Luna herself didn’t really express that she was competing with Arit, so it was too subtle for Arit to point it out. So instead of beating around the bush, Arit decided that she would just ask the most important question. Luna’s answer here would determine whether or not Arit could be friends with her.
Luna turned away from Arit, and at that moment, she allowed her nervousness to get the better of her. Normally, in a situation like this, Luna would be bold about her desires and she would come out and say exactly what she wanted. Luna knew that she liked Mark, and even though she wouldn’t call it love yet, she knew that it would get there with time.
But the way she was put on the spot like this, as well as the fact that it was Mark’s girlfriend asking her the question, made her nervous.
It didn’t matter how physically powerful Luna was. Physical strength did not always translate to emotional strength. And right now, Luna was emotionally weak. She shook her head while waving her hand.
"N-No, no, where did you get an idea like that from? I’m not. I just really respect him. You know I’m an adult and he’s just a high schooler. T-There’s like five years between us. A relationship between the both of us wouldn’t even work out.
The tabloids would slander us to hell and back for it. Me and Mark. That... that’s too outlandish."
Arit kept her hard gaze on Luna for a while longer as she saw Luna chuckling nervously while trying her best to deny the accusation. Arit thought that Luna was denying it a bit too much, but she just guessed that Luna was nervous to be put on the spot like that. Arit’s gaze softened, and she smiled apologetically.
"Really? Sorry I was so forward. I haven’t been dating Mark for that long, so sometimes I get jealous when I see some other girls around him. He’s a very desirable person, especially since he is a superhuman as well. I know it’s not his fault that the girls are flocking to him, but sometimes, it makes me jealous."
"I-Is that so? Well, I understand since I also have a lot of men fawning around me. They don’t even know who I am, so I barely give them the time of day. I’m sure it’s the same thing for Mark. There might be a lot of women, but he isn’t going to bother looking at any of them since he knows exactly what they want from him. They don’t see him, they only see his money and power."
Arit smiled while wrapping her hands around her knees.
Luna chuckled.
"That’s true. You should have seen him during the assessment. He almost punched a SOVEREIGN just because the man touched his shoulder."
The two women laughed at the image of that, and Arit held her legs closer to her while smiling. Now that Arit was sure that Luna wasn’t after Mark, Arit felt a lot calmer around her. Arit has never had another female friend before. Most of the girls in school only tried to get close to Arit because they wanted to meet Mark, and the others ignored Arit because they were scared of Mark.
It felt nice talking to another woman without the pressure of trying to please them or them constantly asking about Mark every second. Arit was happy to have a friend.
Luna felt like a fraud.
Luna could see the happiness in Arit’s gaze. She knew that Arit was happy to be talking to her, but Luna knew that all of that was built on lies. Luna’s main priority here wasn’t to befriend Arit. Just like all those other girls, Luna also wanted Mark to herself.
"Hey, I dropped Talia off with Greg and Kelly. They said they wouldn’t mind watching her for the night, so I put her with James. What are you guys talking about?"
Mark finally came back to the porch with a calm smile on his face, and the girls turned around in shock when they heard his voice. Mark rose an eyebrow as he noticed that both of them were blushing slightly, and Mark smiled playfully.
"Were you talking about me?"
Both women turned to look at each other for a moment before they began to laugh, and Mark was a bit confused at first, but after some time, he just chuckled as he shook his head and went to sit down beside Arit. Arit leaned her head on his shoulder and hugged Mark tightly, and Luna only glanced at the pair of them with some longing in her eyes before turning back to watch the festival below.
Luna still wanted to be with Mark, but now that she was closer to Arit, she didn’t know how to approach her feelings anymore. Luna didn’t want to betray the trust that Arit had in her, even though it was built on a lie, but Luna also knew that she wanted to face her own feelings.