ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

Arthur slept heavily on the rather cool morning of August 20th. In only a few minutes, the resting, still body inhabiting the warm bed sheets would be stirring. For August 20th marked the beginning of the end - the first day of senior year. Just 180 more torturous days of essays, exams, and blatant bureaucracy was ahead. To be free of the private school system, to be able to truly call oneself "an adult". It was truly a joyous morning as a phone began to play the melody of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes." causing an arm to rapidly outstretch from the sheets. 7 o'clock and Xavier was awake, but it would take a few minutes to harness the will power to leave the warmth of his dark bed. If only he were 180 days in the future. An adult, able to do what he wanted... But more importantly, to focus on the missions he could be doing.

Arising from his bed, Arthur threw on his school uniform, consisting of a blue blazer, black trousers, belt, white buttoned shirt, and a blue and black stripped tie. Looking into the mirror hanging against his wall, Arthur adjusted his tie so it felt less like a constricting noose, and more like a loose necklace. He hated these uniforms, but Arthur knew there were times to "behave" and times to act out. He messily ran his fingers through his mid-back length, yellow-blond hair, and made his way towards the staircase, leading down to the heavily furnished kitchen. A woman and a young girl both sat at a wooden dinning table together, the woman sipping on a coffee while looking through her phone. The young girl cramming a jelly covered piece of toast into her mouth. Although it seemed more like she was rubbing it on her face rather than putting it in her mouth. "Good morning, Arthur. Glad to see you are making an early start to the first day classes." The woman spoke up. Her hair was just as long as Arthur's, though more heavily decorated with both small and large braids. Some pinned up along her forehead like a headband, some falling down and draping her shoulders. "I'm just up to pick up the guys. We're carpooling." The deep rumble krept from Arthur's throat.

He grabbed himself some toast and walked by the little girl, playfully pulling on one of her long pigtails. "OW! HEY! Mom! MOM! Arthur pulled my hair!" His mother smirked and gave a quick, mean glare towards Arthur as he headed out the door. "He just cares about you and doesn't know how to show it, kärlek. Now go wash your face. You need to be heading to school soon too." With that last statement, the front door shut behind Arthur, hurrying to his Volvo to pick up his friends. One by one, his car became less quiet and lonely, and significantly more loud and obnoxious. "Senior year, my men!! We have made it! Top of the food chain!" Jacob called to attention in the passenger seat of the ride. "We gotta make this year a year to remember- I mean party, after party, after party. I want to get EVERYONE involved! So many people that they can't expel us all! They won't have anyone left to teach!" Unafraid of consequences or authorities, Terrance and Alexander both cheered in agreeance. Arthur just nodding solemnly to them. Though Arthur wasn't a very outspoken person, and didn't like large crowds, his loyalty to his friends was strong. He would rather be alone, in his room, plotting out his next big heist or hit. But, he would have plenty of time for that after graduation. "You are ridiculous to think you'll get away with something like that." Though at the same time he didn't fully doubt it. Jacob, Terrance, and Alexander had reputations around the school for throwing the best parties. As a result, the three of them, and by association Arthur, were some of the more popular guys on campus. Arthur rolled down his window and lit up a cigarette, directing the air flow to go out the window. Almost perfectly in sync, Jacob, Alexander, and Terrance all did the same.

"Well, we still gotta get you to hook up with someone this year! This is our last chance to give that to you, Arthur!" Terrance teased slyly at Arthur. Terrance, Alexander, and Jacob were 100% opposites of Arthur. Yet somehow they all remained best friends. Even though their friendships only began as an appearance thing. If the son of a Hitman can be friends with the son of a Drug Lord. And they could be friends with the son of a Double Agent, and the son of an international thief. It was honestly comical to begin with, and yet. Here they all were, and possibly more than willing to put their own lives on the line for the other. "I'm not interested in one night stands like you losers." Arthur grumbled slightly under his breath. But it didn't matter how much he told them to knock it off. They always came around bringing a new girl for him to "meet" and inevitably dump. Arthur, being a tall and stoic type, seemed to attract a lot of attention from female classmates. He wasn't sure why, he felt like he was mean mugging people all day. And yet plenty of girls would constantly fight for his attention. He hated it, the annoyance of it all.

Finally parking at the school, each discarding of their cigarettes on the asphalt and promptly stomping it out, the 4 banded together towards the school's main courtyard. It was the center hub of all the classes, and the main social watering hole. Funny how there just so happened to be a fountain in the center with the school's mascot, a knight. How unoriginal. Arthur thought every time he saw it. Soon enough, students were roaming onto the grounds, spreading the word of the summer happenings. Trips abroad, people met, concerts attended, people slept with. It wasn't long till the four were surrounded by a few other friends and admirers as Jacob, Terrance, and Alexander all began weaving their tales of adventure. Arthur just stood by listening, his eyes locked on the reflective blue of the clear sky. A few people tried to grab his attention and ask him about his summer, but he kept it pretty brief with "It was fine, thanks." Most people knew Arthur's tendency not to be a major talker. But some people seemed to have a hard time getting it through their skulls. In the distance he could hear a collection of girls, chatting and whispering among themselves. They were talking about him of course. He had a couple of crushes and fan girls who loved his 'bad boy' appearance, but he never payed attention to them. It didn't really bother him, but it got annoying when they would make him late for class.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ I Feel... Neutral.
✖✖ I am At... School.
✖✖ I am With... Jacob, Terrance, Alexander, and friends.
✖✖ I am Thinking..."Classes should be soon... Wow... last year of high school already."
✖✖ I am Wearing...The school uniform; Black dress pants, white button down shirt, blue suit jacket, black tie, and black shoes.

The sweet voice rang throughout the house without a care in the world, carrying the tune without skipping a beat. The sound of water ceased shortly afterwards, and after some scuffling, a pair of footsteps skipped towards the bedroom. As the bedroom door was swung open, Evangeline Esperanza waltzed in, a towel around her body as she danced her way to her closet. After dropping her towel, she would get dressed, lowering her singing into a hum as she pulled on her uniform's shirt. Her eyebrows were knit together as she concentrated, making sure she didn't miss any holes, and once she double checked in the mirror, she put on her skirt and pulled on her knee high socks.

Running her brush through her hair, she let out a small sigh of euphoria. She didn't know why, exactly, but she had woken up in a great mood. Granted, she had been up early to do some gardening, but there was just something about today that felt good. Maybe it was because she was back in school, she never did like spending too much time at home. As she looked around for her shoes, a beep caught her attention. Her phone's screen lit up, indicating she had a message. As it did, it revealed the time, and immediately after she heard honking outside. Shoot, had she lost track of time? Pulling her shoes out from under her bed, she hopped into them, snatching her bag and phone from her desk as she was about to run out of her room. Aha! She had almost forgotten her jacket! No sir, she wasn't going to get caught without that again!

Running down the stairs, she tried to get into her jacket with one arm, only stopping before the kitchen. She spotted her stepfather at the stove, quietly humming to himself. Her mother was nowhere in sight, likely already have headed off to work, which admittedly made her morning better. She liked Marshall, and the two got along well all things considered. "Good morning, Eve, I think Helene is waiting outside for you," He said, pushing a sandwich and small brown bag towards her.

"Yeah, I'm going now! Thank you!" She said, biting down into the sandwich and grabbing the brown bag with her free hand.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He called as she approached the front door.

Freezing in place, Evangeline checked herself. Phone, check, messenger bag, check, lunch, check, breakfast, check. What was he talking about? Giving him a quizzical look, he motioned towards the living room table, on which sat her violin safely hidden in its case. Looking at her full hands, she managed to hook the handle with her index and middle fingers, swinging the door open and jumping over the steps.

In the small, blue car sat two girls. The driver was a tall, gorgeous redheaded girl with soft hazel eyes and smooth skin. She was all legs with a light touch of makeup enhancing her good looks and just a few pieces of jewelry. On the passenger side was a slightly younger girl, her own brown hair pulled into two ponytails, her brown eyes wide and jittery. She shot a grin at Evangeline as she climbed into the backseat, unable to hide her amusement at the rushed girl.

"Good morning!" The brown eyed girl greeted her cheerfully.

"Good morning, Alyssa!" Evangeline returned the greeting in earnest, making herself slightly more comfortable as the car drove off. "Sorry I took so long, I was still getting dressed."

"Lost track of time again?" The other girl asked, keeping her eyes on the road. "You must be the only person in the world who somehow gets up early but is always running late."

"I can't help it! Once I get in the zone, I can't stop!" She admitted.

"Ignorance is bliss~" Alyssa giggled. "Come on, Helene, you get up just as early too with your 'beauty regimen'!"

"Beauty takes effort," Helene replied rather haughtily.

The three fell into a comfortable silence, which Evangeline took advantage of to get herself better organized. They were right, though; she never was very good at keeping track of the time. But she let them tease her, as she felt unstoppable today. Humming to herself, she put her lunch in her bag so she could better carry her instrument, and then looked out the window and watched the scenery go by.

"You can learn a lot of things from the flowers, for especially in the month of June..." She sang quietly, a small smile on her face. "There's a wealth of happiness and romance, all in the golden afternoon ♪" As she finished, her eyes went to the front of the car where she saw Alyssa grinning back at her. "What is it?"

"I'm interested in the 'romance' aspect of that little tune," She said as the car pulled into a parking spot. "Ohhh, I get it, that's why you're in such a good mood!"

Oh boy, now to have this conversation again. Climbing out of the car with violin case in hand, Evangeline had to admit that Alyssa's enthusiasm was somewhat unsettling--and this as coming from Eva, one of the more perky girls in school! Evangeline picked up the pace of her steps as Alyssa gave chase with Helen casually following suit, and soon the trio had reached the school's entrance.

Pausing by the school's fountain, Alyssa took a look at the gathering group, her expression souring slightly as she realized who was at the center. "If it isn't the Boy Band making their senior year debut," She huffed, placing her hands on her hips.

Both Evangeline and Helene looked over to see what Alyssa was talking about. It was hard to miss really, especially considering how many girls were gaggling at the unfortunate guys they surrounded. It was more like a mob than anything, really. Helene's eyes lit up, and she pulled out her compact and lipstick for a final checkup. Alyssa glared at her, unamused. "Seriously?" Alyssa rolled her eyes.

Once her lipstick was on perfectly, Helene blew a kiss to her reflection and snapped her compact shut, raising her eyebrows at Alyssa. "Face it, Aly, you're still salty over getting rejected by Jacob Petrone and now you're holding a grudge," She reminded her.

"Am not!" She protested just a little too quickly for her denial to be predictable, although she was soon distracted by Evangeline. "Oh boy, we lost her again, Helene."

Indeed, Evangeline had phoned out of the conversation once Alyssa had pointed them out. Her eyes had gone from guy to guy, though she wasn't really interested in them. Sure, they were cute, but only one of them really stood out to her. The quiet Arthur Myles was the object of her affection, and once she spotted him, everyone else was irrelevant. A little dramatic, sure, but hey, she was a high school girl with a crush, so it was serious to her! Super tall, blonde, calm, cool, and collected, he checked off every single one of her likes. Although she really didn't know much of him, she had been harboring a crush on him ever since she had transferred in. She remembered the first time she had noticed him, sort of like now; a bunch of girls haggling his friends while he was super disinterested and being curt with the girls that tried to talk to him.

