Chapter 39 - Teenage Tension

It's the 24th of August, Thursday. We've been on the Singford's private island for more than a week. We have also been undergoing online classes since the beginning of this week. Aurora, Thalia, Alistair and I have all registered with our club the events we want to take part in for the upcoming Arcanothon. There was no resistance, seeing as how we are the strongest members.

Other than that, online classes have been unimaginably droll. If studying in a classroom was torture, this would be hell. The teacher somehow get 10 times more boring and it is way too easy to get distracted and get away with it. Luckily, or unluckily, I am always in Aurora's room. Whenever I absent-mindedly pick up my phone, I would almost immediately find a sharp pencil of pen flying straight at my face like a bullet.

Because I have my guard down, I never catch it, and I would look up to see Aurora's devilish smile. It was endearing and extremely annoying. Today is no exception. Physics class was the last class of the day. Aurora, like the studious genius she is, is at her desk. Attending the conference call with her laptop, and using her tablet to take notes. I, on the other hand, look like a deflated balloon rolling around on the bed robbed of my soul and energy. Honestly, its harder to stay awake for this boring class than it was to defeat Axios…

"Alright, I believe our time is up." My teacher, some old man, said. "Next week I will be seeing you in school once more. Except for you Mr Dakrun. Be sure to complete the rest of the assigned work on Magnetism. I will be going through it next week." The call ended, and I feel a wave of relief wash. Over me, along with all my energy returning to my body. Coincidentally, Aurora's class ended as well. She closed her laptop softly and clutched her tablet with her underarm.

She walked over to me and stared at me with soulless eyes. I stared back at her. I had not idea what she wanted. "What?" I asked blankly.

As I said that, I wished I didn't. She started ferociously slapping me like an animal. I could have avoided them easily, but I chose not to. Some times my power are no fun. "AH! What the hell man!" I exclaimed as she kept slapping me without mercy.

" 'What the hell' my ass dude. End of Year exams are in September, before the Arcanothon, take this a little more seriously!" She lectured. She finally stopped slapping me. When she did, I smirked. I grabbed her body and wrestled her onto the bed and pinned her down. We used to do this all the time as kids. I laughed as she yelped and screamed from the sudden move.

Now the tables have turned, I was on top of her, pinned both her wrists onto the soft mattress. I had a smirk on my face. However, that faded when I saw every trace of anger fade from Aurora's face. Her creased brows returned to their original position, her eyes wide with surprise, she was biting her lip. I felt something… unnatural wash over me. My playful grin was erased in an instant. I stared at her angelic face. Her eyes became smaller as well, recovering from the surprise, she bit her lip even more.

At that moment, a familiar pulling sensation overcame me. I slowly drew closer to her face. Closer than what most would feel comfortable with. There was tension in my body and mind. Half of me knew what was about to happen, and thought it to be wrong. The other half, wanted it like I was about to die tomorrow. Nature's hand guided me. The distance between our faces grew smaller and smaller as I inched closer to her pink pillow like lips. She said nothing, in fact, I could have sworn she was moving closer too. We were too close now, I could feel her perfectly soft and smooth lips gently graze my own.

"Aurora dear! Dinner is almost ready! Kaler, you should get ready too!" It was Aurora's mom! We stopped just short of making contact and my eyes went wide. I unconsciously used my speed to fly backwards to the window and nervously looked away, scared to make eye contact, my face blushing and burning hotter than ever before.

I stole a peek at Aurora to see if she would yell at me. Instead, I heard her sigh and lazily get up. I swear I could see her facial expression. Was she sad? No way. After a short pause, she answered her mom. "Yeah mom! We'll be there." She replied

I heard footsteps walking away from the door outside. There was an awkward silence for what felt like an eternity. None of us spoke. I looked at the ceiling, she was still staring at the door. I was unable to see what she was thinking or feeling. I felt guilty, perhaps I really did push it too far. She probably doesn't see me that way. I had t fix this. "I um…you know…uh…" I cursed internally, I was still too nervous to respond properly. I couldn't find the right words to use.

"Let's go down stairs. The food will get cold if we don't" She said and turned to me with her sweet smile. She was cheerful and bright, like nothing ever happened. I guess she was telling me that it was fine and that she forgives me, but I still could not help but feel guilty. I almost just took advantage of her. I put on a facade, forcing myself to do the same, acting as if nothing happened. We left the room soon after and walked downstairs to see my parents and hers in casual clothing, laughing up a storm. It made them look 5 times younger. I loved it.

I leaned on the bannister and watched as they continued their conversation and laughing from the third floor. Aurora joined beside me, a smile also plastered on her face. It was the one she shows only when she is with me. "I was wondering…" I started, slightly afraid to ask her this. "Why do you only show that smile when you are with me. I don't think anyone else has seen the real you."

She continued to look down at out parents laughing joyously, answering after a few seconds. "The 'real me' is what I want people to see. I am always the real me. I am just happier around you, therefore I can only show it to you." She answered calmly.

"Why? Why me?" I asked, attempting to probe further.

"Cuz you actually mean something to me. I would be fine if every person in this world were to forget me or hate me. The only exceptions would be my family, your family, and most of all, you. If I were to lose you, if you were to forget me, I would rather die then suffer like that." She answered honestly. I could hear her voice quivering, especially when she talked about me. It was an answer I was not expecting. She always told her that I mean a lot to her. But I never knew just how much. It made me feel special.

I grabbed her wrist which caught her off guard. She looked at my hand gripping hers, then back to my face. "C'mon. Foods getting cold." I said. She dropped her surprised face and smiled warmly at me once more. I dragged her down the staircase to the dining area.

When we reached the bottom, I announced our presence, saying "Hi!" As we approached. Their heads all turned to look at us. I saw the smile on our moms' faces fade, replaced by an o-shaped expression, showing their surprise. It was followed by giggling by both of them. Our fathers glanced at each other and chuckled. They were doing so because I was still holding her hand, however, I was oblivious.

We sat across from each other, next to our fathers and started eating the scrumptious feast prepared by our parents. Dinner that night was lively as always. My parents were laughing and smiling all the way. They even had energy to tease Aurora and I. It was a blast. I just wished that we could always do this.

****

In the Wraith Corps HQ, the 7th Reaper, Coronacht is cleaning his foldable bow. He used his magic powers to do so. He used the arcane element to conjure a spell. All the muck and blood dissipated and faded in an instant. A beeping sound came from a disc-like device in his room. He got up and walked to it, pressing the button on it.

"Coronacht, reporting." He said

"Coronacht, a very good evening, I hope I did not disturb you…" An ominous voice came from the disc. Coronacht's eyes flew open as he realised who he was speaking to.

"Not at all, sir!" He responded immediately. "What do you require of me Thanatos sir?"

"In the upcoming Arcanothon, the first place prize is a valuable crystal that will be useful in my father's upcoming project. It is extremely rare. We have a chance to get our hands on it. I want you to obtain it." Thanatos explained. His voice only grew more creepy, it sent waves of chills down Coronacht's spine

"I will not fail sir! I will grab it at all costs."

"Good. However, to be discrete. It would be best if you obtained it not as the 7th Reaper of the Wraith Corps "Coronacht". However, as the 1st year student of East High School of Magicians, Zephyr Liu."

"Understood. In that case, I will win the Arcanothon at all costs.. No one will beat me."