she began to close the door and glanced back at Jove once more. “Thank you- I had fun.”
    Seeing that as his opening Jove smirked and closed his eyes slowly leaning in for a kiss, but only received the door slammed in his face. “Goodnight!” Adrienne yelled through the door as she snuck a glance at him out the side window. Jove laughed and shook his head as he walked back to Town Hall, all that work and he didn’t even get a kiss goodnight. Truthfully it didn’t bug him at all though he did find it interesting, Adrienne was quite the woman. “Tomorrow I’ll have to shove two kids into that broken locker to make up for being so kind today.” He thought out-loud with a sigh, sometimes maintaining his reputation was more troublesome than it was worth. Oh well, he didn’t care for other people anyway, keeping them in line wasn’t so bothersome.
***
   
Kios pushed open two wooden double doors and lead the group into a small room they’d never been in before. Even with the small flashlight it was hard to make out the four couches and two tables adorning the room. “Welcome to the Chess Club!” Kios announced with a grin, “Best place to nap in school.” Naro laughed and ran to the farthest couch, jumping just before he reached it and falling into it’s soft cushions. “So that why you’re in the Chess club.” Danyell rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight off the smile that tugged the corner of her lips. “Well that, and I’m a stud at chess.” Kios smirked before looking at Naro. “Some of us will have to pair up but if you want to be one of the us that gets their own couch I don’t mind.”
    Kios’ comment caused everyone to grow silent, all considering the different ways they could pair up. If Naro got his own then Grace and Danyell could pair up, or Elaine and Grace, maybe one of the girls would claim a couch for themselves? In the end everyone was exhausted and didn’t care who slept where. Knowing that Grace had reached her limit in embarrassment for the day Naro didn’t think it was wise to invite her to come sleep with him. “Hey Kios why don’t you have Grace sleep on her own couch too?” Naro suggested sheepishly while scratching the back of his head, he didn’t know why but he didn’t want to risk Grace getting paired up with one of the other boys. The thought caused him to feel… Well he couldn’t quite explain it. After pausing a moment in thought Kios nodded in agreement. “Yeah that’s fine, Grace and Naro get their own couches then.” Kios announced. Grace shrugged and took the couch across from Naro with a yawn falling asleep almost as soon as she laid down.
    After admiring Grace’s ability to fall asleep so quickly Danyell consider the other possible pairings for the two remaining couches. “Well that leaves Sehun and Kios and Elaine and I.” Danyell yawned and started to sink into the sofa by the double doors. “Wait a minute, I am not sleeping with Kios, that may be fine for girls who are friends but guys have different rules.” Sehun shook his head with a stern look and Kios nodded in agreement. Elaine shrugged and laid down on the only remaining couch facing her back to Sehun who did the same, in her opinion it wasn’t a big deal though she had a feeling it was going to be hard to sleep for the next few minutes… Danyell blushed knowing where this was going, how was it Elaine literally never got embarrassed? She’d bet 20 bucks that if Sehun managed to man up and kissed her she wouldn’t react at all, though she probably also wouldn’t recognize it as a kiss.
“I’ll just take the floor.” Danyell stood with an awkward laugh but was quickly drug back down with Kios as he flopped onto the comfortable sofa, blushing harder as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Iskios!” She warned in embarrassment but only received a series of soft snores in response. She didn’t want to wake the others, who had either fallen asleep or pretended to do so, but it was growing harder and harder to not yell at him. Danyell’s blush spread from her cheeks to every inch of her face as Kios’ grip tightened around her. After hesitating a few moments she slowly laid her head against Kios’ chest, telling herself that there was no other option. “I know you’re awake Kios.” She grumbled before finally drifting off to sleep, never having a chance to catch  the small smirk that Kios wore as she moved closer to him. “I was expecting you too… After all I don’t sleep.” He finally whispered back with a soft chuckle.


(~The Next Morning~)

   
Zofia yawned as her green Jeep pulled into the school parking lot. It was so early that the sun was just barely starting to rise but she couldn’t sleep when she got inspiration, and last night she’d gotten a lot of it. She had the weirdest dream… But weird dreams were always great for illustrating comics or random designs. Pulling her hair up into a ponytail the blonde hopped out of the old car and headed to the academy’s main entrance. As she reached into her pocket to grab her key she was surprised to find there was already one in the door, were there other students here? Shrugging it off, she opened the door and pulled the other key out of the lock, maybe she could return to whoever had lost it which wouldn’t be too hard since only club presidents got keys to the school.
    Zofia made her way to the Art Club’s room while mentally noting to take some more supplies home, she had been having to drive to the school about once a week now due to using up all her materials more quickly than she had anticipated. As she turned a corner in the North Hall she noticed a club door open just a few rooms down from the Art Room- come to think of it she had no idea what club that room belonged too. She reached into her pocket retrieving the key she’d found in the door she made her way to the beautiful double doors and peaked inside the room.
“Ah, Sorry to interrupt!” She yelled with glowing cheeks as soon as her gaze fell upon two students getting really- cozy on the couch. Wait a second… “Pres?! And...Kios?!” Zofia was so lost, didn’t Danyell claim to hate Kios? When did they start to date? As confused as she already was she was even more so when high pitched squealing came from the back of the room. Grace ran forward with her bulky flash camera and started wildly snapping pictures of the two which finally woke Danyell. “It’s canon, it’s canon, IT’S CANON!!!” Grace continued to squeal while Danyell rubbed her eyes with a soft yawn. “What about a canon-?” She mumbled quietly before remembering what had happened last night and immediately turning brighter than Zofia.
“Well here’s the key I found in the door…” Zofia awkwardly dropped the key on the floor, noticing Elaine and Sehun standing from their sofa as well. Did she even want to know what they were all doing here? Giving the group a brief bow goodbye Zofia began to briskly walk back to the Art Room. “Wait! We weren’t doing anything!” Danyell finally managed to find her words and defend herself while frantically trying to push Kios away from her, though he had a rather tight grip for someone who was sleeping. “Oh come on, stop faking! I can see your smirk Iskios!” The President yelled as she punched Kios, who was probably having the time of his life seeing her so embarrassed. That stupid jerk.

“Canon, canon, canon, canon~!” Grace continued to sing out while the others laughed.

“DELETE THE STUPID PICTURES! AGH, I HATE YOU ALL!”

Eh, She’ll Probably Get Over It.

It had been a long crazy week for Danyell and Elaine, since they had both missed the school meeting last weekend they wanted to make up for it by planning the school festival early. Hopefully this would insure that they could come up with the perfect activities to outdo the previous festivals, however the goal was easier said than done. They knew in order to make the festival as good as it could be they’d need a lot of help, and although Jove was Vice President it hadn’t taken long for them to realize that he wouldn’t really help with anything that required work or time, so he was basically worthless. Elaine looked over the reinforcements Danyell had called in to hopefully make planning the events for the annual school festival both faster and more efficient. Grace, Zofia, and Adrienne sat around a large table in the library with the President and herself.
Elaine was a little surprised that Danyell hadn’t called in the boys but she noticed that the brunette had been carefully avoiding Kios the past few days, probably due to the whole being locked in the school fiasco. The small girl let out a sigh while she pushed back her long blue locks, honestly did it matter? She had slept beside Sehun and it wasn’t bad at all, in fact it wasn’t any different than sharing a bed with Grace. Danyell did seem to overreact about ‘those’ types of things.
“All right, so far the only idea we’ve come up with is having a cafe set up… any other ideas to draw attention to Eon?” Danyell sighed, planning a normal event was hard work but planning an event for a place that had such high expectations as Eon was proving to be nearly impossible. She studied the blank expressions of the students sitting around the table with her before beginning to rub her temples. Honestly, none of them could come up with anything and the bell for first period would ring any minute. “Why don’t we have each homeroom pick their own booth to run or game to host?” Grace finally piped up, raising her hand in the air even though she never waited to be called on.
Danyell glanced up at the blonde with a wide grin, which she seemed to wear much more often than she used to. “Involving the whole school, which will spread excitement about the festival, and making the work easier for us at the same time! That's brilliant Grace!” Grace grinned and began to speak again when sound of the bell rang through the air. Danyell grimaced at the horrid sound, that always seemed to brutally murdered her eardrums, before glancing down at her pile of papers. They may have an idea now but even doing something that simple required a little planning, they needed to figure out how to get the information to every class without confusion. “I can type up an official announcement and deliver it to all the teachers, would you like me to add a list of suggestion at the bottom as well Madam President?” Elaine gathered the papers from in front of Danyell then quickly started to scan through them.
“No, no Elaine that is far too much work for-” Elaine calmly raised a hand to silence the president as she began to head towards the door. Danyell chuckled as she slowly shook her head, her chocolate eyes focused on the floors beneath her. Elaine was truly something else, she had been working so hard lately and yet she never protested or let on that she was tired at all. Danyell looked out at all of her friends as they began to leave, realization dawning upon her. They had all been working hard, every one of them put in far more hours into some part of the school or another than the Principal had ever asked. “Wait a second everyone!” She called out while sprinting into the hallway to catch up with them. "I’ve decided we need a girl’s night, invite anyone you think could use it. We’ll do it at Adrienne’s house.”
Adrienne stared at the President with wide eyes, she had helped plan the festival  because they asked but she’d never agreed to that! Why did she automatically assume it was fine to hold something at her house?! She didn’t even know her that well… “That sounds awesome!” Grace squealed in excitement while tackling Adrienne with a bear hug. “Thank you so much Adrienne!” Immediately attempting to shove the freshman off of her Adrienne was amazed by how clueless these people were. “Why don’t you all invite yourselves to stay the night while you’re at it? Tomorrow's a day off anyway." She grumbled sarcastically while finally managing to escape from Grace. “Really that’s even better!” Oh for the love of crystals, someone help her!
***

Naro leaned back over his chair grinning as he heard a loud pop, one thing school desks were good for besides hurting your rear end. After taking a few moments to enjoy the relief in his back he glanced down to the book on his desk. He hated English, the teacher wouldn’t let him read picture books because she said they were for babies. Sighing out of both boredom and frustration he picked up the adventure book he’d secretly scene Grace reading while working in the library. He’d thought for sure that if Grace liked it that it’d be a great book, and he was sure it was, the only problem was that he couldn’t read a lot of the words the pages held. He understood little to nothing of what was going on in the book Grace had looked so happy reading… As his thoughts drifted to Grace he quickly glanced at Ms. Reisha, who was lost in a book of her own, before pulling out his phone and hiding it within the open pages.
After texting a quick hey to Grace he waited patiently for a reply which took a few minutes to come but not long compared to when he usually texted Grace during class. He chuckled quietly at her worry of being caught, which could easily be seen in her short reply. Normally if he texted Grace she’d write him a novel in reply but whenever he did so in school it was always ‘Not now’, ‘I’m busy’, or ‘Really Naro?’, it was kind of cute really. Weighing how much she’d freak out if he texted her again he decided she might not react so badly if he asked her to hang out with him tonight. Smiling at the thought of them watching a movie with the others he glanced down to see she had texted back. To his surprise, and disappointment, the text had been an apology she said that the girls were doing a girls night at Adrienne’s house.
Girl’s Night? What was that? Shrugging, he texted that he’d come too, but Grace sent back that it didn’t work that way. His usual smile faded into a obviously hurt expression as he reread the text several times, did Grace just reject him? Maybe he was reading it wrong… He slowly sunk onto his desktop and tried to figure out what he was feeling when he remembered that Sehun sat in front of him.
“Sehun, we’re having a man’s night!” The brunette yelled in excitement only to be shushed by Ms. Reisha. After the teacher returned to reading Sehun slowly turned to face Naro. “Men don’t do that.” He rolled his eyes and tried to turn back around but was forced to remain facing Naro as his childish friend grabbed his shoulder, ripping him back. “They do now.”
***

The school day seemed to fly by after that, Zofia had invited Derek and Lila to join them and the other girls while the boys invited anyone who was upset by the sudden girl’s night. Naro didn’t really know some of the boys he’d invited but in the end it didn’t matter, he just didn’t want them to feel how he felt when Grace had sent him that message…
She probably hadn’t meant to hurt him in anyway, wait hurt? Please he did not get hurt over something silly like that, right? Naro had spent most the day trying to fight off thoughts similar to those. So naturally when seventh period rolled around it was his first instinct to go straight home and prepare for the boys night instead of hang out with Grace on the free period as he normally did, but he couldn’t do it.
What if he hurt Grace’s feelings? He felt awful just thinking of her being all by herself, that wasn’t what a real friend would do. Plus boys might try to hit on her… Ah, he didn’t care about that either. He gently banged a palm against his forehead in attempt to clear his head as he strolled down school hallways finally spotting Grace who was on her way up to the roof.
“Hey Grace, wait up!" He yelled while sprinting to her side. "Hey Naro!" She shot him a bright smile while continuing to climb up the stairs, "You think we'll find Kios and Danyell up here again?" She whispered in a joking manner as she pushed the doors open and walked out onto the top of the school, glancing out to the view of the campus with a satisfied grin. Naro trailed after her, walking out onto the roof rather awkwardly.
What should he say? She was acting the same as she always did so maybe it wasn't a big deal? The blonde glanced over at her friend, only then noticing his mood. It wasn't like Naro to act so distant, was something wrong? "Hey Naro come here." After slipping her bulky camera out of her backpack she then tossed the bag aside before returning her gaze to the campus once more. "It's beautiful today, don't you think so?"
Naro looked at her in confusion before moving beside her. "Err, yeah I guess it is." He gave her a small nod then scanned the large campus gardens with his dark eyes. Chuckling quietly Grace turned around, leaning her back against the small fence on the roof, then motioned for him to do the same. "Let's take a picture!" She beamed while holding the camera out with one arm.
Naro felt heat rise to his cheeks as he started to move away from her, "W-What, why?" Before he could fully make his escape Grace slipped her hand into his, tugging him back to her side. "I want a picture with my best friend!" She watched as his eyes widen, why was he surprised? "It's just... Since we are both busy tonight we might as well enjoy ourselves now, plus I don't have any photos of us together."
Glancing at the ground in embarrassment she knew her cheeks probably looked similar to Naro's. Pulling the camera from her hand without a word he gently placed his arm around her and paused a few moments before taking the picture. When he finally turned the camera around to see how it had turned out they both couldn't help but smile. Their cheeks were both burning, which was embarrassing, but they both were genuine smiles. A true happiness that you don't often see in pictures.
"Wow, you did great Naro!" Deep down Grace was hiding a very high, very loud squeal. She knew that this was a picture she'd treasure forever, something about it gave her reassurance. Friends or more than that it didn't matter anymore Naro would always be there for her, and she for him.
Was that love?
***

"Watch out, Adrienne!" Grace warned with a giggle before slamming her plush pillow over Adrienne’s head. The dark haired girl swatted her tiny attacker, who was nearly her same size, away from her with a pillow of her own while attempting to fix her ponytail. "Really Grace?! And why did you warn me if you were the one attacking?!" Curtly shaking her head she tried to figure out why the other girls hadn't asked to come over, or even pieced together that she wasn't happy about the situation. Maybe they just didn't care, which explained a lot more than her other theories.
“I was giving you time to defend yourself.” The blonde seemed to be truly enjoying herself, maybe even slightly too much? What got her in such a giddy mood to begin with? “Hey Grace keep it down I’m trying to sleep.” Danyell murmured softly then promptly covered her face with a spare pillow. “What?! You can’t go to sleep yet we literally just got here!” In ten minutes Danyell had somehow showered, brushed her teeth, changed into her red nightgown, made herself a place on the floor, and curled into her sleeping bag for the night. This had been her idea, what was wrong?
“...You don’t get out much do you?” Derek asked rather bluntly as she walked into the room from the bathroom, a pink towel wrapped around her wet hair. Swiftly springing up in a defensive manner the brunette gaped at the girl, was it that obvious? “Of course I do!” She quickly assured the pinkette but was silenced as the girl raised her hand. “Hey, I’m not judging. I’m Derek by the way, I’ve heard great things about you from Saron Pres.” She chuckled then laid out her sleeping bag by Zofia and a purple haired girl Danyell didn't recognize. Derek's comment caught the president slightly off guard, sure she and Saron talked from time to time but they weren’t super close.
In the end the thought made her smile, so people did like her, well some of them anyway. “I’m Danyell.” She finally responded with a small nod. "Who is your friend?" She asked Zofia and Derek while looking to the young girl with a welcoming smile. "Oh I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself!" She giggled while rubbing the back of her head with one hand and extending the other for her to shake. "I'm Lila, a Freshman." Immediately accepting her offer Danyell shook Lila’s hand while withholding all the 'fresh meat' jokes she had learned over the years. "Pleasure." Her reply was polite yet simple obviously not too comfortable when meeting new people, that discomfort distracted her from noticing Grace who managed to sneak up behind her before promptly attacking her best friend with her pillow. "Grace!" She exclaimed through a fit of laughter, leave it to Grace to break the ice.
"Don't encourage her." Elaine sighed as she made her way out of the bathroom wearing a blue pajama shirt and fussy white pajama pants. "She'll never fall asleep." Ignoring her sister's comments the blonde quickly spun on her heels, turning her attack from Danyell to her twin. "Don't worry I didn't forget about you!" Just before Grace managed to hit Elaine Zofia jumped up with a green pillow and smacked her away from her friend, stunning Grace, then turned her attack to Danyell. At that point the whole room found themselves breaking out into giggles and squeals as pillows began to fly at random threw the air, even Adrienne and Elaine joined into the fight.
Stealthily grabbing a nearby pillow Elaine managed to sneak up behind her stunned sister and literally knock her to the floor, though Grace was quick to jump back to her feet then immediately returned the favor. Adrienne found herself laughing as she caught the President, who had been battling with Zofia, by surprise and slammed the pillow directly at her face. Bursting into her own fit of laughter Zofia didn’t notice Adrienne’s next target was none other than herself and suffered a similar fate. Adrienne drew her hand to her mouth in attempt to hide her laughter which left her wide open to the strike Lila and Derek had been planning in the corner, as she stumbled to the ground Adrienne couldn’t help but continue to laugh. It was nice to finally relax and feel like she could be herself.
The teenagers continued to battle playfully until they could no longer find the strength to run or even stand, then sank to the ground while gasping for air. Grace chuckled softly as she wiped the sweat from her brow, who would've thought they could have so much fun with such a simple activity? "Well... You guys know what's next?" Struggling to force themselves into a sitting position the girls lazily looked to Grace each too tired to make an effort responding. A devilish grin crept onto the blonde’s face which caused a moment of panic to consume each of the girls. “Truth or Dare!”
***
   
Earlier that night Naro’s bedroom had been quite a sight, he had a flat screen television, all the latest gaming systems, a bed that seemed a bit too large to be addressed as ‘king sized’, and a fridge packed full of every junk food one could need. It was a bit surprising to everyone but Naro actually seemed like a rather neat person, well that or he had a maid. Adding to his long list of valuables in the room he even had a small bookshelf in the corner though when Kios and Sehun went to read the books it held they discovered large portions of the books were missing, they had been torn out by something that left marks that looked suspiciously like teeth. Grace had once told the boys Naro thought books were food but they hadn’t taken her seriously, surely someone had taught him to read before her… He was in his Senior year after all.
    Although the room had been neat and orderly at the beginning of the night after only an hour of the boys going through all of the things Naro had it was hard to tell the difference between the large room and the city dump. “So what do we do now?” Saron asked as he tossed the black game controller he had been using to the side. In just a hour the boys had not only ‘redecorated’ they had also beaten the high scores on all of the games Naro owned, which was quite a feat in itself. “Don’t worry I have something planned!” The brunette grinned as he adjusted his headband then ran to his closet, grabbing a movie before putting it in the DVD player.
    “We’re watching the old James Bond movie?” Jove sighed in annoyance while shaking his head, why had he agreed to come to this in the first place? A small shiver ran down his spine as Naro’s begging replayed in his mind, who knew someone could possibly be so annoying? “It’s not that old, plus it’s the best one. Besides spy movies are the coolest! Don’t you just wish you could be a spy? The action, the explosions, the awesome weapons, and all the ladies love you.” He wiggled his dark eyebrows in a joking manner causing most of the boys to laugh.
    “Well the ladies might love you if you stopped doing your hair like them, I nearly mistook you for my sister.” Jove smirked as he calmly raised one hand to adjust his glasses, the television’s bright light reflected in his lenses making them glow slightly, giving him a more taunting look. Naro’s jaw dropped and he felt his face growing warmer as the other boy’s laughter grew louder. “Look who's talking ponytail!” He shot back with an immediate recovery while running a hand through his shoulder length hair with a wide grin. “Chicks dig the headband, you might know that if you actually had a sister.” Ryuu and Daniel both let out a synchronized, “OHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Just by looking at the Freshman one could probably tell they had eaten a little too much sugar that night.
    Although his smirk faltered for a moment the Vice President was just as quick to bounce back as Naro had been. With a small shake of the head Jove spoke once more. “Well then I suppose there’s only one way to settle this, we’ll all take on a spy mission. Our objective will be simple, sneak over to Adrienne’s house, get as much information as possible, get the girl, and go out with a bang.” Kios sprung up from his seat and rushed in between the two boys. “We are not blowing anything else up we got in enough trouble the first time for that, Naro, Sehun, and I still don’t get to enjoy our Saturdays.” Jove’s glare was practically a legend across the school so you could imagine his reaction when Kios actually held it with a glare of his own.  
    “Don’t worry, we’ll just come in with a bang!” Naro gave him a thumbs up while running to grab something in his closet, how that made any difference to the situation was beyond any of the other boys.
***
   
“Alright… Grace it was you idea, Truth or Dare?” Danyell asked with a challenging eyebrow raised, obviously not asking for a reason as casual as she had played it off to be. Shifting awkwardly on top of her sleeping bag the blonde tried to think of which would be less embarrassing for her. “...Truth?” A quiet reply finally escaped her lips as she looked over everyone in the group quickly adding, “What’s said in the circle stays in the circle, got it?!” Although Grace had obviously meant to choose the safe answer she had actually picked the one Danyell had been hoping for. Simply nodding along with the rest of the girls to Grace’s rule, which was a pretty common rule when playing such a game, before beginning her question with a small smirk. “What’s got you in such a good mood today?”
Dang, she had been set up by her best friend. Hoping that she wasn’t blushing too badly she began to attempt making up an acceptable excuse, because I think I’m in love was definitely not something she was ready to say out-loud. “Well- school's been really stressful lately and I’m just glad to have a break today you know?” Danyell nearly called her out on her obvious lie but decided it’d be best just to grill her later. “Well it’s good to see you so carefree again.” A small chuckle escaped Danyell’s lips as she glanced around the circle. Grace had been right about one thing, it sure was nice to have a break. “Well it’s your turn Grace.”
Just around that time the boys arrived at Adrienne’s home thanks to Jove’s instructions then followed him as he began to climb up to the balcony outside her bedroom. Landing on the large balcony he motioned for the others to remain quiet while he inched closer to the glass sliding door vaguely hearing, “So Danyell, Truth or Dare?” Hmm, he had heard that voice before but was having a hard time placing his finger on exactly which girl it was. “Hey that’s Grace!” Naro had thought he talked in a whisper by in the end it was still a bit too loud, causing Jove to place a hand over his mouth.
“Truth.” Well that was good, the girls hadn’t seemed to have heard Naro. Jove looked over his shoulder to see the entire group had made it onto the roof then signaled them to move closer to the door. Everyone quietly obliged wondering what is the girls were doing. ”Have you and Kios kissed yet?” What amusing timing not only were they playing Truth or Dare but Jove also got to hear information on his OTP before it got posted on the fan blog!- That he totally didn’t read. “No! Why would I kiss that jerk!” Everyone slowly raised an eyebrow as their gaze turned to Kios, surely that wasn’t true, but in the end his reaction didn’t clarify anything. He simply let out a low chuckle while sporting an amused smirk, was that a yes she's telling the truth or a no she’s lying? Jove could hardly take the suspense, nearly ready to pull out his phone and catch up on the blog right then and there. Saron on the other hand felt a new pillar of hope grow within him, the President could still be single!
“Let’s see… Zofia, Truth or Dare?” Danyell’s voice was barely audible through the glass door causing the boys to move a bit closer. “Dare.” Although most of the boys didn’t know who Zofia was clear from her tone she was a very laid back person, most girls never took on a dare. “...Umm- I dare you to text the person you think is the best looking in our school.” All the girls burst out into laughter and fits of giggles while the boys tried to figure out what had been so funny about the dare. “I actually don’t have his number… He’s just my partner in science.” She finally admitted with a soft blush once the laughter had died down.
“Well who is it? Maybe we can help you out.” Danyell chuckled while pulling out her phone then pulled up her contacts. “...Sehun.” Zofia finally admitted, knowing that they would indeed have his number, especially Elaine. Braving a glance at her cool headed friend Zofia only saw surprise in her body language and expression, luckily no anger. Being the first to recover Grace moved forward and handed Zofia her cell. “Just use mine!” She offered with a smile, though deep down she had mixed feelings about her actually doing so. Nodding her thanks Zofia accepted the phone and simply sent Sehun a text saying hey.
Outside the boys were all frozen in place, so… If Zofia was into Sehun, and Sehun was into Elaine did that make this a love triangle? Or was it something else altogether since no one knew Elaine’s feelings towards Sehun? Of the all the boys Sehun would’ve definitely won the award for the most conflicted, did Elaine even care? He probably would’ve stayed in his daze for quite some time if it hadn’t been for the buzz coming from his pocket. “Shoot!” He whispered while fumbling to turn off his phone, receiving death glares from all the other boys. The room grew quiet for a moment, had they been caught? Their heartbeats seemed to be much louder than normal, resembling a bass drum within their chests.
The girls looked from one to another in annoyance, who wouldn’t have heard all the noise Sehun was making with his phone? They had gotten one day to themselves and a boy, if not many, had gone and ruined it. Poor Zofia was bright red from embarrassment, a look Danyell couldn't  picture until now. “Zofia you have to ask someone else now.” Forcing a chuckle the brunette motioned for Grace and Adrienne to follow her, which they did. While the three girls gathered all the pillows in the room quietly the others played along like nothing had ever happened. “Lila, Truth or Dare?”
Letting out a grown Lila shook her head begging not to go when the boys could hear, but the others didn’t want to risk the boys knowing they were on to them. “Come on Lila it’s not so bad.” Derek playfully punched her arm in encouragement, though it was much easier for her to say since she hadn’t been called on yet. “Truth.” Lila finally grumbled under her breath hoping the girl’s would take it easy on her. “Ryuu or Daniel?” Zofia replied without missing a beat, she had been waiting so long to know and now she finally had a chance.
Ryuu and Daniel immediately shoved their way to the front of the group, standing as close to the door as possible without being seen. “Well-” Daniel waited in complete silence not willing to miss her answer. Realizing that he was shaking he quickly placed one hand over the other in hopes to calm himself, while clinging to every word coming from the room just as Ryuu did. Today they would finally know! “Gotcha!” The sliding glass door opened and before either of them could react all of the girls rushed at them literally knocking them off the balcony with their pillows. “Ryuu and Daniel are defeated! The enemy pulled a sneak attack!” Naro narrated the spectacle as if he was in some old movie while he pulled something from his belt then nailed Danyell in the face with it.
Danyell whipped the suddenly wetness out of her eyes instantly realizing what he’d thrown, a water balloon. “Don’t hit them in the face Naro we talked about this!” Kios stepped forward, personally punching his friend in the gut. “I’m out!” Saron called as he jumped down from the balcony helping Ryuu and Daniel get out of the bushes then disappearing down the street. If the cops showed up they’d be at Naro’s enjoying the food. “We have a deserter!” Naro groaned his narration, still recovering from Kios’ blow. Meanwhile the rest of the teens had broken out into a battle of water balloons and pillows.
Zofia and Lila sat back and watched as Derek cheered while running through the group of people remaining and hitting anyone she could with her pillow, even the girls. “She sure is having fun.” Lila muttered in amazement to which Zofia nodded with a soft chuckle. What an interesting, and embarrassing, day this was turning out to be. Danyell laughed as Derek’s pillow hit her then meet Kios’ gaze. Watching Danyell with a challenging smirk he motioned for her to come and get him. “You scared?”
Adrienne smacked Sehun out of her way, not caring at all about the stupid battle, and marched straight over to Jove. “You lead all the boys to my house without permission?!” She yelled angrily while repeatedly smacking him with her pillow. Jove chuckled a bit nervously, usually Adrienne just obeyed whatever he said however he had a feeling that wouldn’t the case today. “Good evening Adrienne, you look beautiful in you footie pajamas.” Glancing down at herself in embarrassment she felt heat rise to her cheeks upon seeing that she was indeed wearing her footie pajamas.
“Stop acting like you own me!” She yelled in frustration before shoving him over and accidentally landing on top of him. Jove simply laughed and helped her up, deciding it was best to not further upset her by kissing her today. She’d probably be cooled off by tomorrow. “I don’t have to act when you make it that easy.” He whispered playfully with a wink before leaping off the building and running down the street. “I got information!” He yelled over his shoulder to taunt Naro. “Hey I got that too!” Naro yelled back while finally pulling his arms away from his stomach.
Kios laughed as Danyell finally ran at him, giving him a face full of pillow. Easily taking the pillow from her he returned the favor with an evil grin, letting out a disappointed sigh as Jove made his retreat. “Well that was short lived.” He mumbled while shaking his head before hitting her with the pillow again. “But- staying a bit longer couldn’t hurt since you’ve been avoiding me.” He teased, causing her face to turn a soft pink. “I-I haven’t been!” She defended while trying to rip the pillow back from him. “Yes she has.” Elaine called over from her battle with Sehun in a casual tone. “It seems I’m right.” Kios smirked, letting his guard down just long enough for Danyell to pull the pillow back and hit him with it. “Just shut it!”
Although Sehun was enjoying the water balloon versus pillow fight with Elaine he couldn’t help but glance at Zofia, why was she sitting to the side? Didn’t she want to enjoy into the battle as well? Returning his gaze to Elaine as simultaneously as it had left her he felt a slight pain in his chest, did she really not care at all? Even though one of her best friends admitted she thought he was the cutest boy in the whole school? Sure it wasn’t the same as a crush but it counted for something, right? Finally pulling himself back to reality he ran towards the edge of the balcony and jumped off. “I’m heading back as well!” He called back to the two remaining boys before running down the street.  
“Are you okay?” Grace approached Naro with a look of genuine concern on her face. “Yeah I’m- Oh wait that’s it!” Naro beamed as he stood up straighter, everyone had blown the entrance, they all had the same info on the girls now, but that did still leave one category. “Grace you can be my girl!” He leaned down, gave her a quick peck on the cheek, leapt off the balcony with his usual childish grin, and ran down the street in excitement. “Come on Kios, let's tell everyone I won!” He cheered as Kios chuckled and jumped off after him.
As the two ran down the street Grace was left there with wide eyes and very mixed emotions. Gently brushing a hand against her cheek where he kissed her she realized how hot her cheeks were, she was basically burning up. His words seemed to keep replaying within her mind. You can be my girl… Did he have any deeper meaning to that?


Was That Love?

