Chapter 2: New Friend

       The cafeteria buzzed with liveliness as hungry students marched in, some getting in line, some sitting down to eat, and some claiming their seats. Arystia walked in and went over to the place she usually sat, claiming her seat with a water bottle and helping Aiden claim his with her phone case. He was going to be absent for a few minutes as he had to get a new lunch card and then charge it.

       Arystia hated going to the cafeteria alone, as she did not want anyone to see her eating by herself and then pity her. She was sure that they’d secretly judge her and laugh at the fact that’s she’s alone; they’d think that she has no friends.

       After getting in line and having bought her food, she went to her seat and silently ate. She played on her phone so to not look pitiful. She tried to suppress the anxiety that was rising in her stomach, and prayed that Aiden be back soon. She kept looking round to make sure no one was watching her, which almost no one did, to her relief. From the corner of her eyes she saw a group of girls head to the entrance of the cafeteria to surround a boy. They stayed there for a long time, and she guessed that they were asking for his phone number. When the boy finally started walking again, the girls followed him for a while before they all returned to their seat again.

       Intrigued, Arystia’s gaze followed the boy, and only when he turned back once did she realize that he was the guy from yesterday. No wonder those girls approached him. She watched as Ethan got in line and then grabbed his food. He stood for a few seconds and gazed around the cafeteria, as if searching for someone, until his eyes met hers. Arystia immediately looked back at her phone, pretending to not have seen him. She didn’t want to seem like a creepy stalker to him, and feared of what he thought when their eyes met.

       “Hey there.” A guy’s voice sounded above her. Arystia shook in surprise as she saw Ethan place his tray in front of her and then sit down. A fountain of thoughts suddenly rose in her mind the sight. What would Aiden think when he saw a stranger sitting in his seat? What was Ethan doing? Why did he sit in front of her? What will others think if this? Did he do this out of pity? Did he do this to make fun of her? She thought, started to feel uncomfortable at the direction her thoughts were leading.

       “Um, h-hey” She stuttered. Trying to sound casual.

       “Where’s your friend? Did he have something to do again?” He casually asked. His mind was swirling with curiosity of the identity of this girl before him.

       “Well, um, Aiden lost his lunch card, so he has to get a new one and then charge it, so yeah, I’m just casually waiting for him here” She replied, not daring to meet his prying eyes.

       “By the way, you didn’t get to introduce yourself yesterday, what’s your name?” He asked.

       “Oh, um, my name’s Arystia Ainsworth.” She replied.

      “Arystia……. Ainsworth!” He repeated. His eyes immediately widely opened, and he covered his mouth. His expression was unreadable, but Arystia guessed that he was very surprised for some reason, and maybe a little happy from the looks of it. Wierdo, she thought, squirming slightly in her seat, a little uncomfortable at his intense stare.

       “Oh, um, uh, sorry for making you uncomfortable, I didn’t mean to. I was just a little excited to um……. meet an Ainsworth!” He lied.

       “Ok…...?” She didn’t know how to reply

       “Ah, sorry. So um, by any chance, are you English?” He asked excitedly.

       “Yeah, English and Chinese.”

       “What’s your Chinese name?”

       “Um, Lin Zhixia.” She replied. This Ethan guy sure was direct. Maybe a little too direct, she thought.

       Ethan immediately held his mouth again; his emotions were clearer this time. They were filled with joy and surprise, glistening a little at the sign of tears emerging. His eyes started wandering around the ceiling and he blinked rapidly, trying to control his tears. After cooling down a little, he looked at Arystia apologetically, though his eyes were still glistening with joy.

       “Ahaha, sorry ‘bout that, I just got a little excited since I um……Used to have a best friend back in China with the same name as you.” He quickly explained. Arystia raised an eyebrow at his reply, then lowered her head and shoved a mouthful of mashed potatoes in her mouth.

       “Gee, you must’ve really liked your friend.” She commented.

       “Yeah…...I sure did. I really missed her.” He sighed. Arystia looked up at him again in response to that strange reply. He was smiling at her, but Arystia could tell there was something more to it. Did? Missed? Why’s he talking in past tense? She wondered, but decided not to make much of it; she guessed it was just bad grammar on his part, he was a foreign student after all.

       “Not to be gossipy or anything, but did you have a crush on her or anything? You seemed really energetic when I mentioned my Chinese name.” She asked. Even though Ethan was a little weird at the beginning, she was beginning to open up to him a little. After all, she didn’t mind a little company when sitting alone in the cafeteria. He seemed like a nice guy, too.