Evangeline was pulled back into reality as Alyssa poked her shoulder a few times. "Huh? Oh, sorry, what were you saying?" Evangeline looked at Alyssa, though she frowned as she saw her mischievous grin. "Wh-what?"

"We lost you there for a second, remember to keep your feet planted firmly on the ground so you don't go floating off to Cloud Nine to admire Arthur Ladykiller Myles," Helene teased.

"I genuinely don't know what you see in him," Alyssa admitted. "I mean, his friends are all at least amicable, but he kind of looks pissed at life, you know?"

Evangeline fiddled with the hem of her skirt, giving them a slight shrug. "It's just...he's so mysterious," She sighed, smiling to herself. After hearing them giggle, she let out a slight groan. "I don't know! Stop judging me!"

"I'm not judging," Helene said, crossing her arms. "But I have to side with Alyssa on this one. He's hot, but he doesn't seem to be interested in anyone. I think you and Alexander would look nice together."

Pouting, Evangeline let out a slight huff. "You guys suck."

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

From the crowd, Terrance looked around slightly and saw the trio of girls just as they walked on campus. Arthur, watching his friends, directed his gaze towards them as well. He recognized the three of them, although he didn’t know them at all. However, Arthur knew that Terrance was specifically eyeing the young girl putting on red lipstick. Arthur believed her name was Hannah? Holly? Helen? He couldn’t really remember, it started with an H. Terrance started walking towards the two girls, and he and his friends followed closely. This caused a mass of other students to follow around them. The other girl he recognized from a party sometime last year. Was she the girl that splashed her drink on Jacob that one time? He couldn’t quite remember. ”Hey, Helene! I was hoping to see you soon.” He gave a rather charming smile and ran his fingers through his jet black hair. Arthur rolled his eyes slightly. Terrance had selected a new target for conquest.

As much as Arthur wasn’t interested in the whole “hooking up” culture, he understood why his friends were so active in it. They lived dangerous lives outside of school, and by acquiring someone you truly loved would instantly put a target on their back from enemies. Arthur took a deep breath. He remembered there was one girl that Jacob had fallen in love with. She started out as a fling, but as time went on, too many competitors and enemies were catching on that Jacob had found himself a “little piece”. Arthur remembered too clearly the night he had to break up with that girl, she was crying and just kept asking why? Why? Why are you leaving me? Arthur shudder slightly. Even though he was cold as stone, he didn’t know how Jacob could do something like that. Give up on someone you loved. Not being able to tell them why. Not being able to tell them that they would become a target and victim of attacks. Was she the same girl, Arthur wondered. He was pretty bad at faces and names like that.

Arthur came back to earth hearing Terrance’s voice again. ”I actually went to China over the summer!” Several people began to ask questions, yet Terrance seemed very focused on keeping his attention on Helene. He went on about how he went through bamboo thickets, saw some pandas with their cubs, and interacted with locals. A very tiny curve came to Arthur’s lips. Sure, Terrance was telling the truth about being in China. However he was excluding the part about setting up opium trade deals with some Triads and assassinating competition. Arthur enjoyed Terrance’s storytelling before looking back through the crowd. Arthur noticed that Jacob was strongly avoiding eye contact with the one girl Arthur suspected splashing her drink on him. Arthur concluded that his assumption must have been right.

Finally Arthur’s eyes rested on the third girl of the group. He had several classes with her in the past. He was surprised that she had friends, because she seemed just as quiet as himself sometimes. At least, anytime he looked in her direction she seemed to go quiet. He wondered for a second if she was in a similar situation, having more sociable and talkative friends than oneself. Much like himself, he observed, she seemed to drift into her own world just like he would. At least that is something he observed in her now and again. Arthur always kept mental profiles on everyone in school… except he could never remember their names, and this long haired blonde girl was no exception. He was often surprised that his friends didn’t more actively hit on her than her friends. In Arthur’s opinion she was significantly more attractive than the other 2. But just as Arthur was hard to decipher, his friends too worked in mysterious ways. Soon enough the bell for homeroom rang and the large group slowly started to break apart. Terrance came close to Helene, leaning close to her to whisper in her ear. ”I’ll text you soon. But I think it is time we get Eva and Arthur together, don’t you think?” Terrance smirked playfully towards Helen. It was obvious that he could see something about how Eva acted around Arthur, that Arthur hadn’t noticed. As the crowds began moving, Arthur somehow ended up walking beside Eva. He didn’t pay her much mind, but he did nod to her as a kind of greeting, or at least acknowledgment of her presence.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ I Feel... Neutral.
✖✖ I am At... School.
✖✖ I am With... Jacob, Terrance, Alexander, and friends.
✖✖ I am Thinking..."Were drink girl and crying girl the same people?... Hmmm..."
✖✖ I am Wearing...The school uniform; Black dress pants, white button down shirt, blue suit jacket, black tie, and black shoes.

"Th-they're coming over?!" Alyssa's jaw dropped as Terrance called out to Helene.

Helene stuck her tongue out at Alyssa for a moment, flipping her hair off her shoulder. "Yup, so play nice," She stated cheerfully, grinning as Alyssa's expression soured further.

What?! Really?! Oh no, she wasn't ready for this! The crowd followed suit, and Eva ended up having to move slightly, lest she incur the wrath of one of the legion of fangirls. As he began to talk, she found the way he told his stories to be rather entertaining, at least, but it just wasn't doing it for her at the moment. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in Terrance's stories, Eva just didn't know what to say. She had always wanted to travel, but her health and mother made that pretty difficult. So instead, she watched Helene and her reactions.

Watching Helene work her magic was something Evangeline always found entertaining. A swing of her hips, the way she smiled, even her gently touching guys on the arm as she spoke to them was something she was secretly jealous of. She was so casual with guys, taking things as they came instead of worrying about 'what-ifs'. If she was brushed off, she'd just shrug and move on. Helene was unflappable in that sense. But maybe having all that attention was just something Helene was used to; guys liked the redhead with confidence.

Meanwhile Alyssa wouldn't stop glaring at Jacob, her scowl eminent. Did she think if she stared hard enough she could burn holes in him? Eva nudged her lightly, trying to get her to cool it a little, though Alyssa simply ended up scoffing and turning away. What was up with her? Before she could ask, however, the bell ended up ringing, and the group began to disperse. As Terrance leaned in closer to Helene, Eva felt the glares of every single girl suddenly turn on the redhead. Of course, she took it in stride, even sending Terrance a wink back without any hesitation.

"What was that?" Evangeline asked her quietly, trying to get some information.

Helene grinned again, though instead of answering, she jogged ahead, shouldering Alyssa instead. Letting out a sigh, Eva followed suit, shaking her head slightly as she watched the two talk to one another. Noticing someone walking next to her, she looked at Arthur and then returned her gaze forward. It took her a few seconds longer than she should have to do a double take. Arthur was walking next to her! Wow, he was a lot taller than her! His hair! His face! Oh boy, the shock of suddenly seeing him next to her sent her brain into a frenzy. Don't freak out don't freak out don't freak out-- The thought evolved into a mantra as she tried to keep her cool, though she was pretty sure if she could see her reflection her cheeks would be red. As he nodded at her, she returned the gesture with a nervous giggle, her free hand giving him a small wave. That was about all she could muster, however, and she was relegated to simply stealing a glance at him. He wasn't really looking at her--or was he? She couldn't really tell--and just kept walking.

She should say something, right? Well, he didn't really seem interested in having a conversation. But how would she know that if she didn't initiate one? Or would it be weird if she said something? Maybe she should just stay quiet. A pair of giggles reached her ears, and despite the pair facing forward, she knew her friends were laughing at her. She would never hear the end of this if she didn't do something. Say something. Anything. Anything! ANYTHING!

Thankfully, her sporadic thoughts were well hidden underneath her blush, even if she was quieter than usual. Okay, it was now or never. Taking in a breath to calm her nerves, she threw on a small smile as she looked up at him again. "It's Arthur, right?" She asked, feigning ignorance. Her mind clicked on an idea, and she figured she could reintroduce herself. "I'm Evangeline, we had Physics together last year."

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

There was the natural roar of student’s voices echoing through the grounds, and even in the halls as they entered. Ahead of him he could see his friends leading the way to homeroom, the two girls following behind. The brown haired girl seemed more and more angry the more she had to be around his friends. Memories were slowly coming back to Arthur. He was sure that was the same girl that Jacob had to break up with. That was an awful night. He had never seen any of his friends cry since they were all little kids in elementary school. In their line of work, it tends to harden you very quickly, not show your true emotions. Somehow his three friends were still able to present themselves as normal high school students, where as Arthur seemed to have overdone his emotionless demeanor.

But that night Jacob broke Alyssa’s heart. Jacob cried. He didn’t do it in front of Alyssa. It would have shown her too much of how he cared for her. He needed it to be swift and quick. Like ripping off a band aid. But she wouldn’t let him leave, end things that quickly or easily. Arthur remembered after she finally left, Jacob crumbled and began crying. Arthur could only assume that Jacob really cared about her… maybe even loved her. But his memories were quickly interrupted by the sound of a sweet voice. For some reason it reminded him of the toast and honey his mom would give him for breakfast as a child. There was an odd warmth that rose up in his stomach, but he quickly pushed it away… how odd.

Somehow, miraculously, he heard the voice of the third girl, walking beside her. Ah, Eva! It was like a little lightbulb going off in his mind. He hated how awful he was at remembering names. He nodded to her, letting her know that he remembered her, and confirming he was Arthur like she suggested. Even this was a significant amount of communication from him to a stranger. Terrance was looking over his shoulder and winked towards Helene. Arthur just barely caught it and was curious what that was all about.

As the halls became a little more and more crowded, the group came almost to a standstill, as the currents of moving students seemed to collide. It was crowded, noisy, and Arthur wasn’t having any of it. He was significantly taller than everyone, his head poking out over the crowd. He coughed deeply, which seemed to catch the attention of a few people. Many freshmen students quickly jumped out of the way, and a handful of others began moving, parting the crowd so the center walkway was somewhat clear. ”Thanks, Arthur!” Alexander called from up ahead. Arthur simply nodded and moved through the crowd, occasionally glancing back at Eva to see if she was still behind him. Not like he cared, he just knew that they happened to have the same homeroom, so there was no point in letting her get lost in the large crowd.

Reaching the homeroom, a few people were starting to claim their seats, though a handful of girls were standing around, chatting and holding their bags. Arthur groaned slightly at this. He knew what it meant. They were waiting for him to claim a seat so they could try and snatch up the closet one to him. They did it every year, and each year it got older and older with Arthur. He just wanted to sit with his friends, in peace, unbothered by the giggling gaggle of girls around him, and their failed attempts at flirtation. Why couldn’t they understand that. Arthur waited for Jacob, Terrance, and Alexander to grab their seats before he started to sit down. He didn’t get a chance to notice, but Helene quickly grabbed Eva tightly on the arm, and tried to sling her towards the seat next available to Arthur. It was done so quickly that Arthur was still looking away, towards his friends. And also, fast enough to prevent one of the random girls from claiming this prime real estate. When Arthur looked back over on his left to see Eva standing there, it gave him an odd feeling of reassurance that it wasn’t one of the other crazy girls standing around.