The darkened streets of Japan were lined with pumpkins, cobwebs, and other decorations that ranged from cheesy to frightening. One who walked down the sidewalks on this special day might have said the air smelled like apple cider, fresh donuts, or even pots of hot soup thanks to several parties that were being hosted. It was clear from the protesting growls of overstuffed stomachs that everyone was more than happy to help eat the plentiful plies of food. Children's screams and laughter filled the atmosphere in a way that could only mean it was that time of year, Halloween. Although most highschoolers had moved on from trick or treating to scaring the children who still enjoyed the activity Eon still presented their students with a reason to dress up and get into the spirit of things, the annual Halloween Bash. The celebration was anticipated all year round and was almost as cherished as Christmas Break.
Zofia smiled as she applied the finishing touches to the decorations that adorned the gym, and then took a step back to admire her handy work. "Nice work everyone!" She announced with a grin while clapping her hands together, the art club had truly outdone themselves this time. She personally thanked everyone for their hard work, and then took a few moments to arrange plans for tonight with Lila and Derek. Being the type of person she was it wasn't unusual to see her in such a cheerful mood, though today was extra special. As far as holidays went Halloween was definitely one of her favorites and she planned to enjoy this year's to the fullest at Eon's midnight party. Causally strolling out of the gym she looked down the hallways, which looked as festive as the gym, and waved to Elaine and Sehun who had been kind enough to lend a hand. "Oh , everything looks great!"
Zofia beamed, desperately fighting off a blush as her sea green eyes rested on Sehun. Had he really heard her at Adrienne’s the other night? Gosh, that was embarrassing. "Thank you, we tried our best." Elaine shrugged while brushing her sapphire hair over her shoulder. She liked Zofia, in fact she was one of her closest friends... So why did she feel so awkward around her? So she thought Sehun was cute, it had nothing to do with her- right? "Yeah well Elaine asked me to help so I came, and now we're done." Sehun's voice was almost as cold as his eyes, though deep down he didn't mean it. He just didn't know how to act in this situation. The worst part was Elaine didn't seem to care at all…
"Right, of course, though it was still very kind of you to help out." Zofia's smile faltered slightly as she spoke, her tone even and seemingly uncaring. She said he was cute she never said she liked liked him, honestly everyone was taking this too far. "Well I'll see you both tonight." Forcing her smile back onto her lips she gave them both a small nod goodbye before turning sharply on her heels and storming to the school's exit to take refuge in her old reliable Jeep.
Sehun's stomach dropped as Zofia walked away, his hand raised to stop her, though he forced it back to his side and stayed silent. He had no right to call out to her, for Pete's sake he hardly knew the girl. Sighing he held the door open for Elaine as he glanced back at where Zofia had been. It wasn't like he disliked her... In fact from what he had seen from her in science and at the girl's night he'd say she was pretty cool, he just didn't like her that way... Then again he didn't like Elaine that way either... This whole stupid situation was so messed up!
***

In preparation for the Halloween Bash Kios, Naro, Danyell, and Grace had agreed to meet up at Naro's house to change into the costumes the boys had offered to buy the busy girls. Even though it technically wasn't a date the group thought it'd be fun to dress up in matching costumes the boys selected, after all that would make it easier to distinguish the group in the huge crowd that would be attending the party. Originally Elaine and Sehun were going to come as well but they claimed to have other responsibilities to take care of, whatever that meant.
"ISKIOS! This is not funny!" Danyell roared from inside Naro's bathroom, when she agreed to wear matching costumes with Kios this was not what she had in mind. "Aw, you're just overreaching! I'm sure it looks great, besides isn't red your favorite color?" He replied while struggling to contain his laughter, though it was nearly impossible with Naro laughing beside him. They had definitely made the right choice in picking out her costume, this would be a day no one would soon forget.
"I told you she'd love it." Naro whispered through his fit of laughter, at which point Kios lost it and the two literally fell to the floor and began to roll around bursting into hysterical laughter. "You two are so dead! Grace give me another costume!" She ordered, resisting the urge to look at herself in the mirror, it didn't matter if it looked good or not she was not wearing it.
"I-I'm sorry Danyell b-but Naro didn't buy any extras, Kios bought that for you himself." Grace tried her best to hide her laughter though, like Kios, found it impossible. Naro's laughter was contagious. "Then I'm going in my uniform!" Danyell grumbled while grabbing her uniform, briefly glancing in the mirror. Dang it, why are women's costumes always made out of that stupid stretchy material? On top of that this costume was just plain humiliating... At least it was red. "Danyell I know you're upset but you're the President! If you don't dress up it'll make everyone who did feel awkward." Grace tried her best to comfort her friend, though in truth she just wanted to see what it was, all this suspense could easily kill the black cats that seemed to be out tonight. Naro had called her earlier that day telling her all about the costumes he and Kios had found though he never did tell her which ones they'd actually gotten.
Pausing briefly, Danyell looked to the mirror once more while folding her uniform and setting it to the side. It didn't look bad- in fact the cut of the red v neck shirt and pants were something she'd consider to be her style if it was made out of different materials... Finally unlocking the bathroom door Danyell walked out and blushed at everyone's stares. "I. Have. A. Tail. And horns! Explain!" She demanded while glaring at Kios who really didn't know how to react. He had bought her the devil outfit as a joke but it actually ended up suiting her... Which made it even funnier. "Wow, you actually pull that off!" Grace was the first one to lose it, joining the boys on the floor as they began to roll around once more.
The President's cheeks puffed up in both anger and embarrassment at all the unwanted attention. "C-cut it out!" She grabbed Grace's arm and literally threw her into the bathroom before slamming the door shut. "Your turn." She grumbled darkly while shooting the boys a glare which they both ignored, seeing her angry was not exactly abnormal. Danyell waited for Grace to change while contemplating what she'd do to the boys if Grace's costume wasn't as embarrassing as her devil costume was.
“Oh it's on the counter Grace!" Naro called out, finally forcing himself to stand while he wiped actual tears from his warm brown eyes. Kios lazily stood after him and walked over to Danyell who was giving him the 'cold shoulder', though that was also not abnormal. "Oh come on, I'm sorry I didn't get you the angel one but this, this-" Quickly scanning her from head to toe, Kios nodded in approval while holding back his laughter. Which was mostly likely what spared him from being slapped. "Is too perfect." He chuckled while glancing at the bathroom door, hopefully Grace's reaction would be much calmer than Danyell's was.
"That- and Kios has a tail fetish." Naro joked before breaking into another fit of laughter, which Kios happily joined. If such a comment had come from Sehun he probably would've been angry, but Naro was a different case entirely. "Ah- Naro I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with this!" Grace's outburst interrupted what probably would've been a very long fit of rage from Danyell. "What is it?" Danyell questioned while pulling the top half of her chocolate hair up and quickly adjusting her horn headband in a mirror hanging on the wall in Naro's bedroom. Naro's house was so huge Danyell was pretty sure you'd need a map to find all the rooms, heck she needed a map for her own home, for places she'd never been in before like Naro's mansion she’d need to purchase a GPS. "This..." Grace blushed about fifty different shades of red as she pulled her blonde locks up into a messy bun and slid on her headband before exiting the bathroom.
Her outfit was made out of a different material than Danyell's but was still equally embarrassing in the brunette's book. "Oh Grace it looks good!" Naro reassured her while taking in the nurse's costume he'd picked out. The costume was a little too short for Grace's liking but surely he'd bought the longest one he could find, right? "A-are you sure?" The blonde drew in a deep breath as she looked at herself in the mirror Danyell and Kios were standing by, it was embarrassing but if Naro liked it then it couldn't be too bad... "Yep, it's perfect! But now we are late for the party!" Naro rushed into the bathroom with Kios to change, which was a lot faster than it had taken the girls to do. "Done." Kios called out causally as the two strolled back to the girls. Their costumes were pretty nice and the girls found it sort of cute they'd come up with the idea to match. Kios looked a little bit out of place in his angel costume but still somehow managed to pull it off, while Naro's doctor outfit and childish grin were so perfect Grace couldn't help but smile as well. "Well, let's get going."
The car ride in Naro's Mustang had been pretty short due to the school being close by, but the teens still managed to enjoy themselves with some blasting ‘background’ music and small talk. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to find Elaine and Sehun waiting for them in the school parking lot when they arrived, eagerly jumping out from the red vehicle everyone greeted the two with bright smiles.
“Uh, were we supposed to match?" Sehun scratched the back of his head as he took in his friends costumes then glanced back at Elaine's and his own. Although the costumes were nice they definitely didn't fit into the same theme. Elaine was dressed up as a classic Halloween Witch, which he had to admit was pretty cute. He on the other hand was dressed up as a pirate, about as simple and manly as you could get when it came to dressing up in his opinion. "Nah, it was optional. We just thought it'd be fun." Kios reassured him while glancing to the school, which looked pretty awesome, the art club sure knew how to decorate for parties. "Well I got to admit yours and Danyell's are pretty great." Sehun chuckled while ignoring the President's glare, which didn't hold the same effect as it did at the beginning of the year, before being pulled away by Elaine. “Don’t mind Sehun Madam President you look wonderful, why don’t we go enjoy the party?” Although Elaine tried to make it sound like a suggestion it was clear from her tone that it really wasn’t, though no one had any reason to protest so they all followed after her.
As they entered the school they immediately headed towards the gym, which was playing music the teens actually enjoyed unlike Danyell’s old school that hadn’t seemed to have left the 70’s. All the doors surrounding the gym were open wide allowing the teens easy access to the party though no one could've been prepared for what they found inside. The group stood in dead silence, though it had nothing to do with the beautiful decor or the crowds of students dressed in intricate cosplays, a group of freshman actually dressed up as all of them. The costumes were just school uniforms and wigs but even something so simple is not something you'd often expect to see, whether it was creepy or flattering was the real question. They watched as a boy dressed up as Kios pretended to fight with ‘Danyell’ in complete shock before Grace managed to shake it off, she had to do something before the 'Grace' and 'Naro' did something embarrassing. The two dressed up as them seemed to be a couple…
"Hey guys look at all the food!” She announced lamely before running to the gold and green tables covered with what seemed like mountains of assorted snacks before grabbing a donut and bringing it back to Naro. Heavenly fumes drifted into Naro's nostrils as Grace shoved the freshly baked pastry in front of his face. “Hey that smells great, thanks Grace!” He shot her a childish grin before scarfing down the donut, leaving a trace of white powdered sugar all around his mouth. Before stopping to consider how others might take her actions the bubbly blonde quickly retrieved a napkin from the table and began to wipe Naro's face. "You need to take time to make sure the food you eat actually ends up in your mouth and not all over your face." Grace giggled softly before glancing up to his eyes and slowly turning bright red, she was so close to him now.
Taking the unofficial couple's awkward interactions as her cue to leave Danyell summoned what was left of her dignity and made her way to the punch bowl, normally she'd stay away from the drinks at school parties but she could use something to cool off. As she picked up a cup she was surprised to have someone immediately snatch it from her grasp. "Calm down, I'm helping you out." Slowly drawing her eyes up she glared straight into Kios' red eyes, why'd he appear when she wanted to avoid people? "I never asked for help." She grumbled quietly while looking around the room, it was no secret she didn't care for large parties or gatherings so being here was not exactly what you'd call comfortable for her. "I'm aware." Simply shrugging her coldness off Kios gently placed the full cup back in her hands before looking to Naro and Grace. The advice Naro had given him was odd so normally he wouldn't give it a second thought- but they seemed to be doing pretty good.
Grabbing a second cup Kios searched for a water fountain and once he found one filled his solo cup up about half way, thinking it should be enough to do the job. As he walked back over to Danyell he prayed that Naro had been right then took in a deep breath. "Danyell?" He waited a few moments but got no reply, she was still mad about her costume. Deciding he didn't have any other ideas to go with Kios finally dumped the water over Danyell's head. "ISKIOS!" The teen screamed while trying to wash the water out of her eyes, he had officially reached a new level of stupidity. "Why on Earth did you do that?!" Quickly backing up as she spun to face him Kios cursed under his breath, perhaps that hadn't been the best way to deal with this situation. "Well, Naro told me-"
"Who takes advice from Naro?!" Kios watched as Danyell crossed her arms over her chest while desperately fishing through his mind for the best response. Kios was the type of guy to always have a few replies to questions prepared before ever having a conversation, the hard part was picking the best one for that specific person. “Slow down and let me finish, he told me it worked at calming Grace down, and they seem great!” Quickly gesturing to the two to prove his point Kios found himself wishing he hadn’t. The two stood so close that their faces were only a few inches from each other and simply gazed into the other’s eyes, the napkin still clutched in Grace’s hand near Naro’s clean face. Danyell blushed as she tried to pull her eyes away from the two though that in itself was quite the challenge, Kios wanted to be like that?! Kios’ cheeks brighten as he quickly waved his hands in front of his face though luckily he never had to explain himself. “Three words.” Sehun whispered in an eerie tone as he walked between the awkward lovebirds, Grace and Naro. “Get a room!”  
Sehun’s scream was immediately followed by another, though unlike Sehun’s it wasn’t a scream out of annoyance. Grace’s shriek was similar to that of a three year old girl’s as she and Naro jumped away from one another, though it only grew higher as she accidentally bumped into Elaine causing a plastic spider to fall onto her. “Get it off, get it off, get it off!” The blonde screamed while running in circles around the gym. “Grace calm down it’s fake!” Elaine groaned in embarrassment as she slowly crept into the crowd of watching students, it was moments like this she was grateful they weren’t identical twins. Kios and Danyell burst into laughter as they watched the scene unfold, finally moving on from the previous conversation. “You were saying you wanted me to be like Grace?” Danyell mused as Naro finally succeeded in getting Grace to calm down. “Now that I think about it she does seem a little- what’s the word…” Overhearing the two’s conversation Naro grabbed Grace’s arm, ignoring her protests, and pulled her back to their friends.
“A little what?” Normally Naro wouldn’t take things too seriously, however his views changed drastically when it came to Grace. Kios was taken back slightly at Naro’s narrow questioning eyes, was Naro actually mad? “Hmm… wimpy?” He finally settled on a word he knew Naro would understand without asking Grace for the definition. “She is not! Danyell would’ve reacted way worse in that situation!” Naro’s challenging grin left a bad feeling in the pit of both Grace and Danyell’s stomach, he was no longer mad but this was so much worse. “I’ll go find Elaine…” Sehun, who had been standing beside the two couples, awkwardly announced as he vanished into the crowd. “Please a plastic bug would not have scared the devil- I mean Danyell.” Naro laughed at Kios’ comment before glancing at the girls to find Grace holding the president back while she attempted to lunge at Kios, though shrugged if off as fairly normal and turned back to Kios.
“I bet Grace and I are braver than you and Danyell.”
Danyell momentarily stopped trying to tackle Kios while she processed what Naro had said, not another stupid bet! Grace finally released her best friend and motioned for her to take down both of the boys, she didn’t want to be dragged into this anymore than Danyell did. Nodding with a fierce determination one often didn’t see from her Danyell turned to tackle both of them but suddenly couldn’t feel the ground beneath her. Time seemed to slow down as both she and Grace were sung up and over something, Kios and Naro’s shoulders.
“We’re taking that bet, right Pres?” Kios chuckled as he sprinted towards the door, carefully making sure not to drop her.
“I didn’t agree to this! Iskios put me down right now!”
***

Zofia looked into the mirror one last time while adjusting the seashells that decorated her short blonde hair. Overall the outfit was a little more girly than she preferred, she was more into things like cyborgs and satyrs, but a mermaid was kind of fun. Smiling at the outcome she wondered if she looked weird as a mermaid, after all when people thought of mermaids they usually thought of Ariel and Zofia looked nothing like her. Besides her hair color differing from the popular Disney mermaid Zofia's skin tone was a lot darker than both Ariel and most of the students at Eon, she was one of the students that was actually Japanese, which ironically was harder to find than American students attending the academy. Finally deciding it didn't matter one way or another she put on some lipstick and headed back to the school, the party was going to be great!
To save gas money Zofia had decided to walk to the school rather than drive the Jeep which was nice but extremely cold. Apparently mermaids were cold blooded because a purple tank top and a multi colored skirt that looked like a tail were not working for her, and that was more clothing than most mermaids wore in stories. Eager to get into the warmth of the school Zofia began to sprint to the large school entrance, passing Kios and Naro who were carrying Danyell and Grace over their shoulders, honestly after finding them in the Chess Club she learned to stop asking questions, while they sprinted away from the school. Quickly shoot them a grin before continuing Zofia couldn’t help but chuckle, they were always such a lively bunch. After ducking inside the double doors she slowed her pace and continued onto the gym. Music could be heard from every end of the massive school and every turn of the gym was filled with colorful costumes and decorations, a party this perfect was something the blonde had come to only expect in movies.
"Zofia!" Lila and Derek called out in unison while waving to her by the punch bowl. Lila's costume was adorable, the pink Power Ranger, Derek on the other hand looked great but Zofia didn't recognize who she was... "Hey guys! Great costumes! Err..." She glanced at Derek who shook her head, obviously not getting recognized a lot that day. "Black Canary, from the Justice League." Her usual pink hair was hidden underneath a blonde wig but other than that the outfit looked like a real outfit you could buy at the mall. "Oh, right!" Zofia rubbed the back of her head in a nervous laughter still having no idea who she was. "Well anyway the place looks great! Let's all have some fun!" She pumped her fist into the air in excitement, her shout slowly died down as she saw them. Aw man, why didn't they leave with their group?
Jove looked over the crowds festive students who enjoyed the dancing, party games, and eating contests the Presidency, well the Presidency excluding him, had planned for the event. Hearing some voices coming from the girl's locker room on the far end of the gym he grabbed the nearest freshman boy and shoved him inside, chuckling at the series of screams that rang through the air afterwards. Well that kid would be having a great night. After pulling a few more 'pranks' on unsuspecting party goers Jove made his way to Adrienne, who stood in the corner alone.
"Always staying away from others, what are we going to do with you?" He chuckled while quickly glancing her up and down, she looked good enough. He'd originally wanted to go as some characters from Naruto but in the end being an open otaku wouldn't exactly be good for his image, come to think of it neither would how stupid prince costume Adrienne had somehow talked him into wearing. "Let me wait the party out?" She asked hopefully while twirling a finger through her long black hair that hung down in tight curls. It wasn't like Adrienne disliked people, they just exhausted her, and honestly the sleepover last weekend was all the excitement she needed for a lifetime. "Suit yourself." Jove shrugged and started walking away, a smirk slowly forming on the edge of his lip. He'd been doing everything for Adrienne lately and now it was time for her to come to him.
Adrienne watched him leave with wide eyes, he was really just going to leave her there? Before she could think otherwise her hand shot out and grabbed his, a blush slowly rising to her cheeks. Crap, what was she thinking? Her cheeks grew a little warmer as he turned towards her wearing his usual smirk that seriously resembled Kios'. "Hmmm?" He questioned in a smug manner while adjusting his glasses with his free hand. "Err- W-well it looks like everyone's having fun dancing..." She whispered, her blue eyes glued to the floor as she gently squeezed his hand. "Indeed." He replied casually knowing exactly what she was implying, but it was cute to see her so flustered... He might as well let her fret a bit longer.
Adrienne's gaze shot up to Jove in surprise which quickly turned into anger. "Well goodbye then." She huffed, quickly releasing his hand but found she couldn't pull away. "Jove let me-" Jove chuckled and dragged her to where the other students were dancing before causally pulling her close to him. "I was joking, we can dance if you want too." Adrienne shot him a glare before falling into rhythm with the music as he lead her across the . "I never said I wanted too."
"Yeah let's do this!" Daniel cheered pulling Ryuu and Saron to the grand table where piles of different foods were stacked in an elegant manner, though nobody that chowed down the food seemed to care about keeping it that way. Boys, and even a few girls, pulled up a chair to the table to see who could eat the most by the end of the party. Soups, pizza, seafood, hot dogs, and many other party snacks disappeared almost as quickly as the 'ref', a.k.a Rouge, piled it onto the contestants plates. "Four more hours left, you can do it!" Rouge squealed happily, obviously on a sugar high. "We are going to win this!" Daniel yelled as he pulled up a seat, pulled off his red Power Ranger mask, and immediately started digging into whatever Rouge put in front of him.
Ryuu sighed and looked to Saron, who shrugged in reply before tossing his bow and arrows aside and chowing away as well. Ryuu thought Saron's costume was pretty sick, he would've never thought of going as Green Arrow, but now wasn't the time to focus on that. Sighing again he looked to Daniel then back to his plate, he might as well try after all he couldn't let Daniel show him up. He quickly pulled off his blue Power Ranger mask and started eating his food while scanning the crowds for Lila. Daniel, Lila, and he had all agreed to dress up together but it didn't mean much if they didn't even enjoy the party together... Hopefully she’d find them here. He'd been hoping to talk to her.


To Be Continued

"We're almost there!" Naro grinned as he sprinted down the dark streets with his friends in toe. Truthfully he had never won a bet against Kios, but he had a feeling this one would be different. Even if Danyell didn’t get scared, the bet required the two stay together. Although that’d be no problem for him and Grace, he was willing to bet Danyell would get ticked at Kios and storm off eventually. Grace just that to stick with him until that happened. Grace shivered as Naro lead them down a dark creepy neighborhood to and even spookier old mansion sitting on top of a lone hill. The old rickety building looked as if it would crumble down to its very foundation at any second, so this was the house of legends. Every child in town had grown up hearing tales of the abandoned mansion, where horrible, unspeakable things happened every night when the wooden clock hanging on the North wall struck midnight. They say the original owners of the home still lived there, holding onto their precious mansion even after they had no bodies to enjoy it.
"H-hey guys I don't think this is necessary." Grace's voice shook slightly, though only Naro seemed to notice, causing him to reach out and take her hand in a comforting manner. "Don't worry Grace, I'll protect you!" He promised as he gently pulled her to the door. "I did not sign up for this. This is your guys bet, so leave Grace and I out of it." Danyell demanded reaching out for Grace's other hand but Kios causally grabbed her outstretched hand instead. "No way, I always follow through on my bets." Danyell and Grace tried desperately to escape the boy's hold but ended up being pulled into the building anyway. "What are you two scared?" Kios chuckled, secretly growing concerned. This bet depended on him and Danyell, he really couldn't afford her chickening out. "No!" The two girls yelled in unison, obviously both lying. "This place is just unsafe, I mean look! The walls have cracks everywhere. You can even see the frame of the house!" Danyell argued, not wanting anyone to know that the legend may or may not seriously freak her out. "What are the details of this bet anyway? You carried us away from the school without explaining."
Naro laughed while rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah- sorry about that, anyway the bet is to spend the night, or at least stay longer than the other person, in the mansion with you guys as our partner. That way not only do you have to stick it out you have to make someone else stay as well, it's twice as hard!" How Naro and Kios managed to be so excited in such a situation was beyond the girls. "Couldn’t just have fun at the party..." Danyell shook her head as she looked around the fully furnished living room, though the two things that really stood out were the lovely dust bunnies around the large room and the wooden clock hanging on the North wall. The clock from the legend. "That's right, so let's go explore." Kios chuckled with a small smirk as he pulled Danyell away from the others. "W-wait! I wanna stay with Grace!" The brunette begged as her friend, who looked just as scared as she did, faded from view.
"Stop! Kios come back!" Grace begged as she looked down the dark hallway. Just great, without those two here she couldn't distract herself by taking pictures… Haunted houses always led to great couple photos! On top of that she needed one of them in their costumes by the end of the night for the blog. The blonde stared at the long set of stairs in the entryway that led to the upstairs in horror, what were they hiding up there? Wait who was 'they'?! Grace jumped three feet in the air when something tapped on her shoulder, letting out a small scream. "Grace, calm down!" Naro looked her over in concern, pausing for a moment before gently pulling her upstairs. "Come on, we'll check it out to prove there's nothing there... You can stay behind me." He whispered the last part trying to figure out why his chest kind of hurt, not in a bad way, but in a weird unfamiliar way. Come to think of it he’d been feeling that a lot lately.
He felt Grace tense up and resist slightly at first, but eventually she gave him a small nod, gripping his hand tightly as she hid behind him. Naro's cheeks felt a little warmer than usual when Grace’s arms suddenly wrapped around his waist from behind, it must’ve been hot in the mansion. She had tripped on the last step and desperately clung to him to balance herself, though it had taken Naro a moment to realize that was what had happened. Quickly pulling her into the hallway with him Naro let out a small sigh in relief, at least she wasn't hurt. "S-sorry!" Grace exclaimed while looking at her feet. "It's no problem, I said I'd protect you didn't I? That means I'll keep you safe." He shot her one of his famous childish grins then pulled her down the hallway before she could reply. So far the only scary thing was the thought of Grace being hurt.
***

Oh man, Zofia just needed a break. Honestly you play one harmless game of Truth or Dare and then everything becomes so awkward. She made a mental note to never play that stupid game again. "Good evening Zofia." Elaine greeted her with a small smile as she and Sehun walked by. "Heya." She smiled back glancing at the two, pausing when she noticed Sehun's costume. He was a pirate. She was a mermaid. Taking in a deep breath Zofia closed her sea green eyes. It. Didn't. Matter. Not the costumes, not the Truth or Dare game, and definitely not whatever Sehun and Elaine's relationship may or may not be. "Nice costume." She smiled at Sehun before turning back to Lila and Derek. "...Yours is nice too." She heard him whisper, but when she turned around he was gone and so was Elaine. Was he actually- kind of nice to her?
"Hey Zofia look at the commotion over there!" Lila pointed to the grand table which had crowds if students starting to circle it. "Let's check it out!" She grinned while dragging Zofia and Derek to join the crowd. Even though Lila was very small compared to her peers it still took her a few minutes to find a path to the front of the crowd and still manage to keep her friends with her. When she finally saw what the excitement was about she couldn't help but smile while rolling her eyes. After hours of the party going it made sense that those three were the final contestants of the eating contest.
Saron, Daniel, and Ryuu, the famed school football boys going head to head in a competition, naturally the school newspaper was all over it. "Where's Grace?! She's our best photographer!" A stern girl looking with white hair yelled over the crowd of students, only receiving shrugs in reply. Hmm, that must’ve be the school newspaper President what was her name...? Lila shook her head, she really didn't know the seniors that well. Pushing the thought aside she turned her attention back to the boys finally realizing that Ryuu was eyeing her though it was a different gaze than normal- what did it mean?

***

Elaine glanced to Sehun before looking at the clock on the wall, they'd spent most of the night playing mafia, murder mystery games, and engaging in other group activities the school's clubs had set up. She'd had a blast throughout the night though she was starting to worry about Grace, sure most the time she tried to avoid her sister, their situation had weighed heavy on Elaine’s heart as a child. Though despite all that deep down she’d always tried to protect her older twin sister. Naro was a good boy, but with a bet between Kios and himself it was hard to tell how much he’d actually look out for Grace. “Sehun, The party’s about over… perhaps we should check on the others? They might need someone to remind them when they’ve taken the bet too far.”
Sehun had always enjoyed watching Kios and Naro’s bets, in his mind the more overboard they got the more entertaining it was to watch. It had been that way since he and Kios had met Naro in kindergarten. However, as he met Elaine’s gaze Sehun began to question his own opinion, maybe it was best to stop them before they did something really stupid. "Yeah, you're probably right." He shrugged slightly and began to walk towards the exit, though that apparently wasn't fast enough for Elaine, causing her to take his hand and sprint. Letting out a small call in protest, Sehun was involuntarily dragged behind her as she bolted across the gym. For a brief moment, Sehun could see all the way to the front of the crowd surrounding the tables of food and, unlikely as it might of been, managed to look straight into Zofia's eyes. Her face was one of obvious confusion as Sehun was finally pulled into the hall, though he was even more confused when he heard her running after them.
"Derek, Lila, I'm leaving!" Zofia yelled without looking back, acting on the spur of the moment. Taking no time to consider what it might seem like if she followed after the two, Zofia focused purely on what could've caused Elaine to spirit away from the school. Elaine never rushed anywhere. Although her facial expression had appeared to be calm the fact that she was running away with Sehun close behind was perplexing. Of course she didn't care about that second part, it was merely an observation. "Oi, wait up!" Derek's voice called out from behind her just as Zofia disappeared into the hallway, close behind her two friends. Glancing over to Lila, Derek slowly raised a questioning eyebrow. “Is she that into him?” Derek whispered, barely audible in the crowd of cheering students though the comment was enough to catch Lila’s attention.
Lila’s gaze wandered to Ryuu as she thought about Derek’s comment. What should she do? She wanted to go made sure that Zofia was okay, but the look Ryuu had given her early… it seemed like something important was going on. Gently biting her lower lip, Lila was surprised to find Ryuu meeting her gaze once more. What was with that look?! Slowly nodding to him in recognition, she decided whatever it was could wait. Carefully pulling off her Power Rangers mask with one hand, she grabbed Derek’s wrist with the other before sprinting after Zofia. Right now Lila had to be there for her down to earth, best friend, who had always done the same for her. If that meant helping her get the guy then she’d give it her all!
As Lila ran away Ryuu slowly stopped eating, suddenly not caring to compete with Saron, or even Daniel, at all. Standing from his seat, Ryuu quickly muttered he was full before walking into the boy's restroom just a little ways from the tables. He really just needed time to think. Had anyone gotten close enough to Ryuu, they would’ve seen the obvious hurt in his gaze as he’d walked away from the crowd of people. Though it didn’t exactly last for long. “Looks like my dance ended just in time!” Jove cheerfully announced as he exited the restroom, forcing Ryuu out with him before shoving into the girl’s restroom instead. Ryuu didn’t want to ever relive what happened after that, but he did know that he was going to make Jove pay. No one should have to go through that when they hadn’t done anything wrong. Especially someone who was already having a terrible day.
“Can’t you just leave the freshman alone?” A familiar scoff caused Jove to flinch, it seemed Adrienne had finally caught onto his little game. Slowly turning around to face her with a signature smirk, Jove pulled Adrienne towards him, casually pulling her close as another song started to play. “J-Jove! Don’t you dare ignore me!” Jove chuckled slightly as Adrienne’s face slowly started to turn a light shade of red, while gently running a hand through her dark locks. “Tell me Adrienne, how long has it been since we last kissed?” That had done it, the comment left Adrienne stunned and her face a dark crimson instead. “I-I don’t know!” She finally responded to him, purposely spending no time to truly think the question over. Who asked someone something like that?! “Then it’s been far too long.”
Before Adrienne could think to argue or shove him away Jove quickly leaned down to her height and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her deeply, and showing no intentions of pulling away. Adrienne was horrified as Jove’s forceful kiss started to draw eyes all around the gym. Who wouldn’t be interested to learn who the legendary bad boy Jove was in a relationship with? Not that they were together technically, but Adrienne had to admit at the moment it probably looked like it. Determined to get away from Jove and his stupid games Adrienne did the only thing she felt she could do, stomped on his foot with her high heel. Surprisingly this didn’t seem to hurt Jove, instead he broke their kiss with a warm laugh that somehow sent shivers down her spine. What was he going to do now? With a devilish grin Adrienne had never seen Jove wear before, Jove picked her up bridal style and literally ran out the door.
“Jove Vermillion you put me down this instant!” She demanded though it didn’t help her any, not that she wasn’t used to this already. Though Adrienne’s first thought was to escape his grasp and avoid him for a very long time his reason for such a behavior was enough to stun her into obedience. “I’m sensing some development with my ships.” The comment was barely above a whisper and in all honesty Adrienne doubted she was supposed to hear it at all. Since when had Jove owned ships and how exactly did ships ‘develop’? None of it made sense to Adrienne as he carried her out of the school in excitement. Was he taking her to the harbor?
***