       “I’m not sure actually, I’d say that maybe I do?” He said, looking at her suggestively, but quickly continued talking when he saw no particular reaction on her part. Maybe that wasn’t enough of a hint? He wanted her to find out who he was on her own instead of directly telling her; he believed it to be more surprising and fun. With that in mind, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of candy from it. He offered the candy to Arystia, who’s hazel eyes looked at him, puzzled.

       “Here, take it.” He said. Arystia reached out and grabbed it. She examined the wrapping as Ethan continued talking. It was pink, with the name and description on it written in Chinese. On the front there was the image of a farm and a cow grazing the grass.

       “This is my favorite candy, it’s strawberry milk flavored; I’m sure you know of it. It became my favorite because of her.” He explained, hoping she’d catch on.

       “Wow, I haven’t seen this candy since five years ago! I thought they didn’t make it anymore. How did you get your hands on it?” She asked, slightly excited.

       “I have my ways.” Ethan remarked, smirking.

       “Pfft, hahaha, you sure are secretive.” She chuckled.

       At least she’s opening up more around me. Guess I’ll have to take it slowly. Ethan thought as he saw the beautiful young girl smiling before him. It had been ten years since they last saw each other, and missed her smile dearly. He had always wondered why she never contacted him, but he never blamed her for it, especially not now that they finally met again. Instinctively, his hand reached for the pendant of his necklace that was underneath his t-shirt. Should I show her the necklace? Maybe she’ll finally realize then. He thought, stroking the outline of it beneath the fabric.

       “Anyway, it seems to me that you totally have a crush on her. I bet that necklace also has something to do with her as well.” She said. She had been intrigued about his necklace since yesterday, especially now since she saw him stroking the pendant through his t-shirt’s fabric and bear a face that says ‘lost in thought’. Why did he hide it? Does it have something to do with his crush? It seems to be important to him.

       “Huh? Oh, yeah,” He gasped. Guess I don’t have to contemplate that problem anymore, he thought, snorting. He reached into his t-shirt and pulled out his necklace. The thick black strings of the necklace had an unexpected pendant tried to it. Arystia thought it would be something stylish, or made of metal, but instead, tied to the end of the black strings was a large fang. The fang was long and curved, around the length of a thumb, and was slightly yellow. The root of the fang was encircled by a layer of silver or iron carved into the shape of an eagle’s head, in place of the eagle’s eyes were two shiny blue stones. The necklace looked oddly familiar to her, but she couldn’t recall why.

       “Zhixia gave me this necklace a long time, around ten years. We saw a seller of these necklaces on the mountain and we went to check it out. She used to love wolves, so she bought one with a wolf head, and gave me one as well with an Eagle’s head, since I loved eagles.” He explained. He held it up and stroked it affectionately, smiling as he recalled the memories. He then lowered his hand and smiled at Arystia, an emotion in his eyes that Arystia wasn’t able to make out. “I’ve been wearing it ever since.” He stated.

       He looked at her expectantly, but couldn’t find any trace of realization on her face, much to his disappointment. He was starting to be a little worried; not only did she not remember the necklace he held so dearly, but she didn’t even seem to have remembered anything after telling her the origin of it. On top of that, she didn’t have any reaction to the candy nor his family name, which was slightly rare. Did she forget about him? She was only six years old at the time, ad they only knew each other for a week. It was reasonable for her to not remember him, but Ethan couldn’t help but feel a pang in his chest. He wanted to tell her who he is, but now that he’s seen her reaction, he didn’t know whether it would be of any help.

      Arystia curiously looked Ethan’s eyes. The emotions in them changed very quickly and very frequently, which intrigued her. Just then, they had gone from an unknown emotion to an expectant look and then now to a disappointed emotion. He sure has a lot going on in his mind, she noted. The necklace and the story reminded her of her and Yuan Mingyu back in the Panda Resort ten years ago, but she didn’t think much of it. Many people visited the resort in a year, and it wouldn’t be a big coincidence that they had a similar necklace. She guessed that he looked expectant because he wanted her to praise him for owning such an eccentric necklace, but was disappointed when she didn’t say anything.