People were slowly claiming their seats, still talking about their summer experiences when Arthur spoke towards Eva. ”The brunette. What is her name? Arthur asked, it was bugging him that he couldn’t remember her name. He didn’t really care much about her, besides the relationship she used to have with Jacob. It didn’t click with him that by asking something like that, could be misconstrued as him showing more interest for the other girl. He wasn’t really interested in anyone at the moment. Especially if it means avoiding a situation like what Jacob had to go through. On his right, Terrance was on his phone, sending a message to Helene.

”God that was SLICK! Now look. We both know that Eva has a thing for Arthur. Why? Who the hell knows. All I know is we gotta get them together. This Friday, my place, big house party. I expect to see you both there!” Terrance looked towards Helene after putting his phone down, to make sure the message got through.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ I Feel... Neutral.
✖✖ I am At... School -> Homeroom.
✖✖ I am With... Jacob, Terrance, Alexander, Eva, Helene and?...
✖✖ I am Thinking..."..."
✖✖ I am Wearing...The school uniform; Black dress pants, white button down shirt, blue suit jacket, black tie, and black shoes.

Despite no other words being spoken, Eva was still elated. At least she could say Arthur knew who she was now. It seemed to put a spring in her step as they made their way to homeroom. Once they entered, she spotted a gaggle of girls hovering around, though a majority of them immediately perked up as they entered. Actually, it was more like when Arthur and his friends entered. Figuring the girls would all start acting up, Eva decided it'd be best to just sit wherever. But it looked like the decision was made for her, as Helene dragged her elsewhere without so much as a warning. Before she realized what was happening, the redhead winked at her as she motioned towards Arthur, who had sat next to her. Damn, Helene was good. Settling in her seat, she tried not to look at him too much, lest she end up making it obvious, but the fates decided to bless her with another attempt at a conversation with Arthur. Who then asked about Alyssa. Go figure, the first time Eva would actually get to interact with Arthur, and he was asking about her friend. Maybe it was wrong to actually get her hopes up. Looking at the grumpy looking brunette, who seemed to be telling Helene something. Those two had been acting up ever since Terrance had spoken to Helene--what was going on over there? For split second she almost forgot Arthur's question, though she would oblige him with a response at least. "You mean Alyssa?" She asked, slightly frowning.

Meanwhile, Helene was having a pretty heated discussion with Alyssa. Apparently, the younger girl had definitely taken notice of Helene's 'closeness' with Terrance. "There's nothing wrong with being friends," Helene replied, pointing her phone at the brunette. "I just think they'd look cute together. Everyone knows Arthur doesn't even so much as look at anyone, and Eva is perfect for him."

"On the basis of...?" Alyssa raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Have some imagination, Aly," Helene insisted.

"You're just setting her up for heartbreak," Alyssa warned, placing her chin on the palm of her hand.

As Helene's phone lit up, the redhead ended up ignoring Alyssa's remark, focusing on the text she had received. Her hazel eyes scanned the message, bringing a mischievous smile to her face, and she looked towards Terrance and threw him a peace sign to acknowledge his text.
"We'll be there~ ✿" She replied, setting her phone down after the matter.

A slight commotion at the entrance of the class distracted the duo for a moment. A majority of people scattered as a dark haired girl strolled in, a jacket over her uniform. At first glance, there was nothing particular about her, though as she approached Alyssa, the dirt marks on her face and clothes became apparent. Calmly sitting in her seat, she placed her bag on her desk, letting out a small sneeze before turning towards her friend. "Good morning," Came her quiet greeting.

"Uh...good morning...? What happened to you, Gigi?" Alyssa asked.

Gigi was a rather stoic, demure girl. She hardly talked as it was, keeping her sentences minimalistic. But her friends knew better; the girl was a daredevil, and Helene suspected she had probably either crashed her bike or was working on a car. Her gray eyes looked between Alyssa and Helene, though they wandered over to Eva and Arthur. "Busy morning," Was her only response before she took off her jacket, draping it over her seat. "Someone's getting some surprise attention."

"They look cute together, right?" Helene asked excitedly.

Her eyes landed on Arthur, her expression unchanging. "I'd be careful around that one, if I'm being honest." She admitted quietly.

"Thank you! That's what I said!"

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

Arthur nodded to Eva in response. Yep, Alyssa- he was certain she was the same girl Jacob had relations with in the past. No wonder she was being so distant and angry. And no wonder Jacob wasn’t acting quite like is upbeat and sociable self. It just reminded Arthur of the dangers of getting involved in a relationship with their line of work. Maybe it was easier for his three friends because their line of work may not directly affect their classmates. Drug trade? Eh, maybe it helped some of them get their hands on weed or cocaine. But Jacob was higher up in the chain than just some street dealer. Spying? Maybe one or two, at maximum three of his classmates had any political involvement. Even then Arthur wasn’t sure if Terrance's family was keeping any tabs on them. Then thieving? Unless one of his classmates owned some rare, expensive gem, or was hoarding a mountain of cash in some secret vault, Arthur highly doubted it. But a hitman? A hit could be put on anyone. Whether it was a political leader, to one’s too noisy neighbor that they wanted… silenced. Arthur didn’t know if he had ever killed anyone close to any classmates. He didn’t want to know, in fact. He got his missions, he carried them out, he got paid, and that was it. Any more involvement or association with the target or the person instigating the hit left too much room for emotions.

A dark haired girl interrupted his thoughts as a handful of students seemed to scatter away from her in a hustle. She was dressed significantly different from all the other girls in the class. She didn’t pretty herself up, and didn’t go out of her way to be your friend it seemed. He saw the tiniest bit of his own personality in her, which is the only reason he remembered who she was- Gigi. Another one of Eva’s friends, Arthur remembered. ”Herregud. Är hon inte den vackraste kvinnan du någonsin sett?” Arthur turned his attention to his friend Alexander, who was resting his elbow on his desk, and his chin in his palm. His eyes didn’t seem to leave Gigi the minute she walked in. Terrance seemed to roll his eyes so hard it was as if his head would pop off. ”Du kan inte vara allvarlig.” was Terrance’s response as he leaned in close, as only their group of friends could hear.

”She is like a female version of Arthur. Of all the hot chicks in this school, why are you attracted to some dirty, punk chick? Alexander’s eyes didn’t leave Gigi’s body for a second as he shot back a response, just smiling. ”Sure, we all have our flings. But there is always that one we love. You wouldn’t understand. Only I and Jacob have ever fallen in love with someone. OW!” The sudden outburst of pain came from Jacob slamming a punch into Alexander’s side. This was obviously still a very sore subject for Jacob, Arthur observed. ”Shut it, Alex.” Was all Jacob gritted through is teeth. ”JACOB PATRONE!” A voice shot through the air. Ugh, it was the homeroom teacher. ”I won’t tolerate your abusive behavior this year! Principal’s office! Now!” . Jacob scowled and shot up from his seat, grabbing his bag, and marching straight towards the door.

Terrance called out after Jacob as he stormed out. ”Look, Jacob. You need to start getting over that thing. I’m already setting up a party for Friday night. And I bet you anything she is going to be there too, because her friends are going to drag her along.” Arthur just shook his head. It was obvious that Terrance was really putting his, well other extremity, before his brain. But then Arthur caught something Terrance said and shook his head even more. Oh Lord, not another party. Arthur was tired of having to fend himself off from fan girls in the comfort of his friend’s house. Why couldn’t they just try and stay in one weekend like normal people?

Jacob walked out into the stream of the hallway and slammed the door behind him. It just caused some of the posters and pictures hanging on the wall to quiver. ”As for the rest of you!” It was very obvious that she was specifically targeting the group of Swedes. ”I won’t tolerate any shenanigans for you three either. I am not afraid to get you all expelled, even if it is your last year!” Damn, Arthur thought. Were they really as bad as she was making them all out to be? The very smallest smile couldn’t help but sprout from the corner of Arthur’s mouth. He knew they were bad, but it was fun seeing teacher’s faces turn purple. Sometimes Arthur imagined what it would be like if he ever got a hit on a teacher that he hated. Killing a teacher like her would probably be too enjoyable, he would have to be extra careful not to do a sloppy job. Leave no evidence behind!

Arthur turned his head back to the 4 girls. It was interesting how strongly a role three of them had in his friend’s life, that he hadn’t really noticed before. His eyes moved down to the petite Eva sitting on his left. She was the only outsider in all these relationships, kind of how Arthur was the outsider in his friend’s relationships too. Maybe it would be easier for him to remember her name this year. He determined it was kind of nice sitting next to her. She didn’t harass him so far, unlike some of the other girls who would be doing so much to try and get his attention. Some would pull his hair, which he absolutely despised. ”Are you alright?” The words came out so suddenly he wasn’t sure why he asked. Well, he knew the context of the question was in response to Jacob’s very loud scene and the teacher’s screeching fest. But, he wasn’t sure why he was asking her if she was okay. Damn, there was that weird warmth in his stomach again.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ Translations: [1] Oh my God. Is she not the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?
[2] You can’t be serious.
✖✖ I Feel... Warm?...
✖✖ I am At... School -> Homeroom.
✖✖ I am With... Jacob, Terrance, Alexander, Eva, Helene, Alyssa, Gigi, and others.
✖✖ I am Thinking..."My stomach must be upset..."
✖✖ I am Wearing...The school uniform; Black dress pants, white button down shirt, blue suit jacket, black tie, and black shoes.

Eva's mind had wandered off again once she had taken her seat. She needed to play it cool, sitting next to Arthur was making her so nervous she didn't know what to do with herself. Having answered his question, he had fallen silent again. Another nod in acknowledgement, she couldn't believe she was getting the chance to interact with him so much. Sure, they had classes together before, but she hadn't gotten as lucky as she was now. Usually she only got to look at him from a distance, which considering the amount of girls she often had to deal with in the way made things tricky. Speaking of which, she definitely felt their jealous stares, and she ended up trying really hard not to make eye contact with any of them.

"You really need to cool it, tell her, Eva," Helene said, her name catching her attention. "The party's on Friday and we're all going."

"Party? This Friday?" Eva shifted in her seat, slightly frowning. "I'm not sure I can go."

"You really should ask before making assumptions," Alyssa pointed out.

"You have plans?" Gigi asked, slightly curious.

"Yeah, right, Eva never has plans," Helene rolled her eyes. "What is it that you have to do?"

"I have a follow-up with my doctor," Eva replied quietly.

The four fell silent at her words, though it was just in time for their teacher to start yelling. Watching Jacob Patrone stand, she assumed he must have done something as he stormed out of the classroom shortly afterwards. She noticed Alyssa watching, but knew better than to comment on it. It wasn't any of her business, and the last thing she wanted was to get another argument going. For a second she expected Helene to start up again, but she probably didn't notice Alyssa as her focus was on Eva.

"So we can go afterwards, being fashionably late is always in style," Helene continued without skipping a beat. "Come on! It'll be your chance to--our chance to hang out together, we really didn't get to do anything together over the summer since you guys kept flaking on me."

"Some of us had our own thing," Alyssa reminded her.