Danyell pulled against Kios' grasp with all her might but, as she already knew, it was useless. "Cut it out." Kios grumbled as he continued to walk down the hallway, there was no way Danyell was truly scared of this place. "Kios we need to stay with the others! What if they get hurt?!" Kios simply shook head and sighed, maybe she was scared... He still wasn't going to let her run away. He had bet a bunch of money that he didn't actually have, so losing the bet was not an option. "They're going to be fine, and so are we." He turned around and looked into her eyes, gently squeezing her hand. Danyell paused as his red eyes meet her brown orbs, unsure of what to say next.
"..." Suddenly a loud crash came from upstairs scaring Danyell to the point that she lept into Kios arms, who luckily had fast enough reflexes to catch her. "Hey there." Kios chuckled before glancing up the stairs, that crash was probably related to Grace and Naro. "We should make sure everyone's okay." He began to run up the stairs without waiting for a reply, though she probably wouldn't have been able to answer if he had. The President was red from ear to ear, and would probably remain that way until he put her down. Not that she minded being carried, but there was a big difference between a piggyback ride and being carried bridal style. Kios carried Danyell up the stairs, as if she weighed nothing, and then through the hall where he found Naro frozen and Grace actually crying while hiding behind him.    
"Guys what's " He stopped himself as Danyell started screaming, a slight blush rising to his cheeks as she buried her head into his chest. Okay, that was unusual. Shaking his head slightly, he forced himself to think clearly and followed Naro's gaze to the far wall of the hallway. His scarlet eyes widen as he notice a transparent little girl, no more than eight years old, floating in the air. He froze as she gave them a lopsided grin and slowly rose one of her hands to gesture to the door. “Get out.” Her voice was definitely the pitch of a young girl, though it tone sent shivers down even Kios spine. Something about it was not natural for a little girl, especially one who looked so innocent. “I said get out, you’re not welcome here!”
Quickly lunging to the side, Naro grabbed the closest object to him, which happened to be a post that had broken off from the stairway, and threw it directly at the ghost girl. Though the object simply went through her and smacked against the wall behind her. Pulled from his surprise, Kios realized that must’ve been the cause the first crash he and Danyell had heard. Naro wasn’t exactly the type to think things through all the way, if it hadn’t worked the first time it probably wasn’t going to work the second time. As Naro lunged to try it a third time Kios carefully set Danyell down the pulled the object from Naro’s hands and threw it to the ground. “Will you stop that?!”
“If you won’t leave then you’ll have to play a game with me.” The girl’s sudden smile was both adorable and utterly terrifying, causing Grace to jump into Naro’s arms. “I-It’s okay Grace, I’ll protect you!” He summoned all his courage to try to make the statement sound convincing, but the ghost was honestly creeping him out just like the girls. “Don’t ignore me! I want to play tag and I’m it first, so run!” The ghost yelled before suddenly launching towards them, successfully scaring everyone in the group.
Shrieking in terror Danyell lept into Grace’s arms, who was currently being held by Naro, forcing Naro to hold both of them up as he sprinted away. Though Kios had been about run away with everyone, Danyell’s action left him genuinely offended, leaving him staring at his own arms in silence while the ghost chased after his friends. What was wrong with his arms? She trusted Grace more in a situation like this?! Or maybe it was Naro she trusted… Who trusted Naro?! So much for their early improvement, it seemed they were back to her avoiding him. “Crap, we have to stay together!” Kios realized before sprinting after his friends.
Meanwhile Naro’s arms were starting to tremble due to holding up the screaming girls for so long, though he sprinted down the stairs anyway. Naro was the fastest boy on the basketball team, and yet the ghost seemed to have no trouble keeping up. No matter how many turns he took in the large home she was always right on his tail, leaving him a bit of a nervous wreck. “Moron, don’t run away, run out!” Kios yelled as he finally managed to cut Naro off in one of the many hallways, quickly pulling Danyell out of Naro’s hold in order to lighten his load, before sprinting down the hallway that lead to the main door. “Good idea!” Naro nodded in approval before sprinting after him.
“No fair that’s cheating!” The girl cried from behind them as they neared the door, hoping to catch them before her time was up. “Hurry up!” Kios yelled, moving to the side of the doorframe so that Naro and Grace could run through first. “I am!” Naro shouted as he and Grace barreled through the door, a blank expression appearing on his face as he realized his mistake. “And I win!” Kios cheered, running through the door after his friend, managing to escape the ghost girl's tag by only a split second. As Kios attempted to come to a stop he tripped over a brick, that had fallen from the mansion,and tumbled to the ground, crushing Danyell beneath him. Though not in a romantic way like Naro and Grace had been in the school a few weeks back, more like in a manner one might see little kids playing dog pile.
Ignoring Danyell’s demands to get off of her, Kios looked up to find not only a ticked off Naro holding Grace, but basically the entire group they hung out with. “What exactly, is going on here? You guys were screaming like a bunch of girls.” Sehun was the first to speak up, sighing as he gestured to the two couples. “There was a ghost!” Grace and Naro protested at the same time, pointing desperately to the mansion.
“Dang… When I saw everyone running here in pairs I thought for sure there’d be some development, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.” Jove mumbled under his breath, disappointment written all over his face as he set Adrienne down. Looking up at Jove in confusion, Adrienne slowly raised one eyebrow. “I don’t understand, what do these guys have to do with your ships?” For the first time in her life, Adrienne witnessed Jove not only embarrassed, but also completely red in the face. “I have no idea what ships have to do with anything Adrienne.” He finally responded, his face slowly returning to its normal shade. “But you said-!” As Jove leaned closer to Adrienne she quickly jumped back and decided to keep her mouth shut. No need to go through the embarrassment in the school again.
Shrugging off the two’s strange conversation, Zofia slowly walked to the old mansion’s door. “Only one way to settle this.” Zofia called back to Sehun calmly as she peered through the open door, which impressed him slightly. With two of the toughest guys in school sacred to the point they were sprinting out of the house most girls wouldn’t voluntarily go to check it out, she was such an interesting girl. After scanning the room and finding no ghost, Zofia stepped into the room just as the clock on the far wall started to ring. Signaling it was officially one o’clock in the morning. How did that clock possible still work? “Well I don’t know what to tell you guys… No ghosts here that I see.” Zofia shrugged as she continued searching, giving the others the courage to finally come join her.
“But I swear there was!” Danyell announced with a groan as Kios finally moved off of her. Allowing him to help her up, Danyell gave him a small smile in thanks. He hadn’t been trying to crush her, in fact he had carried her for most of their time together today which was both embarrassing and sweet. Kios’ red eyes widen slightly as he took in Danyell’s sincere smile, and gratitude. Perhaps he had been mistaken. Despite their early… situation, she seemed to finally be acknowledging him. Giving her a small grin in return Kios gestured to the door. “After you.” Chuckling softly Danyell was about to reply when a familiar flash silenced her, turning to face Grace, the president crossed her arms over her chest, though only received a pleased squeal in reply.
“I’m honestly surprised that, of all things, is what she choose to take a picture of.” Kios admitted while running a hand through his thick hair. The comment caused Danyell to return to her laughter, if Grace hadn’t been so scared she could’ve gotten much more embarrassing pictures. “I guess you're right.” She nodded in agreement as she entered the mansion with Kios and Grace close behind.
Zofia continued to scan the old home, and although it didn’t exactly look safe to be in, she definitely didn’t see any ghosts. Letting out a small sigh, Zofia’s eyes wandered to the ceiling. If the boys were claiming there had been a ghost too then that had to count for something. Didn’t it? Just as she was about to give up her search a slight shimmer caught her attention. There, in the corner of all the walls were small projectors, which easily could’ve been missed while scanning the house. “There!” She exclaimed with a proud smile while pointing to the cleverly hidden projectors. “There wasn’t a ghost, it was just a Halloween prank.”
The four teens who had been pranked all froze, each extremely embarrassed. “See? No big deal.” Sehun shook his head in annoyance before gently pulling away from Elaine’s hold and moving to Zofia. Placing a hand on Zofia’s shoulder Sehun wore a bright smile, due to the fact that she had managed to embarrass Kios. That was pretty dang impressive! “Nice work, I knew there couldn’t of been a ghost in here.” He chuckled as he looked around the group, everyone seemed to be stunned by the discovery of the projectors, well everyone but Elaine. Her face could’ve been compared to one of stone, void of all emotion. That was one thing that bugged him about her, he could never tell what she was feeling… He wondered if anyone could.
Zofia eyes widened as a blush rose to her cheeks, Sehun not only acknowledged her in a polite manner, he had gone as far as showing it in his actions. Something felt different in Zofia’s chest, was she getting sick? She should probably get home before she got a cold in this stupid outfit. Noticing Zofia’s slight trembles under his hand, Sehun’s attention was turned to her once more. Realizing she was cold, he paused a moment before pulling off his pirate jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders. “You should really keep a jacket with you.” He remarked as he helped her put her arms through the sleeves. He didn’t know why he bothered helping her, but he felt he couldn’t just leave a cold girl without a jacket. “Ah, right! I’ll try my best to remember one next time!”
Though everyone in the group seemed to be taken back by Zofia and Sehun’s little interaction, Lila was an exception. She watched the scene unfold with a small, pleased, smile. Zofia was by far the most accepting person she’d ever met, if anyone deserved to be happy it was her. Shooting Zofia a knowing smirk as she turned to face the others, Lila laughed at her glowing cheeks. The fact that Sehun gave Zofia his jacket didn’t mean that he liked her, but it did mean they were on good terms now. That in itself was quite impressive progress for one day.
Grace glanced over to Elaine, slight concern shown her gaze. To anyone else in the group Elaine would seem perfectly normal, but Grace knew better. Elaine seemed extremely upset though also satisfied, she clearly cared for Sehun and yet for some reason she was purposefully pushing him away. Though Grace didn’t know was why her twin would do such a thing… she intended to find out.
Jove smirked has he watched everyone in the group, although he hadn’t gotten quite what he was hoping for his ships definitely had progressed. Danyell and Kios seemed to be on better terms socially, which was great since they had really worried him for a while. Due to them being his OTP, Jove always secretly made sure that no one talked to them with a romantic interest except- well each other. He had only failed that mission once, back on White Day. He had gone to visit with his father, and on the way into the office seen a red rose with a card to be sent to the president. Knowing his father was waiting he quickly went to his office, but when he came back it was gone. It seemed to have already been delivered.  
Glancing away from the two he briefly looked to Grace and Naro, only chuckling before looking to the next couple. They were perfect, it wouldn’t be much longer until one of them confessed to the other. His next pairing however was a bit more complicated. He had originally predicted Sehun and Elaine would become a couple but now- he favored Sehun and Zofia. It would be interesting to see how things played out… Perhaps there was a way to help push Sehun to Zofia. They honestly seemed to be a better fit.
“Well we won so pay up Naro!” Kios managed to break the silence with a smirk that was both proud and cocky. “What! no way, you tricked me!” Naro protested while slowly backing away from Kios, towards the mansions door, if he could just escape fast enough he wouldn’t have to give up his allowance. Danyell slowly positioned herself between the door and Naro, with a slightly embarrassed though mainly passive expression. Kios had behaved himself today, so she’d help him out… Just this once. Both Naro and Kios seemed surprised by her decision to help, but Kios was quick to take advantage of the gesture. Tackling Naro while reaching for his wallet, Kios mentally thanked Danyell for helping him get his five hundred dollars. That’s right, the more pumped you got Naro about a bet the more money he’d put on the line. Most people on scholarship would never take such outrageous bets, but it helped that Kios always won. On top of that he had never wanted anyone to know he was attending Eon on scholarship. Same could be said for Sehun.
“Kios stop!” Naro yelled, desperately trying to shove him off and protect his wallet at the same time. Though as usual Kios didn’t stop, determination set in his gaze as he finally gripped the wallet. “Double or nothing!” It was a last attempt in utter desperation, though luckily for Naro it actually worked. “Deal.” Causally standing up, Kios helped Naro to his feet then gave him another one of his famous challenging smirks. “Tomorrow everyone can come on a little road trip with Naro and I, we’re going bridge jumping.”  
Everyone cheered, including Naro, everyone, that is, except for Danyell. Fear consumed her as she waited for Kios to give the details of this new bet, having a sneaking suspicion it’d be similar to the last one. “Since tomorrow’s a teacher planning day we can head out around lunch time, we’ll have to carpool, and the bet will be which one of us is brave enough to jump from the highest bridge. Of course by us I’m also including Danyell and Grace, it’s really about how brave we are with girl’s holding us back.” Though the last comment was slightly offensive Danyell choose to shrug it off, he hadn’t seemed to of meant it as an insult.
Though she could help but question what was wrong with him, bridge jumping?! Had he already forgotten? “H-Hey Kios…”
“Deal!” Naro accepted without batting an eye, shaking Kios’ hand to make it official. A childlike excitement radiating from him as he shot Grace a lopsided grin.
Danyell was, officially, screwed. Kios had just bet on the one thing she seriously couldn’t come through for him on. How could he forget something like that so easily? She was definitely wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow.
“Well it’s pretty late guys, I gotta get home before my brother gets worried.” Zofia announced with a sigh as she headed back to the school, everyone else beginning to do the same. “Wait… You have a brother?!” Everyone yelled in utter shock, Zofia simply laughed and kept walking. After taking in the sudden comment Sehun shook his head with a small chuckle before sprinting after her. What an interesting girl.
***

Tugging on her short green hair, the ghost girl watched as as the teens started to clear out of the mansion. She let out a small sigh as she listened to them yell about who would ride home with who once they made it back to the school to get their cars. “They sure are a rowdy bunch.” Her grumbles echoed around the old grand clock she’d been hiding in, family rules sucked. There were twenty four hours in a day and she only got to play for one of those, twelve ‘o clock. “And they didn’t even ask my name!”
Scoffing at their rude behavior, she snapped angrily causing all the illusionary projectors to vanish. Having all their friends think they were scaredy cats was the least they deserved for running out on their game of tag, after all no one had played with her in ages. You’d think they’d be nice enough to play with her on a holiday of all days. “Oh well…” She eventually shrugged, letting all her anger go as she settled down in her clock. Though there were tons of rooms in her home she preferred the coziness of the clock her grandfather had given her long ago. It held all her fond memories of him in some way or another.
“They were kind of a fun group, I guess. Grace, Naro, Kios, and Danyell… Ayrionna will track you down to play again real soon!” With a cheeky grin, Ayrionna peered out of the glass towards the top of her clock. Waving wildly and excitedly as her four new friends, and some other people she hadn’t bothered to learn the names of, vanished down the street, Ayrionna’s adorably creepy smile never faltered. “Happy Halloween!”


And The Moral Of The Story Is- Don’t Take Advice From Naro

“Let me walk you home.” His usual smirk was irritating enough for her to deny his request, but before she’d actually done so she’d made the mistake of looking into his eyes. Danyell had always held a deep affinity towards the color red though she’d never imagined that someone could make the color seem so… Gentle. Most perceived red as a symbol of anger or passion, two emotions she could relate to very personally. This, perhaps, was why she enjoyed the color so much. Though the more she studied Kios’ gaze the harder it became to deny the certain softness that shined in the corners of his eyes in that moment. When she had finally realized that she’d been staring at him to the point that his cheeks had a soft glow lighting them in the darkness, Danyell cleared her throat while ignoring what she could tell were much darker cheeks. “I appreciate the offer, but it’s really late and your apartment is on the other end of town from here. You should try to get home as soon as possible or you’ll cause your family to worry.”
Kios’ look of obvious disappointment, and something else she really couldn’t identify, caused her to slowly reconsider her response. Though after a moment's hesitation she determined that her longing to keep her friends away from her family life had been much stronger than the longing to please Kios, at least at that time. She knew he was getting curious, as the rest of her friends were, to see where she lived and learn more about her. It was for that reason she’d been purposely planning for everyone to meet at anyone’s home but her own, before someone else suggested otherwise, whenever the group planned to do an activity together. Even going so far as to plan that girls day at Adrienne’s without asking her permission beforehand.
“Come on Danyell, I can’t just let you walk home by yourself at night.” Realizing his comment could be taken as offensive he quickly added, “Only a jerk would do something like that.” Danyell chuckled at his later comment while brushing a few wild strands of dark hair behind her ear. Though she truly hadn’t a clue where exactly their friendship was going she did know Kios was becoming much more tolerable. “A jerk or a tool.” She continued to chuckle while nodding along in agreement, a sly gleam tinting her gaze as she looked into his eyes. “But when was it you decided to stop being those?”
“Danyell!” Kios scoffed before laughing along with her at her comment. It was rare to see Danyell joke around so he had figured it was best to encourage the behavior rather than making her feel bad about it. After laughing with her for a few moments Kios’ eyes grew wider when she’d bumped her shoulder against him in a playful manner. “Well, I should get going.” She’d announced casually while beginning to walk away from Naro’s home, where Naro had dropped them off before driving Grace and Elaine home by Danyell’s request, though didn’t make it very far. Kios had gripped her wrist tightly, looking at her in a much more intense way than he had a few moments before. “Danyell, I’m serious.” Opening her mouth to protest, Danyell had found that she had absolutely nothing to say. For once she had run out of words. “Kios…”
***

Slowly shifting onto her other side in her sleep, Danyell was as oblivious as always to the screeching alarm clock on the other side of her room. No matter how loud she’d turned it up or how obnoxious the ring she selected was, no alarm clock had ever successfully been able to wake her up as long as her body decided that it wasn’t done sleeping yet. Pulling her pillow out from under herself and placing it on top of her head while groaning, Danyell continued to ignore the ringing for a solid fifteen minutes.
Finally hearing enough of the blasted alarm a boy with light blonde hair, several years younger than the girl sleeping on her bed, stormed into her room and unplugged her alarm. Growling in a threatening tone laced with irritation as he rubbed the remaining drowsiness from his eyes, the boy attempted to figure out the best way to deal with his lazy sister. How she did so well in school and karate was beyond him, the girl couldn't even get herself up in the morning.
“Oi lazy butt, get up before I get the squirt bottle!” He finally threatened while approaching her bedside. Some cold water to the face always worked wonders with Danyell, the only downside was if he didn't sprint out of the room faster than she shot up to punch him he'd probably be sore for the rest of the day. Although he'd become more then fed up with her alarm always waking him up in the morning, he wasn't so angered that he'd go that route after last time. He tried to give her a solid two days in between his cold, wet, awakenings to keep her anger at bay before doing it again.
Finally deciding that violently shaking her slumbering form was probably the safest course of action, he was hardly amused to find she only calmly ignored him while attempting to continue on with her dream. This was pretty much a daily occurrence, so her reaction was both expected and irritating.
“Come on Danyell, you’ll miss hanging out with your friends! Didn’t you say you had plans with them today?” Waiting for any signs of movement he shook his head as she only adjusted her pillow, that was on the top of her face for whatever reason, before pulling her blanket over the top of her as well. Giving up after only a few minutes, obviously not one for patience, he exaggerated a sigh while thinking over whether or not it was worth it to pull that card yet.
Knowing Danyell for, literally, his entire time on the face of the Earth had taught him how truly stubborn she was. If she wanted to sleep even plans with friends seldom woke her, though he was a bit surprised she’d go so far as to miss plans with this particular group. The fact that she’d mentioned that she was going out ‘with friends’ meant she actually cared for whatever group she was spending time with. At her last school she only referred to those she hung out with as classmates or club members, it was never friends. Well with one or two possible exceptions, but he hadn’t heard her mention big brother or the nerd ever since she met this new group of friends. Running hand through his messy locks, the boy cursed while deciding he’d better just do it. Even if it was great blackmail he’d get some more eventually.
Double checking that his backpack was still hanging on the handle of his door across the hall, the boy slowly approached her bed once more. As he pulled the blanket off the top of her, his ocean blue eyes studied her for any movement to get up. Though he had been attempting to give her a second chance the stubborn brunette only ignored him yet again. Pausing a moment to think over his plan, the boy eventually shrugged. Might as well, at least then he’ll be able to properly tease and investigate her later. “You were mumbling about Kios in your sleep.” He whispered into her ear slyly before quickly backing away from her, this would be interesting.
“WHAT?!” Danyell screamed while sitting up so quickly the force of the action hurt her head, her face promptly turning the shade of a ripe tomato. “ELLIS, HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!” Under normal circumstances Danyell would’ve at least tried to approach this more causally, but since she’d still been half asleep she really hadn’t thought over her actions. Though with the way Ellis had worded it who could blame her? Mumbling about Kios in her sleep? Had she truly been dreaming about him? The last thing she remembered was walking home... Agh, what was she thinking?! Of course she hadn’t been dreaming about him! That idea seemed far too ridiculous. Turning back to Ellis with a questioning eyebrow raised, Danyell began to think of where he could’ve learned of such a name.
Gently tapping his chin in a cocky manner, Ellis slowly let out a soft, dark, chuckle as he studied his sister. “So you were then?” Knowing she had never told the names of her friends to her family members besides possibly Grace, just as she’d never done the reverse, Danyell’s embarrassment slowly dawned into realization. Quickly yanking open the drawer of her night stand Danyell was furious to find that it wasn’t locked, and was left completely empty. He had both found the key she kept hidden in an empty case of one of her old video games and stolen the one object that could be her undoing. A decision she was going to make sure he’d regret.
Making a mental note to give his sister more credit when it came to problem solving, Ellis sprinted out of her room while eyeing his backpack that Danyell’s diary currently called home. As long as he kept away from his room she wouldn’t know that it was hidden there, right?
Screaming as she sprinted after him, Danyell prayed that he hadn’t read too much of the diary… Some of that stuff was pretty embarrassing. Having made a goal as a little girl to write down everything that happened to her over the course of her life, so she’d never forget the lessons she’d learned and things she’d done, had lead to her keeping an extremely detailed journal. That said journal had become one of her most meaningful possessions because of all her thoughts it contained. She’d written down everything from when the boys attempted to blow up the school’s senior boys bathroom at the beginning of the year to when Kios managed to get her to skip class and eat lunch on the roof. If Ellis were to read everything that had happened between her and her friends…
“Ellis!” Danyell roared as she darted after her brother, pushing her feet off the ground as much as possible as she ran in order to boost herself forward. Catching up to him in under a minute despite his head start, she wasted no time in tackling him to the ground and spinning his head around to face her. “No far! You’re faster than me…” Ellis grumbled, giving his sister no time to question him, before crossing his arms while a small smirk formed. “And you’ve gained so much weight I can’t even stand up.” Danyell scoffed at his comment, and while he was a lot smaller than her, refused to move off of him. Still never going through a proper growth spurt, Ellis was one of the shortest kids in his grade while Danyell was pretty tall for a girl. Much to his resentment. Silently studying his sky blue eyes for a moment, Danyell found herself just as surprised as always that her brother was half Japanese. The only race she could see in him was the American, well with the exception of his almond shaded eyes. “Where is it, Ellis?” She asked quietly with her best gentle smile, knowing that this form of integration frighten him far more than when she was rude to him.
“How should I know-?” He began before slowly reconsidering the remark as she got off of him and grabbed his handheld game console that had been setting on top the computer desk in the hallway. Shaking his head as he began mentally cursing himself, he reasoned that he must’ve left it there the night before. Lazily spinning it between her fingers as Ellis bolted to get it back, Danyell held it over the staircase in a threatening manner. “Careful, I’ll drop it.” She chuckled darkly while glaring at him, successfully getting him to back away from her. Ellis bit his lower lip while running a hand through his curly hair. Was it worth it to tell her? After all he hadn’t finished reading it all yet, and there was no way she’d actually drop it. “Three, two…” Danyell began to count down in an uncaring tone, loosening her grip on the game just a little bit with each passing number. “One.”
“It’s in my backpack!” Ellis finally confessed while soundlessly begging her to give it back to him. The brunette chuckled while tightening her grip around the device once more and nodding to his door. “Go get it and bring it to me.” Cursing under his breath as he sprinted to his backpack and began to pull out heaps of assorted papers and other school related things, it took a few minutes until Ellis had reached the bottom of the pile and pulled out Danyell’s journal. Danyell watched his efforts with slight disgust before pulling his game console away from the stairs. “You need to clean out your backpack.” Ellis looked slightly offended as he jogged back to her, snatching his game away while tossing her the diary. “Just shut up.” He grumbled in agitation while watching her hug her notebook tightly against her chest. Why was it she wasted her time even keeping one of those things?
“Don’t tell me how to live my life.” Danyell muttered back as she briskly began to walk back to her room with slightly rosy cheeks. If he knew Kios’ name how far had he gotten into her journal? He should’ve only know Grace’s name since that’s the only friend she ever would’ve even possibly would’ve mentioned to her family. “Hypocritical much?” Laughing brightly as Danyell began to storm off, Ellis quickly jumped to his feet. Growing a bit more serious as she neared her room, the blonde boy bolted over to her before following behind her into the neat and spacious room. “In the journal it said that you slept with Kios, but you told Mom and Dad that you’d spent the night at Grace’s that day.” Though normally he would’ve laughed at her for writing down something so ridiculous, never giving it a second thought, this was a little different. From everything he’d read, it seemed like Danyell and whoever this Kios guy was actually seemed to be getting rather close. He’d never even met him before, and he knew if he told their parents Danyell would probably overreact, which only left him to worry. Hopefully the mysterious boy his sister described as moronic, idiotic, and reckless was actually a more than just a ‘half decent person’.
Immediately spinning back to face Ellis with a beat red face, Danyell waved her hands in front of her face wildly while rapidly shaking her head no. “I-It wasn’t like that! It was literally just sleeping! There weren’t enough couches in the Chess room and-” Slowly shaking his head, Ellis raised a hand to silence her. “I read the journal, so I already know all the details. It’s still pretty good blackmail though.” Danyell’s bright face slowly lightened several shades until it was back to normal as her expression turned to one of disbelief, then anger. “Was that a threat Ellis?!” She demanded as she marched back over to him, her right hand clenching the diary tightly. “O-oi calm down! It wasn’t a threat!” Ellis promised while tiptoeing backwards out of the room with both hands raised in surrender, not wanting to deal with Danyell when she was angry. That never ended well for him. Just as Danyell was about to give Ellis a verbal beat down he wouldn't soon forget, her cellphone started ringing. Mouthing to him that he got lucky, Danyell sighed as she answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Where are you?! We're about to leave!” Danyell cursed under her breath as she ran back to her room and eyed her alarm clock on the other side of her room, only to find that it had been unplugged from the wall. How long had she been fighting with Ellis?! Pulling her phone away from her face briefly to check the time, the president groaned upon seeing she was already ten minutes late. “Told you that you overslept…” Ellis muttered before walking away from her room while ignoring the fact that his sister was glaring daggers at him. Taking in a deep breath before focusing on her phone call once more, Danyell grabbed her brush from her nightstand and began to swiftly yank it through her brown locks. “I'm sorry! I overslept and then Ellis- never mind, I'll be right there!” She promised while digging through her closet for some clothes. “...Who's Ellis?” Grace finally asked in confusion, Danyell had never mentioned an Ellis to her before. “And which house on 1st is yours? We can come pick you up by no one seems to know exactly where you live-”
“No one, and I said I'll be right there! Bye!” Quickly hanging up before Grace could question her more, Danyell let out a short sigh in relief. After setting down her hairbrush once more onto her nightstand, she spotted her swimsuit in the closet and quickly sprung to retrieve it. Pulling it out before beginning to look for something presentable to wear over it, a small smile slowly formed on her lips. Perhaps Kios wasn’t half bad at all. Hastily throwing on the swimming suit along with an alternative band t-shirt and some shorts she’d found, Danyell sprinted down the stairs and to the front door though was almost immediately stopped by Ellis. The short blonde stood directly in front of the door with a rather serious expression plastered into his face, showing no intentions of moving. “I wonder what big brother would say if he knew you were getting so close to Kios.” Ellis commented casually, while the nerd probably would just be happy for her, he was certain that big brother would have a much different opinion.
Danyell froze simply before managing to gather her thoughts once more, truly shocked by his comment, though was quick to recover and nodded for him to move. “He's not really our brother Ellis, now please.” She begged while slipping on her flip flops that laid beside the door’s frame, desperately attempting to hide her remaining traces of surprise. Ellis hadn’t seen him in months, was he still really that attached to him? Perhaps he was just worried about him because she hadn’t brought him over in a while... “Get out of my way-”
“Well you're not really my sister.” He shot back bluntly while crossing his arms, not letting her move on from the topic. Stunned to speechlessness for a few moments, Danyell’s eyes told of just how much that comment had truly hurt her. Realizing his comment might've been a little too harsh Ellis tried to take back what he'd said but was never given time to say a word. Danyell simply gave him a gentle shove away from the door and left, not caring to dwell on things of the past at the moment. She had somewhere to be.

***

Kama snickered while glancing around the ‘teacher planning meeting’, aka the time he and the other teachers goofed off while Ms. Riesha attempted to hold a serious discussion. He never understood why Ms. Riesha was so high strung for a highschool student. Sure, they were the best in the school for the subject they taught. That was why they’d been selected to teach in the first place, but it almost seemed like she forgot she was only a senior sometimes. They were all seniors, excluding Principal Yukino, which was why all the teachers went by their first names. Slyly pulling a cigarette out of his pocket, Kama nearly found his lighter when Ms. Reisha’s favorite ruler lashed out at him and knocked the cigarette from his hand. Where she stored the stupid thing so she could quickly access it was a mystery Kama would never be able to solve. Cursing quietly under his breath, Kama slowly flicked his nervous gaze to the girl that stood over him with her arms crossed in a strict manner across her bust. How was he gonna talk himself out of this one?
“Mr. Yosenju, would you care to give a recap of what we've been going over?” Kama would never know how she did it, however her eerily sweet tone always seemed much more threatening then her sharp glare. Sighing as he tucked his cigarette back into his pocket, Kama slowly ran a hand through his slicked back jet hair. For an unbeknownst reason to the rest of the school, the janitor and sports coach always seemed to dress in a way that resembled a mix of America’s 80’s and 90’s culture. Despite the fact that he was actually one of few Japanese students to attend Eon. “If you must put a ‘Mr.’ in my title please stick with Kama, all your students call you Ms. Riesha so I don’t see why you have such a problem using first names.” Everyone in the room could almost see Ms. Riesha’s anger causing her head to explode, though unlike Kama were able to slowly moved their chairs away from her. “That’s not what I asked Mr. Yosenju.” She warned while smacking his wrist with her ruler once more.
“Watch it!” The black haired boy growled while snatching the blue plastic from her hands, honestly she always overreacted when it came to him. Love seemed to effect her in the worst ways possible. “Give that back!” Calmly holding the ruler out of her reach while remaining seated, Kama ignored the small girl’s efforts to retrieve her disciplinary object. “If you’d stop hitting me with it all the time I wouldn’t have taken it away at all.” He shot back coldly, rolling his eyes at her incoherent mumbling which were surely a long list threats. After she’d finally given up on taking it back by means of force, the blonde backed up and simply held out her hand. “Well maybe I wouldn’t hit you if you would just pay attention once in a while!” Neutrally meeting her gaze, Kama slowly raised an eyebrow at her comment. “Well maybe I’d pay attention if you didn’t always have this useless ruler shoved up your-”
“KAMA!” Ms. Riesha screamed furiously, shock freezing her expression as she looked him over. Though she wasn’t the only one who’d reached her breaking point in the room, several of the male student teachers literally fell out of their chairs while attempting to hold back their laughter as they struggled to get back up. Ms. Riesha was actually a really nice person, however it was about time Kama stood up for himself. She was always trying to push him around, even over the smallest things. “Oh, look! You can say my name!” Kama gaped sarcastically before bursting into a brilliant laughter with his friends, who hadn’t been able to hold it back in the end.