       After a brief silence, Arystia changed the topic and they started having a lighthearted conversation. They talked about many sorts of things, such as school life in China, food in America, and many other random things that came in mind. Though it was only polite superficial chatter, they found themselves enjoying each other’s company, to the extent that they forgot about their surroundings. They had been so immersed that they barely noticed the eyes looking at them as their volume increased, nor did they notice Aiden approaching with his tray of food in his hands.

       Aiden had wanted to apologize to Arystia for taking the long time that he did, and was quick to race to the cafeteria once he finished charging his lunch card. Like usual he walked headed for his seat after buying his food, but as he approached, he saw that Arystia was not alone, and that his seat was taken. From the person’s back view, Aiden could see that it was a tall guy with short black hair who dressed with light clothing though it was winter. Curiosity rose in him at the sight of the scene. Who was this person? Didn’t he feel cold? Why was he eating with Arystia? Does Arystia know him? Maybe it’s someone from the sports teams? She does join lots of sports teams after all. He guessed.

       He walked to the table and joined the two, abruptly interrupting their conversation as he placed his tray beside Arystia’s and sat down. He examined this stranger’s face, something about it looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

       “Aiden! I’ve been waiting for you for centuries, you’re finally done.” Arystia complained, slapping Aiden’s shoulder as soon as he sat down.

       “Ow, d****t Arystia, so mean! I got here as quick as I could ok?” He teased, rubbing his shoulder and pretending to be in great pain.

       Ethan observed the boy before him, and unknown discomfort forming in his chest. He’d only briefly seen him once the day before and heard his name from Arystia a few times, but now that he finally saw him in person and seen them interact, he couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. He quickly shook the feeling away, embarrassed by what he was feeling. Who am I kidding? I’m in no position to feel this way. I’ve only known her for a little over a week, not to mention we’ve lost contact for ten years; of course she’d feel more comfortable talking to her friend than me. He thought, glancing down at his food awkwardly as the two talked, not minding him. She doesn’t even remember me anyways, I’m just a stranger to her.

       “Anyway, do you guys know each other? I haven’t seen you around.” Aiden asked, turning to look at Ethan.

       “The name’s Ethan Yuan. I just transferred here yesterday from my old school in China. I’m an eleventh grader; a year above you.” Ethan replied.

       “Oh! So you’re that new transfer student the girls were talking about yesterday!” Aiden exclaimed. He leaned forward and examined Ethan’s face, his hand pretending to be rubbing his beard.

       “The rumors sure didn’t lie; you do have quite the pretty face.” Aiden teased.

       “Hahaha, why thank you!” Ethan chuckled, straightening himself and placing a hand on his chest, “Not to brag but, I was quite the popular guy back in my old school.” he boasted, smirking proudly.

       “But,” Aiden retorted, leaning back and mirroring Ethan’s posture. He proudly glanced down at Arystia. “I’d have to argue that I’m obviously the better looking one.”

       “My god, Aiden, I never knew you’d be this petty.” Arystia chuckled as she met Aiden’s gaze.

       “Anyway, handsome boy, would you like to introduce yourself?” Ethan implied.

       “Oh yeah, sorry I forgot. My name’s Aiden Ackerman. I’m Arystia’s best friend that she denies to be. I’m a mixed-blood too, German and American to be exact.” He eagerly introduced himself.

       Aiden was quick to welcome the new member in their lunch friend group, and they were back to chatting in no time. The trio chatted jubilantly as they ate their lunch, but was cut short when Ethan was called by his classmates to join them.

       “Well then, guess I’ll have to go. It was fun talking to you guys,” He said, excusing himself as he stood and picked up his tray, “I’ll see y’all around!” He said as he left for a table nearby with a large group of guys and girls sitting around it. Arystia watched as the boys moved to the side a little in order to make a space for Ethan to sit. He was immediately immersed into their atmosphere and conversation, being the sociable person that he was. She turned back to look at Aiden, who was chewing a mouthful of food as he watched Ethan and his classmates. He looked down at her as he felt her gaze on him.

       “What?” He asked, his voice muffled by the food in his mouth.

       “First of all, please finish chewing before speaking, and second, aren’t you gonna move back to your seat now that he’s gone?” She asked. Aiden looked at the remaining food in Arystia’s tray, then quickly chewed the food in his mouth and swallowed it before replying her.

       “Nah, too lazy.” He replied, shrugging his shoulders.

       “And plus, we’re both almost done eating, so why bother?” He continued.