Gigi looked at Helene, a hand to her chin as she thought. "I suppose it's been a while," She shrugged.

Eva still wasn't sure. "I don't know..."

Helene deflated slightly, though she perked up. Time for another approach. "Come on, Eve, going to a party means we get to go shopping~" She tempted the blonde, going straight for one of her interests. "Unless you already have a dress for me, I'd be happy to parade it around for you! Please?"

Tapping her pencil against the desk, Eva thought to herself for a second. It had been a while since she had gone to the mall. "Well..." She started slowly, watching the hope in Helene's eyes and Gigi's blank stare.

"Good job, you really know how to hit weak spots," Gigi complimented Helene.

"I haven't said yes!"

"Yeah, but you're not going to say no to that," Alyssa smirked, letting out a sigh.

"Great! The four of us are going shopping after school, then!" Helene announced.

"What--I never said I was going!"

As the pair began to bicker, Eva kept her attention on her notebook. Parties really weren't her cup of tea, but she also knew if she resisted Helene wouldn't give up. Still, she was concerned she wasn't going to have the energy after her appointment. Maybe she could change the day? Well, she wasn't eighteen yet, so she'd likely have to get permission or something. That thought alone was enough to make her feel like her insides were twisted. If she had to get permission, it'd likely have to be her mother. But if she admitted she wanted to change it for the sake of a party, she'd never hear the end of it. Could she ask Marshall? She knew he would be more understanding about it, but he'd likely want to let her mother know--not out of spite, but out of concern.

It was at that point Arthur asked if she was okay, and Eva looked at him. Did he notice? She couldn't really tell, nor had she been expecting him to talk to her. She should have been happy, but now the only thing she could think of was her appointment. What a mess. Throwing on a smile, she nodded. No need to make such a fuss, she'd figure it out. "Things happen, I suppose," She replied, still tapping her pencil against her notebook.

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

 
Arthur thought for a minute what Eva was referring to. Things happen? What did she mean by that? Was she referring to the relationship between Alyssa and Jacob, or was it something else? He huffed a bit in response and started to hear some of the other girls murmuring around them. It entertained Arthur a little bit, that these girls were so jealous and angry at someone they didn’t know, simply because they were sitting together. It wasn’t like they were holding hands, or kissing. Girls just really wanted to be angry at something, it seemed to Arthur. From his memories, Eva was probably the nicest girl on campus. He couldn’t think of anyone who would have any reasons to hate her. Besides being too nice. Was it possible to be hated for being too nice?

The homeroom teacher began doing her little tirade of welcome backs, her plans for the school year, their impending graduation, so on and so forth. Arthur tended to tune her out every year, and instead his eyes wondered the room drifting into his imagination. He thought back to the last mission he had to carry out over the summer. He had to take out a hit on a high ranking numbers man working in for a large corporation, CSPEC. Arthur remembered it so clearly because it was one of the few missions he ever had to perform this city. Supposedly the guy was doing some under the table money laundering, except he was doing it in the wrong direction. Rather than pulling some money towards the business, he was pulling money from the business into his own pocket. The man wasn’t leaving his workplace until it was already dark out, and the only light from the headlamps were so dim, it was hard to see 5 feet in front of himself. Arthur had used the darkness to his advantage, and had memorized the placement of every security camera that lined the street and alleyways. It was a highly stealth mission, and one screw up could have got him caught. He remembered sneaking up behind him, gun attached with silencer, pulled on the trigger and –

BRRIIIIINNGGG!!! The school bell rang and Arthur was once again snapped back into reality. Coming back to he realized he was staring straight at Eva. He quickly turned his head and could hear his friends snickering beside him. How long had he been staring at her? He tried to play it off as no big deal, gathering his books and preparing for the next class. But on the inside he felt like he was dying from embarrassment. God, was he good at covering it up. ”Get lost in those eyes, did you Arttie?” Arthur scowled, he hated being called that, and they knew it too! But getting lost in Eva’s eyes? Hmph. ”I was just daydreaming.” He spoke cooly, walking out into the hallway with his friends. Terrance’s eyebrows raised so high it seemed like they would sneak away into his hairline. ”OOOOOh! Daydreaming, huh? Daydreaming about our sweet little Eeeeva?” Arthur groaned and rubbed his temple, damn was Terrance good at getting under his skin. Arthur continued on as Terrance hung back with Helene and Eva.

”Wow, Eva. You really must have caught Arthur’s eye, don’t you think? He was staring at you for practically half the class.” Terrance teased her, and Arthur turned back to look at the pair. Arthur was sure that he was only staring at Eva because of him being lost in his daydream. Yet that weird warmth erupted in his stomach when he looked at her bright blue eyes. Oh god, he felt like he was going to throw up. He quickly turned ahead again, putting his hand over his mouth. But it seemed once he stopped looking at her, the pain in his stomach disappeared.

”I look forward to seeing you all at my party. Eva, I think this will be your first time at one of my EPIC parties. Tell me, what is your drink of choice? Just so I can be sure to get it stocked up for you.” Terrance grinned widely towards the two girls. It wasn’t hard for him to be charming and friendly. Hanging back a little bit farther was Alexander, who quickly approached Gigi from behind. ”Gigi, min vackra blomma. You are coming to the party this weekend, right?” Alexander shot his shot with Gigi. The guys had all lost count of the number of times Gigi had rejected and turned down Alexander. Perhaps it was his need to be loved by everyone that made him so persistent to charm the poor girl. It was pretty obvious she didn’t put up with his attempts of hitting on her.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ Translations: [1]My beautiful flower
✖✖ I Feel... Sick?...
✖✖ I am At... School -> Hallways.
✖✖ I am With... Jacob, Terrance, Alexander, Eva, Helene, Alyssa, Gigi, and others.
✖✖ I am Thinking..."Ugh, my stomach..."
✖✖ I am Wearing...The school uniform; Black dress pants, white button down shirt, blue suit jacket, black tie, and black shoes.

Homeroom continued, a little dull, but informative. There wasn't really a need to take notes, but Eva ended up keeping her notebook out anyway. She could hear the whispers of Helene and Alyssa still arguing, but honestly, it was a forgone conclusion. Helene always had her way and didn't know the word 'no'. She'd pull every trick in the book if she had to, and judging by Alyssa's defeated expression, once again Helene had won. She gave Alyssa a sympathetic smile before returning to her own thoughts. Brushing some of her hair off her face and tucking it behind her ear, she felt the sensation of being watched again. When she looked, however, she was shocked to see Arthur was the one staring at her. Looking away as quickly as possible, she hoped he hadn't noticed. Daring herself to take a peek again revealed that he was still looking at her. What should she do? Stay the way she was? Ask him if something was wrong? Was there something on her face?

The bell rang, causing her to jump, and without thinking, she looked at him once more. He seemed to have snapped out of his own reverie, turning away immediately and packing his things. It took her a moment to realize class had ended, and she flipped her notebook shut, placing it into her bag before she stood up. A part of her wanted to ask him why he was looking, but Terrance soon joined him in his walk, and she lost her nerve. Moreso when he began to tease her, and she wasn't even able to stutter out a response, her face entirely red. Half the class?! That long? Really?

Helene hooked her arm with Eva's, lightly patting her arm comfortingly. Eva dared herself to look at Arthur again, though he was looking forward. She didn't get long to think on it, however, as Terrance would address her once more. Drink? Party? It was Terrance's party? She must have missed that when Helene first mentioned it. She wasn't quite sure what he meant by drinks though. She liked anything fizzy. "Thanks for the invite, I'm looking forward to it," Eva replied in turn, returning some of Terrance's friendliness. "And to drink? Um...something fruity, I guess?"

Helene couldn't hide her rather telling smile, nodding. "It's going to be great~" She agreed cheerfully, though she looked back. "Your boy Alexander never learns, does he?" She couldn't help but giggle, watching as Gigi gave Alexander a rather blank stare. "His tenacity sure is something, though."

Letting out a sigh, the dark haired girl raised a single eyebrow at Alexander, clearly unamused. Well, she normally looked like that, but boy was Alexander good at riling up a response from the girl. "I suppose," She murmured a rather dry response, looking straight ahead.

Eva felt a little bad for Alexander. Gigi wasn't exactly the easiest person to deal with, but Helene had a point: he never seemed to let that stop him before. Maybe she should take a page out of his book. But she didn't want to come off as annoying. She stared at the back of Arthur's head, though let out a yelp of surprise as Helene pulled her into a hug. "Look at the way you're staring! You're too cute, Eva! Careful, though, you're getting obvious!" She told her excitedly, much to Eva's embarassment. "We're going to have to pick out something really cute for Friday!"

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

 
Terrance looked over his shoulder in response to Helene and he sighed, exasperated. ”No offense to your friend… I don’t know why he chases her.” He tried to quickly recuperate from his statement. ”I mean. She is totally and absolutely uninterested in him! He tries so hard to impress her, and to no true avail. Which do you think will happen first? She’ll break and go out with him? Or she will snap and break his neck?” Terrance laughed jovially at the thought, though he was incredibly sure that Alexander would be the type of guy to some how come crawling back from death to pester her still, beyond the grave. Of the group, he was definitely the hopeless romantic among them, and somehow, he had fallen for Gigi. Maybe it was the same way that Eva liked Arthur, except Alexander was about a thousand times more obnoxious about his attraction and flirtation.

Arthur turned back around towards his group of friends, pulling out a copy of his schedule that was handed out in their homeroom period. ”If the bureaucrats can do anything right here… we probably don’t have any classes together." Terrance pulled out his copy to compare and simply shook his head. ”And I vaguely remember Terrance’s schedule… It looks like they tried really hard to keep us all separated. Damn I’m going to be bored.” Terrance sighed, rather annoyed. Arthur looked indifferent, but he agreed. The only interesting thing about his classes was interacting with his group and watching their shenanigans. How the hell did they make it to senior year? He wasn’t very sure. Maybe teachers were just passing them to get them out of their hair. ”Probably won’t see Jacob again until lunch… They may hold him for a while.” Arthur concluded. Of all of them, Jacob was probably been in actual trouble on campus the most of the 4. According to Jacob the principal kept a laundry list of every little outburst and fight Jacob had been a part of, and every time he came to the office, the Principal would recite it to him. Arthur guessed it was to try and make Jacob feel guilty for his actions? Either way, Jacob’s visits to the office progressively got longer and longer.

A few students wondered how he hadn’t been expelled yet, but his friends knew why. The principal was tied up in his own… outside affairs, that were connected to Jacob’s family. Expelling Jacob would be a slap on the wrist to the entire Patrone family. And the Principal knew a lot better than that, or he may go missing. No doubt by the assistance of the Myles family. Arthur grinned a little at the thought, and coming back to reality, he saw that he was once again staring at Eva. His stomach felt like it was placed in a pot of boiling water… or maybe it was doing somersaults. Either way, Arthur felt sick again, and quickly turned his attention towards Alexander. GAH! Why did that keep happening?