***

Grace fiddled with her fingers as she looked over her best friend, unsure of what to say. Danyell laid stretched out upon the ground before her, after collapsing the same second she had arrived. Though she knew that Danyell had been running behind, Grace was still shocked to see her without the top half of her hair pulled up. That hairstyle and her red bow were kind of her thing. In her haste to arrive at Grace’s home before everyone left, it seemed Danyell had forgotten that driving would’ve been faster than sprinting four blocks. Pursing her lips in thought, Grace slowly swept her light hair behind her ear. Was there even a way to properly approach why your friend simply falls to the cement from exhaustion?
“Hey Grace, we worked out whose sitting where- holy crap! Is she dead?!” Naro yelled with wide eyes while jumping back, promptly pulling his hands up in a defensive manner as he scanned the surrounding area. Grace found herself giggling softly at Naro’s antics before shaking her head no. Skipping over to Danyell then dropping down to her knees, the blonde gently shook her friend in an encouraging manner. “How are ya feeling?” She questioned gently while observing as the president slowly sat up. “Peachy.” Smiling as her friend grumbled ambiguously under her breath, Grace simply placed a comforting hand on Danyell’s shoulder to cheer her up. “Guess we kept you out too late... You were the first to crash at the girl’s night now that I think about it. You really need those eight hours don’t ya?” Danyell found herself laughing as her friend rambled on. Nothing like a bit of idle chatter to get you back on your feet, literally. “Oh you are alive! Here give me your hand!” Naro offered cheerfully as he jogged over to the girls, finally deciding a psychotic murdered wasn’t on the loose in Grace’s neighborhood. “You too Grace!”
Nodding their thanks as Naro effortlessly pulled them to their feet, both girl’s attempted to ask about the conclusion on the seating assignments when a familiar boy with dark hair turned the corner. “Naro, I’m not waiting all day! Is she coming or not?!” Sehun glared as he looked over the three teens, relaxing slightly as he realized that Danyell had finally arrived. Though it was almost impossible to tell if she’d gotten here on her own or was dragged down all the sidewalks before being thrown onto Grace’s cement patio. Unfortunately for the president, when she’d allowed herself to give into exhaustion and tumble down onto the patio her hair and clothes had all become disarrayed. Smirking smugly as he studied the girl from head to toe, Sehun eventually decided upon merely shaking his head. Not only did she look like she’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed, but her graphic T also threw him for a loop. Was she really into that type of music? “Kios must’ve really tired you out last night, you look like s-”
“Not. Another. Word.” Kios warned as made his way around the corner, following after Sehun with an icy glare that ensured even Danyell’s silence. Though his intense look of plausible hatred had little effect on Sehun, who simply held the look with a threatening one of his own. “I was going to say, someone normal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pres without everything kept perfectly in place, so it was refreshing to see her with bedhead.” He shot back smoothly while smirking as Danyell began to swiftly run her fingers through her hair at his comment. “Sure you were, because that makes perfect sense in that context.”
Rolling his scarlet eyes as his friend merely shrugged him off, Kios made his way over to Danyell before gently pulling her away from Sehun. “Don’t mind him, you look fine. He’s just in a bad mood.” A sigh fled from his lips as he pulled her towards Naro’s mustang, though he froze for a moment as Danyell tugged back against his grip. Slowly turning back to face her, Kios found that her expression held both concern and curiosity as she studied him for a few moments in silence. “Are you two okay? What’s going on?” She questioned softly while brushing some of her long hair behind her ear. It seemed that her hair was actually quite thick when she left it hanging naturally, so Kios could see why she always put part of it up. Letting out a short breath as he rubbed his temple with his free hand, Kios slowly nodded to her question. “We’re fine, just having a little argument is all. Everything should be back to normal in a few days.” He confirmed confidently just before Grace ran into them, and somehow literally managed to knock both of them over onto the lawn beside where the cars were parked along the street.
For the second time that week Danyell found herself being crushed by Kios while laying face first on the ground, though this time she also got Grace as an added bonus. Even though it hurt a lot less than falling on cement, like last time, Danyell still wouldn’t define the situation as comfortable. “Grace, how did you manage that one?” Kios burst into a deep laughter as he glanced up to the petite blonde lying on top of him. Grace looked down to Kios before joining in his laughter with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “Naro challenged me to a race, so I took a head start and then this happened.” Slyly pinning Danyell in place so she couldn’t roll out from the bottom of the pile, Kios held back a jokingly evil crackle as he watched her squirm about helplessly beneath him before nodding in understanding to Grace’s comment. “Sounds about right.”
Just as Danyell was ready to lose it, her demands for everyone to stand up were cut off by a shout of excitement followed by yet another weight trapping her. “Dog pile!” Naro exclaimed happily as he flopped onto Grace, gleefully burying his head into her long silky hair. “Hey Grace, you smell like strawberries!” The comment brought everyone to silence as they glanced up at Grace, whose face also seemed to share the shade of a strawberry, though no one bothered to call Naro out for being weird. He was too innocent to find creepy in any manner. “Hmm, do you smell like strawberries?” Kios eventually cleared the air with a lighthearted joke as he leaned his head down to smell Danyell’s hair, who was also sporting a brightly colored face. Although hers was from a combination of embarrassment, anger, and a serious lack of oxygen... At least in her mind.
“I didn’t come here to see a foursome.” Sehun scoffed as he made his presence known, having been standing behind the group since Naro joined the pile. With that comment the awkward atmosphere seemed returned to the teens with the exception of Naro. Slowly tilting his head to the side in confusion, the brunette slowly thought over his friend’s comment. “No Sehun, we’re playing dog pile! I’ve never heard of that game, is it fun?” Naro glanced around as everyone gave him a weird look, totally lost with the whole conversation. “What is it-?”
The repeated honking of a certain black Corvette gained the groups attention, and gave Kios the distraction Danyell needed to role out from underneath the pile. “No fair!” Kios laughed as he suddenly landed face first in the long surprisingly soft grass adorning Grace and Elaine’s front yard. “Come on guys, I don’t want to wait here all day with the debate team and a freshman! It’ll ruin my reputation!” Jove yelled out his open window with the most threatening look he could manage. Once he got his hands on Kios... “Hey!” Everyone in his car shot back loud enough to echo down the street, and earn some unwanted attention throughout the neighborhood. After pausing a few moments Jove eventually sighed before leaning his head out the window once more. “I don’t mind Adrienne all that much I guess.” He yelled causally, his smirk betraying his indifferent tone.
Ignoring the debate team as they started to give the Vice President a piece of their mind, Danyell had eventually managed to catch her breath. “No fair?! Says the boy who was holding me there on purpose!” She accused threateningly while Naro stood up from the pile and quickly pulled Grace up and off Kios in a somewhat possessive manner. Appearing to only then notice that she’d been so close to the other boy. Simply chuckling as he shoved himself up from the grassy flooring beneath him, Kios slowly ruffled the president’s chocolate locks. “Come on Danyell, I was just having some fun.” Raising her fist in order to properly deck him in the face as payback, the brunette only paused to another horn sounding from Jove’s car. “If you want to kill him then get in line! I was here first!”
Looking back to Kios in confusion, Danyell watched as he burst into laughter yet again. Though her confusion was only growing by the minute. The most puzzling thing to have occurred that day was undoubtedly a tie between Sehun and Kios’ fight as well as Kios’ almost giddy attitude. What was he in such a good mood about? “You’re gonna have to let the seating arrangements go Jove, you lost the straw contest fair and square.” Kios smirked while grabbing Danyell’s arm and yanking her to the backseat of Naro’s rig. It’d be better if they got out of here quickly so Jove had some time to blow off steam.
“You know dang well that you can’t cut the straws after they’re drawn Kios!” Jove yelled while beginning to open his car door, thinking it best just to knock some sense into him if they weren’t actually leaving anytime soon anyway. “Where I come from it’s different?” Realizing that his excuse was pretty lame after it’d already left his mouth, Kios quickly shoved Danyell into the seat and buckled her up despite her protests. It wasn’t that he couldn’t take Jove, Kios had confidence that he could easily keep up with him, however he’d rather stay out of fistfights in order to keep his record clean for sports. “Naro we’re racing Jove!” A smug smirk framed his face as he glanced to Jove before disappearing into the car and slamming the door. “Oh boy! Come on Grace!” The brunette cheered while tugging Grace to the passenger side before running to the drivers side and jumping in. In what seemed to be only a split second Naro had somehow buckled in and the took off speeding down the road.
“Oh no you don’t!” Jove cursed under his breath while attempting to reach the car before it pulled away only to miss catching it by a few seconds. Continuing to curse repeatedly under his breath, Jove only calmed down enough to stop mumbling after Sehun placed a hand onto his shoulder. The action took Jove by surprise, after all he had never exactly been friends with anyone in this group outside of Adrienne. He hadn’t figured anyone would reach out to him in any manner what so ever, except for possibly Naro with another spy competition. “Go get in your car and beat them, I’ll personally help you kill Kios later.” Sehun promised lowly while glaring at the red mustang as it disappeared from view, still not over the conversation that had taken place between Kios and himself the night before.
“Hmm...” Jove mused over his offer for a few moments while carefully pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” He finally announced with a smirk that was nearly identical to Kios’ before sprinting back to his car and pulling away from the sidewalk with so much force that he left skid marks as his vehicle raced down the street.
Mildly impressed with the man’s exit, Sehun watched him disappear before wondering if Zofia could top it. Jogging over to her green Jeep and opening the back door to find he’d be sharing with Daniel and Ryuu, Sehun shrugged before hopping in. They didn’t seem to be all that bad, and since Lila was in another car he wouldn’t have to worry about them fighting the whole way there. “We’re all racing.” Sehun lied causally while settling in beside Daniel and buckling up before meeting Zofia’s gaze. “Think you can catch up?”
“Isn’t drag racing illegal?” Elaine asked plainly, already knowing full well that is was. Zofia brushed the whole fact of it being illegal aside while carefully considering her options. “This ole chariot wouldn’t be able to hold its own against brand new sports cars down the highway.” She finally admitted with mild embarrassment, only reconsidering her response when seeing Sehun’s painfully obvious disappointment. If winning a race was really all it took to make him happy then wouldn’t it be worth it to try? Of course it was only to make him happy, not impress him or anything like that.
Suddenly shifting into third gear, completely skipping over the first two, Zofia slammed her foot on the gas as she yanked away from the sidewalk sending her zooming down the street at full speed. “What are you doing?!” Daniel, Ryuu, and Elaine screamed in unison as the houses and the sidewalk zoomed past them way faster then they should have. Breaking free from the neighborhood in no time at all, Zofia’s determination became more and more evident in her expression as she saw the back of Jove’s Corvette in the distance. “Taking a shortcut their cars wouldn’t be able to handle.” Zofia mumbled as she waited to get out of the city and onto the open roads. As she finally reached the road she was looking for, a smile slowly tugged up from the corners of her lips.
“Brace yourself for a terrain advantage!” She exclaimed with fierce determination as she skipped over fourth and went straight into fifth gear. “Zofia I don’t think you should skip so many gears-!” Sehun began to explain though cut himself off as the car suddenly left the highway and began racing through the dirt and up the hills beside it. “See ya later!” Zofia called back to Jove as she cut through the planned route by taking on the hills, obvious enjoyment in her tone as the car bounced and thrust from side to side along the rough terrain.
“We’re all gonna die!” Ryuu called out while covering his eyes while Daniel cheered ecstatically from beside him. “Go faster Zofia! Let’s win this!” Glancing to the backseat for a moment, Elaine slowly turned her gaze back to the road in front of her. Despite her efforts to scream it seemed that no sound would come out of her mouth. All the while Zofia cheered as she tore up the weeds beneath her rig and conquered each hill that laid before her.
Sehun watched everyone’s reaction in shock, finding Zofia’s to be the most surprising. This was not a side he had expected from someone so calm and quiet, honestly having her as a science partner could be so awkward because of her usual soft spoken demeanor. However, seeing this side of her left him with an entirely different impression from his first. After adjusting to the feeling of off-roading, Sehun soon found he was actually enjoying his time as the car thrashed around and suddenly raised his voice to cheer along with Daniel and Zofia. This girl sure was something else, she always had a way of surprising you.
Similar to Kios except her surprises were pleasant ones.  
***

“Someone get me a bag...” Kios groaned while holding both his arms around his stomach, his eyes appearing to be glazed over from his sickness. “Dude, do you know how many seats have had to be swapped out of this car because of you?! Don’t even think about barfing in here again!” Naro warned without looking up from the road while pointing to the glove box. “Grace I keep the bags in there, will you toss him one?” He asked in a much calmer and brighter tone before glancing up to his mirror for a brief moment, gritting his teeth as he noticed Jove’s Corvette becoming visible behind him in the distance. Taking a deep breath in, Naro shook aside all his worries before focusing on building up his confidence. Sure, Jove might be gaining on them, however Naro knew he could leave him behind in the dust once more with the right determination. “He’s catching up!” Naro announced with one of his famous childlike grins while pressing down on the gas petal with even more force, launching the mustang forward even faster than before.
After opening the glove box and giving Kios a bag from it, Grace shut it once more before clinging to her arm rests. “N-Naro be careful!” She begged while watching the hills roll past them, seeing a blur of green for a moment though writing it off as her imagination when it disappeared almost immediately. “Don’t worry Grace, I’ve got this one for sure!” Even with his enthusiastic response, the blonde still found herself worrying if not more so than before.
Though Danyell had been trying her best to stay away from Kios, in fear of getting thrown up on, she sucked up her pride when she noticed that he couldn’t open the bag on his own and decided to help him out. After she had helped him set it up in his lap, the president patted his back reassuringly. Not really knowing what else to do in such a situation. “If you get carsick so easily why did you suggest this in the first place?” Danyell finally spoke with a soft chuckle while tightening her seat belt slightly, not fully trusting Naro to be able to properly drive at such a speed. “Seemed like fun at the time.” Kios laughed quietly before groaning once more, which was enough to scare Danyell back into her corner. “Some comfort you are.” He rolled his eyes, but spared another laugh at the cheeky smile she shot back.
“Oh Grace I forgot to tell you!” Naro suddenly yelled out a bit louder then he’d been intending to. Clearing his throat in slight embarrassment before beginning again, the brunette made sure to pay close attention to his driving even while talking. “Our first basketball practice is tomorrow, and Kios is playing this year!” Naro’s sudden exclamation ended up taking Danyell by a much bigger surprise than Grace, causing the brunette to immediately turned back to face Kios with a raised eyebrow. “You play basketball?”
When Kios only moaned in attempt to reply, Naro laughed before answering for him. “He’s too sick to answer right now, but this is his first year ever playing! I got him to come try out and he ranked third for our team! I got first of course!” He spared a moment to send Grace a proud grin before turning his attention back to the road. Both girls were stunned for a few moments, but quickly got over it and congratulated them both. “You finally get to be president of a club, congratulations Naro!” Grace shared his proud grin, knowing how much he was aiming for that position. “Yup!” Pausing a moment before continuing, Naro noticed that they were almost to the exit they needed for the bridge and smiled. This whole race had nearly cut their trip in half time wise!
“Because I’m the captain I’m supposed to sort a few things out for the team...” He began pausing as Kios burst into laughter before slouching over to his carsickness once more. How was it he always knew what he was going to say before he said it? Shrugging the thought aside, Naro didn’t even notice the suspicious looks both the girls were giving him. “That being said, I have a favor to ask of you both!” Naro announced with genuine excitement and an upbeat bright grin.
 “What kind of favor?” Danyell asked while studying both he and Kios over. What was it that Kios found humorous in his statement?
“Yeah, what do you need Naro?” Grace attempted to pretend that she was thinking it over like Danyell, though in truth would accept just about any request of Naro’s. Ever since his comment back at the girl’s night the petite freshman was determined to truly be his girl. She just had to find a way to get Naro to clarify that a girlfriend was really what he’d meant by that statement. Unfortunately he was a little dense so that in itself could take some time.
“Don’t worry guys, it’ll be really fun!”

To Be Continued

After Ms. Reisha had somehow managed to get all the boys to settle down, though it had taken much longer than she would’ve liked, she’d demanded that everyone who’d distracted the meeting cover lunch duty by themselves for the next month in order to make up for wasting everyone else’s time. A suggestion the female, and few male, teachers who hadn’t made a big deal out of Kama’s comments were quick to vote in favor of. Since those who were effected by the suggestion were heavily outnumbered by those on Riesha’s side, the boys were eventually forced to submit to her. Much to Kama’s annoyance. The rest of the meeting went by pretty quickly for the sports couch, most likely because he hadn’t listened to a single word anyone had said. It wasn’t uncommon for him to zone out everyone in times such as this, what Miss Reisha didn’t understand was why he did so. A reasoning Kama had never seen the point in telling her. Kama truly never meant to be rude by not paying attention in meetings or other important gatherings, but rather couldn’t help himself from doing so. Love effected everyone in different ways.
Every time things got boring or he was alone his thoughts would drift back to his time at the beach all those summers ago. He’d just been in Junior High at the time, and yet the events that had taken place and the outgoing girl he’d met back then had never left his mind. Even if he’d never seen or heard from her since that summer break. One could say he was hopeless when it came to overcoming his past feelings, after all he wasn’t even sure why the girl had stopped going to the beach at the end of that summer break and yet he was still incapable of getting her out of his mind.
Despite noticing that Kama’s attention had vanished yet again, Reisha held her tongue. If he truly wasn’t going to pay attention to the meeting there was no way for her to force him. She was a co worker, more accurately a fellow student, not his boss. Since their teaching was in exchange for school credits even Yukino couldn’t really make Kama behave, though that was assuming that he cared at all. From what she’d seen Yukino let everyone do things their own way, which ironically went for the students that weren’t teaching as well. His son had ditched more classes than any other student in Eon’s history, and yet the principal had never said a word on the subject.
Finally managing to clear her thoughts, Reisha shook her head before quickly beginning to dig through her purse. After finding the folder she’d been looking for, the tiny teacher held it up proudly while wearing a small grin. “Our last order of business deals with a favor from the school presidency, though we really don’t have much to do since Secretary Elaine typed everything up in advance. She asked me to give each teacher one of these fliers for their homeroom classes.” Pausing a moment as she passed around the folder so each person could take their flier, Reisha made sure to lock eyes with Kama as he took his in order to verify that he was at least listening to the last part of the meeting.
“The presidency has decided to schedule our annual school festival around midterms, rather then at the end of the year so that potential future students really have time to consider our school over all their other options... I’m sure everyone’s noticed our slowly decreasing Japanese population, so it’s our goal to really spend time interesting locals this year instead of just exchange students!” Reisha explained with a bright gleam of determination lighting her eyes as the folder made it’s way back to her. “With that goal in mind the presidency has decided each homeroom class should plan and run a booth or activity in the festival... If everyone here shows excitement at the festival I’m sure Eon will gain lots of attention from talented upcoming freshman.” Smiling eagerly as she prepared to end the meeting and head out to enjoy the rest of her day, Reisha was shocked to find Kama of all people actually raised his hand. Though her pleasant surprise faded away nearly as soon as it surfaced when he proceed to speak before letting her call on him. At least he’d finally been listening.
“Please tell Sai she can’t steal Grace from me during the school festival to advertise the school newspaper club.” Kama ordered immediately, knowing that if he didn’t bring the issue up immediately Sai would sneak her away like she had with the newspaper photographer from the previous year. “Wait, what?! I need Grace, and you have Elaine in your class! With the school secretary helping you run things you shouldn’t need my star photographer!” The tall slim girl with striking white hair and bronze skin shot back defensively, having a well-known habit of putting her club over her teaching. Sai had been the school newspaper’s founder and president ever since she’d enrolled in Eon as a freshman, which was actually a first occurrence in the school’s history. Her loyalty to her prized club caused her to refuse teaching Eon’s history program until Yukino promised that as of her graduating class student teachers could participate in clubs like all the other students.
Her immense devotion to her club had caused nearly everyone in school to respect her, though Kama wasn’t willing to place that respect before his duty to his homeroom. They needed to run a great booth in order to do their part in helping Eon, and with Grace and Elaine working together Kama knew he wouldn’t have to help in brainstorming a single idea! In other wards, Kama wasn’t willing to do any more work than he had to. “I don’t see why you’d need her anyway, all she does is take pictures of couples, and even then it’s mainly just Kios and the school pres... I can’t believe she started a school blog dedicated just to them.” Kama stated bluntly while running a hand through his slicked back hair, coolly playing it off like he hadn’t read all of her articles on the blog. Her articles of the ‘soon to be’ couple had to be wildly exaggerated, though the crazy tales of what went down in Grace’s mind were actually quite entertaining. Being chased by a ghost girl for instance... A hilarious story, though obviously made up in honor of Halloween.
“W-Well!... I don’t know, maybe she’ll do a couples picture booth or something? Grace always has an idea!” Sai protested dramatically while shooting up from her chair and smacking her hands against the tabletop, only to be interrupted by Reisha.
“Alright, that’s enough you two. Kama did bring up a good point, since the booths and activities are supposed to be run by homeroom classes no one’s allowed to use someone else’s students in their festival event... At least not without permission. Everyone has plenty of talented students in their own class who they can put to work in order to create something great.” Rolling her eyes as Kama shot Sai a smirk, Reisha decided it was best to end the meeting before the debate turned into an all out brawl. “With that being said, you can all go home now. Our meeting is officially over.” Right on cue, half of the teens eagerly jumped from their seats and sprinted out the door as fast as their legs could carry them. Most likely eager to begin their plans for the day before Reisha remembered something else they could possibly discuss.
Letting out a puff of air in surrender, Sai reluctantly gathered her things before heading to the door in a seemingly angry manner. “Hmm, you’ll regret this Kama… in the next issue of the school newspaper.” Watching as the color drained out of his face, Sai laughed evilly before running out of the room as Kama shot up to approach her.
“Sai! Don’t you even think about-! Hey come back!” Cursing as he reached the doorframe, Kama nearly chased after her though Reisha’s hand shot out and caught him before he could do so. “Relax, she doesn’t have any dirt on you or you’d already be in the newspaper.” Reisha pointed out calmly, knowing that Sai and Kama secretly thought of each other as close friends despite their little rivalry. Since the school’s newspaper had been such a big success upon Sai founding it three years ago, Kama was always desperate to get her to highlight things happening in the school’s sports clubs rather than just the different romances around the school. Sai never really had a problem helping him out, though at prices even Reisha didn’t know what were. According to Kama they were always unfair, and he never wanted to speak about them.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Kama muttered back in annoyance before turning around to gather his things and briskly beginning to exit the room after everyone, excluding he and Reisha, had left. He wasn’t in the best mood anymore, because deep down he knew exactly what Sai had been planning. She’d always been so easy to read. “Wait, Kama!” Turning back just before reaching the schools nearest exit, Kama was mildly surprised to see Reisha sprinting after him while frantically shoving her numerous papers and folders into her large backpack. Kama always swore that her pack was half the size she was. “I... I was hoping we could walk home together? We are neighbors after all, so there’s no reason why we should walk alone.” Despite the girl’s efforts to sound professional Kama thought that it was pretty obvious that she just wanted to spend some time alone with him. Her brightly shaded cheeks gave away her true motives. What he didn’t know was if it was alright to walk her home when he didn’t share the same feelings towards Reisha that she did for him, and was obviously hoping he secretly held. Would she think he was leading her on if he did walk her home?
“If you wanted company that was all you had to say. Come on, let’s go.” Shrugging his shoulders in surrender as she made her way to his side, Kama decided that as long as he make any moves on her she’d take the hint eventually. A girl as smart as she was should be able to recognize that he didn’t have any interest in her, given time to look past her own longing not to see such things. He wasn’t going to be rude to her in the meantime.
Beaming brightly as she attempted to hide her burning cheeks, Reisha slowly nodded in agreement as they began to head back to their neighborhood... together. “Right, I’ll do that from now on!”
***

In only a split second the teen’s drag race turned from a lighthearted experience, to an overwhelmingly regretted decision in all of the student's minds. The strong surges of adrenaline that had previously kept all those involved in the little competition on the edge of their seats in excitement suddenly morphed into a different form of anticipation all together, when they were forced to handle a variable none of them had foreseen. “It’s about the ch-” Naro began to explain as they reached the exit for the high bridges they had planned on jumping off of, though promptly cut himself off as the entire car suddenly erupted into blood curling screams. Glancing back to the road ahead of him, Naro immediately lifted his foot off the gas pedal and furiously spun the steering wheel towards the open hills beside him. The sudden action caused them to avoid what could’ve been a very serious accident, though lead them into yet another sickening challenge. Literally in some cases.
As the group clung onto their seats in terror, Naro was able to barely make out a dreadedly familiar sound over the girl’s screaming. “Iskios, the bag! The bag!” Danyell’s shrill screams only confirmed his suspicions, causing Naro to groan as he tried to keep his wits about him. His mustang wasn’t exactly made for off roading, but it did the trick as they were sent flying up a rather steep hill. Not knowing what else to do, Naro hit the breaks while the car was still moving upwards which luckily caused the car to slowly come to a stop after swerving around a bit. After siting in silence for quite some time with the others due to shock, Naro was eventually able to pull himself together enough to check on everyone. Taking in a deep breath as his gaze fell upon Grace, whose cheeks were stained with tears from the accident, Naro couldn’t help but feel sick to his stomach. After everything that had happened her reaction was only natural, though Naro really wished that he didn’t have to see her like that under any circumstances.
“Naro, about your seat…And Danyell your shirt…” Kios forced out an awkward, slightly delayed, chuckle while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Honestly he was at a loss for the best way to end either of those sentences. “You got it on me?!” Danyell was the first to react, immediately tugging her shirt off and throwing it at him in revenge. Now she’d be forced to only wear her swimsuit top for the rest of their trip!
Despite originally planning on telling Danyell that he’d only been joking, Kios decided that she was too angry at him to find the humor in his joke. Though the situation wasn’t all bad, his jest had left him with a pretty decent view. “…Yeah, sorry. I’ll just throw it in this bag… So we can clean it later.” Ironically, despite his preparation, Kios had succeed in getting absolutely none of his mess into the open bag on his lap. Part of him was worried Naro would kill him for ruining his backseat again.
Both Naro and Danyell merely grumbled in reply before shaking their heads. “Don’t worry about the seat, worry about how your time with Danyell is going to be if you don’t make her forgive you.” Naro eventually teased, slowly easing the tension in the air before turning to face Grace. “You okay?” Questioning softly as he grabbed some tissues out of the glove box in front of her, Naro used them to gently wipe the tears off of her cheeks.
Blushing brightly as she processed what was happening, Grace finally managed to overcome her overwhelming shock and offer Naro a small nod. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine… It looks like nothing really got damaged on your car either! Well besides the backseat.” Grace’s bright laughter as she turned to watch Kios attempt to talk to Danyell helped calm Naro’s nerves, and it seemed that everyone in the car was finally back to normal. “Alright guys hang on to something, I’m going to roll us back down the hill… But I’ll go slow this time.”
As Naro carefully spun around and slowly got them back onto the road, Danyell managed to calm herself enough to speak to her friends in the front. Kios, however, was receiving the silent treatment. “What was that anyway? It came out of nowhere…” Everyone in the car seemed to be at a loss when pondering the brunette’s question, everyone except for Grace that was. She’d managed to catch a glimpse of rig that had cut them off just before Naro had spun the wheel and guided them to safety. The young blonde’s mind traveled back to the blur of green she’d seen in the hills for a split moment, back at the beginning of their race against Jove’s car, as she processed exactly who must've cut them off cut them off. “Guys, I can’t be sure but…” Hesitating for just a few moments as she spoke, Grace began to wonder if she should say anything at all. If she was right, how would the rest of the trip go for their group? Would the others be mad? Though it’d be a lie to claim that she wasn’t a little upset herself.
“I think that might’ve been Zofia’s Jeep.”
The car grew absolutely silent as they took in the comment, beginning to question the possibly of such being the case. As far as everyone knew Zofia’s car hadn’t been in the race, but it wasn’t impossible to muse the thought of them wanting to join.
“It’s not exactly common to own a Jeep in Japan.” Kios eventually pointed out with a sigh. On top of that Sehun had been in Zofia’s car, which he was willing to bet that had something to do with it.
***