       “I guess you’re right.” She commented.

 

       A day passed, then two, until it was a week since the trio first joined for lunch. Ethan would join them for lunch every day until he was called away by his classmates or until the period ended, and would sometimes even spend the recess period hanging out with them. Though Aiden and Arystia didn’t know him too well, they had accepted him into their little circle and were glad for the extra company. They both agreed that Ethan was a nice person to be around; he was very sociable and extroverted, but at the same time gave off a cool and dependable vibe, which they guessed was because he was older than them.

       It was Wednesday again, and just like the past week, Ethan joined them during lunch period. Ever since Ethan first joined them last week, Aiden’s seat had switched from being in front of Arystia to beside her, as Ethan was always waiting for them when they arrived at the cafeteria. They chatted about several things here and there, never losing the smile on their faces.

       “By the way, I heard that the new Star Battles movie’s gonna come out next week, are you two going to watch it?” Ethan asked.

       “Hell yeah! I’ve been waiting for it for two straight years!” Arystia excitedly exclaimed.

       “Well, I’m not particularly interested in the Star Battles series, but if someone invites me I’d probably go.” Aiden stated, casting a glance at Arystia when saying the last part, then quickly looking back at Ethan.

       “So, are you a fan too?” Arystia exclaimed, accidentally raising her volume and attracting the gazes of people near them. She immediately straightened herself and pretended nothing happened, feeling slightly anxious under their gazes.

       “……look at…….”

       “……. every day…….”

       “…….. attention……”

       Arystia immediately turned her head towards the direction of the voices. They were very faint and barely audible, but Arystia couldn’t help but think they were directed at her. She shuddered, she dreaded the thought of people talking badly of her behind her back, like they did last school year.

       She searched the crowd for the source of the voice, and a few tables away from them, she saw the origin. Sitting on the far end of the table were Laura and Jessica, and facing them were Maria and Jenna. Laura was listening closely as the others talked, while Jenna was silently eating her food, seemingly disinterested in the conversation. Jessica was looking at her, but quickly turned her head and looked away when her eyes met Arystia’s. She then turned to look at Maria, the only other person looking in her direction, and unlike Jessica, she held her gaze.

Intimidated, Arystia quickly looked away. Out of those four girls that she hated, Maria was the only one that she was afraid of, as she was like a lion, proud and aggressive, a natural leader. More than once had she seen someone get on Maria’s bad side and end up being outcasted; the was like a ruler in the social world, if she likes someone, then others will like them, but if she dislikes someone, then dislikes them as well. Not only so, but if she hated someone, she’d make sure that they knew, and go out of her way to make sure that they’re not well. With how Maria had been acting lately, Arystia dreaded the possibilities of what it may mean.

She started shivering, anxiety starting to rise in her as she thought of all the things Maria will to her. She had already become a loner in comparison to last school year before the drama between her and Jessica started, and prayed that nothing more will come with Maria. She struggled to sit still as her body shivered and her mind went raced; he felt her breath get caught in her throat as she started struggling to breath. She started frantically searching in her mind for any reason for Maria’s hostility: Was it because she refused to do favors for her? Was it because of sometime Jessica said? Was it because she hung out with boys a lot?

“Hey, Arystia, you alright?” Came the voice of Ethan. Arystia looked at him in surprise, he and Aiden were looking at her worriedly. She immediately started worrying as she saw their looks. Were they pitying her? Did she look strange just now? Are they judging her?

“Oh! Sorry ‘bout that, it was kinda chilly this morning, so I might’ve caught a cold. Anyway, you were saying?” She quickly changed the subject, faking a smile. Her thoughts continued to race in her mind, and she tried her best to ignore them as she listened to Ethan talk.

“Well, I was saying that I’m a fan as well. I was planning on watching it the day it comes on.” He repeated.

“That’s nice, maybe we could go together! I was planning on doing that too.” She remarked. As she heard no more voices from the table of girls, her mind gradually relaxed as she was back to chatting with her friends.

 

       The entrance of the cafeteria buzzed with liveliness as famished people of all grades stormed in. Among them, a group of eleventh graders entered through the gate, casually strolling and chatting with each other. A boy from the group parted ways with them as they approached their usually table. He walked to a table close by and reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a candy with pink wrapping and placed it on the table, marking his seat. Upon buying his food, he returned to the place, unwrapping the candy and placing it in his mouth. He continuously turned back to look at the entrance in between bites of his food, as if waiting for someone.