Alexander’s grin seemed significantly wider due to Gigi’s response and he clapped his hands together. ”Wonderful, min vackra blomma! I missed seeing you so much this summer. I went to Paris with my family, and it was simply stunning. Though its beauty pales in comparison to yours. The skyline was amazing too, at the top of the Eiffel tower. I felt like I was standing on the top of the world. I yelled with all my might and declared my love for you and I lost my voice for a few days. I w-“ Alright, this was really getting out of hand. Arthur walked over to Alexander and placed a stone cold hand on his shoulder, pulling Alexander away as he continued rambling on about his undying love or whatever to Gigi. Poor guy, the feelings would probably never be reciprocated. Arthur seemed to storm away, dragging Alexander with him and Terrance just laughed, rubbing his head. ”Oh jeez… sorry about him. He can really get out of hand and exaggerate too much… We will see you all at lunch, alright?’ Terrance winked to Helene and Eva and quickly took off after the retreating and reluctant Swedes.

The day seemed to drag on when the lunch bell finally went off. Arthur was exiting what was probably the only class he enjoyed at this school, Advanced Guitar Classes. Students could only be a part of it if they were enrolled and passed all the preceding guitar level classes. Arthur had been playing since he was 13, and sometimes it was a nice escape from the world, besides his own imagination some times. Yet something was still picking at his brain for the past few hours, and that was his stomach. He had felt pretty awful this morning, as if he was suffering from some intense sea sickness. But after homeroom the feeling seemed to clear up. It really striked him as odd as it was only really occurring around that odd group of girls. Were they making him sick? It really didn’t make sense- and it was bothering him a lot. Reaching the center fountain of the courtyard with Terrance, Alexander, and Jacob, Arthur was still lost in his thoughts.

None of them were being obnoxious. In fact, he appreciated the fact that they all seem very uninterested in bugging him. Terrance had been distracting Helene with charm, Gigi was being harassed too much by Alexander to really acknowledge Arthur, and even Alyssa seemed to use all of her strength and power to pretend that none of them existed. The long, blond-haired Eva however, obviously enjoyed Arthur’s company. But she wasn’t being a pain or annoying. In fact, she was just acting like a normal person. Yet there was something odd about her that Arthur couldn’t quite pinpoint it. But as soon as he looked at her, at her cute face, or bright sapphire eyes, he-

Oh god, there was that feeling again. His stomach was hurting, and he felt his head spinning. He hunched over holding his head tightly in his hands. ”Woah, Art! Are you okay?? You don’t look so good.” Arthur just shook his head. God, what was wrong with his stomach? Even his heart felt strange. Like it was beating sporadically off rhythm, and as if it were going to burst out of his chest. Oh god, had he been poisoned? The only thing he had eaten so far today was the toast at home, so it didn’t seem likely. But God! What was this. ”Maybe you should eat something?? Here, I brought my mother’s left-over dinner. It is hearty and should settle your stomach.” Arthur reluctantly ate some of the leftovers, and as soon as food hit his stomach it seemed to settle down and Arthur sighed loudly in relief. ”There you go! I swear, my mom’s food is a cure for everything.” Jacob simply watched Arthur with a raised eyebrow. It wasn’t until Arthur was ‘cured’ of his upset stomach that he realized the group of girls had already reached their bunch. Shit, had they seen him doubling over? And when Arthur’s eyes scanned the group and stopped on Eva. He stared for a few seconds, before the feeling returned, and he began shoveling the rest of Alexander’s food into his mouth to ease his stomach. ”Arth-! Ah man. You couldn’t leave any for me???” Arthur quickly reached in his bag and through his lunch towards Alexander. No way was it a fair trade, and Alexander became a little huffy.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ Translations: [1]My beautiful flower
✖✖ I Feel... Sick, upset stomach.
✖✖ I am At... School -> Fountain/Courtyard
✖✖ I am With... Jacob, Terrance, Alexander, Eva, Helene, Alyssa, and Gigi
✖✖ I am Thinking..."This food is pretty delicious."
✖✖ I am Wearing...The school uniform; Black dress pants, white button down shirt, blue suit jacket, black tie, and black shoes.

"Come on, stop scowling at me like that!"

Eva and Gigi ate mostly in silence, the pair watching Helene and Alyssa continue to bicker on between eating their own lunches. They hadn't stopped fighting all day from what Eva saw. If they weren't arguing in whispers during whatever classes they shared, they were texting one another constantly. She had to admit, it was somewhat jarring to see them fight all things considered. The topic, however, seemed to be the boys: Helene was obviously trying to get the two groups to mingle some more, and Alyssa didn't appreciate it. They, or more specifically, Jacob, was still a sore spot for the brunette. Eva did find Helene's insistence a little strange, but she secretly enjoyed it, so she wasn't sure whether or not to actually speak up about it. And of course, Gigi offered nothing, watching the two with mild amusement.

Classes had been--well, actually, Eva hadn't exactly been focused on any of them. It was the first day, so nothing was missed and she let her mind wander. Her time had been spent reflecting on her eventful morning, and she was actually delighted. She knew today would be a good day, she just didn't think things would happen to quickly, so it was taking a little getting used to. Now she could proudly say Arthur definitely knew who she was...except once in a while she caught him looking at her, and he looked slightly distressed about it. That was a slight blow to her confidence, but she tried to look at the positive side. He was looking at her, even if she caused him to react in a negative manner. Was it her face? She did gain a little weight over the summer, her fingers lightly poking her full cheeks as she thought about it.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Alyssa's rather loud cry, and Eva's eyes widened as she watched Helene pinching Alyssa's cheeks. The redhead avoided Alyssa's swipes, a mischievous smile on her face. "You know I'm right and you're just mad~" She said, wagging a finger at her.

Shoot, Eva had missed the whole conversation. She looked at Gigi, who had finished her lunch, but she was surprised that she was actually paying attention. "It's selfish to think she wouldn't have some sort of reaction," Gigi pointed out, earning her a sheepish expression from Helene. "And I understand your concern, but if that is her desire, it's just as selfish to try to stop her," She told Alyssa, who had nothing to respond with.

"So they're both wrong...?" Eva asked, watching Helene pull Alyssa into a bear hug and apologize.

Gigi stared at Eva for a moment. "You're more distracted than usual today," She commented. "You're usually the peacemaker."

"Ah...yeah...I'm sorry," Eva apologized.

"Love is quite the emotion, it befuddles the senses and causes most forms of thought to evaporate, rendering the mind useless," Gigi shrugged. "How dangerous..." Dangerous? What? Eva was entirely confused by the entirety of the other girl's words, but Gigi nodded. "I can't stop you, but I strongly advise you to be careful."

Her words were rather omnious all things considered. "What makes you say that?"

"A hunch," was Gigi's curt reply.

Was she concerned that she would end up like Alyssa? There was certainly a possibility. Eva watched Helene and Alyssa, who seemed to have made up, though her eyes eventually wandered once again to their inevitable stop: Arthur. Catching herself, she looked back at Gigi, who brought out one of her engine manuals and began to read, leaving Eva free to do as she liked. It wasn't like Gigi was wrong; Arthur could probably have his pick of any girl he wanted. But he didn't seem like the type to have a fling, and as far as she knew, he never dated anyone from their school. She had just as much a chance as any other girl, right?

Helene blocked her view, bringing Eva out of her thoughts once more. Gigi was right, she was more distracted than usual today. "Now that we are all on the same page--" Helene began.

"Some by force," Alyssa added quickly.

"--Still the same page! We need to make sure to get something that we will look fabulous in," Helene finished, elbowing Alyssa. "Eva, we're going to get you something short and tight!"

What?! "No way! I don't have your legs, I'd look like a potato!" Eva protested.

"I disagree, your legs are fine," Alyssa chided in. "It's about time you started showing off that body."

"It's two on one, you're not winning this one~" Helene giggled. "Short and tight it is!"

"B-But, it won't look right!" Eva whined. "Short and tight--What if I look like a hooker?"

"Then you'll be the most beautiful hooker in the world," Gigi said, giving her a thumbs up with the most serious expression she had ever seen.

"Y-You're supposed to be on my side...!"

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

 
Finishing off Alexander’s lunch, Arthur sighed gratefully and handed over the empty container to Alexander. Alexander snatched it back, rather grumpily and continued eating the plain sandwich that was traded to him unwillingly. ”You’re lucky I’m a lover and not a fighter, Arthur. My mom’s cooking is no joke.” Alexander huffed before going back to staring at Gigi from across the courtyard, not paying much attention to the other girls bickering. He just daydreamed about seeing Gigi dressed up. ”Don’t you think she would look stunning in a short skirt, and a tight top?” Alexander sighed, resting his face in his hands and just starring, mystified by the beauty. Terrance and Jacob both rolled their eyes, but Arthur followed his gaze. But rather than looking at Gigi his eyes rested on Eva. His stomach was no longer turning, as it seemed food allowed it to settle, but a tight feeling came across his chest. A short skirt? A tight top? It wasn’t normal for Arthur to really think of girls or women in that way.

But for some reason it was so easy for him to picture Eva in that way. Wearing a cute, short blue skirt, and a tight-fitting top. He hadn’t realized it before, but she was quite pretty. If that was the most appropriate term, Arthur wondered. In fact, she practically radiated around her friends. Her golden long locks, sweet smile, and bright blue eyes, Arthur found him self getting lost in imagination. It was almost as if everything else around him melted away and there was only him and Eva, across the courtyard. Hi, Arthur. How have your classes been? He could hear the sweetness of her voice playing through his head, and the corner of his lips became slightly up turned. ”Incoming transmission, Earth to Arthur. You are staring too long into the sun.” Smacked back to reality, Arthur saw Eva back in her normal uniform, and now looking like her friends were surrounding her, giving her some proposition that it seemed she couldn’t refuse. Damn, he had been caught staring again and he quickly sat up, crossing his arms. But when trying to divert his eyes away, they just remained locked on Eva.

”I’m not staring. I’m thinking” Arthur responded, but Terrance just laughed, once again, Jacob kept a close, keen eye on Arthur. ”And we now observe the stalking prowess of the great beast on his poor, unexpecting pray.” Arthur growled and pushed Terrance, almost knocking him back into the fountain. ”Knock it off, or I swear I’ll knock you out.” But his threats didn’t phase the friends, as they simply laughed at him in response.

”Did your parents not teach you to play nice with your friends, sueco?” A familiar voice called out, and all four of the Swedes came to attention, quickly turning around to the group of Spanish students standing near them. Terrance, Alexander, and Jacob each became as stone faced as Arthur, it was a major personality shift for them, from their normal laughing and playful nature. The four stood still as the Spanish boy, Ricardo Munez, standing up front stepped towards Arthur, an obnoxious and smug grin on his face. ”Suecoooo… It has been too long since I’ve seen you. Let’s catch up, why don’t we?” He put his arm around Arthur. Arthur’s friends were about to jump on the Spanish boy until his friends began reaching in their pockets. It was rather still stalemate. None of them wanted to cause a scene on campus, too many people within ear shot, and too many witnesses. Instead, the Spaniard walked off with Arthur, the two unusual groups of friends locked in a glaring match.

A little ways away, Ricardo spoke up. ”Ah, my man. There has been a tragedy in my family recently… I don’t know if you heard the news?’ He began, not looking directly at Arthur but just at his surroundings. ”An old family friend of ours… Well, he has unfortunately passed, ya’know? He wasn’t that old either, so we found it odd… But that was when we found out he was gone because a bullet got put through his skull.” Ricardo now made eye contact with Arthur. His bright playful eyes were now cold and serious, reflective of Arthur’s. Arthur kept his composure, knowing exactly what he was talking about. The hit over the summer Arthur had, for the money-laundering businessman, was money-laundering for the Munez family.