“Aw yeah, first place baby!” Daniel howled in delight as he jumped out of the green Jeep, pumping his fist into the air before beginning to dance in a gloating manner. An action Ryuu was not able to comprehend in the slightest, it was taking all his effort to simply breathe properly after everything he’d just endured. Honestly he thought he was going to die in that race.
“Hey, you alright dude?” Sehun questioned while placing a hand onto Ryuu’s shoulder, still absorbing everything that had happened himself, though his state was probably best described as one of awe. Ryuu’s on the other hand was obviously one of terror. After the freshman managed to pull himself together he gave the senior a stiff nod in reply before hopping out of the car himself, at which point Sehun’s attention immediately turned back to Zofia. At first he’d been speechless, though the longer he thought over their loading's adventure the more excited he became. “Zofia that was incredible! I’ve never met someone whose driving could compete with Naro’s, and yours might’ve even been better!” Running a hand through his hair as he sat back against the leather seat, Sehun let out a satisfied sigh.
In that moment everything seemed perfect, he’d even beaten Kios at his own game for once. There was only one problem to plague his brief moment of bliss, Elaine. Realizing that he’d completely overlooked her condition throughout the ride, Sehun jumped out from the car and rushed over the front passenger door to get the bluenette out of her seat. “My bad Elaine, you doing alright?” He tsked at himself as he undid her seat belt and looked her over. Elaine’s wide eyes and tense position were enough to tell him that she hadn’t been enjoying the ride nearly as much as he had been. “Elaine?” Though she turned to look at him Elaine never replied, it was like she couldn’t even formulate a single simple sentence. “Oh crap, is this what being ‘in shock’ is? Guys help me out!” Sehun cursed under his breath before picking Elaine up, throwing her over his shoulder, and sprinting over to Ryuu and Daniel.
“...It was nothing.” Zofia finally managed to mutter out a reply after Sehun had slammed the car door shut and run away. With Elaine. Unbelievable, for just a few seconds she’d had his undivided attention and she’d wasted the opportunity. He gave her a few simple compliments and somehow she’d forgotten how to be a normal functioning human being. Instead she’d found her thought process went up in flames as she sat back, blushing like an idiot, fumbling over all the incoherent gibberish her mind had to offer for possible replies.
“Why?” She groaned in frustration while glancing out the car window, watching silently as all the boys panicked over what to do with Elaine. Zofia took in a deep breath, prepared to get out of the car and help her friend, though found her will leave her as Sehun slowly moved closer and closer to Elaine. He was clearly trying to calm her down, however their position resembled a couples pose she would’ve used as an art reference in a heartbeat. It was perfect… Maybe too perfect if you asked her.
“I don’t like him, I don’t.” Huffing aloud, Zofia’s gazed turned from Sehun and Elaine to the mirror just in front of her. Staring at her own reflection, it stung slightly to realize just how bad of a liar she really was. Even she couldn’t deny the jealousy written all over her face. “I can’t like him!” She insisted as she continued to study herself in the mirror, though she knew she was far beyond the point where she could keep persuading herself of that.
Muttering incoherently under her breath as she hit her forehead against the steering wheel, Zofia found her thoughts drifting to how this had happened to begin with. It wasn’t like their first interaction had been the most romantic… Sometimes she questioned whether or not he remembered how they’d met at all.
It’d be a shame if he didn’t, because she remembered it in perfect clarity.
On top of that he’d given her his pirate jacket last night, something she had resolved to wash before returning to him. If that didn’t make a girl weak in the knees in itself the fact that he’d helped her put it on would probably do the trick, even if Sehun had played it off as a mild annoyance to him.
That was the thing that always got her about him. Sehun was stern and sometimes a bit conceited, those attributes along with his good looks caused him to stick out in any crowd. Yet it was the parts of him that most people overlooked that had drawn Zofia’s attention to him.
Sehun wasn’t particularly nice to those around him, and carried an atmosphere about him that was enough to shove most people away. Though beneath his ‘bad boy’ act, Zofia knew that he had a kind heart. He just seemed a little over sensitive when it came to opening up and allowing others to see it. How Elaine had gotten him to be so completely open with her was a question that drove Zofia mad some nights.
“I really screwed up this time.” Zofia whispered with a chuckle, using the mirror to help her smooth her blonde locks back into a tight ponytail before finally exiting the car. Now that she’d come to truly acknowledge her feelings for Sehun she knew she’d have to try harder than simply making him happy by drag racing on occasion. If she could just bring herself to accept her crush then she might even have the will to give Elaine a run for her money.
“Yo, is Elaine alright?” Calling out to the others as she jogged over, Zofia grinned as Elaine stood up and brushed herself off while nodding in reply. “I’m fine now, I apologize for startling everyone. Not sure what came over me.” The petite girl spoke causally, showing no true emotion in her pose nor tone, even as Sehun wrapped an arm around her shoulders to steady her. “…Just take it easy for a little bit, we’re not in any sort of hurry.” His gentle remark was laced with concern, and the look in his eyes as he studied Elaine over was more than disheartening for Zofia. It seemed like Elaine was the only person Sehun didn’t view as an annoyance.
Before Zofia had enough time to properly process the many emotions running through her mind, her attention was turned to the honking of two car horns. Naro’s mustang and Jove’s corvette. For a few split seconds she was proud of herself for winning a race against two high quality cars, however the moment was short lived.
Adrienne was the first to exit the car she’d been in, though for some reason she was in the drivers seat rather than the passengers side. “Did Jove get tired of driving-?” Zofia began to ask, though was promptly cut off by the transfer student. Who seemed more than a little upset towards Zofia specifically, which was odd due to the fact that she rarely spoke with Adrienne.
“Not that I care specifically about anyone in Naro’s car, but if you’re going to run someone off the road you should at least stop and make sure you didn’t kill anyone. Honestly, I didn’t take you as someone so childish.” Though Adrienne’s tone had been calm and collected, it was clear that she didn’t want anything to do with Zofia in that moment. Thanks to that girl’s foolish actions, Adrienne now had to deal with Jove’s rage.
“Ran them off the road? What are you-?” Zofia tried to interject the sudden accusations, only to be cut off once again. Though this time it was by Naro, who Zofia originally had thought was incapable of being angry. Well, angry was still a bit of a strong word to describe his attitude, but he was more upset than she’d ever seen him before. “You guys made Grace cry! And Kios threw up on Danyell!” Naro yelled, his eyebrows sharply angled downwards in a manner that wasn’t very like him at all. Though it only took him a few moments to burst back into his usual laughter. “Okay, the second part was pretty funny.” He admitted with a shrug, a bright childlike grin framing his face.
“Says you!” Danyell scoffed as she hopped out of the mustang with everyone else, tossing her hair over her shoulder before looking away from everyone in the group in annoyance. “Come on, I said sorry.” Kios sighed while shaking his head before turning his attention to Zofia. “I know we were racing, though I didn’t know that your car had decided to join us, however that was far too close Zofia. You should really be more careful when driving.”
After everyone from Naro’s car had gathered around her, Zofia finally realized what she’d done. When she’d moved from the hills back to the main road it had still seemed like there was plenty of room between her Jeep and the red mustang, so she went for it. What she hadn’t factored into the equation was just how fast Naro had been going. His mustang probably went leagues faster than the top speed of her Jeep. Normally she would’ve remembered something that important… However she’d only been focusing on how thrilled Sehun seemed to be at that time. Even her driving seemed to come second to that, something she did subconsciously while focusing in on if he was having fun or not. She’d really screwed up that time.
“Guys… I didn’t know… I’m so-” Zofia attempted to apologize, mentally criticizing the recklessness of her actions, only to be silenced by Sehun. Speak of the devil. “Lay off guys, she wasn’t being anymore irresponsible than any of you were. And you really don’t have a right to be so upset that you puked all over your girlfriend, you were the one who suggested racing in the first place.” As Sehun coldly shot down the protests of the other teens, Zofia found herself completely speechless. He was defending her, and he’d even moved away from Elaine to walk to her side. Honestly she wasn’t sure how to react to anything anymore, though she did know that her cheeks were probably expressing more of her inner embarrassment than she would’ve like.
Desperately attempting to pull herself together, Zofia’s reaction surprised even herself. She wasn’t sure what it was about being with Sehun, but something about him helped her to open up and be completely frank with others. “Yeah, we were all just having a little fun.” Crossing her arms strictly over her bust, Zofia looked back to Sehun with a shrug.
“Oh, I like her.” Jove chuckled deeply as he finally got out of his car, sporting quite the shiner. His left eye was completely swollen, though it definitely hadn’t looked like that this morning. “Don’t make me hit you again.” Adrienne threatened before stomping away from him, though he didn’t seem any happier with her than she did with him.
“Wait, Adrienne gave you that black eye?” Naro could hardly hold back his laughter as he moved over to Jove, though the principal's son clearly didn’t find it amusing. “She won’t be acting so empowered when I deal with her later.” He muttered back, though Naro wasn’t able to hear him over Derek and Lila’s laughter. “You guys should’ve seen it! When Jove refused to pull over and check on Naro’s car Adrienne decked him straight in the face, I never imagined she’d be so strong!” Lila giggled while wiping a few tears from her eyes, finding whatever type of relationship Adrienne and Jove had to be terribly entertaining. “Then, after he pulled over, she took the keys out of the engine and threatened to leave with them if he didn’t let her drive!” Derek was having trouble catching her breath through her hearty series of laughter, enjoying the situation just as much as Lila was.
“He’s pretty whipped.” Saron finally agreed with a shrug, looking more sympathetically towards Jove than anything else. However it had been Saron’s comment than had gotten to Jove the most. He was absolutely livid.
Marching after Adrienne, Jove smirked as the girl’s eyes widen in something between fear and surprise before she dashed off to the bridges. Needless to say he immediately chased after her. He was definitely going to get her back for punching him in the face, though he’d wait for the right moment before punishing her properly for humiliating him publicly. “Don’t think you’re getting out of this one Adrienne!”
The scene between the two helped ease everyone’s shock regarding Zofia’s sudden behavior, though it was still a lot to take in. Despite originally looking sincerely sorry for running them off the road, her attitude had changed the moment Sehun had stepped forward. Something everyone had noticed and yet no one dared to comment on. Zofia was normally a sweet individual, if they called her out on her comment she probably would’ve beaten herself up over it. That factor alone kept Kios from firing back at Sehun, he’d have to talk to him later.
“For the record, I’m not his girlfriend.” Danyell finally broke the silence, growling in irritation before following after Jove and Adrienne. It had definitely not been her day. “Yet!” Grace called after her, causing Naro to laugh from his place beside her before grabbing her hand and pulling her after the brunette. “Come on guys, let’s go have some fun!” He cheered while moving up to the bridges with Grace, holding her hand tightly to make sure that she didn’t fall off the side on accident with all her clothes still on.
“You could be like that with Danyell if you didn’t screw up every time she came to like you.” Sehun taunted as he walked beside Kios, his voice low enough that those trailing behind them wouldn’t hear. Though Kios was already frustrated with Sehun, that comment seemed to be the annoyance that had finally pushed him to verbally retaliate. “Why don’t you go occupy yourself by giving Elaine that kiss you owe her, or perhaps you’ve decided you’d rather spend your time toying with Zofia?” Smirking as Sehun finally seemed to run out of comebacks, Kios left his speechless friend behind and jogged to catch up with Danyell. If he wanted to win this bet he’d need Danyell to work with him, which meant she’d have to forgive him. How he was going to accomplish that was the real question, sometimes she went for days without taking to him when she got upset.
In the end, none of that really mattered. He had full confidence in his ability to pull everything off. He’d get Danyell to forgive him, win the bet, earn himself some cash, and show Sehun that he didn’t always screw up when it came to the Pres.
Not that they were dating, because they weren’t. Though he did find himself mentally agreeing with Grace’s comment. Maybe given a bit more time he’d try a little harder to develop their relationship, just not yet.
***

“Looking out the window everyday isn’t going to make her magically reappear outside you know.” A soft, sympathetic, voice drew a tall boy from his thoughts and forced him to finally pay attention to the one who had spoken from beside him. “I know that Makoto, besides, I wasn’t thinking about her. She was such an annoyance, even more so than you most days.” Makoto simply smiled in reply while shrugging his shoulder, his green eyes gleaming knowingly beneath the frames of his glasses as he studied the redhead. “If you insist Ren.”
Returning his attention to the Ramen in front of him, Makoto decided to keep his thoughts on the matter to himself. He’d known Ren all his life, due to the fact that their mothers had been best friends growing up, so he knew when continuing to pry would result in the muscular teen sucker punching him as hard as he could. Ren was especially fond of violence when Makoto talked about this particular girl for too long. Still, as the next in line to inherit the Akimoto hospital chain, Makoto couldn’t help but try to help his friend get back on his feet again. The problem was that there was no true treatment for emotional pain, save time. “I miss her too, you know.”
“Shut up and eat your lunch.” Ren growled before turning his attention from his raven haired companion back to the window once more. He hated eating in this classroom without her here with them, because it just reminded him of all the times the three of them had spent together. She’d always hated getting too much attention from everyone in the school, so it had been her idea to eat in the vacant classroom at the top floor of the school where he still sat everyday. That was why it had been so hard for him to take her seriously when she told him that she was transferring to one of the most well known schools in the world, and had agreed to be school President no less.
It had been her senior year, why would she want to go through such a change then of all times? She was only going to bring even more attention to herself.
“Ren, I know you aren’t over her yet but…” Makoto started, running his hand through his jet black hair with a sigh as he debated how to finish the sentence. Honestly, if Ren were to remain that hooked on her throughout the school year Makoto was certain he wouldn’t have any fun. But how did he say that without sounding insensitive?
“Danyell!” Ren exclaimed while shooting up from his seat, slamming his hands down against the desktop as his intense gaze studied the bridges in front of the town. They couldn’t of been more than a half a mile away from the school.
“Yeah, that’s who I’m talking about Ren. What I’m trying to say is-” Adjusting his glasses in the same manner he always did when he was uncertain on how to approach something, Makoto found himself being cut off with a raining punch to the head. “No, Danyell is literally outside the window! She’s by the bridges idiot.”
“OUCH.” The skinny, slightly shorter, boy complained while rubbing the top of his head. More to make a point than to express his pain. If you hung out with someone like Ren regularly you became used to such treatment, he’d even jokingly go far enough to say that Ren had made him immune to pain.
Raising his hands in surrender as his friend dragged him over to the window, Makoto sighed before looking out at the bridges. “See, right there.” Following Ren’s finger to the outline of a brunette girl in the distance, the onyx haired boy let out a low sigh before shaking his head. “You may have exceptional eyesight, but even so, there’s no way you can tell if that’s actually Danyell or not. I mean, just look at all the people with her, Danyell would never hang out in such a large group.” While he knew that Ren knew that Danyell hated crowds of people and usually kept to herself, it wasn’t hard for Makoto to spot the ignorance in Ren’s eyes. “…That’s Danyell, I’m sure of it.” The fiery teen argued yet again, beginning to lose his patience.
He clearly wasn’t going to let the notion go until he was proven wrong.
Sighing as he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, Makoto finally gave Ren a reluctant nod in reply before standing from his seat. “If you’re that certain than I suppose I’ll ditch next period with you to go and see for myself.” Despite his obvious annoyance, Makoto could help but smile as he studied Ren’s confident smirk. When he latched onto an idea he wasn’t one to simply let go, which could be a good or bad quality depending on how one looked at it.
Makoto just wished that Ren didn’t cause him to miss so many classes in the name of his crazy shenanigans.
***

“Hey Grace, you ready to try a few jumps?” Naro yelled to her in excitement after he’d finished changing in a nearby public restroom, earning an eager giggle in reply. Grace had been a bit more prepared than him, wearing her swimsuit under her clothes like Danyell had done, so the blonde had technically been ready all along. All she needed to do was take off her shirt, since her shorts were actually swimming bottoms. The problem was that she was slightly embarrassed that she’d worn a bikini. “Of course! Just give me a second, I need to say something to Danyell.” Grace explained before grabbing the president by the arm and dragging her away from the rest of the group, earning a few curious stares from those in the group though no one said anything.
“You told me when we were texting last night that you were wearing a two piece swimsuit!” Grace immediately accused her once they were out of the other’s earshot, having missed that her top was full length when she’d taken it off in the car due to attempting to process the accident. Tilting her head to the side in confusion, Danyell pulled up the bottom of her swim top just enough to show Grace that she was wearing a two piece before slowly raising her hands with a shrug. The blonde’s mouth hung agape as she processed their little misunderstanding, though she was quick to recover and jab an accusing finger at Danyell’s stomach. “You knew what I meant! You tricked me!”
“I might have guessed what you meant, but you never specifically asked me if I was wearing a bikini. I thought you’d know I would never wear something like that in public.” Danyell replied calmly, slowly raising her shoulders in a passive manner. That might have been all that came of the conversation, had the slight twitch of her lips not given her true feelings away. On the inside she had been fighting a losing battle in attempts to hold back her laughter. Grace knew about the boy’s planned Halloween costume for her and yet she never warned her, so now Danyell had gotten her revenge as punishment for her best friends betrayal.
“I see that smile Danyell! And Elaine wore a one piece! I’ll be the only one in a bikini!” Grace’s eyes widen in horror upon her realization, her stance growing stiff as she processed her own comment. Though that said horror quickly morphed into anger, leading her to tackle Danyell to the ground. The scene which unfolded thereafter was quite a sight. While Grace furiously attempted to keep Danyell pinned down without actually hurting her, the brunette merely laughed as she weakly tried to roll away from the girl on top of her. It was clear neither girl was truly putting forth an effort to hurt the other, leaving the two with a classic fighting between best friends look. “Grace get off!” Dimples showed in the usually serious girl’s cheeks as she laughed, helping both the girl’s to finally relax after the crazy car drive over.
“Way to go Grace, you got her!” Naro’s cheer cut the blonde’s reply off, while also drawing attention to the two as they rolled around on the ground. “Her camera’s in the pack on her side, grab it!” Kios yelled with a chuckle as he walked over to watch the sad excuse of a wrestling match. While he didn’t know what he wanted Grace’s camera for, he figured that he’d think of something fun to do with it. “Hey that’s dirty!” Naro scowled Kios as the president reached out to grab Grace’s bag with a confident smirk framing her face. “You want to put some money on this?” The scarlet eyed boy asked the brunette beside him, clearly gaining his attention despite Grace’s frantic screams as she attempted to swat Danyell’s hand away.
“How long has Danyell been doing karate?” Naro questioned back as he watched the two girls go at it. Even if Grace was winning at the moment, Naro didn’t want to bet anymore of his allowance for the week unless he was fully confident that she could win if things became serious. “No idea, I do know that Danyell definitely has the height and weight advantage here though.” Replying with a slight taunt to his tone as he pulled off his shirt, Kios then crossed his arms over his chest while awaiting his reply. However, he never did technically get it.
“Hey Grace, lets go! You said you were ready!” Naro blurted out swiftly as he sprinted over to the two girls, then promptly lifted the small blonde off of Danyell. That was one way of getting out of a bet, though in Kios’ opinion just declining usually caused less of a scene. “W-Wait Naro, I have to take off my shirt and put it in the car!” Fighting valiantly to hold back his laughter as Naro held an especially tomato red Grace up in the air like a small child, Kios took in a few deep breaths before clearing his throat as he walked over to stand above Danyell. “Well that was interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you laugh like that. What was going on?”
Rolling his red orbs as the brunette immediately silenced herself and she stood up while brushing herself off, the sly senior’s lips slowly formed a scheming smirk as he thought up an idea. “Aw come on, we were getting along so well at that old mansion last night… Or was that just your adrenalin talking?” Oh yeah, this was going to be great.
“Last I checked, adrenalin couldn’t talk.” Kios chuckled at her nearly incoherent grumble of a reply, getting even more excited by her reaction as he thought of putting his plan into action. Taking a step closer to the feisty girl, Kios seemed to have her in the palm of his hand as his vibrant eyes locked hers. He knew that their proximity would embarrass her enough to buy him a few moments to speak, without her blowing him off, which was luckily all the time he needed. “Care to test that theory?”
Throwing the girl over his shoulder before she could react, Kios let out a devious laughter as he ran up the bridges to where everyone besides Naro and Grace were already starting to do jumps. Danyell’s terrified screams from behind him only furthered his resolve to carry out his plan. Ignoring her hands as she pounded down against his back, the sly onyx haired boy finally stopped by one of the smaller bridges before shrugging as he set her down. “I was just saving you a trip, no need for death threats.”
Watching the shaking brunette as she wrapped her arms around herself while taking in deep breaths, Kios realized that the death threats hadn’t stopped… Which meant they hadn’t been Danyell’s at all, or at least not all of them.
Just a few feet away from the two, it seemed that Jove had finally caught Adrienne in a manner nearly exactly the same as Kios had been holding Danyell. Adrienne’s reaction to the hold, was much more violent however. “Jove Vermillion if you don’t put me down this instant I will do so much more than kill you!” Adrienne shrieked in rage while thrashing around on his shoulder, preferring to fall off over finding out what Jove had planned for her. “I swear, on Derek’s broken locker, that if you don’t let me go I will take action to ensure you never reproduce!”
“Pfft, she swore she’d castrate him on my locker!” Derek howled in amusement while laughing so hard her stomach began to hurt. “My locker is a curse now!” Leaning onto Saron as she placed both hands over her stomach, Derek hopelessly drew in deep breathes between her series of laughs in attempt to ease the her burning abs. “You have no idea how accurate that statement is.” Saron replied mutely from beside her, shaking his head as he remembered being stuffed into it towards the beginning of the school year. Placing an arm around the girl’s shoulder in attempts to calm her down, Saron let out a deep sigh. As much as he enjoyed Derek’s company she wasn’t exactly the person he’d been hoping to get closer to when she’d invited him to come on the trip with her and Zofia. Though perhaps coming had been a mistake, being there was only upsetting him in the end. He was really coming to detest a number of the boys in their group.
Jove firmly held Adrienne in place with one arm as he marched over to the only boy in the group he was beginning to trust. Dropping the troublesome American girl into Sehun’s unprepared arms, Jove waited for the boy to quickly adjust and catch her before smirking smugly. “Jove what the heck-!” Sehun began while frantically securing his grip on the small girl before being cut off by Jove’s raised hand. “She is your problem now, I can’t deal with her any longer. Teach her to behave and I may come to collect her from you in a couple of years, until then you can do whatever you see fit with her.” The silver haired boy huffed before smirking down at Adrienne, who was seething with anger, while Sehun was left completely speechless for a few moments.
He was pretty sure giving away your girlfriend wasn’t exactly legal, moreover who even thought of something like that?
“I am not yours to give away! Don’t you dare think that-” Adrienne began to sputter out, her tone telling of just how livid she was, though the thought was lost in her own screams as she found herself suddenly falling down along the side of the bridge.
“Oh heck no, I do not need another girl to think about in my life. Give her to someone else.” Sehun shook his head as he brushed his hands against each other, as if he were cleaning something off of them, before looking down as a loud splash sounded signaling she’d hit the water.
“Just the response I was hoping for, it seems Adrienne has learned her lesson.” Jove chuckled brightly, and yet his tone held a slight darker touch to it, leaving a daunting effect as he looked down to the water as well. “Wait, that was a joke? Do you realize what might of happened if I had responded differently or-?” Sehun started before noticing that the water had seemed to calm again, and yet the petite girl had yet to resurface. He had seen her in tryouts, Adrienne was an excellent swimmer, so what was the problem? “Why isn’t she coming up?” Finally questioning while debating on whether or not he should jump in and get her, Sehun watched as Jove cursed under his breath before beating him to the punch.
While Jove was pretty upset with Adrienne, he didn’t want her to drown.
The troublesome girl was becoming more and more of a hassle, and they weren’t even officially dating yet. It seemed like she demanded more control over him every passing day through her actions, leading to a conflict of interests between the two, because Jove knew he was doing the same. Her next action however, was not something he’d planned on. As soon as Jove had emerged into the water and began to look for Adrienne, he felt a hand latch onto his foot and pull him down further into the water. Jove knew immediately that the hand was Adrienne’s, due to the strong grip and the ease with which she moved through the water. She’d always been a strong swimmer, even back when they were kids.
Just as the thrashing boy felt that he couldn’t hold his breath much longer, Jove was relieved to find that Adrienne had finally run out of breath as well and released him before swimming up to the surface. Following in suit, he began to gasp for air as soon as his head broke free from the water. Turning a sharp gaze to Adrienne as he thought about holding her under the water with his hand, Jove’s eyes instantaneously soften upon spotting the necklace she always wore. He’d never noticed the ring laced through the golden chain before, and most likely never would have had her unexpected fall not pulled the ring out from under her swimsuit. Suddenly her obsession with the chain made sense, and her reason for keeping it around at all times was more of a confidence booster for Jove than he’d truly needed. His normal level of confidence was more than most people could take.
“Looks like I should’ve just left you down there to drown after all.” He eventually sighed before turning and swimming back to the riverbank, feigning ignorance to how upset she appeared to be. It was almost strange, Adrienne seemed just slightly too moody that day compared to her normal self. While he couldn’t quite place why she was so down, he couldn’t think of what he’d done to offend her. Shaking his head as the dark haired beauty followed after him without replying, Jove made a mental note to think on it later. For that moment, however, Jove was content in seeing that she hadn’t removed his ring from her necklace. It meant that she still liked him, at least a little bit.
Back atop the bridge, everyone watched as Jove and Adrienne sat along the riverbank. After all the drama that had happened on the way up, the teens were ready to just relax and have some fun. It was nice to see that at the very least, the two down below had stopped fighting. The new atmosphere which surrounded the students was a fairly light one, though slightly stiff, and allowed the students too lighten up much more than they’d been earlier.
“Well, there goes the attempted romantic rescue for the day. Looks like you missed your chance Kios.” Sehun snickered under his breath as he glared over at the unusually calm headed teenage boy. “Rescue? I’m not really that type.” The boy’s lighthearted reply threw Sehun for quite a loop, he’d been expecting a far more hostile comeback. It seemed that being around the hotheaded president had somehow calmed Kios down, something Sehun didn’t understand in the slightest. How could you actually find it easier to relax when someone was constantly scolding and yelling at you? Not that his relationship with the girl he liked was any less complicated. “You really are that type Kios, we all know it.”
Smirking as Sehun rolled his eyes, Kios simply shrugged before wrapping his arms around Danyell tightly and leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Ready to test that theory?” His next movement was instantaneous, leaving the brunette in his arms with no time to pull away as the wind danced through their hair. Jumping over the side of the bridge had swiftly allowed gravity to work its magic, and send them plummeting to the river beneath them. At that moment it seemed as if Kios had finally found a way to leave all his troubles behind him, though the same couldn’t be said for Danyell as she screamed helplessly into his chest.
***

Zofia had never felt more socially awkward in her entire life, which was saying something after finding a few of the teens she currently hung out with asleep in the chess club’s meeting room. Out of everyone that had come with them on the trip only one other girl hadn’t worn their swimsuit under their clothes, Elaine. The silence in between them, in both their walk to the small gas station beside the bridges and when changing in bathroom stalls beside each other, was nearly physically painful for her. Though as much as she longed to end it, Zofia wasn’t sure where to start. Sorry for almost killing your sister? Are you and Sehun dating? Would you be entirely too furious with me if I started hitting on the guy who’s pretty much your boyfriend? Come to think of it, it might be too late to ask that last one.
Attempting to build up her nerve to speak as she finished changing, Zofia frantically scrambled out of the stall upon hearing Elaine leave hers. Honestly after everything that had gone down that day she really would blame Elaine for trying to leave her behind. “Wait!” The desperate call escaped her before she realized she’d opened her mouth, leaving her to feel rather awkward upon seeing that Elaine was indeed waiting for her outside the stall. Face growing beat red as the small girl merely raised a questioning eyebrow at her, Zofia forced an apologetic smile before quickly gathering up all her clothes in the stall.
Not exactly how she’d been planning on breaking their silence, in fact she’d unintentionally caused the atmosphere between them to grow far more unbearable. Taking in a deep breath before turning back around to face her, Zofia was determined to do it right this time. She was going to fix everything for the sake of their friendship, afterall Elaine was the reason she’d become part of this group in the first place. “Is that your natural hair color?” Yep, it officially wasn’t Zofia’s day. All her hard mental preparation had gone to waste as her nerves took control of the conversion, causing her to ask something she had been wondering since they met but not one of her truly important questions. Figuring it was too late to change the topic, Zofia decided just to go along with her blunder.
“I mean blue isn’t an extremely common hair color, but then again it’s not impossible. On top of that your eyebrows are also a slightly darker hue of blue, which I suppose you could’ve dyed as well however that’d be kind of a pain. You also don’t seem to be the type to dwell on appearances, so I can’t see you obsessing over your eyebrows being the same shade as your hair after dyeing it-” As she rambled on, the majority of her words slurring together in a manner that nearly made them incoherent, Zofia found herself unable to stop. Even when she knew she was only embarrassing herself further. Luckily for her, Elaine seemed to pick up on that.
“You owe Grace and the others an apology. While we don’t often agree on things, she has the right to be upset with you this time. Even by my standards.” Zofia was never more grateful to someone for cutting her off in all her life, on top of that she managed to change the subject to one of the things she’d been hoping to discuss. “Right, of course! That was going to be my next comment…” Zofia let of a sigh of relief while rubbing the back of her head, she’d definitely apologize to the others later though she was afraid that if she didn’t take this opportunity to truly speak with Elaine another one would never arise. “I suggest doing it soon, she’ll be thrilled that you wore a bikini as well.” That comment certainly threw Zofia for a loop, she figured all the girls would wear one. However seeing Elaine in a one piece was proof enough that such wasn’t the case. Meaning she probably wasted her time but getting up so earlier that morning to go buy a nice swimsuit. “…We can’t seriously be the only one’s wearing bikinis, right?”
Finding herself unsurprised as Elaine ignored her question and turned to leave, Zofia was taken back by the whisper that escaped her companion. “If you really are interested in Sehun, try harder.” In the end, Zofia found herself frozen in place, unsure of how to reply. Was she even supposed to hear that comment?
Staring at Elaine with wide eyes as she held the door open in a causal manner, obviously waiting for her to exit, Zofia forced herself to shake off her shock and head back to the bridges with her friend. Finding the trip back to be just as unbearable as their trip to the gas station, if not more so, Zofia found that one comment had left her with so many questions. Had Elaine’s words just been her imagination? If not, was the begrudging comment made in means to challenge her?
Deep down Zofia knew the answer to her last question, though the comment was forced it had obviously been one of encouragement. Now, more than ever before, Zofia was convinced that Elaine did carry deep feelings for Sehun. It was obvious in the tones she used when speaking about him, though Zofia knew she couldn’t say that to her face. How could she come back from this new silence between them? She wanted to save their friendship, Zofia genuinely enjoyed Elaine’s company, however she knew the only true question left might in fact destroy what was left of it.
Why was Elaine trying to help push Sehun to her?