       He looked at the entrance, hoping they’d appear any second, only to be disappointed yet again. He sighed, their teacher always ended their class late, resulting in him having to wait for them to arrive almost every time. Instinctively he pulled out his necklace and started stroking it with his thumb; he had wanted to ask for their phone numbers when they arrived, especially the girl’s. They had been good acquaintances the last week, and he had wanted to build a deeper friendship with them. He was very eager in the morning when he had come to the decision, but the very same eagerness was turning into impatience as the minutes went by.

       “Ugh, can’t believe he kept us for 20 minutes! Wish I could sue him!” Aiden complained as he walked out of the classroom with Arystia right behind him.

       “Oh my! How can you complain about having 20 extra minutes of class! I wish there was more, I love class!” She exclaimed sarcastically, closing her eyes and raising a hand in an exaggerated posture.

       “Yeah right. Anyway, lets get going. We only have thirty minutes left and I still need to finish my math homework.” Aiden said, storming off in the direction of his locker to place his things. Arystia followed closely behind, and after putting their things, they quickly raced to the cafeteria.

       Much of the line was gone by then and almost everyone had sat down with their food. Most of the food had was already empty when they arrived, and they had to settle with whatever there was. They walked over to their table and were met by Ethan, who was almost done eating and was scrolling on his phone. He raised his head to greet them, an eager smile on his face.

       “Thought you guys would never come.” He remarked.

       “Sorry, man. The stupid professor kept us for 20 minutes,” Aiden complained. “and because of that, we can’t talk too much today. I still have some math homework that I need to finish.” He continued.

       “Well that certainly sucks.” Ethan commented.

       “Sure does. Sucks even more that this idiot,” Arystia elbowed Aiden, who yowled in protest for being called an idiot, “happens to ‘excel’ at math, so I have to eat up fast and tutor him on his homework.” She complained, receiving a glare from Aiden, as if denying her statement.

       “Huh, never knew Aiden was a math genius.” Ethan chuckled.

       “Oh, come on, guys. I know I’m a genius, ya’ll are just jealous. Specially you, Arystia.” Aiden retorted.

       “Pfft, hahahahaha! Sure, man, sure.” She burst out laughing at the idiocy of Aiden’s word. He sure never failed to entertain her with his stupidity.

       “Anyway, guys,” Ethan suddenly interrupted as the two quarreled. “I also gotta be leaving soon. You see, we have a presentation to do so we have to get to class early today to prepare.” He explained.

       “Man, sure stinks to be a junior, who knows how horrific the senior year will be.” Aiden commented.

       “Well, you’ll find out two years.” Ethan teased, to which Aiden replied with an exasperated sigh.

       “Anyway, back to what I was saying,” Ethan said, turning his head to look at the table nearby where his classmates sat. “They’ll be calling me any second now. I wanted to spend more time with you guys, but we all know how that went.” He sighed, picking up his phone. Aiden and Arystia looked at him curiously as he spoke. He handed his phone to Arystia, in which Aiden watched as she held it in her hand, her eyes looking at him in confusion. Something felt odd.

       “I thought that we’d at least be on good terms now, and I just so remembered that I didn’t have you two’s phone number.” He explained, casting a swift glance at Aiden then turning his head to look at Arystia, who had his phone in her hands, with eyes gleaming of eagerness and expectation. The odd feeling started feeling stronger in Aiden.

       “Oh, sure! No problem!” Arystia said, she quickly tapped on Ethan’s phone and after finishing typing, she handed the phone back to its owner. Ethan thanked her with a bright smile, which Arystia returned. Upon watching this scene, his heart beat faster as odd sensation grew. Something felt off, wrong, but he couldn’t comprehend why. After thanking her, Ethan turned to face him, smiling as he handed his phone to Aiden. Even though he was smiling, Aiden couldn’t help but notice that there was a certain level of cautiousness behind it.

       “Yeah, sure.” He replied, taking the phone and typing his number in it. Right as he returned the phone, Ethan’s classmates called him.

       “Well, that’s my call. See ya!” He said, standing up and carrying his tray over to where his classmates were. The group went to dump the food together and then quickly exited the cafeteria. The table quickly fell silent as the two sophomores watched the group leave.

       “He sure is the popular guy.” Arystia commented, lowering her head to eat her food. Aiden mirrored her and lowered his head as well.