”That is a really sad story, Ricardo.” Was all Arthur responded. Ricardo obviously didn’t like this answer, but instead broke into a odd laughter. ”It really is, isn’t it? Especially for my family, it is really hard on us right now… You know, I would only hope that the same… unfortunate demise doesn’t fall on anyone close to you… It really breaks a man, ya’know?” Ricardo leaned in close on that last statement, before his bright green eyes darted to Arthur’s right. Arthur followed Ricardo’s eyes and saw that he was looking towards Eva. Now Arthur looked back at Ricardo, and there was a very quick, very slight look of panic in Arthur’s eyes before they went stern again. Why did Arthur feel a jolt of panic? He didn’t know Eva that well, it wasn’t like Ricardo was threatening someone he cared about, like his mother or little sister. So then why did it feel like his heart just plunged into the depths of the Earth? Ricardo’s grin was growing wider seeing Arthur’s response. Arthur crossed his arms, standing up straighter and looking away. ”Your little threat doesn’t phase me, Ricardo. You can take it and shove it right up your röv.” Arthur huffed.

Ricardo laughed jovially again, patting Arthur’s back as if they were close buddies. ”Oooh, Sueco… if that is how you truly feel, very well. I look forward to getting to know your little novia better.” With that, Ricardo called for his friends to rejoin them, and they moved far across campus. While walking away, Ricardo turned his attention back to Eva and gave her a large, warm smile, and a polite wave. Arthur’s face twisted with disgust and anger. As they left Arthur’s friends were slowly calming down before quickly approaching Arthur. ”What was that about, Arthur? What did Ric-do-do want?” Jacob was huffing, glaring at the back of their heads, as if it could cause them to drop dead. But Arthur didn’t respond. He was staring at Eva again, and that sinking feeling appeared in his gut again. Why was he getting this feeling of worry? He wasn’t worried about Eva’s safety. She was just a classmate, no one special… His worried face dissolved back to its serious demeanor and he answered his friends. ”He just wanted to start a fight. Wasn’t going to give him what he wanted…” Arthur’s arms stayed crossed tightly against his chest. ”But keep your guard up… He is wanting to stir up some trouble…”



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ Translations: [1]Swede
[2]Ass
[3]Girlfriend
✖✖ I Feel... Enraged.
✖✖ I am At... School -> Fountain/Courtyard
✖✖ I am With... Jacob, Terrance, and Alexander
✖✖ I am Thinking..."What a prick."
✖✖ I am Wearing...The school uniform; Black dress pants, white button down shirt, blue suit jacket, black tie, and black shoes.

Eva was fighting a losing battle with Helene and Alyssa ganging up on her. She should have been glad they weren't fighting anymore, but boy were they a force to be reckoned with when they teamed up. Of course, it was all in good fun, but she didn't understand the need to be so out there. She wasn't really comfortable with revealing outfits, if her freshman year taught her anything, it was best to stay as covered up as possible, or else you'd get uninvited attention. But her concerns fell on deaf ears, as Helene was set, even going through her phone trying to get some ideas. Nearly everything she suggested wanted to make Eva pull her hair out: low cut, super tight, sleek...none of that was to her taste at all! After pushing away Helene's phone, exasperated at her more recent suggestion, she noticed Gigi staring intently at something. The fact that Gigi had given her attention to anything was usually a surprise, and she she followed her line of sight to see a bunch of guys completely still, throwing looks at one another. Except, those guys included Terrance, Alexander, and Jacob. Were they going to fight? She suddenly noticed how quiet it was, realizing that both Helene and Alyssa were also watching the group. They weren't the only ones watching, though; a lot of people were getting somewhat antsy.

To Eva's surprise, Helene let out a huff, taking a few steps forward, as if to break it up. However, Gigi grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. "Nothing's going to happen," She said with an utmost certainty. "We don't need to get involved."

Helene scoffed, though she relented as Gigi released her. As much as Eva wanted to ask how she knew, she admitted that they looked really threatening. She looked around for Arthur, finding him with Ricardo Munez. She didn't know they knew one another, but the tension between them was so thick it was obvious to whoever looked their way.

"I'm pretty sure he's killed a guy," Helene said rather nonchalantly, having noticed Arthur and Ricardo as well.

"That's not very nice to say," Eva scolded her, frowning.

Helene could only shrug in response, clearly unhappy with whatever was going on. Eva wasn't sure she understood, but Helene wasn't offering any explanation, either. Was there something else Helene and Gigi knew that she didn't? Gigi herself was rather concentrated on Ricardo, her eyes narrowing as he looked their way. What was so bad about him? Granted, she didn't know him too well, only remembering that he was pretty popular himself. She got paired up with him once last year for a project, but their conversations were cordial. As Ricardo waved, Eva did as well, returning the gesture with a small smile. He walked off, and it was like deflating a balloon, a majority of the tension evaporating as he left.

"That's a really scary look..." Alyssa mumbled, physically shuddering.

"What look?" She asked, looking at Arthur, but apparently missing his previous expression, though she gave him a wave as well.

"Remind me to never piss Arthur off if I can help it. If looks could kill..."

"Then Jacob Petrone would've died this morning with the way you glared at him," Helene smirked, jabbing Alyssa.

Gigi let out an uncharacteristic huff, surprising the other three girls. "I don't like it," She muttered, actually sounding rather annoyed. "Why was he looking this way?"

It was probably meant to be a rhetorical question, but Alyssa decided to answer anyway. "You've got a bunch of cute girls hanging out, why wouldn't he look over here?" She joked.

Helene shrugged, patting Gigi's shoulder. "It's fine. back to the topic at hand!" She decided to change the subject, winking at Eva, who let out a groan. "You really should be taking my advice! Sex appeal is like, sixty percent of a girl's appearance!"

As much as Eva wanted to ask what was going on with Ricardo, she figured it was best to handle one problem at a time. Mainly that she wasn't going to the party wearing a bunch of squares stitched together showing way too much advertised as a dress. "It's not that I don't believe you, I just...don't think it's a good way to get his attention," Eva said, frowning. "He's not really like other guys, he's more mature, and cool...Like, he doesn't even act his age."

"All that is irrelevant," Alyssa informed her. "He may have the emotional range of a teaspoon, but he's still a guy."

"Thank you! That's what i'm saying!" Helene grinned, flipping her hair off her shoulders. "And what do guys want?"

Eva wasn't really sure where this was going, shaking her head in confusion. "Um...they want girls, don't they?" She asked.

"You sweet, summer child," Alyssa patted Eva's head comfortingly. "They want girls for physical relations, if you know what I mean."

She did not know what Alyssa meant as her blank expression would tell. "She means sex," Gigi stated rather bluntly.

"WHAT?!" Eva's outburst was a lot louder than intended, but the shock of stating the (obvious) intention of men was too much for her. Sex?! She hadn't even thought that far ahead! Is it still wrong to have it before you get married? Well, things have changed, so it wasn't so bad if it was with a boyfriend or girlfriend. But her and Arthur? Doing that? Was that even possible--of course it was possible but she couldn't even look at him without getting nervous. And to even do that they'd have to get naked! She had never seen a naked guy before! What would she do? Not look? Was it impolite not to look? The more she thought about it, the more she felt that as embarrassing and confusing as it was, maybe it wouldn't be so bad with Arthur. He was a little aloof, but he could be caring, like when he spoke to her earlier today. A passionate kiss as he laid her down on the bed, using their hands to undress one another, and then--Whoa, she needed to stop that thought right there, her imagination was getting the better of her. Shaking her head wildly, she couldn't quite get rid of her pink cheeks, though she tried to compose herself as she spoke again. "It's just--I haven't so much as gotten his attention, how...why would I...?" She blubbered, her words jumbling in her throat.

Helene chuckled, clearly enjoying Eva's reaction. "Wow, you must have ran all the way with that thought, hmm? Lucky Arthur," She commented cheerfully. "Listen, Eve, I'm not saying to go on and serve yourself on a platter for him to go and eat you up. What I'm saying is, dressing just a little sexier than usual is a good way to get his attention, you know?"

Oh! Sighing in relief, she was much more comfortable with that idea. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Helene did have a point. If it was only today, the first day of their senior year and a good year after she first got her crush on Arthur, that she finally managed to introduce herself, maybe she could use the help. Nodding to Helene, she raised both her arms in defeat. "Okay, you're right. I leave myself in your capable hands."

"Of course! Now, how do you feel about a top and a skirt?"

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

 
It took a little while for Arthur and his group of friends to start calming down after the encounter. Any time Munez or one of his gang ended up in the same room as the rest of them, things always grew tense. It was a natural power struggle between them, and one that the Munez family had been losing for a while now, probably long enough in their eyes. Of the four, Jacob was probably the most worried about the Munez family. They were the main competition for control over their city, and the Swedes knew that just about nothing was off limits, which is why Ricardo insinuate towards Eva. But Arthur still couldn’t quite pinpoint why Ricardo would point them out. Arthur barely knew that she existed prior to this morning and classes today. Arthur just kept shaking his head and sighing, rubbing his temple. Today just didn’t seem like it was his day. ”Well, while we start cooling down, lets talk about plans for Friday.” Terrance spoke up, resettling back in his position by the fountain. Jacob and Alexander sat, relatively at attention. Alexander jokingly pulled out his notebook and a pen, rapidly clicking it. ”Okay, I’m ready to take notes. Fire away!” Arthur scoffed, shaking his head.

”First, list of things to do: Alexander- get the alcohol. We all know your older brother will hook us up well.” Alexander grinned widely and nodded, quickly jotting it down. ”We need handles of vodka, jack, tequila. Some mixers. Your lilla älskling said she likes fruity drinks. So I’m thinking we get her some malibu and orange juice. Perfect for someone who has never really had alcohol before. It is so sweet you don’t taste it, and don’t realize how much you have.” Alexander was writing hastily on his notebook, and Arthur shot a small glare towards Alexander. ”Don’t call her that... and you shouldn’t be trying to get her so drunk. She is a small girl, she could get sick.” Jacob, Terrance, and Alexander all stopped in silence and staired at Arthur. ”That is a pretty defensive thing to say, Arthur.” Before He could protest, Terrance chimed in. ”Yeah, and we aren’t the ones trying to get her drunk. That is your job. I know for certain she has never come to our parties. Which means she has never really lived. Arthur, min vän, it is up to you to help her learn what it is like to have fun.. Maybe you could learn a thing or two as well.” Terrance snickered and Arthur scoffed looking over towards Eva.