To Be Continued

The highest bridge, the longest fall, the single most terrifying moment of her life up to that point. Her shrill screams against Kios’ chest, which she had resolved to use in place of a pillow, as she clung to him were not nearly enough to express the absolute terror pounding down onto her stomach. “Are you insane?!” It was the only comment Danyell could force out as she clung to him for dear life, literally. While he was holding her tightly as well, she was still completely terrified the their impact with the water would force them apart. If that happened, Danyell had a full vote of confidence that she would drown.
Kios, on the other hand, couldn’t of been more amused by their situation. Had it really taken her that long to figure out something so obvious about him? “Don’t worry.” He whispered back while tightening his hold around her as he prepared for impact. “I didn’t forget.” In the split second before they hit the water, Kios smiled as Danyell’s screams finally ceased. It seemed like she’d almost relaxed for a few moments.
Though such was a short lived victory.
In the same moment they hit the water, he could feel the Pres beginning to panic. Her useless thrashing in his arms, presumably attempting to get back to the surface, complicated his plans slightly. However, in the end, Kios was still able to pull her around to his back and secure her arms around his neck before swimming back up to the surface. Both the teens gasped for air as their heads broke free, thanks to being under longer than he’d planned thanks to Danyell’s fit, but even if things had been shaky for a few moments Kios was genuinely happy.
He’d won the bet, unless Naro could figure out how to get higher than he had, and it almost felt like Danyell had trusted him for a split second as they fell. Overall, not a bad day at all. Still, Kios had a hard time arguing that he was the happiest one in the group in that moment. He could hear Grace’s squealing at the top of the bridge all the way from down in the river. “Don’t tell me she got a picture of that…” Danyell groaned from his back, her grip around his neck tightening as she buried her head into his shoulder in embarrassment. It seemed she finally cooled off after their hectic day, no pun intended.
“Knowing Grace, she and Naro probably made it to the top of the bridge right as we jumped off. Heck, she’s probably still taking pictures.” Replying with a deep chuckle, Kios grinned as he started to swim them back to the rivers bank. “‘We’ jumped, huh?” Laughing at her grumble in reply, the charismatic boy simply shrugged in reply while shredding water to keep them in place for a few moments as he looked over his shoulder to Danyell.
His grin widened as she rolled her eyes, taking her in as she rested her head lazily against his shoulder. “…You didn’t tell anyone where I lived this morning, even though I was late?” The comment caught him off guard, though in the end it only caused his confidence in interacting with her to grow. It seemed that his choice that morning that been the best option afterall. “Consider it a thank you for letting me walk you home.” He replied causally, before beginning to swim the rest of the way to the bank.
Honestly, Kios had no idea why Danyell tried to hide where she lived from the others. Her home had to rival the size of Naro’s, and it seemed to be built in an elegant Japanese style that anyone was sure to admire. What did she have to be embarrassed about?
Though the style of her home had brought up a few questions Kios feared he’d upset her if he was to ask. For example, why the Japanese style when it was clear she didn’t possess a drop of oriental blood in her body? After thinking about it for a moment, Kios shook the thought aside. It really wasn’t important, and her parents could’ve simply enjoyed that style when searching for homes in Japan.
“...I should be thanking you.” Eyes widening as he barely made out her comment, Kios slowly stood out of the water with his arms around Danyell’s legs in a piggyback fashion. It took him a few moments to recover from his shock and set down the blushing girl, though he found himself appreciating this softer side of her. The fact that she was showing it to him could only of meant that they made progress in their relationship, leaving him with a wide grin as he studied her. Apparently adrenalin did talk, at least in Danyell’s case, because it built up her trust in him. Even if he got her into crazy situations, Kios was confident that Danyell was beginning to see he’d always be there to get her out of them too.
Had he realized that quality about her sooner he would’ve jumped off a bridge with her eons ago.
“Oh yeah, what for?” Before Kios could get his answer, the moment was ruined. As he took one step closer to Danyell he found himself getting punched back down into the river. It’d happened so fast, with so much force, Kios wasn’t prepared in the slightest. There was no way he could’ve been. “Kios!” He could hardly hear Danyell panicked scream underneath the water, though he was relieved to find she’d run into the shallow bank after him as her hand grabbed onto his arm and pulled him up. Wincing as he placed a hand to his cheek and stood up out of the water, Kios glanced over to the girl in attempts to reassure her. “I’m alright-” He started, though cut himself off as Danyell was suddenly ripped away from him.
“What is your problem?! Who are you to touch her, let alone force her over the side of a bridge?! Danyell can’t swim, she could’ve been killed thanks to your ignorance!” Time seemed to freeze as Kios watched a boy who must’ve been his age literally sweep Danyell off her feet, and cradle her into his chest in a manner of familiarity. This redhead’s appearance had been completely random, Kios had definitely never seen him before, so why was it that he knew Danyell’s name? More over, he knew she couldn’t swim, something she always attempted to hide… Meaning he knew her, personally.
It was clear, by his stance, that Kios didn’t appreciate the strange man suddenly holding Danyell so close to him.
“I’m sorry, who am I? Who exactly are you?” Kios scoffed as walked over to the obviously over possessive teen and pulled Danyell out of his arms. Holding her in the exact same fashion.
Meanwhile Danyell was completely silent, her wide chocolate eyes filled with horror. Never had it occurred to her that even if Eon had gotten the day off school, they might still be in session. Why had Naro picked those bridges?!
“Don’t you dare touch her, you almost killed her! Do you even know her?!” The temperamental teen charged at him, only freezing in his tracks at Danyell’s sudden cry. “Ren, stop!” Kios was far from annoyed with the stranger, he was pissed. However, after Danyell had spoken, he found that his anger was easily matched by his confusion. So she really did know him?
“Ren you charged off so quickly-! Oh no, Ren calm down!” Suddenly another boy around their age appeared, grabbing the first by the arm and pulling him away from Kios. At that point everyone in the small group was confused or upset, though Kios found he was more of both of those than anyone else. “My sincerest apologies, Ren is… Extremely protective of Danyell.” The second boy explained with a forced laugh while pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose in a hesitant manner, just as the other teens from Eon raced over to see what was going on.
“Well I can see that much, but why the heck did he-!” Kios didn’t even know where to start. Why did Ren suddenly appear out of no where and punch him in the face? Why did he think he had a right to be so close to Danyell? Why had Danyell never mentioned either of them? Who were they? There were so many questions running through his mind, he hadn’t even decided which one he wanted to ask first by the time the others had reached him and began to spout off their own. “What’s going on, are you alright Kios?” Grace questioned while running over to him, looking him over as Elaine and Zofia made it back from the gas station. “Yo guys, What'd we miss?… Who are they?” Zofia started while looking over the two new, decently attractive, newcomers. She definitely would’ve remembered meeting them before.
“Are you seriously checking these guys out?” Sehun scoffed as he shamelessly did the same thing to both her and Elaine, causing Zofia to roll her eyes. “Oh, of course not. Checking two people out at once is such a tool move.” She shot back causally while crossing her arms over her chest, causing even Elaine to laugh from beside her. “Shots fired!” Jove chuckled while shaking his head before wincing as Adrienne punched him in the arm. “What is up with you today?!” Jove growled before realizing what her earlier threat and now her violent behavior had in common, Zofia.
“Wait… Do you think I’m hitting on her? I have no interest in her, no offense Zofia.” He sighed before glancing over to the blonde beside the currently speechless Sehun, who raised her hands up in surrender as she replied. “None taken, I don’t have any interest in you either if you don’t mind me saying. You do pull of that ponytail really well though.” Chuckling at the comment, Jove proudly tightened his ponytail in reply before nodding to her in approval. “Indeed.”
“Alright, cut it out!” Adrienne and Sehun yelled out in sync, the anger in their tone stunning even themselves to silence. Everything was spiraling out of control, leaving the mass confusion spread throughout the group to rise with every passing moment.
“Guys! Can we figure out who these guys are before worrying about our own relationships between each other?!” Kios was just about at his wits end thanks to everything that had been going on. Though he was able to calm down enough to at least take in a deep breath as Danyell finally glanced up to him. He was so confused, everyone was, and she was the only one who knew the answers he was searching for. “Kios… Put me down.” The comment was not what Kios had been wanting to hear, at all. He wanted her to explain, or at least scold Ren for his behavior! She was good at that.
Reluctantly doing as he was told, Kios was taken back as Danyell sprinted over to the two boys and embraced them with tears in her eyes. He’d never seen seen her so surprised, or so emotionally attached to someone… Which only made him all the more furious. Why had she never even mentioned them? If they were just her friends than she would’ve talked about them at least a few times… Meaning that it was possible that one of them was more than a friend to Danyell.
“Makoto! Ren! What are you doing here?” Danyell questioned as she finally composed herself enough to pull away from them, smiling sadly as she saw the worry in their gazes. Maybe Ellis had been right when accusing her of not spending enough time with her old friends. They clearly missed her, and in the end their worry had been because she had been ignoring them. While she felt overwhelmingly guilty for cutting them off completely, Danyell still wasn’t sure she was ready to face the things from her past yet. That included them.
“It’s good to see you Sensei, I’ve missed you.” Makoto paused a moment before pulling her back in for another hug, sighing as he held her close. “Karate club just isn’t the same without our teacher, we all miss you very much.” Clearing his throat as he pulled away, Makoto’s eyes glanced up to Ren. The fiery boy was used to Makoto’s clingy behavior around Danyell at that point, yet his uncaring attitude was still slightly surprising. Ren should’ve been completely ecstatic to see Danyell again, at least attempting to push him aside to speak with her. The fact that such wasn’t the case worried Makoto greatly. “…I’ve missed you too… But how did you know I was here?”
“Simple, Ren spotted you from our abandoned classroom. Since no one eats there but us, we were able to slip off campus before the bell had rung and come see you.” Makoto explained while pointing to the large school campus Danyell once belonged to, as if she could forget.
“Wait a second, Ren!” Cluing in on the subject of the conversation after he’d finished looking through all the new pictures Grace had taken that day, Naro handed the petite blonde her camera, before sprinting over to the moody redhead and lifting him off the ground with a bone crushing hug. The action shocked everyone in the group save Makoto, whose grin widen as he realized who the massive brunette with the headband was. “Well this… is actually a surprise. Naro it’s been ages, I didn’t even recognize you!”
“No way, Makoto too?!” Easily pulling the second boy into his warm embrace, Naro laughed brightly which seemed to actually make Ren smile for once in the encounter. “I see you haven’t changed since club ball in middle school, you still shooting from half court?” Ren sighed as he gave into his old friend’s embrace, withdrawing from his anger for a few moments to join the conversion. “Ha, I can make those in the dark now! I shoot from full court now.” The childlike teen boasted as he finally set the two boys down, his comment obviously impressing both of them.
“Okay, will someone please explain who these guys even are? And how you both know them while you’re at it.” Kios injected before anyone else could speak, earning a death glare from Ren that he more than happily returned.
Letting out a deep breath in surrender, Danyell stepped in between the two hostile boys before beginning to explain. “Kios… This is Ren, and that’s Makoto.” She explained softly, pointing to each boy as she said their names. “Makoto is a good friend of mine, and technically a former student as well. His family runs the Akimoto hospital chain, which he’s been training to take over ever since we were little kids.” The brunette explained while brushing some of her thick locks behind her ear, catching Grace and Elaine’s attention far more than anyone else’s. “The Akimoto chain?” Elaine inquired before she could stop herself, gaining some curious glances from her friends. “…It’s just that the Akimoto chain is the most notable chain in all of Japan. I expected someone from such a prestigious family to attend a private academy like Eon, not a public school.” The small bluenette explained quickly with a passive shrug, immediately waving her friend’s curiosity as they nodded in agreement.
Laughing as he nodded himself, Makoto adjusted his glasses before replying with a bright grin. “Perfectly understandable, it’s a question I get a lot actually. I was invited to attend Eon, though turned them down in favor of StarrDown High along with Ren and Danyell as a freshman. We all agreed that a smaller school would be best, due to the teacher to student ratio.” As he finished explaining Elaine opened her mouth as if she longed to say something more, before nodding in understanding and hiding behind Sehun. Who seemed slightly embarrassed by the action, though he tried his best to play it cool.
“Does this mean you were originally a dragon?” Grace asked Danyell, referring to the school’s mascot, who offered a sniff nod in reply before quickly continuing.
“Then there’s Ren… He’s an old family friend. He looked after me for a number of years, though his behavior today was obviously out of line.” Sending the muscular redhead a pointed glare, Danyell found herself frozen in place as he marched towards her before stubbornly wrapping his arms around her waste. “I was only protecting my girl, who that idiot was clearly endangering.” Ren grumbled in reply, his grip around her waist tightening as she attempted to pull away. Why did they have to reunite now of all times? Had they’d met in private she would’ve been able to properly inform him of her new friends… Like Kios. “Ren, we’ve been over this! I am not-”
Before she could even finish, Danyell held back a yelp as Kios firmly grabbed her hand and ripped her free of Ren’s hold. “Excuse me? I don’t know how things work back in StarrDown, but you can’t pop up out of nowhere and claim a person a ‘your girl’.” Kios forced out through his gritted teeth, chuckling darkly as he wrapped his arms around Danyell’s waist in a taunting manner.
Had he and Danyell been official, he honestly wouldn’t of paid Ren any attention. He would’ve trusted Danyell too much to let Ren’s flirtings bug him, though he definitely would’ve put him in line when it came to being so possessive of her. However they weren’t dating, and Danyell seemed rather close to the creep. Meaning she might actually let him simply have her over time if he kept making such comments. He couldn’t let that happen, not when he was finally considering chasing after her seriously.
“That’s exactly what it’s like at StarrDown, relationships pop out of nowhere around campus and it’s usually thanks to one forceful individual ‘claiming’ someone who’s too indifferent on the matter to truly care one way or another.” Makoto admitted with an annoyed sigh, clearly a subject that he had put some thought into over the years.
“Eh, too be fair, Jove seems to do the exact same thing in his relationships.” Zofia pointed out, a comment to which even he shrugged in acknowledgment of.
Ignoring the side conversation, Ren seemed to be dangerously calm as he weighed Kios up before speaking. “Are you implying that she’s yours?” The ‘dragon’ slowly clenched his fists, slowly drawing in and out breaths as he tried not to dwell on Kios’ hold around Danyell.
“It wouldn’t be unreasonable for you to make the assumption.” Kios replied nonchalantly as his gaze flickered away from Ren’s in disgust, only having a split second to push Danyell to Makoto before Ren charged in to punch him in the face yet again. Though he had been prepared for it that time, so Kios had no problems blocking the blow and sending a strike of his own into Ren’s stomach. Smirking as his opponent wheezed from the impact, Kios wasted no time in placing a swift kick to Ren right knee and chuckled as the boy began to tumble backwards.
Though he hadn’t expected Ren to sweep his legs out form underneath him on the boys descent. Falling back into the river, Kios could vaguely hear his friends screaming as he hit the back of his head on a rock in the shallow bank. Cursing as he slowly sat up with a hand placed firmly onto the back of his head, Kios attempted to ignore the throbbing pain as he looked back over to the group. Realizing that Naro and Makoto had been holding Ren down until he cooled off, Kios found himself suspecting that the rash ginger might actually kill him if he messed with Danyell.
“Kios are you okay?!” Speak of the devil. Standing up before she could help him, Kios chuckled as the girl frantically looked him over for injures before pulling his hand away from his head. Groaning quietly in complaint, Kios allowed her to push his hair up and examine his head only to prove that he was fine. “You satisfied yet?” He forced out as she ran her finger across the area where he’d hit the rock, mainly to keep from showing how much his head truly hurt in that moment. “Well you don’t need stitches… But you have a small cut and a bruise that’s already purple… Makoto what do you think?” She called back to the group, completely ignoring his question.
“Sounds fine, other than a possible concussion. Bring him here.” Makoto sighed in reply after finally getting Ren to calm down, though he clearly wasn’t happy.
“Right.” Guiding Kios over to Makoto like she was told, Danyell found that she was was livid… Though at who, she didn’t know. Ren, for his unacceptable and cruel behavior? Kios, for egging him on? Or possibly herself, for being the cause of all of it. Was it truly impossible to start over without acknowledging one’s past?
“His guys head must be harder than a rock, literally, because there’s no signs of even a mild concussion.” Makoto marveled as he looked him over and used a flashlight to double check his statement. “He’s just going to have a massive headache.” The skinny raven haired boy concluded, receiving an immediate thanks from both Kios and Danyell.
“Already feeling that headache.” Agreeing with an annoyed shake off his head, Kios briefly glanced to Ren to find his fall hadn’t been much kinder. The rocks and bushes along the river’s bank had cut up the ‘dragons’ arms and legs pretty badly. However he couldn’t imagine such a small thing bugging Ren in the slightest, he seemed like the type who’d seen much worse days in past fights.
Kios had as well.
“Well it was nice to meet all of you, however Ren and I should be heading back to school before something worse breaks out between these two.” Makoto smiled apologetically before turning to leave, only to be stopping as Ren placed a hand onto his shoulder. “We’re taking Danyell home, I don’t trust him to accomplish getting her there in one piece.”
“Ren.” Danyell warned, purposely standing slightly in front of Kios to prevent another fight from breaking out. Something about he boy’s comment caused Kios to lose it,leading him to scoff as he shot the redhead a threatening glare. “You may be her friend, but you don’t own her. Danyell can place her trust in whoever she wants, whether or not you trust them doesn’t effect that in the slightest.” Kios shot back, a comment which earned him a short ‘ from Naro. Who clearly didn’t know how to read social ques.
“Funny, she never claimed you as anything more than a friend either. So why does your opinion on the subject matter?” Ren growled back sharply, earning another ‘ from Naro. Who was promptly elbowed by Grace.
“Hard to come back from that one, unless of course you two would finally like to admit your dating.” Sehun pointed out with a passive shrug of his shoulders. Sure, he was currently not very happy with Kios, however watching the two go at it was almost physically painful. On top of that, he wasn’t going to side with a stranger over one of his lifelong friend.
“They’re what?!” Both Ren and Makoto exclaimed in unison, though the first’s was obviously in anger while the second’s was in shock.
By that point all eyes where on Danyell, though the most embarrassing set definitely belonged to Kios. Cheeks set aflame as she began to desperately think of something that would get her out of the question, Danyell eventually resorted to the only option she saw available to her. “…I’m going home with Ren and Makoto, we have a lot to talk about after today’s events.” The tone of her voice clearly displayed just how beyond frustrated she was with Ren particularly , though apparently Makoto took it to heart as well as he bowed deeply in reply. “I apologize Sensei, I should’ve been able to control Ren better. I accept full responsibility for his actions.”
“The fact that you’re serious is just sad, Ren needs to learn to control his own actions.” Danyell rolled her eyes before taking both the boys by the arm and pulling them away from the group. “Hey wait a minute!” Glancing back to Kios as he called out, Danyell merely sent him an apologetic look before heading towards the school grounds. There were too many difficult questions for her to answer awaiting her if she stayed.
“...Danyell?” Kios studied her back as she disappeared into the distance, scarlet eyes wide with disbelief. “Ouch.” Jove was the only one in the group who dared to speak as Kios attempted to process what was going on, though he did earn a nod in agreement from everyone in the group.
None of it made any sense to Kios, why had Danyell literally never mentioned those two guys before? Did she have other ‘friends’ she was forgetting to mention as well? If that guy wasn’t a hung up ex he didn’t know what was.
That was definitely not something he needed to have to worry about on top of his fight with Sehun. What a day.
Gaze slowly drawn up by the impressive amount of cash Naro was extending down to him, Kios could help but roll his eyes as he snatched it out of his friend’s hand. “I know you’re throwing the bet out of sympathy Naro, but I’m still keeping the cash.” Kios huffed, shoving his ‘winnings’ into his swim short's pocket.
Naro simply shrugged in reply while patting him on the shoulder, even the childish boy knew that Danyell meant a lot to Kios. He couldn’t imagine what he’d be feeling like if a cool dude like Ren showed up suddenly and than walked off with Grace. That’d be far worse than losing every bet he and Kios had ever made.
“We should head back to town, you can come over to my place for a little bit. I have something that will help.” Naro promised, earning a curious glance from Kios. While it was obvious he was upset, Kios had begun to assume Naro still couldn’t wrap his head around something like having a crush… Or feeling something even more than that for a person for that matter.
“Lila, Daniel, Ryuu, Derek, and Saron are still over at the smaller bridges trying out some practice jumps, that’s where Naro and I were earlier. Though we made it back in time to see your jump Kios…” Grace attempted to breaking the silence while ringing out her wet hair, glancing down to the camera bag on her hip. They had been so cute during the jump… Today’s ending was not how she wanted to end her blog update. For Danyell’s sake, she’d just say that the Pres drove back in Zofia’s car due to Zofia living the closest to her. Of course that was a lie, but no one would know that save those in her group.
“Well let’s load up and go get them. Naro’s right, we should head back.” Kios sighed before leading the way back to the others. In that moment, he really just wanted get back to a place where he could be alone with his thoughts.

(Later that night, in Naro’s bedroom)

“...What is this?” Kios was genuinely surprised by Naro’s thought process that time, which was really saying quite a lot, as he glanced down to the giant bowl in his lap. “Ice cream!” Naro’s excited exclamation might’ve been enough to amuse Kios, if Ren’s antics hadn’t already caused him to be so completely unamused. “No, I got that. I meant, how is this going to help me feel better after what happened with Danyell?” He tried again, though his question only seemed to confuse Naro in the end.
“, it’s not? This is supposed to make you feel better about Ren… I didn’t know you were having problems with Danyell.” Naro slowly admitted, scratching the back of his head as he tried to figure out what the Pres had done to make him mad. Maybe he should’ve invited Grace over to help Kios feel better afterall.
“Wait, what? The only thing that’s going to make me feel better about Ren is beating some common sense into him… And come on Naro, it’s obvious that I’m having problems with Danyell. You can’t truly be that dense.” Shaking his head as his hands clenched the cold glass surface in his lap, Kios tried to pull himself together. So Danyell had gone home with Ren, so what? He wasn’t that cool, in fact he seemed like a completely possessive jerk. He had no regard for the opinion of others, couldn’t be reasoned with, and-! And… They had a lot in common.
That was what worried him. If Danyell was attracted to him, why wouldn’t she be attracted to Ren?
“Nope! Actually Grace told me that ‘nothing helps with boy problems more than ice cream’, so that means it’s even better then fist fighting. Since Ren is a boy you’re having problems with, ice cream is the best solution! And lucky you, I bought a whole freezer full of it for her just in case she ever had ‘boy problems’ at school… Just don’t tell her I gave you any.” Naro explained before proudly gesturing to brand new freezer next to the fridge in his room.
Honestly Kios wasn’t sure which impressed him more, the fact that Naro truly was so dense that he didn’t understand what Grace meant by ‘boy problems’ or his commitment to her in general. Naro really went out of his way to go above and beyond expectations when it came to her.
Speaking of impressive feats, Grace was an evil genius.
It was obvious that she only had eyes for Naro at that point, meaning he would’ve been the only source of her boy problems. Her comment to Naro had set it up so that she could go to him anytime she felt that they were having problems, and he’d take her out on an ice cream date. Heck, it probably worked even better than she’d hoped for now that he kept a private stash for just for her at his house.
“I don’t really know what to do about girl problems, but Grace will! Grace knows everything about girls, because she is one. Let me grab my phone and I’ll text her-!” Naro started in excitement only to be cut off by Kios as he dragged him on onto the couch beside him. “As good as Grace is at giving advice, I’d prefer she didn’t know about any of this… Let’s just keep it between us.”
Pausing to think about it for a few moments, Naro’s face lit up as he pieced together what was happening. “Like man talk!”
Raising an eyebrow at the boys sudden outburst, Kios eventually decided to just go with it. “Right, man talk… So Naro…” Clearing his throat before continuing, he found himself wondering if Naro was the right person to confide in. Though after a few moments of fighting off mild embarrass, Kios decided that he really didn’t have anyone else to go to. At least no one else that wouldn’t make fun of him. “What would you do if it was Grace?”
“Oh, that’s easy! I’d ask the maids if I could watch a soap bar with them! My dad blocked all the soap bar channels on the TV’s, but the maids have some on DVD they like to watch.” Naro informed Kios as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. But of course, how could he have forgotten about the soap bar channels? They held the answers to all the problems in the universe! “Naro, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Kios finally replied with a blank look on his face, beginning to question what exactly the maids in Naro’s mansion watched in their free time.
“Yes you do, soap bars are really famous! They all have a relationship that’s really confusing and everyone talks like, ‘Katie, my love, I could never go on if you were to leave me! Your love is all I have!’ And, ‘Oh Roger, how I long to be with you! Though you know it’s too late for that, I could never be with someone who cheated!’ They explain all relationship problems! Like,don’t cheat when playing hide and go seek.” At that point he was beyond concerned about what the maids had been telling him in regards to their television choices. “Naro, you watch soap operas?! Don’t watch crap like that, I’m not sure a guy like you can take it… Plus they are unbelievably boring.” Kios sighed while shaking his head, he honestly shouldn’t of been surprised. Since when did Naro’s advice ever make sense?
“Don’t worry, the maids cover my eyes whenever there’s kissing. But since this is man talk, I think they’re really boring too. I just don’t want to hurt their feelings when they ask if I want to watch.” Leave it to Naro, still thinking it was inappropriate to watch kissing scenes in movies as a Senior in highschool. This was logically the last boy he should be coming to for advice, and yet he and Grace had the best relationship of anyone in their group. Whether they were official or not really didn’t matter.
“Well if the soap op… bars, are bad then I would just talk to Grace about the problem. She’s my best friend and I love her, if we talk about something then we can definitely figure it out! You should try that!” Naro broke the silence yet again, and yet this time Kios found that he’d actually given him pretty good advice. Though his frankness took Kios back a bit. How could Naro say he loved Grace so easily? They were only in highschool, surely he hadn’t told her that yet.
Then again, you never really knew with Naro.
“...Thanks for the ice cream.” Kios eventually replied, seeming almost completely back to normal as he began to slowly eat what was in the bowl on his lap. Now that he’d calmed down and cleared his head, he finally had a moment to truly think over what he should say to Danyell. Naro was right, they needed to talk. About everything.
Even if it complicated things between himself and Sehun.
“I have more if you want it!”

Perhaps Taking Advice From Naro Isn’t Always A Bad Thing…

Hot water did not even begin to explain how much trouble Ren was in, molten lava might do the trick. Though even that element seemed far too peaceful for Danyell’s liking. In fact she was so furious that she’d demanded he stay with Makoto in one of the guest rooms overnight, simply because she knew that if she’d addressed the situation on the drive home she probably would’ve ruined their long standing friendship. Permanently.
She knew her own limits, which had obviously been reached. Danyell just needed a nights rest to cool off.
Unfortunately for her plan, Danyell didn’t feel any better by the time her alarm sounded, signaling that it was time to get up for school. Not that she’d actually needed an awaking that particular morning. Despite usually sleeping like the dead, the days events had left her unable to get any rest at all. Her raging thoughts and pounding heart kept her quite preoccupied throughout the night, much to her own resentment.
Arguably the worst form of torture one could inflict upon themselves was wanting sleep, and needing sleep, yet never being able to relax long enough to achieve it.
“I am armed, and this is your only warning! Out of bed in three seconds or a will spray you with the squirt bottle!” The acclamation sounding from Ellis was, for once, not something she absolutely dreaded. Though mildly annoying, Danyell was already awake, meaning she wouldn’t have to fight with him to sleep in. One positive to counter the long list of negatives that had occurred within the last twenty four hours.
“Ren’s in his usual guest room with Makoto. You threw such a big fit over seeing him yesterday, now’s your chance.” Danyell grumbled with a sigh as she forced herself out of bed, fighting out a small smile upon seeing Ellis’ eyes light up. Sometimes she swore that he preferred Ren’s company over her own… However such was probably the same for all siblings who lived together. “You brought big brother over, and even the nerd?! Are you joking?!” Ellis questioned quickly before bolting down the hallway, never waiting for his reply.
The good news was that she’d have time to get ready for school with Ellis distracting the boys, the bad news was she’d have to separate them to have her talk with Ren. Before school started at that. With Ellis’ complete adoration towards older ‘cool’ boys, accomplishing such a feat in such a short time phase would be a miracle in itself.
***

“Are you stupid?!” Such a comment was the last thing Zofia had expected to hear on her first day of school, much less in her chemistry class. Chemistry had always been one of her best subjects. “…I’m sorry?” Looking up to a rather harsh looking boy in her class, Zofia realized that she’d been mixing the chemicals on her list together subconsciously while doodling with her dominant hand on the corners of the crisp page. Flinching as the boy suddenly lept forward without another word, snatched her glass vile, and chucked it into the trash can, Zofia was speechless as she witnessed her concoction result in a minor explosion within the metal container.
Apparently measuring the chemicals properly rather than drawing on her assignment page had been more important in the end. Though she doubted that would be the last time she did something irrational for the sake of jotting down an idea.
“Do you even realize what you were doing?! This was a delicate experiment, the teacher said that repeatedly while you were scribbling all over our paper!” The boy from earlier quietly raged on, after the class had finished muttering a few snide comments and moved back on to their own experiments.
Honestly the comment left her both mildly offended and confused. For starters, her well developed doodles were far from scribbles, such a comment was just plan rude. After all even kindergartners could scribble. More over, she had been listening to the teachers instructions, she just hadn’t necessarily believed that he would assign them something that could explode if done wrong. Especially on the first day of class.
“Our paper?” It was the only comment to eventually escape her lips, and with it Zofia’s curiosity about the dark haired boy standing in front of her grew. Though originally the only thing that she’d noticed about this boy was how stern he was, upon taking some time to look him over she found that he was actually quite attractive. A smile wouldn’t hurt though.
Wincing as the boy face-palmed, Zofia found her gaze dropping back to the lab paper on her desktop. Today she was, clearly, not making the greatest first impressions among her classmates. Which wasn’t a good sign for the rest of the school year. Since Eon was such a big school you really had to latch onto those who shared classes with you. If you didn’t you’d have to attempt to track down friends from the previous year, which was easier said than done since the majority of the school was made up of transfer students.
After a few moments of silence had passed between the two teens, Zofia began to fidget uncomfortably in her seat while mentally begging the boy to speak or leave. Unfortunately for her he didn’t seem like he was going to do either for quite sometime, leaving her to deal with her nervousness the same way she always did. As her fingers laced around her cool plastic mechanical pencil, Zofia wasted no time in turning her attention back to her doodling. Though the second it touched the lab sheet the harsh boy snapped her out of her thought process.
“Don’t you dare start drawing on our paper again!” Dropping her pencil as soon as the boy yelled at her, again, Zofia raised her hands into the air in means of surrendering. For a moment she thought the boy would lecture her further, though to her surprise her action seemed to mildly amuse him. Watching as he sighed and shook his head, Zofia glanced down at his hand he’d extended before hesitantly shaking it. So he didn’t hate her then?
“My name is Sehun. If you had been paying attention to the board at beginning of class, you would’ve seen that I’m your assigned lab partner for the year.” In that moment Zofia didn’t know if she was lucky, or in for a seriously long year.
If Sehun always got mad at her for doodling in class, Zofia wasn’t sure she’d be able to survive the year. As ironic as it sounded, doodling helped her keep her attention actively on her classes. Though she liked Chemistry, there were days when even she had trouble keeping her mind engaged in the class. So in that sense, she wasn’t exactly excited about her new partner.
However, the teacher’s random assignments had landed her some quality time with the best looking boy in class. That was always a positive. Sehun was a solid 8.5, if not a 9, meaning he was one of the top tier boys in their school. At least in Zofia’s opinion. So by that standard, scoring Sehun as a partner was kind of nice.
“I’m Zofia, nice to meet you Sehun-Kun.” Immediately replying with a small bow after pulling her hand away from his, it became clear Zofia wasn’t truly accustom to dealing with all the diverse culture’s in the school yet. The action seemed to actually mildly embarrass her new partner, leaving him speechless for a few moments. “You don’t have to call me anything besides Sehun, actually, from now on only address exchange students by simply their first names. We don’t use polite terms like Kun, or Chan.” Eyes widening as the slim boy cleared his throat, Zofia swiftly nodded in understanding while attempting to ignore the coloring lighting her cheeks. She mentally scowled herself for not remembering how to address students from other cultures, despite being told several times since she’d started school at the academy as a freshman.
“Anyway, your lucky I was paying attention. One second later and that would be your look for the day.” Sehun broke the silence with a nod to the trashcan, this time leaving Zofia speechless. As she took in the newly brightly stained and cracked trash can, realization slowly dawned upon her. Had Sehun not come to her rescue, she would’ve had to spend her first day back at school looking trashier than the poor exploded can in the corner.
That was when she decided, that no matter how harsh of an exterior the boy before had, he was truly a kind person at heart. And given a little time, she’d prove it.
Zofia was determined to get to know this mysterious boy better.
“Oh my… T-Thank you so much Sehun!” Zofia finally replied with a gasp, her reaction once again causing Sehun to chuckle. She didn’t really understand why, though he seemed to find her rather amusing.
“There’s no need for that.” His cool even tone was enough to earn any girl’s attention, strengthening Zofia’s resolve to make the most of her time with him everyday. Hopefully, by the end of the year, they’d end up knowing each other pretty well.
“I am curious though, how much of that did you put it the experiment before it exploded? My friend Naro has been wanting to know how to make explosions.”
In hindsight, she really shouldn’t of told him the answer to that question.
***

“Yo, Zo look what I found~!” A tall brunette boy sang as he burst through a simple heavy set wooden door, startling the blonde girl within the small bedroom. Quickly shoving her sketch papers off the side of her desk, Zofia’s head frantically spun in the direction of her brother’s voice as she nervously began to fiddle with her fingers. “W-What do you want Zach? I’ve told you to knock several times…” Sighing as the teenage boy continued to waltz into her room without a care in the world, the docile teen slowly shook her head while standing from her seat and beginning to stretch. This was the problem with family, they never seemed to grasp the term ‘personal space’.
“We’re twins, we don’t need to knock on each others doors! I’ve been with you since birth!” Zachariah scoffed dramatically while placing a hand over his chest, though his feigned offense disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced upon his inspection of the papers Zofia had shoved onto her floor. “No way, did you make more of them?!” Sprinting towards the pile beside his sister’s desk, the tall boy could hardly contain his rising giddiness as he all but leapt onto the mount of crisp white secrets.
Unfortunately, Zofia had been too horrified by the sight of one of her prized sketches clenched within her twin’s palm to react in time to cut him off from her new stack of sketches. She was done for before she had even had a chance to begin. “Zach no-!” She started weakly before immediately being cut off by the young man, his bright series of girlish giggles proving to be more than enough to silence her. “Oh my gosh, they’re all of him!” Honestly, Zofia couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so embarrassed. Heat flooded to her cheeks more rapidly than she thought to be humanly possible as she finally came to her senses, roughly grabbing the back of her brothers hood before pulling him out of her room.
“Aww, you’re embarrassed! You must really have it bad Zo!” Possessively snatching the few pages Zach had in his hands from him, the young blonde swiftly shut her door with an exasperated sigh. Why did her peaceful life suddenly feel the need to flare up with unwelcomed drama throughout that year? If the homework load of senior year didn’t kill her she seriously thought her predicament with Sehun might. “Oh come on, I’m just teasing you a little… I don’t mean any harm.” Ignoring her brothers protests as she pulled her hair up into a loose ponytail, the art president quickly looked herself over in the mirror before allowing her gaze to wonder back over to her art desk. While she certainly looked confident in her practical causal outfit, she was failing to truly feel such a way inside.
Slowly walking over to the wooden desk, Zofia carefully studied the drawing she worked hard on the night before. While she admittedly was going through a bit of a, well, ‘drawing your crush’ stage, the boy in this particular image was different in a great number of ways. Not her type by any means, though she would give him credit for being able to actually pull off his trademarked headband. Honestly, she couldn’t imagine him without it at that point. On top of that there was a slight boyish charm to his big goofy grin. Hopefully she’d captured his essence just right.
With how awkward the conversation was already destined to be she didn’t want to screw up her one token of piece.
“Alright… You can do this Zofia, no problem!” Thinking out loud as she confidently clenched her fist, her attention then turned to the folded pirate jacket on her bed. “I can do that too, absolutely! Well, most likely… Probably…” Beginning to mutter about how annoying the feeling she always had around Sehun was, the high school student jolted upwards slightly as her identical twins voice called through her door yet again. Apparently he hadn’t left yet.
“You’re talking to yourself again Zo, people are going to start thinking you’re crazy.” He forced a sigh before beginning to laugh brightly as he thought up his follow up question that was sure to embarrass her. “So what exactly are you so nervous to do today at that big fancy school of yours? Perhaps the boy you keep drawing has something to do with it-” He started only to be cut off by an obviously flustered Zofia, though her call only added to his amusement.
“Go to school!”
***