       “Sure is.” He agreed, trying to make clear of the odd feeling just then. He felt…..intimidated? Insecure?

       The two ate silently in their seats, each with things of their own to think about. On one hand, Arystia thought about the groups of girls yesterday, and worried about what Maria was up to. On the other side, Aiden searched for any reason for his feeling of insecurity. With no words said and no distractions, they quickly finished their meal and walked to their classroom.

       Just like in the days where there was lots of homework, the classroom lost most of its liveliness and instead was replaced by the silent chatter of those who had finished, and the sound of scribbling pens and pencils on paper. Many heads looked up as Arystia and Aiden entered the room, breaking the silence, but they quickly turned back to focus on their task. The duo chose two empty seats at the back of the classroom and sat down in them. Aiden quickly pulled out his worksheet and started writing in it doing all the questions that he knew how to solve, while Arystia watched closely, correcting him when he made any mistakes.

       Once finished with the easy questions, Aiden looked to the girl hovering beside him. his eyes filled with embarrassment, he let out an apologetic smile. Arystia sighed as rubbed his hair; she then bent down and started teaching him how to do the harder questions, scolding him whenever he did reckless mistakes. They were likely the loudest voices in the classroom, much to Arystia’s dismay, as Aiden’s loud complaining often attracted unwanted glares. She wanted to tell him to shut up, but was afraid that he’s think she was annoying and talk about her behind her back, even though she knew he’d never do that……. right?

       Not long after, the recess period ended, and Aiden complained in despair as he was one question away from having completed his work. He gloomily picked up his things and headed to the locker area with Arystia. They were coincidentally locker-mates, with Arystia in the middle, Aiden to her left and Laura to her right. Right as they were finished packing, Laura came to her locker.

       “Hey Arystia, so how’s Ethan as a person?” She asked curiously.

       “Huh? Well, he’s a nice guy, very social. Why?” Arystia asked, taken aback by Laura’s sudden question.

       “Haha, I kinda envy you. Must be nice being a tomboy.” She said, taking her laptop from her locker and walking off before either one of the duo could say anything further. They looked at each other in confusion. Arystia sneered and Aiden shrugged his shoulders, both stating their lack of knowledge on what Laura meant. They decided to not think about it too much, and headed to the classroom.

       “So, I heard that new student, Ethan, asked you for your phone number?” Maria asked as Arystia and Aiden arrived into the classroom.

 

       After being called away by his classmates and leaving with them, the young lad couldn’t help but look back longingly at the cafeteria entrance. He was suddenly met with a strong arm around his shoulders, and he couldn’t help but stumble a few steps at the sudden pressure.

       “So, finally asked for her number, huh?” The voice asked. Ethan looked up, it was Ian, his best friend in the class. He stood straight and pushed the arm off his shoulders.

       “I don’t know what you’re talking about” He responded, pretending not to understand what Ian had just said.

       “Of course you do! Stop pretending. That girl, Arystia, the one you keep going over to eat lunch with. All of us know you have a thing for her, it’s like, so obvious!” Ian exclaimed, giving Ethan a playful nudge. A small blush emerged on Ethan’s face, and was immediately met a excited roar from the group of boys and girls.

       “Bro, go for it! Literally everyone here ships you two!” Ian continued excitedly. Ethan smirked, this sure brings back memories.

       “Though I have to say, I didn’t know you were into tomboys like her.” A girl said, smiling excitedly at the sight of Ethan’s blush. She thought that a handsome guy like him would be into other types of girls, not tomboys, or would be immune to such childish teasing. “I was on the same team as her last basketball season; she was like a rampant lion on the field. Quite scary if I had to say.” She added. Another girl beside her looked up from her phone at the mention of the event, she had been texting with someone. She turned to look at Ethan, whose blush had grown redder.

       “Well, she always was a feisty one,” he said, storming off before the group could say or ask anything further. He never wanted to hide it, but he was surprised by how many people knew that he liked Arystia. He wondered if those two had noticed, but concluded that they didn’t due to how indifferent they acted.

       “Be careful of that guy though! He seems to be a competitor!” Ian called from behind as he started distancing himself from them. The call received another excited roar from them, and faded away as Ethan entered the building.

       After making sure that they were far enough, he slowed down and raised the hand that had his phone in it. He looked at the two newly added contacts in it, smiling as he read the number of the girl.

History won’t repeat itself again.