They didn’t need to be drunk to have fun… Or at least, Eva didn’t. Arthur had been known to let down his guard some when he was intoxicated. It was natural. The calming buzz of alcohol almost brought him into a calm zen. But he wasn’t about to force someone to drink to “have fun”. He had seen too many girls try to impress him, by matching him in drinks. And every single one of them ended up hunched over a toilet, with their hair pulled back in a ponytail. Alcohol was dangerous for a lightweight, and Arthur was sure that Eva was no exception to this. Maybe it would be fun to see her a little tipsy, but he wouldn’t push her past her limit. He could see Eva having a deep red, drunken blush across her face, red solo cup in hand, and smiling brightly at Arthur. It would be fun to see how she acted when intoxicated, much as his own personality changed under the influence. His mind wondered back to the shape of her body. It was hard to perfectly tell where all the curves were on her, as the school uniforms were meant to not be super revealing for girls. So his imagination just drove wild for a second. Starting at her nimble fingers, through her bare hands, up her arms to her shoulder blades, around to the nape of her neck and slowly down her back, and around to her front-

”WHAT?” the yell echoed through Arthur’s ears and quickly brought himself back to reality before he thought any further on it. Arthur could feel his heart jumping sporadically in his chest, and felt it grow tight with anxiety. ”Then let’s review. Alexander handles the drinks, I’ll handle setting up my house and making it party proof. Jacob will be the hookup for anyone who wants a smoke.” Jacob scratched his cheek, nodding. ”I’m only bringing hash… We don’t need a huge group of kids doing anything harder than that… and anyone who I have seen show signs of paranoia are not allowed to smoke at all. That includes you, Alex.” Alex grinned sheepishly and shrugged. ”And Arthur will be our bouncer of unruly guests.” Arthur stood up quickly, not really acknowledging much of what his friends said and just nodded.

”I think I am going to go home early, I have been feeling sick all day.” Terrance and Jacob both looked alarmed at Arthur, and Arthur just began walking out towards the parking lot.

”What the hell?? Arthur! It is the middle of the day, you can’t just- Dude you’re our ride! Oh, vad fan!” Arthur didn’t heed his friends as he made his way towards the front gates of campus, and straight to the student parking lot. Getting in his car, Arthur sat there for a while, and rested his head on the steering wheel. Today was barely halfway over, and Arthur felt like he has gone through a rollercoaster of emotions. It wasn’t something he was used to, and as hard as he was trying to repress everything, something just kept eating him alive from the inside out. He couldn’t handle it anymore, and decided to drive home, shooting a text to his friends. I will get you after classes. With that, Arthur drove away.

The three leftover Swedes sighed upon receiving the text message. ”I’ve never seen Arthur act like this before… do you know if he has a stressful or high status mission soon? It just seemed like he had a lot on his mind today.” Jacob shook his head in response, looking over at the group of girls across the way, specifically Eva. ”He has a lot on his mind… but it isn’t a mission.” Jacob knew exactly how Arthur was feeling, because it was the exact same way he had been feeling all day. His eyes slowly wandering to Alyssa, it was excruciatingly painful, and even more painful when she refused to look at him. But it was better that way, Jacob supposed. Rather than dragging her into his mess of a life.

Terrance pulled out his phone and shot a message to Helene. Don’t know what’s up with Art. Acting weird. Party is still on- lots to plan involving our two love birds. Tell me your plans, skön. That is beautiful, in case you didn’t know. 😉 Terrance put his phone down and looked up in the sky. God was he excited for Friday.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ Translations: [1]Little Darling
[2]My friend
[3]What the fuck
[4]Beautiful
✖✖ I Feel... Sick.
✖✖ I am At... Home
✖✖ I am With... Me, Myself, and I
✖✖ I am Thinking..."...What is wrong with me?"
✖✖ I am Wearing...The school uniform; Black dress pants, white button down shirt, blue suit jacket, black tie, and black shoes.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, all things considered. More introductory lessons, a few assignments, and a couple of new faces to interact with. At first Eva thought her luck had run out, as she didn't get a chance to see Arthur again, but she could have sworn she could have seen him after class with the rest of his crew. Not that she had a chance to interact with him, as she was distracted by the fact that she still had to reschedule her appointment. A lot of the excitement was replaced with dread as she sat in Helene's car, her stomach twisting once she had arrived home. After bidding the girls goodbye, she walked up to her front door, noticing the sleek, black car parked in her driveway. It looked like she was home. Standing still for a moment, Eva examined the door to her house, and it took her a while to bring herself to open it.

Stepping in, Eva gently took off her shoes at the door, leaving them behind as she stepped into the living room. Marshall was watching something on television, slightly dozing off, and next to him sat a stern looking woman. Her short brown hair was cut just above her chin, her blue eyes hidden behind glasses scanning the laptop in front of her. She was still in her suit, though her jacket was placed neatly over the armchair nearby. As Eva walked in, Marshall perked up, nudging the woman. She stopped what she was doing for a moment, taking off her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose. Wow, she actually stopped working. Eva couldn't quite hold back her bitterness, though she reminded herself to stay civil. Until she turned eighteen, she still had to ask for permission, and so long as she kept her head low, she'd likely get what she wanted. If it were just Marshall, it would've been a million times easier, but if she wanted to go to the party, she'd just have to deal with it.

"Hi Marshall," Eva greeted her stepfather first, her tone somewhat quieting down as she went to address the woman. "Hi Mom. I'm home."

"Welcome home," Evelyn returned the greeting, noticing Eva still standing there rather than continue on to her room as usual. "What is it that you want?"

Marshall let out a nervous laugh. "Evelyn, what's with that tone?" He asked, watching Eva's expression turn cold.

"I know my daughter. She wants something," Evelyn waved his concern away. "Out with it, Evangeline. What is it?"

Eva wasn't surprised. Her mother always did describe her as an open book. She reminded herself to stay calm once more before deciding to get straight to the point. "I was wondering if I could reschedule the visit to Dr. Galen this Friday," She said.

Evelyn's eyes narrowed slightly, though she didn't skip a beat as she asked, "For? Do you have any extracurricular activities? I'm positive missing one wouldn't affect them. If you need a note for an excused absence, I'll call the school office before I go to work."

She could feel her heart pounding already. So long as she stayed the course, she should be fine. "It's not for school. I was invited to go somewhere with my friends," Eva admitted.

Her mother shook her head. "This follow-up is important. You can get together with your friends any day," She replied.

Preparing herself for the worst, Eva pressed on. "I know. I don't want to cancel it, I just want to reschedule."

To no one's surprise, Evelyn's face hardened considerably. Great. "You're assuming Dr. Galen will even have any openings," Evelyn wasn't budging on her point. "He's renowned around this area, anyone with any sense would go to him, it could be weeks before he gets an opening. And if you get worse before then? Then what?"

"I'm sure he can fit me in somewhere," Eva insisted.

"And if he doesn't and something happens, you'll spend weeks in a hospital. Again."

"That was a long time ago, and I feel fine. If that changes--"

"If it changes? When it changes, Evangeline. I'm not discussing this with you any longer."

It was getting harder to stay calm at this point, and the only thing Eva could think of was Arthur. He'd probably handle this a lot better than she did. But Eva wasn't a calm and collected stoic, she was an overly emotional person, and it was taking everything she had not to start yelling. The last thing she wanted was to end up grounded. "Please Mom, reconsider," Eva pleaded with her, coming clean. "I got invited to a party and I really want to go. All my friends are going to be there."

Evelyn was in disbelief. "You want to skip an appointment for a party?"

That probably made it worse. At this point, however, Marshall granted her mercy, looking at her mother. "She finally got an invitation to go somewhere, they don't know about her medical history and she wants to go have fun. Right, Eve?" He asked her, to which Eva nodded. "I'll call Dr. Galen tomorrow and ask if he has any cancellations so we can go before Friday."

"Marshall," Evelyn turned her attention to him. "Are you serious?"

"The school year's just getting started so there's no homework, if Dr. Galen squeezes us in she'll have that taken care of, and then she won't have to sit in class Monday morning hearing about the raging party she missed," Marshall cheerfully pointed out. "You know how it is, it's senior year."

Eva gave him a grateful look, though it turned meek as her mother glared at her. The seconds for Evelyn to make her decision seemed to stretch on for an eternity, until finally, she conceded. "Fine. You can go," She muttered, putting her glasses back on.

There was no hiding the giant grin she had on her face at that point. "Thank you!" She told them both, practically skipping up the stairs. As she reached her bedroom, however, she heard footsteps following suit. Of course she wasn't going to get off that easily. Deciding that it was better for Marshall not to hear, she entered her room, not bothering to close the door behind her. Sure enough, Evelyn walked in not a second later, laptop in hand. "What is it?" She asked, her tone somewhat dull as she braced herself.

Evelyn shook her head at her, seemingly disappointed. "If Dr. Galen doesn't have an opening before Friday, you're not going, and I'm not going to change my mind," She stated rather sternly, clearly leaving no room for argument. "Don't think Marshall will change my mind, either."

There was a part of her that knew she was trying to bait her, but Eva instead nodded. "Okay," She said, unbuttoning her jacket. "Is that it?" When there was no response, Eva took off her jacket and looked at her mother, who seemed like she wanted to say something. A quiet Evelyn wasn't usually a good sign, but it looked like she didn't want to argue. That was a first. Instead, Evelyn simply nodded, turning around and exiting her bedroom. Letting out a sigh of relief, Eva looked at herself in the mirror. Maybe she should have been a little more understanding, but the way her mother talked was infuriating. Sure, she had gotten sick a lot as a kid, but it had been a long time since anything happened. Even these follow ups were just that: follow ups. There was nothing to worry about.

Well, there was one thing for Eva to worry about, but that tall, blonde Swede had nothing to do with her health. Unless she had a heart attack on Friday from trying to talk to him.



Luckily for Eva, an opening for Thursday proved her mother had nothing to worry about. With that aside, it was back to the usual routine, and the rest of the week went off without a hitch. Well, that wasn't entirely true. While things seemed like they were back to normal, she couldn't help but wonder where Arthur had gone. It wasn't that strange to see him gone, as she recalled him often taking off for family matters every once in a while. She wasn't sure if she should ask about it, especially since no one else seemed to comment on it. The rest of his friends carried on like nothing was wrong, either, and she didn't have the courage to ask them if he was okay. Okay? Did she think he was sick? Then again, he did have that odd occurrence during lunch, so maybe it was food poisoning?

Of course, she had her own issues to deal with, but she couldn't stop thinking about him, especially when Thursday arrived. Her follow up was, as expected, perfectly fine, and she spent the rest of the night in a conference call deciding what shops they should hit. It was stereotypical, but there was just something about shopping that was therapeutic to her. Her mom even surprised her and gave her some extra money to get what she wanted, so right after school, the girls hit the road, and before she knew it, they were walking into one of Helene's recommendations, a little shop called 'Extravagance'.

"Mon amour!" Helene called out to a blonde man, waving excitedly. "Je suis la pour nettoyer le magasin!"

"Ah! Ma magnifique etoile! It has been some time, I got worried you forgot all about me!" He returned her enthusiasm, his name tag revealing his name was Bijou. "Have a look, take what you please, just ring when you need me~" He winked at the girls as he walked to the backroom.

Helene nodded, and then turned to her friends. "It looks a little fancy, but it's right in your price range. I'll make sure to help Eva. Remember, we're going for as much exposure as possible," She told them, smiling as she pulled Eva along to one of the racks. To her surprise, Helene wasn't pulling clothing after clothing, choosing things very carefully and rummaging extensively. The one thing Eva did take note of was that everything was blue. A blue dress, a blue shirt, a blue skirt--a variety of darker shades, though everything in Eva's arms was blue. It was a little weird, considering the last time they went shopping together Helene ended up dragging the entire rack into the dressing room. Helene hummed to herself, not having much to say besides asking for Eva's size and making a few comments on the materials.