“I… I don’t even want to know.” Danyell tsked before subconsciously slapping the palm of her hand against her forehead. In truth, she shouldn’t have been so surprised. Things like this always happened when Ren and Makoto came over. Despite usually coming off as cold and harsh towards anyone he encountered, after years of numerous encounters Ren had seemed to make an exception on behalf of Ellis. Part of the reasoning behind such an exception probably being his feelings for Danyell, while the other part she presumed was due to Ellis’ constant flatterings.
As her chestnut orbs scanned the room around her, Danyell failed to find even one corner of the large usually impeccably neat guestroom still in its original condition. The two beds lining the far wall of the room had been striped of their sheets and pillows, which the currently shirtless boys used as makeshift capes and shields as the tackled each other at random around the room. Well, the tackling was mostly on behalf Ren and Ellis. As always, Makoto was just nice enough to passively go along with the other two’s shenanigans, and yet too well-mannered to actually participate in anything that might hurt one of his friends. There was really no way to explain or wrap one’s head around the relationship the three shared, though Danyell was positive that Ellis was the only one acting his age in that moment.
“Sensei!” Sighing as Makoto swiftly lept to his feet and and bowed apologetically, the empathetic brunette slowly shook her head before gently lugging him in the shoulder. “How many times do I have to tell you to call me by my first name? I’m not your teacher anymore, Makoto.” Running a hand through her dark locks as she bent down and picked up the boy’s shirts, the aggravated president paused a moment before tossing the clothing back their owners. “Now put on your shirts and clean up this mess.”
“Yes Sen-! Ah, Danyell.” Breaking through her irritation momentarily, Danyell couldn’t help but chuckle as Makoto awkwardly cleared his throat and readjusted his glasses. The only she’d made him stay overnight with Ren in the first place was to keep the temperamental redhead in check. After spending the majority of her early teen years with the two Danyell could say with absolute certainty that it was impossible to become upset with someone like Makoto. He was only of people left in the world who honestly seemed to have a pure soul. While he did mess up sometimes, he took each of those moments so personally one really didn’t have to give him a hard time about it. He would do that for you.
“And Ellis, help them clean up or beat it.” She huffed after pulling herself back from her thoughts, rolling her eyes as the small blonde bolted out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him. “See you guys later!” Simply shaking her head as his voice echoed down the hall, Danyell decided to let his decision go since it happened to play out in her favor. Instinctively reaching out to place a hand over Ren’s chest as he started to chase after her brother, the teen’s chestnut bangs hid her inevitably pending glare from the ginger’s view. “Oh come on Danyell! He needs to help clean up, the only reason we did this in the first place is because he-!” As she glanced up to meet his gaze her expression broke through the barrier of hair, silencing the boy in an instant.
“We need to talk, alone. Now.” She all but growled, already beginning to question whether or not she was ready for such a conversation. If she didn’t manage to calm down, Danyell knew that her words could potentiality ruin one of her dearest friendships… Not that she’d been acting like much of a friend to him or Makoto that past year.
For a few dreadfully long moments only silence filled the air between them, never of them muttering another phrase. However, after pulling his shirt back on over his head, Makoto was the first one who dared to speak. “I’ll just clean the room up after then, and await my turn to face you.” Shaking her head, Danyell decided against responding to the dark haired boy. Eventually Makoto would figure out that Danyell had nothing to be with him about, save properly thanking him for helping Kios. Why he even imagined that he was in trouble was beyond her.
As soon as the door clicked shut Danyell was pulled from her thoughts by Ren suddenly approaching her, literally backing her against a wall before speaking in something of a growl of his own. “I don’t want you hanging out with that idiot anymore.” Disregarding her shock as she processed his demand, her furry was more than enough to ensue a well deserved backlash. “I don’t recall asking for your opinion on the matter!” She spat back before taking a few moments to calm herself, slowly taking deep breathes as she gently pushed him back away from her. “Ren… You have to stop being so possessive… It makes it so hard to be around you-”
“No, you know what’s hard? Being ignored by the person you… Well, you know how I feel about you Danyell! I know that I’ve never said it outright, but you know!” While she’d thought she could handle this talk, hearing him confront her so outright had stunned her back to silence. Maybe she wasn’t ready yet, after all if she heard him out she couldn’t pretend to be clueless anymore… He was bringing to light all the years they’d acted like nothing was between them, a lie they both recognized in their hearts but kept solely there. By bringing it up he was disrupting the friendship they had shared for as long as she could remember. Talking on such a sensitive subject would undoubtedly change them forever in one way or another, and yet she couldn’t summon her voice to silence him.
“Nothing? You have nothing to say to that?” Something between anger and irritation laced the ‘dragons’ tone as he addressed her, only invoking a flinch in reply from the young women cornered before him. Guilt surged though her, mentally recognizing how awful she’d been treating both he and Makoto that year. Suddenly it became hard to find fault in him comforting her and potentially damaging their friendship when she’d done the same thing in avoiding him for so long. “Ren… I didn’t want anyone in this town to know. I’m sorry I hurt you and Makoto but I-!” Taking in a deep breath as she reached out, Danyell gently cupped his cheek and met his gaze. A tender sorrow shining through her own. “I couldn’t be treated that way anymore Ren, pitied and handled with a special kindness no one else received. As if I was fragile. Or because some feared my new father’s title.”
There was no doubt Ren understood what she’d meant, after all he’d watched such treatment plague her all through her younger life. Danyell was confident that he would accept her reasonings despite his own feelings on the matter, she could see it in his eyes, though that didn’t excuse her selfishness. “I should’ve kept in better contact, I’ve just been extraordinarily busy planning and hosting school events. Though I’ll admit I had opportunities to reach out that I didn’t take, because seeing you two was too much of a painful reminder of the past.”
“Stop.” Immediately falling silent as Ren’s strong tone demanded, Danyell found herself all but breathless as his large warm hand encircled her own over his cheek. The atmosphere between them grew so intense, like a thick fog one would imagine a knife could slice through. As her porcelain complexion flushed to a deep scarlet hue, the young women found her thoughts urging her to take flight. To run away from what she knew was coming next, to save their friendship. However her feet seemed to be anchored to the ground. “I already knew all of that, because I know you Danyell. Which is why I know why you keep bringing up Makoto even though you asked him to step out of the room. Quit lumping us together and face me the way you were so determined to earlier. Yell at me for hurting your precious boyfriend, and then act like you don’t have feelings for either of us. I know that’s what you’re planning.”
Danyell hated this side of Ren, it was like he could go into her mind whenever he wanted, and read all of her thoughts. The feeling shook her as if she were indecent, exposed in ways that others shouldn’t see… Yet he did see, every single time. “H-He’s not my b-boyfriend, and neither are you Ren! G-Go ahead and be arrogant if that’s how you’re going to be! You deserve to be yelled at, in fact you deserve a much greater punishment! You attacked Kios without reason and-!”
“Oh I had a reason, he put your safety at risk. He’s a moron, clinging onto a girl that isn’t his.” Scoffing as she harshly tugged her hand away from his, Danyell strictly crossed her arms under her chest before letting out something of a growl in reply to Ren’s hypocritical comment. Honestly, how could he not see the fault laid with Kios in his statement also applied to himself? “Yes, he did put me at risk, but he was also there to make sure everything went well. That last part could be said of yourself Ren. Stop being like this, you know I don’t like you that way anymore… Just because I did once doesn’t give you a right to hoard me away like your own personal treasure!”
For a moment the only thing between the two teens was silence. The fiery girl gently tightened the ponytail holding back the top half of her chocolate brown hair, beginning to tremble slightly as she awaited her confronter’s reaction. She was so unbelievably down with his attitude problem, though her outburst had only caused her to grow more uneasy. How were they going to manage to come back from such a conversation? So much was changing in such a short amount of time, leaving the young woman to helplessly cling to the idea of their previous friendship. While she desperately hoped everything would remain intact, Danyell just couldn’t see Ren being able to go back to that kind of a relationship.
“You-” Pausing for a moment as he ran a hand back through his thick disheveled amber hair, Danyell was shocked to find the man before her could no longer look her in the eyes as his cheeks suddenly sparked with a light rosy hue. “You used to like me?”
In that moment all forms of communication seemed to evade the brunette’s memory, leaving her to hopelessly gape at her old friend. She’d messed up this time. There was no way for her to truly respond to his clarifying inquiry that wouldn’t give Ren false hope that she still had feelings for him. That, she was sure of. It was just the kind of person he was. Give him a gentle shove and he’d use it as a boost to run for miles, reflecting on the memory of it when finally growing tried.
“Well what about Neios, or whatever his name is… What are your feelings towards him?” Sighing as he carried on with their conversation despite the fact that she clearly didn’t want to, Danyell reluctantly responded upon his his deep brown eyes finally meeting hers. “It’s Kios, Ren. You should mispronounce someone’s name on purpose just because you don’t like them.” Glancing to the soft carpet beneath her feet as Ren waited for her to answer his question, the uneasy teen deep in a deep breath before timidly allowing the words to escape her lips. “H-He’s just a friend.”
“Look me in the eyes, and tell me that.” Flinching slightly at the muscular boy’s demand, Danyell took a moment before shoving past her friend and moving towards the bedroom’s heavy wooden door. “I’m going to school, clean up this mess and then let yourself out. I expect you to apologize to Kios if you should ever meet again, and I mean you Ren. Not Makoto.”
All the drama that had occurred that morning, combined with her lack of sleep, had ensured that it was going to be a very long day for the school president. Honestly after everything that had happened already she didn’t know if she had it in her to face Kios just yet. Surely he and the others would have a mountain of questions for her, and she was simply too exhausted to handle another confrontation. If it wasn’t for the school festival coming up soon, Danyell would’ve ditched school completely that day and gone back to bed.
***

It had been quite a night for Kios, that was certain. Despite originally planning to only spend a short time at Naro’s, he’d pretty much hung out there until he’d fallen asleep on his best friend’s couch. In all honesty, he couldn’t remember most of what had been said after midnight. Which could’ve been thanks to either the stress due to Ren’s sudden appear from no where, or the mounts of ice cream he’d eaten. If it was possible to pass out after becoming ‘drunk’ on frozen artificially favored milk then Kios was pretty sure he’d achieved it. Not that he planned on ever admitting such a thing out loud. “Iskios where the heck were you last night?!”
Slowly turning his attention to the agitated slender figure sitting in the desk beside him, Kios let out a long sigh before slowly allowing his reply to escape him with a smirk. “Language Sehun, this is a PG production you know.” Admittedly, breaking the fourth wall to shut up his grouchy friend up was a pretty low blow. However he was certain that it’d do the trick in the pinch he was in. Ever since their discussion on Halloween Sehun had been less than civil with Kios, for reasons he understood but still deemed to hold little to no value in the context which Sehun was applying them to. Long story short, he was overreacting. Not that such was anything new.
“Drop the smart alek attitude, and answer my question! You know it was your turn to do the dishes! Just because you won some money out of your bet with Naro doesn’t mean you get to skip out on chores!” After thinking about the best comeback to silence Sehun at that point, Kios found himself pretty stumped. Sehun did have a point. As much as he’d wanted to, the cool headed onyx haired teen found himself incapable of finding fault with his old friend’s anger for once. He would’ve been annoyed had their roles been reversed as well. “I crashed at Naro’s, sorry Sehun. I’ll get them done tonight.”
Letting out one last sigh as he impatiently tapped his pencil against his slick desk top, Kios would’ve been lying had he claimed he’d paid attention to anything Sehun had said after that. Anxiety seemed to be getting the better of him as the bell signaling for homeroom to start finally sounded, in unison with one last student bursting through the door.
At first his eyes lit with hope. Eagerly scanning the feminine figure who had barely dodged a tardy with a mountain of sketches blocking her face, Kios found all of his previous anticipation slowly drain out of him as he realized the true identity of the late comer. Without a shadow of a doubt, it had been Zofia hidden from view by all the works of art. Not the person he’d been waiting for. Huffing lowly as he sat back against his seat with his arms crossed strictly over his chest, the young man found himself internally cursing his hope as he glared down at his desk.
“Hey, are you okay? You seem down.” Relaxing slightly as Naro’s whisper reached him from behind, Kios slowly turned to face him with a reassuring nod as Ms. Reisha started roll call. With Sehun in such a terrible mood lately the raven haired teen had to admit that his other best friend’s support was somewhat strengthening. However the only thing that would truly set his mind at ease was an explanation from the girl responsible for it all. It was rare for Kios to be left in the dark about anything, so waiting to find answers to anything at all was irritating. Even more so in that moment since his situation had been personal. It was infuriating in every way imaginable. “It’s just, well you already know. Do you think she really ditched today of all days-?”
“Sorry I’m late, I had some personal issues to deal with this morning.” Swiftly spinning back around to view the door as a familiar voice rang through the air, a breath of relief escaped Kios that he’d hadn’t realized he’d been holding. She’d come after all. He wasn’t sure what Ms. Reisha would say to her given her standing as the school President, however he did know that he wanted her in the best possible mood imaginable that morning. Otherwise he’d have no hope of getting any answers out of her that day. “Oh, Miss President you’re la-” Clearing his throat over the top of Reisha’s comment, Kios’ lips slowly tugged up into their usual smirk as he quickly thought up some excuse to bail Danyell out of her pending consequence. “Hey, how’d it go? You went to get some ideas for the class festival booth from Elaine right?”
It took her a few moments longer than usual to meet his gaze, temporarily worrying him more than he’d expected it would if she began to ignore him, however his concerns were larger put to rest as she slowly glanced over at him with a smile. His only remaining fear was the guilt shining in her hazelnut eyes as she briefly studied him over. Though subtle the detail was undismissible, and in Kios’ mind a rather rare emotion to visualize on someone like Danyell. For better or worse she was almost always confident in her decision making, what had she done to look at him with such regret?
“…It turns out she already wrote out suggestions on the fliers, I don’t suppose you have yours handy Ms. Reisha?” Exhaling softly in relief as she swiftly caught onto his plan, Kios watched Danyell take her seat before chuckling as Naro firmly patted his shoulder. “Nice one, Dude!”
“Ah, if it was information to benefit the class than I’ll excuse it Miss President. Just inform me of such in the future, I understand you’re busy.” Kios silently watched as their teacher ruffled through her bag, eventually pulling out a neat binder containing a folder which held a crisp sheet of paper. With her organization, it was no great mystery as to why Reisha had been selected to be one of the student teachers for that year. “As for the flier I have it right here! We can kick class off with selecting our class booth, since I know that’s what everyone’s mind is on right now anyway.” Perking up slightly as the subject proved slightly more intriguing than their usual English lesson, Kios glanced back at Naro before nodding in unison with his friend and pushing his inner conflict regarding a certain girl aside long enough to focus.
They had to make sure that their booth wasn’t something totally boring. Especially since their prank at the beginning of the school year had nearly ensured that they’d be helping run something at the festival. Helping run the class booth sounded leagues better than getting suck with clean up duty in Kios’ book. Cleaning the school on the weekends was enough to scratch the possibility of ever being a highschool janitor off of his future careers list once and for all.
“Elaine had quite a few suggestions, so I went through it and decided to highlight a few of the booths I thought sounded like fun. They need someone to run a fishing booth, a couple classes to host cafe booths around the school, of course there’s always the sports booths… Oh, right! She also suggested the possibility of featuring a play in this year’s school festival! If anyone is interested in that, we actually have a new music teacher as of this semester who I would ask to help out if she has time. Although I hear she’s taking over the cheerleading club on top of her music classes, so I wouldn’t count her in just yet. However I talked to Couch Kama yesterday and he said that he’d be willing to combine our homerooms if you guys expressed any interest in that-”
“I nominate the play!” Spinning around in bewilderment as Naro suddenly shouted and lept out of his seat in excitement, it took Kios a few moments to put together why the brunette had wanted that option over all of the others. Couch Kama’s homeroom. Of course Naro would nominate it, it could’ve been team clean up and he would’ve still picked it. “I second that nomination.” Surprised once again as Danyell suddenly raised her hand, Kios decided that he’d have to be the voice of reason in the classroom. “Well it’d be rude to leave the freshman out of all the fun, consider my vote in.” Shooting the President something of a cheeky grin, Kios found his hope slowly returning to him as Danyell seemed to be genuinely happy to have received his support.
From there all the students burst out into their own side conversations, most of which Kios couldn’t keep track of… Or at very least didn’t care enough to.
“What?! No, You guys are crazy.” Jove scoffed from the back of the class, sitting on top of his desk despite the countless times he’d been told not to. “I think it’d be fun actually, count my vote in too.” Adrienne chimed coolly, earning a scoff in reply from the silver haired boy beside her. However he’d resolved to be silent after her single comment,
“Wait is that Lila’s class?” Zofia whispered over her shoulder to Derek who beamed at the very thought of such being the case and swiftly shot her hand up into the air. “No idea, but I am definitely down! What say you Saron?” The grinning young women announced proudly before eyeing the snow haired boy across the room with slightly rosy cheeks. “I don’t see why not, it’d be fun to hang out with Ryuu and Daniel. Just, please, don’t give me an important role.” Saron shrugged before laying his head onto his desk and sighing, his eyes slowly drifting over to the one girl who never seemed to look back at him. He was beginning to wonder if it was even worth it, especially after seeing two other guys fight over her.
“Oh come on, this is the lamest idea ever-!” Sehun groaned, only to be cut off by Naro who seemed to be glowing with anticipation.
“Ms. Reisha that’s the majority right?! I can take care of all the planning if we do the play! Just leave it to me! I used to watch plays with my Mom all the time!” When Naro actually got into an idea, his opinion was actually pretty influential in the class. With a personality as kind and upbeat as his, it was practically unheard of for someone to dislike the confident senior. Making it possible to largely sway the class outside of a few boys who clearly wanted nothing to do with a play of any kind, regardless of who was endorsing it. “Well, that’s definitely the majority Naro. If you’re willingly volunteering to organize everything than I’m not opposed to the idea, just make sure you reach out to your classmates or myself when you are in need of help.”
“Alright!” Naro cheered as the door gently swung open, revealing two petite girls sent as representatives on behalf of Kama’s homeroom class. “Sorry to interrupt Ms. Reisha.” Elaine bowed slightly as she entered the class, both she and her companion still dressed in their gym uniforms. “Mr. Kama wanted to know what your class had decided on the play, which is what our class voted in favor of!” Hope was written all over the young blonde’s expression as she subconsciously tightened her ponytail, a slight anxious tremble settling over her as she spotted Naro standing up across the room. Had they interrupted something he had been saying? “Grace!” Before she could think to back away, Grace found herself encircled by Naro’s strong warm embrace. A sensation that reduced her to nothing more than a stiff, blushing, mute as she scanned the large class in horror. Not exactly the right place for a hug, but at the same time she didn’t want him to let her go just yet either. “…H-Hey Naro.” She croaked, her scarlet cheeks glowing even more brightly as Jove ‘mocked’ a loud aww from the back of the room.
“Naro, please go take a seat!” Ms. Reisha begged with a sigh, grumbling incoherently under her breath as she watched the scene unfold. It almost seemed unfair, even a freshman managed to get one of the senior boy’s attention. A popular one at that. Reisha on the other hand had to make up excuses just to get her next door neighbor to walk her home.
“Opps, sorry Ms. Reisha! I got excited!” Naro laughed brightly as he released Grace, patting her head as he hastily continued on. His bright enthusiastic grin allowing him to get away with brushing off his teacher’s request, as it was pointless to try to reason with the teen after he became overly excitable. “Grace, we voted to do the play too! This is going to be great, don’t you think? Oh, And I’m going to plan the whole thing! Just wait ‘til you see it Grace! I’m going to make it perfect for us- er, everyone!” Eyes widening as he caught his mistake, Naro swiftly lifted his head to the ceiling in order to hide his blush from her. What had come over him? He never got embarrassed around Grace! Unless maybe her gym uniform was to blame?
Rubbing the back of his neck as his glance slowly traveled back down to the blonde before him, Naro found himself feeling a little abnormally warm as he scanned her over. “Is that the tennis uniform?” He managed to ask causally as he shot her one of his usual innocent grins, singlehandedly earning the entire classes attention as they all pretended to be busy with something while eavesdropping in on the conversation.
“This? Yeah, it’s tennis week. Do the senior girl’s have a different one?” Grace replied quietly while clearing her throat, looking down at herself with rosy cheeks. Maybe she should’ve changed after asking Ms. Reisha for her answer. Feeling subconscious about her outfit as Naro continued to pat her head, Grace couldn’t help but pout slightly beneath his hand. Was he looking at her like a child? It sure felt like he was.
“Beats me! I don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff, but yours looks great on you! We should play doubles sometime!” Naro retorted with a chuckle, finally pulling his palm from her soft locks as Zofia called out from her desk. “Yeah, they’re the same.” Shrugging as he looked down to Grace once more, the lively brunette was shocked to find that something seemed to be wrong with her. She wasn’t saying anything. “Grace?” Noticing that her face was all red as he looked her over, Naro gently placed his hand to her forehead, and found that she did feel a little warm. “You feeling okay? It looks like you might be getting a fever.” As he voiced his concern, the basketball president found himself surprised yet again as Grace suddenly swatted his hand away. Bowing before dashing out of the classroom, Grace merely yelled that she was fine as she sung the door open to make her escape.
As he stood in front of the class, stunned to silence by the girl’s actions, Naro was only able to watch as Zofia suddenly followed in suit. Bolting out of her seat and somehow managing to leap through the door before it slammed shut with her backpack in hand, Zofia’s figure disappeared behind the door as it slammed shut. “Sorry Ms. Reisha! Ah, bathroom emergency?” Was all Naro had been able to make out through the wooden barrier before hearing her footsteps race down the hall. Why would she be questioning whether or not she needed to go the the restroom?
“Hey, where is she going?” Sehun demanded as he too stood from his seat, his tone surprising even himself. Though his inner turmoil was immediately interrupted by a vacant stare by none other than Elaine, before she calmly headed for the door herself. What had he done that time? Everything about his current situation with both Elaine and Zofia was stressing him out. He couldn’t even compose himself around his closest friends anymore. “Wait, Elaine, I didn’t-!” Huffing as he realized he had no idea what he should’ve even been apologizing for, Sehun eyed the small girl helplessly as she stood frozen by the door. He would take any kind of a sign, any clue she would give him as to what his mistake had been. All he’d asked was where Zofia was going! Surely that couldn’t be taken as a declaration of love, or something equally as crazy.
Then again he still couldn’t wrap his head around how Elaine thought. He couldn’t read her in the slightest.
“Actually if you don’t mind Ms. Reisha I’d like to go with Elaine to gather all of the booth tallies and make arrangements for the festivals layout.” Danyell interjected as she gathered her things, noting the look of protest coming from Kios across the room from the corner of her gaze though choosing to dismiss it. She still didn’t know what to say to him, and she knew that if she stayed he’d try to talk with her after class. After her talk with Ren that morning she wasn’t sure when she’d be able to handle the upcoming chat with Kios. What if that talk went horribly wrong too?
She’d managed to slide by most of their time together without getting into her past, however she knew that was something that could no longer have been avoided. Everything had become so complicated, and the change had been so abrupt. Danyell only wished she’d been given more time to explain herself before Ren and Makoto had found her. Even though such longings weren’t fair to either of them in the slightest.
“Jove, I don’t suppose you’ll be joining us, and finally start acting like the Vice President of the school?” Danyell added with the slight shake of her head, knowing the answer well before she’d asked the question. Still, she believed that it was always best to give someone a chance to change. “Nope, I only came in today to vote on the booth. Have fun with the set up.” Sighing as she glanced back over to her teacher, Danyell awaited her response as her gaze shifted to Elaine. Something was definitely up with her, but she knew that it wasn’t any of her business. Danyell could already take a guess at the source of the tense aura surrounding the bluenette. While Elaine was an expert at hiding her emotions, her posture was usually a fair telltale of what she was truly feeling.  
“Well, if it’s for student council I have to excuse it. Go ahead, and good luck with organizing the festival!” Reisha offered a small smile as the girls exited the room, glancing back around her class to find that she’d lost a great number of her student’s attention already. Though she had faith that she could pull almost all of them back in to the lesson, excluding the four boys who always had problems paying attention. Jove was a lost cause and Reisha had come to accept that, he wouldn’t listen no matter what tactics she tried to get him to. Sehun, Naro, and Kios however usually listened when given the right amount of pressure to do so. However that day in particular they all seemed agitated in some way or another, leaving her with little to no hope in each of their cases for the rest of the class. “...Everyone please sit down.”
Sighing in an overly exaggerated manner, Reisha slumped back against her chair before examining Naro more closely. It was probably in relation to the girl from earlier, but he seemed to be in something of a panic. He didn’t even give her request any recognition at all, unlike Sehun, which was a first. “Naro?” She attempted yet again, that time earning the boy’s gaze as he blinked rapidly upon his realization that he’d been spoken to. “Oh, sorry Ms. Reisha! What did you say?” Gently rubbing her temples as she took in a few deep breathes, the fellow teen took a few moments to calm herself before asking the brunette a new question entirely. “What did Zofia say on her way out the door?”
“Bathroom emergency?” Naro repeated in the same tone the blonde had used in the launch into the hall, making his way back to his seat before thinking about the other blonde he knew. It wasn’t like Grace to take off without a word, leaving him to question if she really had been sick. If so was it right for him to stay in class? Wasn’t it more important to go check on Grace? Then again, he didn’t want to leave Kios on his own either. He was starting to look a little sick himself. “Dude, you okay?” Whispering as he placed a hand onto his friend’s shoulder, Naro frowned upon only receiving a brief nod in reply from his buddy.
He really didn’t know if he’d meant it or not, though just a simple wasn’t the most convincing confirmation. Even Naro knew that much.

To Be Continued

“Wait, Grace!” Zofia called after the freshman somewhat desperately as she stumbled down the hallway after her. Unfortunately she’d acted on impulse, without taking the time to consider exactly what she wanted to or how Grace would react. Hopefully she would realized that Zofia meant well, however even she wouldn’t blame Grace for blowing her off. She knew that she’d been a pretty bad friend those past few weeks, largely due to her indescribable desire to impress Sehun. The art club president knew many emotions and how they affected people personally, and usually used those thoughts and feelings to bring meaning into her paints and sketches, however this particular one had thrown her for quite a loop.
She’d never felt the way she did for Sehun towards anyone else before. A simple crush certainly couldn’t make one so weak at the knees, suffer from shortness of breath, and feel their heart beating so rapidly against their chest that they feel the need to throw up. It would’ve been a lie for Zofia to clam that she was unsure of what she was feeling, however she wasn’t ready to admit that to anyone yet. What she needed in that moment was for Grace to understand that she’d never meant to harm anyone.
“...What do you want?” Letting out a breath of relief as the petite girl finally acknowledged her, Zofia nearly responded though stopped herself from doing so as Grace turned to face her. Though there was some mild annoyance shining in the corners of her gaze, the young teen seemed largely distracted by her flushed complexion. Honestly her expression and posture almost gave her the appearance of someone who was floating along without a care in the world. It didn’t take much for Zofia to figure out that in a sense she probably was. Grace had it as bad as she did, giving her a small shred of hope that she would understand after all.
Though perhaps it was best to save her apology for the end of the conversation, Zofia really didn’t want to ruin her mood. “I drew you this picture!” She declared boldly, holding up the sheet of paper in her hands proudly as she finally decided on how to approach the situation. “It’s of Naro-!” Before she could get another word in, a slight shriek escaped Zofia as she found herself abruptly yanked into the nearby women’s restroom. “K-Keep it down!” Flinching as Grace practically hissed at her, Zofia swiftly nodded in reply as her friend released her hand. For someone so small in stature, Grace sure had a powerful grip.
“M-Moreover what possessed you to draw something like that?!” Rubbing her wrist gently as she slowly considered the question, Zofia let out somewhat of an awkward chuckle upon realizing she had no idea why she’d thought of drawing Naro for Grace. She’d just wanted her to be happy at the beginning of their conversation to better her odds at earning her friend’s forgiveness. Honestly she could’ve saved herself some time by simply buying Grace a box of chocolates.
“Do you not like it?”She asked gently while nervously running a hand back through her hair. Perhaps it hadn’t turned out as well as she’d previously thought? “I-I never s-said that! It looks great actually…” Wearing a bright smile as a sudden wave of relief washed over her, Zofia thanked Grace timidly before carrying on with the issue at hand. She hadn’t accepted the gift yet, which meant that something still had to of been wrong. Maybe she didn’t want to be carrying around a sketch of her crush? Come to think of it, that had backfired on Zofia that very morning.
“So, do you just not want it then?” The native inquired softly while glancing down at the picture, her crystal blue eyes widening as the girl before her suddenly snatched the crisp sheet from her grip. “I-I never said that either!” After getting over her initial shock, Zofia found herself laughing brightly as Grace pulled the picture up against her chest and subconsciously held it tightly. It looked like she’d picked the right gift after all. It had been a while since she’d seen Grace so joyful, however that swiftly sifted into embarrassment upon Zofia’s reaction. “W-What is this really about? S-Surely you didn’t spend your time drawing me something so d-detailed for no reason.”
Taking in a deep breath as she flipped her blond locks over her shoulder, Zofia slowly scanned Grace’s stiff posture before placing a hand over the elbow of her other arm. There was no way to avoid the change of tone taking place in their conversation, and she knew that. If Grace was to actually forgive her then she had to take her seriously. “Well, it’s actually part of my apology to you…” Clenching her free fist in determination as she paused, Zofia summoned all her courage before clarifying what she’d meant. “Grace, I really am truly sorry about what happened yesterday. My actions when drag racing were reckless, I admit that, just please forgive my carelessness! I never meant to hurt anyone…” Voice trailing off gently as her gaze fell to the floor, Zofia had to admit that she felt pretty awful.
However, little did she know that, the knot in her stomach would only continue to tighten as the conversation went on.
“Then why do you continue to do so?” Caught completely off guard by the sudden outburst, Zofia’s eyes immediately shot back up to meet Grace’s. “Pardon?” Attempting to prepare herself for what was to come in vain, Zofia realized that she’d found herself in a much deeper conflict than she’d originally thought.
“Zofia I’m not stupid, I’m fully aware what happened was an accident. Honestly I’m not even mad about that anymore.” Everything was happening so quickly, she wasn’t even sure how to react at that point. It seemed that she’d prepared the wrong apology completely. “Then why-?” She started weakly, her heart beginning to throb within her as Grace carried on. Her mannerisms being more harsh than Zofia had originally thought she was capable of, though more importantly revealing a hidden pain no one had caught onto up until that point.
“Let me guess, Elaine told you I’d be mad? Well I was, but right now I’m upset because your actions are hurting my sister! You claim that you never meant to hurt anyone, and yet you still are! Even at this very moment!” Grace’s hushed screams seemed to echo through Zofia’s mind, almost causing time to stop completely as the young maiden realized all to late what had really been the matter with her friend. Honestly she didn’t want to hear it. Zofia desperately longed to run away, to escape the sudden confrontation, though her legs refused to corporate. She was frozen in place, partially due to guilt while also because of her curiosity as to what Grace would saw next.
“...I’m not going to lie, and claim that we’re close. To be perfectly honest Elaine didn’t even want me around until we happened to make friends with the same group. Now she just kind of tolerates me… But that doesn’t mean that I don’t know her! Your actions are tearing her apart! She’s not herself anymore, and she’s become even more reclusive then she used to be!” The pain in her stomach only intensified as Zofia listened to Grace carry on, her vision beginning to blur as tears began to build in the corners of her eyes. It was only at that moment that she’d noticed the streams that pooled down Grace’s cheeks as well. How had she not noticed early? The overwhelming stress plaguing the young usually cheerful girl. Better yet, if Grace had hid all of that so well, how much did Elaine manage to suppress all that time? “Grace, please I-!”
“When we’re at home she just locks herself in her room! She never comes out Zofia! Only when she has to… Do you know how that makes me feel?” Finally falling silent as Grace cut her off yet again, Zofia tried to calm herself as her tears seemed to escape her. Wrapping her arms around herself tightly as the cool wetness slowly slid down her rosy cheeks, the usually polite and collected girl found herself feeling dreadfully sick. Her guilt rising to levels that overwhelmed her to the point where her words seemed to fail her. She couldn’t even feel any anger towards the freshman sobbing before her, because Zofia didn’t know what she was feeling. Only that she had been the root of her friend’s pain. Well, two of her friend’s pain more precisely.
“We were finally growing closer… It finally seemed like she didn’t resent me, like we could be a real family… Why did it have to be Sehun?! There are so many other boys in the school!” Why had it all come to such a bad turn of events? Zofia didn’t have the strength, or right, to defend herself. At least she didn’t feel that she did. Her tears began to fill her eyes faster than before, leaving her vision in more of a haze as she attempted to meet Grace’s gaze, barely managing to make sense of the regret lining the girl’s expression. She had to answer her, before Grace blamed herself for the tension between them. In reality Zofia knew that the younger girl had just burst under pressure, and she was the one to blame for all the drama beginning to surface.
“I-I… I don’t know…” Was all she managed to force out before Grace took off out of the bathroom, running as fast as her legs could carry her. Zofia hated the situation she’d found herself in, however she’d somewhat known what she’d been getting herself into the night she’d decided to answer the truth or dare question honestly. While she hadn’t known that the boys had been there eavesdropping, she knew that it would spark some contention between herself and Elaine. The very individual that had invited her into the group all those months ago. Zofia couldn’t help but wonder if she regretted inviting her to lunch that day. How could she not? The reason Zofia even had a chance at getting with Sehun was because she was able to spend time with him through the group’s activities.
More importantly, why did it have to be Sehun? Grace’s question seemed to hit her like a ton of bricks. What was it about the stern mysterious boy that had captive her so? After just one conversation with him she’d been sold on getting to know him better… Why was that? “I can’t help it… I-I think I-” Silencing her own whisper as she leaned back against the wall for support, Zofia continued to cry as she attempted to pull herself together.
Was it better to just let go? Even if she couldn’t be happy right away with time surely she could find someone else… Right?
***

“Alright, that was the last class Madam President.” Elaine announced in her usual cool and collected manner while jotting down the last booth selection onto her clipboard. Luckily, there had been a great diversity among the homeroom’s choices that year. Meaning that Elaine would have to deny any of requests. They had all the food booths, games, sports events, and even clean up covered. Plus the teachers had taken her suggestion for a play seriously, and secretly she was quite thrilled that she would get to be a part of it. Shaking all her thoughts aside, Elaine finally noticed that something was off with the President that day. How she’d missed something so obvious was almost embarrassing. “However this wasn’t due until the end of the week. While I’m grateful for the extra time, you’re usually a procrastinator. This there a particular reason you wanted to gather the count this morning?”
Raising a single slender eyebrow as the brunette merely laughed brightly in reply, Elaine confirmed her suspicion. Something was definitely off. Normally, the President seemed to have a difficult time showing her happiness, with exceptions of when their group got together of course, so either something really good had happened or she was pushing herself to behave in that manner. “You got me there Elaine, actually there were a few reasons… However the one that called me to action was your and Sehun’s interaction back in homeroom. I thought you could use something to get your mind off whatever happened between you two.”
For the first time in what felt like years, Elaine could feel a slight tremble come over her as fear and uncertainty swirling with her like a raging tornado. Nervously tucking her long electric blue locks behind he ear, the young freshman managed to maintain a forced neutral expression as her words seemed to race through her lips. Giving her no time to truly think over what she’d been saying in the first place. “Madam President I can assure you that nothing-!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t ask.” Immediately clamping her mouth shut as Danyell cut her off, Elaine forced herself into silence as she stiffly nodded in reply to her friend’s reassurance. So long as she kept that promise, the petite young women found peace within her muted tongue. There was no need to make up excuses when the elder girl didn’t feel the need to hear any explanation at all. “Believe me, I know how hard dealing with boys can be. So for now just try to take it easy okay? I know you give me a lot of credit for being school President, but to be perfectly honest the school could lose me and have hundreds of more students just as capable step up to the plate. You, on the other hand, practically run half the school on your own. Sadly, I’m fairly certain that’s not even an exaggeration. Eon couldn’t do what it does without you, and neither could I… So please make sure you don’t overwork yourself, Madam Secretary.”
For a few moments, Elaine failed to find any response to such a thoughtfully expressed concern. She was touch, and it was rare for her to actually receive recognition for all she did. Truthfully Danyell had told her exactly what she’d needed to hear. Elaine swore to turn those words into courage to provide her with the strength she needed in the challenging days that she knew were just ahead of her. “...Thank you, Madam President. I’m not sure you sure it yourself, but you’re very kind.”
“I can just relate is all.” Wearing a small smile as she studied the blush painted across the cheek of the girl standing before her, Elaine found herself chuckling as she processed how much her compliment had embarrassed the significantly taller girl before her. It seemed that she wasn’t used to getting the recognition she deserved either. Of course, from that moment on, Elaine swore to do her best to change that. They my not of been the closest friends out of the group, however she felt sincerely grateful for the opportunity to have such a good friend in her life. Especially as things with her closest friend seemed to be spiraling downhill. She didn’t know how to fix everything that was happening with Zofia, however she was trying to be the best most supportive friend that she could be given their predicament.
“Hey, will you do me a favor?” Elaine quickly redirected her attention back to the girl before her, nodding out of habit before confidently giving her reply. “Yes, of course.” Clearing her throat as the president crossed her arms over her bust in a serious manner, Elaine wondered what the request could possibly be as she gentle kicked the tip of her shoe against the floor in anticipation.
“You don’t have to tell me, or any of our other friends, but if it becomes too much will you please talk to Grace about it? I know there’s tension between you two, but she’s worried about you… On top of that she is your sister.” The intensity in the senior’s gaze caught Elaine off guard, of all the favors the president had asked for in the past none had been something so personal. At first she didn’t know how to reply. Danyell didn’t know the full extent of the past conflict between she and her sister, and Elaine didn’t feel the need to explain everything yet. Therefore she’d decided that the best response would be a noncommittal one. “Half sister, Madam President.” She retorted gently began shaking her head as a familiar figure snuck up behind Danyell, simply shaking her head as the imminent shriek sounded from the brunette. In a mere moment, the fairly tall girl had been hoisted over her kidnapper’s shoulder and forced down the hall as swiftly as the figure had suddenly appeared.
“Elaine-!” Sighing through an absent minded chuckle, Elaine pulled her hair up into a messy bun before tucking her pencil behind ear and heading back to the presidency’s office with her clipboard in hand. She knew that the president was having a hard time handling her own problems that week, so she would start on the booths layout herself. Afterall, the President had been watching out for her that day. The least she could do was return the favor.
***

Danyell didn’t have to look over her shoulder, only one person could’ve possibly been cocky enough to lift her off her feet and waltz away with her. While technically it had been a run, it had made her feel slightly better about her situation to mentally belittle her kidnapper. “Iskios who gave you the right! You should be in class Mister!” She growled while pounding her fists against his back, only ceasing her defensive assault to cling to his jacket as they began to head up the steep stairs leading to the roof. So that’s what he had been up to.
“Mister? Who are you, my mom? I thought I swept a teenage girl off her feet, not a forty year old women.” Cheeks glowing brightly as she processed her mistake, Danyell simply buried her face into his back to hide her embarrassment before replying in something of a huff. If there was one thing she’d never been found of it had to of been being called out. “What do you want?!” Surprised as Kios suddenly paused atop the rooftop, Danyell found herself shaking her head. He hadn’t even considered what he’d wanted beforehand?
“Well… Why don’t we eat lunch together? I wanted to talk to you this morning, but you were caught up in your presidency responsibilities.” She found herself wincing slightly as she slowly drew in a deep breathes to calm herself. Anything would’ve been better than being forced into a direct confrontation over the manner she’d only managed to avoid for less than twenty four hours. What could she have possibly said? The short tempered young woman still hadn’t decided how she felt about everything that had happened. How could she have explained something she couldn’t comprehend herself? “First off, put me down! Secondly, it’s not lunch time, so I don’t have a lunch yet.”
Yelping softly as Kios immediately obeyed her, all but dropping the girl onto her feet. The President huffed as she struggled to quickly regain her balance, though her protests died down in her throat the moment her glare reached his gaze. It was only then that she caught a glimpse of the light rosy hue shading his cheeks, and the slight embarrassment lacing his gaze. He hadn’t realized he’d slight been holding her? “Sorry.” Slowly nodding in response to his apology, the brunette couldn’t even get out a reply before he carried on with the conversation like nothing had happened. “And that won’t be a problem, I made you one this morning. Consider it a thank you for the chocolate pie.”
If she would’ve had anything food or water as she processed his comment, she was certain that she would’ve choked. He had made her a lunch? By hand? For a few moments Danyell found herself at a completely loss for comebacks, however as her embarrassment grew so did her her understanding of just how badly she needed one. She didn’t want the smug raven haired teen to realize how much the act had gotten to her. “K-Kios that was months ago, and we agreed to only ditch class to eat lunch on the roof that once!”
“Yeah, but that was after lunch, and this is before lunch.” His cheeky grin was all it had taken for the the girl’s bashful nature to subside, and become quickly replaced with a burning irritation. Would he ever learn? It would definitely have shocked her if he did. Sometimes there was no way to win an argument, because you were it the wrong. In that moment Kios was in that exact circumstance. “That literally changes nothing about what I just said!” She shot back immediately, bits of anger shining withing her deep brown eyes as she folding her arms just under her bust.
“Or does it?” Growling for a few moments as she slowly slide her eyes shut to try and calm herself, Danyell gently pulled one hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose while allowing the other to remained wrapped round her rib cage. “No, it doesn’t.” She repeated with a sigh, her eyes shooting up as Kios’ warm hand gently guided her hand away from her nose. As much as she longing to remain crossed with him, Kios’ sincere comforting smile seemed to win the President over completely. “Come on Danyell, we both know we need to talk.” The teen out a long breath of air as she carefully wrapped her free arm around herself once more, before reluctantly nodding in reply. She didn’t want to have to discuss everything that had happened so soon, however she knew that it would be unfair for her to keep secrets from even after she’d been caught. That wasn’t how she wanted things to be. Not with Kios.
“I… I need to know who those guys were, and why you never mentioned them before. I would also like to know why Ren was so possessive of you. Are you two… Together?” Clenching her fists together tightly at the sudden injury, Danyell simply scoffed before glancing away from the teenage boy standing before her. Why would he even think that? Hadn’t it been obvious the day before that she didn’t feel anything romantically towards Ren? For heaven’s sake, she’d even taken his side throughout the messy encounter. For some reason the brunette had felt slightly offend due to Kios even thinking up such a question. “What?! No!”
Slowly returning her gaze to Kios as she tightened her gripped around herself, Danyell finally saw the pain in his gaze and realized that her actions had hurt him in some way or another. But what had she done? She had actively stood up for Kios throughout the entire conflict the previous day, and had even forgiven him for throwing up on her shirt. Where had she done something to upset him? Unless it had been keeping the truth from him to begin with… “Listen, Ren is just an old friend. We grew up together, because our parent were good friends. He’s basically known me since I was born. That’s really all there is between us… He was my best friend until I switched schools this year.” She promised quietly as her gaze fell to scan over her shoes, heat rising to her rosy cheeks as Kios’ strong embrace suddenly encircled her.
At first she didn’t know how to react, however after some time she found herself burying her face into the crook of his neck. Kios wasn’t trying anything, so to speak. It had taken her a little while to figure out, but hugging was just a way he’d come up with to comfort her. It also worked pretty dang well when it came to calming her down. “Yeah well it looks to me like he never got the memo.” As his whisper reached her ear, Danyell began to tense up slightly in her posture though managed to calm back down as she felt his rapid heartbeat pounding against her chest. A pace that nearly matched her own heart’s. She wasn’t really sure what was happening, however she made no signs of protest as her hands finally left her sides and moved up to rest against his torso. “He’s just stubborn, like someone else I know.”
Before she could even second guess her wording, Danyell found that Kios had already released her and backed away to a safe distance. His face angled up towards the clear blue sky, which prevented her from reading his facial expression. While she didn’t really know what he’d been thinking, she was fairly certain she shouldn’t of compared him to Ren, as the two didn’t exactly seem to get along. “...So that how it is. You see me the same way you see Ren?” Just when things had been going well between them, Danyell found herself angered yet again by Kios’ abrupt jump to conclusions. Why did he have to be that way? What about their interactions made it so hard for him to understand her?
“What, why would you even ask me something like that?!” Placing a hand to her forehead as she began to focus on her breathing, the President slowly forced herself to become somewhat calm once again. All the while Kios remained silent, leaving her completely clueless as to what he was thinking about. Part of her didn’t truly believe that she had been ready to know the to that question yet, like somethings were still better to have remained a mystery. If only for a short while longer. “The other one’s name is Makoto, he-” She finally continued on, only to be cut of by none other than Kios himself. “He was fine. You don’t have to explain that.”
Sighing in a weary manner as she shook her head, Danyell mentally argued back that he’d been the one that had asked in the first place before sitting down onto the rooftop with a soft huff. She didn’t have enough energy left to argue with him, nor the desire to do so. Leaving her with no option but to keep her lips sealed tightly and wait for him to leave her be, however that moment never came.
Instead the dark haired teen carefully sat beside her, slowly opening his back pack before extending a red lunch box out to her. A gentle smile finding a home upon the usually more chiseled looking boys features. Not to say that the stubborn girl didn’t find him ruggedly handsome, though she’d probably have drunken bleach over admitting something along those lines out loud.“Will you please eat the lunch I made for you?”
Groaning gently as she ran a hand back through her bangs in minor annoyance, Danyell sighed yet again before finally accepting the box from him.“...Fine.” Upon opening it she discovered that there was a mountain of food stuffed within the lunchbox, and two of everything at that. Setting it between them as she picked up what seemed to be the container holding the main dish of their meal, the impatient brunette flipped her long locks over her shoulder before opening it up. While she’d already know that Kios was a great cook, she’d really never thought it was possible to make Ramen look so fancy. He could run a five star Ramen house. As she hesitantly began to eat the seemingly delicate dish, the President’s eyes almost seemed to sparkle as they slowly widen while studying the soup. Suddenly she found herself both questioning if he’d actually made the food on his own, and wondering if a restaurant could be rated more than five stars. How could he be so freaking good at everything? It wasn’t fair, and also made Danyell feel slightly subconscious about her own cooking.
“How is it?” Coolly ignoring Kios’ cocky smirk as she continued to eat her Ramen, Danyell grabbed the second container and handed it to him before swallowing as she replied. “I-It’s okay.” She tried her best to lie causally. There was no way that she was going to give him a compliment that would undoubtedly boost his ego. He really didn’t need any help in that respect anyway.
“So why didn’t you sit by me today?” Out of all the things she’d expected him to say, especially after the talk they’d had just moments before, none of the options had hit even close to the mark. Had he really actually cared about that, or was he simply attempting to brake the silence between them? She’d thought he would’ve been grateful to be free from her naggings to pay attention in class. “Well, normally I sit between you and Sehun to help you both focus, but today there wasn’t a space between you two.” Danyell responded with a slight shrug of her shoulder’s, choosing to leave out that she’d also been avoiding him. Some details were best remained unspoken.
“I see, so that was my fault then since Sehun had to talk to me. Though, next time that happens you could always sit in front of me.” Trivial banter, or a meaningful chat? Frankly, Danyell didn’t know herself. Kios seemed to be trying to accomplish something during their time together, though, to her surprise, it didn’t seem to be planning a way to get back at Ren.
Forcing her thoughts back to the conversation at hand, she swiftly replied to the strange comment. “I guess that’s true, I just didn’t think about that.” Shrugging her shoulder as she finished her Ramen, Danyell nodded to Kios in gratitude as he pulled out a plastic zip-lock bag containing homemade rolls. How was she going to repay him for making her such a meal? The obvious answer was to cook lunch for him sometime, however she found the notion both intimating and embarrassing.
“Well, I’d like it if you considered it for the future then. Class is more fun when we’re together.” Speak of the devil. Danyell seriously wondered if embarrassment could possible plague her anymore that day. Though feared that the mere though had jinxed it to be so. “O-Okay.” She muttered back in a whisper, cursing the heat that once again began to creep up to her cheeks. Swiftly glancing down in hopes that her thick locks would hide her flushed complexion, the young women once again found silence wash over both herself and her companion. Though not nearly for long enough.
As Kios began to shift awkwardly while eating his portion of their lunch, Danyell knew the exact topic they were returning to.“...So you really don’t have any feelings for Ren then?” Sometimes she really hated being right. Why he always had to stay so well informed about her relationships was something she hadn’t quite figured out yet. Or at least chose to convince herself that she didn’t. In reality it was rather obvious. “Iskios-!”
“No Danyell, I’m being serious.” Cursing incoherently in frustration as he cut her off, the temperamental girl continued to grumble on until Kios’ strict gaze got the best of her. Not that she cared if he grew to be upset with her, naturally. She only… Alright, to be perfectly honest in that moment she didn’t know herself. None of her emotions made any sense to her. All the stress built up the day before seemed to be causing all her feelings toward anything and everything to overwhelm her at once. That being said, she was well aware that she’d have to push through that. Kios deserved to know that particular answer more than anyone, outside of Ren himself. “I used to, however I haven’t for a while now.”
“Is that because you’re interested in someone else?” There he went on again, never satisfied until he understood ever aspect of a situation. “...Look Kios I’m not ready to talk about that yet, not after this morning.” Sighing as she picked up a juice box from Kios’ lunchbox, Danyell hadn’t even realized her own mistake until he had called her out on it. “What happened this morning?” The creeping irritation lacing Kios’ tone sent chills down Danyell’s spine. Why didn’t she ever learn her lesson, and think about what she said before she said it? “Nothing! It didn’t mean anything, I just was stressed out this morning!” She shot back immediately, crossing her arms beneath her bust once more as she turned her head from him. Though even she knew that her lie was anything save convincing. “Was Ren at your house this morning?!”
He always had to hit the nail on the head. Danyell had been tempted to shoot back that he’d never left since dropping her off the previous night, however she knew the thrill of his silence would only be temporary compared to the reign on his anger if she did so. “Kios, please! I said it was stress, let it go!” Eventually begging him to stop as her gaze fell back down to the rooftop, Danyell shut her eyes tightly and pretended to be far from all the conflict surrounding her. Though it did teach her one important lesson. No one could run from there past forever.
“...Alright, but only on one condition.” Her deep chestnut eyes immediately fluttered open in response to Kios’ offer, unsure of what angle he had been playing at that time. “Wait I didn’t agree to-!” She quickly attempted to protest, only to be silenced as Kios continued on over the top of what she’d been saying. While she should’ve been used to it, Danyell still found that habit quite rude.
“Danyell,will you accompany me on a date?” For a few long moments the air between them grew heavy, and it was all she could do to simply remember to breath properly. Had he been joking? Surely Kios’ wasn’t that cruel, right? He had to of known that such a comment would be taking a joke way too far. “...A d-date?!” Danyell choked out weakly, her thoughts raging rampantly within her mind as she tried to pull herself back together. What had been with all the boys that day? At the very least Kios hadn’t confessed out of the blue like Ren had.
“Er, it wouldn’t be for a while, and honestly I haven’t planned it out yet. However I feel really good about this! I want to get to know you better, and tell you more things about myself as well… So, will you please consider it?” The more she mentally considered his offer, the more the spirited young women found herself eager to accept his proposition. However she tried to remain practical, and really consider her response. If she seemed to eager Kios was sure to think things. Though on the other end of the spectrum, staying silent for even the length that she had was causing the boy before her to nervously tap his fingers down against the roof.
“...I’ll go.” Whispering gently in reply, Danyell immediately began to dig back into the remainder of the food in fear that Kios would catch sight of her flushed complexion. Part of her had been so inexplicably happy in that moment, while other seriously questioned why she’d agreed to such a deal. The stress from the current drama in her life had already been too much for her to handle, how would going on a date do anything but make matters worse? After all what if Ren found out? Or worse, something went wrong and the dynamic between she and Kios grew awkward? Could they manage to still be friends after a disaster date?
Kios’ bright smile had been a rare sight indeed, a mere glimpse of it managed to calm Danyell down almost instantly. Of course there were slight some tensions within her ponderings, however she was able to sort out her thoughts properly once again as he replied in an almost shy manner despite the arrogance in his tone. “You won’t regret it, I can promise you that much.”
***

It was hard focus on anything other than what had happened that morning, rendering Zofia’s attention span useless in all of her classes for the day. She still felt sick. Like she had come down with an awful flu, though she knew medicine wouldn’t relieve her of the pain at the pit of her stomach. Nor the urge to empty her stomach of all it’s continence from her hearty breakfast that morning. She’d originally wanted to eat well to keep her strong throughout her day, however at that point she had regretted eating at all. Sighing as she gently rubbed the bags under her eyes, Zofia tried to remember if there had ever been a time she’d cried over something as meaningless as boy drama. In the end she couldn’t recall even one occasion. Normally she attempt to avoid things like that, assuming it wouldn’t matter in a few weeks anyway. However, unless she sorted out how she wanted to handle the situation, the young women knew that such wouldn’t be the case that time around.
“Alright, what is going on with you today?” Jolting upwards in her seat as she turned to face her lab partner, Zofia was startled to find genuine concern in his gaze. He’d been worried about her? If only he’d known that his concern was the last thing she’d wanted. It gave her hope that part of him felt the same way about her as she did for him. “You haven’t stolen our assignment paper to doodle all over even once, and you didn’t give me your usually cheerful greeting when I walked into class.” Shifting awkwardly on her chair as her gaze fell down to the table top they’d been sitting around, Zofia tried to think up a reasonable excuse for her moody behavior. “It’s nothing! I’m fine.” She forced out lamely, twiddling her fingers in her lap as she glanced over to the experiment they’d been told to conduct. Sometimes she wondered how Sehun managed to handle having her as a lab partner. Despite being great at Chemistry, she had no idea what they’d been asked to do.
“Girls never actually mean it when they say they’re ‘fine’.” He had a point there. Slowly shaking her head back and further with a soft chuckle, Zofia tucked some loose strands of hair back behind her ear as she replied. “Who are you suppose to be, a lady expert?” The art club’s President jested with a small grin, falling silent as he swiftly shot back his retort. “Please, anyone with any common sense knows that.”
For a few moments the silence between them lingered, as Zofia only managed a shrug of her shoulders in response to his comment. Fair enough logic, no matter how one looked at it. Once again, her cool blue orbs scanned over the vials of chemicals as she quietly hummed in thought. The experiment seemed to be a simple one at least, nothing to dangerous on the table before them. So long as you knew which chemicals mixed well, and which ones would result in a minor explosion. “Hm, you know… They never did replace that trash can.”
Speaking of minor explosions. Zofia couldn’t help, but adopt a small smile as she turned her attention back to Sehun. They seemed on the same mind-track in a sense. “Maybe I should offer to pay for it-” She started as she viewed the bin from the corner of her gaze, rubbing the back of her head in a guilty manner before being cut off. “Why bother? It’s just a trash can, the school can afford to replace it if they want to.” Right as always, the school was plenty capable of buying a new bin if they felt that they needed to. Though that didn’t stop her from feeling responsible for the damage done to the school’s property.
“Besides I think it looks better that way, adds some color to the room.” As Sehun spoke up once more, Zofia found herself surprised by the obvious attempt to comfort her. His efforts to console her that day were abnormal, though greatly appreciated nonetheless. In a way she even felt honored. He didn’t just look out for anyone he came to know, meaning that he’d grown attached to her in at very least a friend sense. “I suppose that’s one way to look at it.” Sending him a weak smile as her eyes swiftly darted around the classroom, the young maiden attempted to get a feel for their assignment while also pulling her thoughts away from the hope beginning to burn within her.
As conflicted as she felt in that moment, Zofia had really begun to believe that she had a chance. Perhaps Sehun’s protection meant that he had been interested in her, as a women. Could she’ve possibly won over his consideration, or did he still have his eyes set on Elaine? Uncertainty consumed her as she pondered that thought, her expression growing grim as she found herself leaning towards the later option.
“It’s a shame the other one doesn’t match.” Zofia found herself wincing before she even had a chance to think over the onyx haired boy’s sudden comment, due to the loud blast ringing through the air, after he’d dumped the entire container of one of the less stable chemicals into their experiment then promptly hurled the vial across the room. What had he been thinking? Better yet what intuitions had he been ignoring? “Sehun, what are you-!” She frantically questioned only to be silenced by what she only assumed was his idea of an acceptable defense for his actions. “Relax the teacher went to the bathroom.”
Taking in a deep breath as she tried her best to ignore the whisperings and judgmental glares of her classmates, the art President found herself to be both at a loss for words and slightly horrified. Sure, she’d done the same thing early that year, but by accident. Sehun’s previous action had been purposeful however. Leaving her to wonder if he’d been trying to give her reasons not to like him. “There, now it’s perfect.”
Sighing as she slowly carried her gaze back up to view Sehun’s proud confident smirk, Zofia shook her head before replying. “Sehun… That was our last functioning trash can.” From there she paused, glancing back and forth between the two trash bins before finally bursting into laughter. Of course what he’d done was wrong, but he seemed so prideful of what he’d done that she couldn’t help finding amusement in it as well. On top of that he had proved in his own weird way that he had the makings of a true friend. In the sense that he would always be there to cheer her up. “Our teacher is going to be livid when she sees this.”
The young woman couldn’t help but smile even more brightly as he simply shrugged his shoulders in reply. Leave it to Sehun to not care about the consequences of his actions in the slightest. “So you feeling better now? Not that I care, but a little help on this assignment would be great.”
“Oh, right! Sorry!” Zofia responded without missing a beat, a mild pink hue slowly beginning to dawn within her complexion. A coloring which only deepen as she realized Sehun was still awaiting his answer to the first part of his question. “Ah, yes, I’m feeling better.” Clearing her throat in an awkward manner as she fiddled with her fingers quietly, Zofia recalled the first reason she’d been so nervous about class that morning to begin with. To think she’d forgotten even that after what had happened during her English hour, she swore that she was losing it.
“Sehun, I just remembered!” Undoing her bag before beginning to dig through it, Zofia carefully made her way to the bottom of the sack where she neatly folded his pirate’s jacket. “What?” Grinning brightly as she proudly held the article of clothing out to him, the blonde couldn’t help but find Sehun’s actions adorable as he scratched the back of his head and wore a light blush. Had she done something cute as well then? Zofia may never have known, though she had been grateful to have no longer been the only one blushing. “I washed your coat for you, thank you so much for letting me barrow it.”
“Oh, that. Don’t speak of it.” Withholding a chuckle as he accepted the jacket and stuffed it into his own backpack, Zofia found her thoughts circling around how hard he’d been trying to write off his embarrassment. It was probably due to how cool he seemed from afar, however the young women had never pictured Sehun to have difficulties in dealing with women. Was it possible for him to have a shy side she’d missed? “Seriously though, don’t. I don’t want rumors spreading around.”
Shaking her head as she came back to reality, Zofia replied almost too quickly in fear that her response would fall too belated. “Of course! I won’t tell anyone!”
After her promise had been made the two simply stared at each other for sometime. Both trying to piece together what they other had been thinking, as well as what they themselves were feeling. Sehun was the first to finally guide their direction once more, his comment pleasantly surprising Zofia yet again. “This paper is too plain, can you draw some anime character right here?” Eagerly nodding without an ounce of hesitation as her gaze followed his finger to the bottom corner of the paper, Zofia immediately picked up her pencil as she grinned from ear to ear. After all Sehun had only ever complained about her habit of doodling in class, so she took his sudden request as a meager way of expressing his acceptance of her passion.
“I don’t care who it is, just be quick about it.” Setting to work as he’d ordered, the glowing teen happily sketched out a character of her own design while thinking back to her run in with Grace. Maybe the younger girl was right, actually Zofia was sure that she had been. Her attempts to grow closer to Sehun were hurting Elaine, who probably deserved him more. However she knew in that moment that she couldn’t give up even considering her friend’s feelings. Being with Sehun felt right. She was sure of that. And her feelings towards the usually cold boy had developed into so much more than your run of the mill crush. Even if she couldn’t shake her lingering traces of guilt, she knew that what she had was worth fighting for. She wouldn’t accept defeat without even trying to win Sehun over. He was everything she’d been waiting for in her life. “There, all done!”
***
Kama barely managed to force himself down the hall towards the music room, where he was sure to find the new music director, for two reasons. The first being that he had no desire to waste his free period sorting out school business, rather than eating food and organizing the basketball teams line up for their first upcoming game. Which technically was also school business, but included time to enjoy his lunch. Something he’d been looking forward to savoring that entire day. Stake prepared especially for him by his favorite personal chief. He pretty much lived the dream life outside of school. Gloating aside, the second reason as almost more important than the first. Kama had caught wind of the rumor stating the new student teacher was a girl.
While they also claimed she was ‘gorgeous beyond comparison’, he really didn’t need another girl in his life. Reisha was more than enough of a following for him, as Kama’s heart would always remained true to the love of his life he’d met all those years ago on the beach. Some might of called him a hopeless romantic, others obsessed, however he knew that one day he’d prove them all wrong. He knew in his heart that he would find the beautiful girl. The one who made him laugh just as much as the mere sight of her took his breath away. She had been perfect, and he would reunite them in some way or another.
That being said, risking another girl falling for him was safer than working with Reisha to plan the play, alone. Honestly nothing could be worse than that. Reisha was a nice girl, though clueless when it came to noticing all the hints he’d given her.
Throwing open the grand set of double doors he entered the music room, Kama admired the regal attire adorning the room before slowly moving towards the sound of a gentle yet delicate tune coming from the grand piano placed at the back of the room. He might not have known much about playing instruments, however even he could discern that the piece being played was extremely advanced. Part of him also found its rhythm somewhat alluring as he approached the shining piano, though didn’t quite know how to explain why. One thing was certain though, whoever it was behind the piano’s open top was definitely more than capable of helping them with the play’s music.
“Excuse me, I know you’re new here but-” He started with a sigh while running a hand back through his slicked back hair, before freezing in place as he caught sight of the young women carefully stroking the black and white keys. Swept into the music as he slowly took in the radiant red locks swaying from side to side as the women moved, Kama found himself short of breath as he fought to remain standing. It had all happened so quickly, he didn’t even know how to react. The sight of her ivory skin, glowing almost as brightly as her gentle features upturned in a smile as she continued on with her song. The wistful light in her dazzling light blue eyes shining softly as she slowly turned to meet his gaze. Yet her fingers never once left the keys, as the beautifully intricate song seemed to swallow the up into his own personal heaven. “It’s been a long time, Love.”
Her voice was like a choir of angels singing, perfectly accompanying her wonderful tune. In that single moment, everything had changed for Kama, though he knew it was for the better. He’d finally done it. “C-Cherry?”

In Troubling Times It’s Best To Remember The People Who Give Your Life Purpose