"Everything okay?" Eva asked her as Helen placed another dress on the pile.

"I'm hanging out with my friends doing my favorite pastime," Helene replied cheerfully, leading her to the dressing room.

"You're a little quiet today."

"Am I?"

"Yeah," The pair went into one of the large dressing rooms, Eva placing the clothes on the hangers to make going through them easier. As she took off her jacket, she looked at Helene, who was checking her phone. Maybe it was Terrance? The thought made her miss seeing Arthur. Now that she thought about it, though, she really only wanted to go because he would be there. "Do you think Arthur will show up?" She asked, loosening her tie and unbuttoning her white shirt.

"To the party?" Helene asked. "I don't see why not. I haven't heard otherwise."

Yeah, she was definitely keeping in touch with Terrance. "How do you know?" She asked as she pulled on one of the shirts Helene chose, though she wasn't really a fan of how glittery it was.

"Terrance hasn't said otherwise," Helene replied, taking a seat as she shook her head at Eva. "Hmm, that looked better on the rack, how the hell anyone is supposed to pull that off is beyond me. Next!"

Aha! "I think he likes you," Eva teased as she tried on the next dress.

Helene only smiled in response. When Eva looked at her, she shrugged. "Maybe."

"And you like him?"

"Maybe."

She was definitely acting weird, but Eva wasn't sure how to approach it. There was a part of her that wanted to pursue it, but she didn't want to upset Helene. Still, if something was bothering her, Eva wanted to know so she could try to help. As she pulled on the next garment, she decided to voice her thoughts. "I think you guys would look good together," She admitted. "Are you planning to make a move?"

That seemed to get a reaction out of the redhead. "Not the kind of move you're thinking," Helene winked, leaning back in her seat. "Guys like him are just looking for a good time. And I'm the same way."

A good time? "Like...a fling?" Eva asked, her voice hushed. She was a little surprised to hear that. Sure, she knew Helene was flirty, but she always emphasized how and where she drew the line.

"It's best not to get attached. But by the end of the night, I expect you to have put the moves on Arthur, you hear me?" Helene perked up considerably, once again changing the subject as she hopped to her feet. Going through the selections she made, she pulled out something that Eva immediately knew was trouble. "Try this one."

Eva's eyes widened. "That's--"

"Sexy is the way to go! Your body is way too hot to be hidden under something frumpy!" She declared. At Eva's hesitation, Helene narrowed her eyes. "Eva, either you put it on or I'm going to dress you myself. Your choice."

"What? That's harassment--AHHHHHH!" Eva's sentence was cut off when Helene tackled her, the pair struggling somewhat comically against one another. Of course, Helene had her way, and soon Eva was standing in front of the mirror, desperately trying to tug the skirt down somewhat. Honestly, it wasn't as risqué as the other options Helene had. No cleavage, the outfit relying on her curves to do the showing off, although she didn't really like her midriff getting shown off so much. But boy, the skirt was shorter than anything else she had in her closet. How was she supposed to sit? Rubbing her hips, she frowned at the mirror as she examined her body. She really did put on some weight over the summer.

As if reading her mind, Helene chimed in, "You gained it in all the right places," She assured her, resting her chin on Eva's shoulder. "It's okay, guys don't really like sticks, they like a little meat on those bones."

Most guys would, but would Arthur like it? A knock on the door caught their attention. "We're all set over here," Gigi's voice told them and they could hear her walk away immediately afterwards.

"Let's get going, we still need to get ready before we head out," Helene said. "I'm thinking either pumps or short boots, something comfortable but simple. We can dress it up with accessories. A little light makeup, and voila! You'll be gorgeous!"

Eva agreed, though as she changed back into her uniform, she noticed Helene on her phone again. That was when she felt like she should go back to the topic of Terrance. "I think you should give it a chance." She told Helene as they walked out of the changing room.

"Give what a chance?" She asked as the cashier rang up her outfit.

Making sure Alyssa wasn't in listening distance, she said, "You and Terrance."

"Arthur wouldn't be happy if he knew you were talking about Terrance so much." Helene was pushing back in her own way, not outright saying it, but basically implying that she no longer wanted to talk about it. "Watch, he won't be able to keep his eyes off you once you get the Helene Etoile Makeover!"

Opening her mouth to protest, something else distracted her for a second. "Etoile? I thought your last name was Jameson?"

"It is, Etoile is my middle name, silly," She grinned. "Alrighty, onto shoes!"

_{[1]My love! I am here to clean out the store! [2]My gorgeous star!}

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

 
Back in the sanctitude of his own home, retreating into his room. He threw off his uniform and just wore a pair of athletic shorts before walking across his neat. Room. Arthur always tried to keep an organized room, too much of a mess tended to stress him out. Just as leaving a mess at any of his hits would be a cause for major stress on the Myles family. Every mission had to be carried out with a gentle touch. Arthur walked to a corner of his room where a punching bag hung from the ceiling, and he began punching it rhythmically. Working out like this was a great stress reliever for Arthur, and it allowed him to concentrate on his thoughts. After leaving campus, his stomach and head began to feel better, and as he concentrated on each blow to the thick bag, it brought him more and more to ease.

But as he kept punching, he began to imagine Ricardo’s face, and began hitting it faster and with greater force. God, he really hated that tool. If Arthur could, he would get rid of their entire family. What a break out of pure war that would be, the Myles family versus the Munez family. It would be an unknown war that would go down in criminal infamy. Though he also wouldn’t be surprised if the other families started to get involved too, especially the Patrones. Thinking of Ricardo made the earlier encounter between the two of them pop into his head, and instantly he thought of Eva again and he stopped punching, breathing heavily and quickly to catch his breath. His intestines were beginning to knot together as she entered his brain again, and he banged his forehead onto his punching bag. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was his body alarming him like this? He wanted to put a bullet through his head to stop the feeling. But of course, this was way to drastic of a measure.

Arthur turned to his bed and flopped down on the sheets, watching the ceiling fan spinning above his head. What was everyone seeing and understanding that he didn’t? Why was the first week of classes so much more stressful than the entirety of his life. Why was Eva causing such an outburst of emotions that he hadn’t had since he was a kid, and began training emotional repression? He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands, but all he could see in the darkness was Eva’s bright eyes and beautiful smile. His eyes shot opened and he grunted, hopping back to his feet, and continuing to punch at his punching bag to clear his thoughts.

The rest of the week had past, and Arthur spent everyday doing the same thing. Staying home, having a few meals and snacks, and punching his punching bag. Every night he had a dream of Eva. Ranging from seeing her walking around school campus, to walking around the local mall, to, more explicit dreams. Those dreams though, they really seemed to get to Arthur the most, as he would just stay in bed, groaning from stomach pains. Up until Wednesday, his head was still spinning, and his stomach was doing backflips. Thursday though, the feelings significantly lessened, and by Friday morning he was no longer having his dreams, nor were thoughts of Eva penetrating his head. He began to focus more on planning future missions and referring to journals his father kept over the years of his own missions for references. Each day, Jacob would come by and drop off any important documents for Jacob. On Friday, after class, Jacob visited again as normal, finding Arthur sitting at his desk and reading from his father’s journal, spinning a pen between his fingers.

”Arthur, you can’t just skip senior year. They aren’t afraid to fail you.” Jacob said, placing a few papers beside Arthur. There weren’t any major assignments, but there were a few worksheets that he had to start filling out. ”The first week is nothing, we all know that. I’ve just needed some space.”

Jacob raised his eyebrow in response to this, ”Space from what, Arthur?” Arthur just shrugged and continued on with his work. He hadn’t thought about Eva all day, as any thoughts of her were suppressed deep into the back of his head. He no longer felt sick and he no longer felt like he was going to throw up. It was a good thing he took a mental break like this. ”Just from everything… Need to focus on missions.” Jacob sighed and just shook his head.

”Well, don’t forget to meet up at Terrance’s in a few hours.” Arthur just nodded and waved off his friends. It was pretty obvious that any anxiety he had for the party was also gone. The hours progressed, and when Arthur was satisfied with his work, he put away his father’s journals and grabbed a deep blue hoodie to wear. ”Going to Terrance’s tonight. Don’t wait up for me.” Arthur called out to his mom, jumped in his Volvo, and within a few minutes was standing in Terrance’s kitchen.

Arthur observed as Terrance was running around, setting up food, drinks, and even started some music. ”Alcohol, check.” Alexander physically checked off his notebook that he had made earlier that week. ”Party set up.” He watched as Terrance set his playlist of party music to cycle through the entire night. ”Check. Alternative medicine?” Alexander’s eyes swiveled towards Jacob, who sat at the dinning room table, having just finished grinding up weed and rolling them into thick joints and blunts. ”Check, and finally. Our body guard, Check! Seems we are all ready for the night. One shot for a fun night, one shot for a sickless morning, and one for getting laid!” Alexander stood up and began to poor out three shots for each of his friends, in representation for the three listed attributes. Resulting in 12 total shot of vodka. Arthur shook his head at his friend’s lousy “toasts”, but it was traditional for them, so Arthur went along with it. Usually only the first two toasts ever came true for him. Not that he ever cared that the third one was unfulfilled. Honestly, he just enjoyed getting drunk with his friends. One by one the 4 swedes threw back their traditional shots.

Just a few hours from then, and the sun had set, the moon had risen, and the house was alive with almost the entire school population. Drinks were flowing, joints were being passed, and make out/hook up sessions ensued. Arthur patrolled the scene, bouncing from room to room to make sure everyone was behaving themselves. Jacob and anyone looking for a smoke were huddled around a small bonfire in the backyard. Alexander was bartending in the kitchen, making any and all requested drinks, and serving any beers to those who needed it. And Terrance was staying close to the entry way, being sure to greet everyone who came, and get them excited, and direct them towards the kitchen to get started on drinks. Arthur made his patrol to the front door, his 3rd drink for the night in his hand. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Arthur was pretty drunk. There was a slight pink blush that painted his face, and even his angry demeanor was replaced with a calm look. He seemed significantly more relaxed. Arthur raised an eyebrow at a bowl that seemed to be chilling on a counter near the entrance. Upon closer inspection, Arthur found that it was half full with condoms, and he just shook his head. ”I see you hit the gold mine, Arthur! Go ahead and take one. Never know if you may need it tonight.” Before Arthur could protest, Terrance grabbed one and slipped it into Arthur’s pocket. Terrance pulled out his phone again, checking to see that some time had passed since his last messaged from Helene, telling him that they were on the way to the party.

A wide, plotting grin was spreading across Terrance’s face, and Arthur watched his friend carefully, sipping on his drink. ”Terrance… what are you plotting? Arthur pulled the drink to his mouth again, taking a long sip.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ Translations:.
✖✖ I Feel... Very Drunk
✖✖ I am At... Terrance's Party
✖✖ I am With... Terrance and a bunch of classmates
✖✖ I am Thinking..."I need another drink soon."
✖✖ I am Wearing...Blue jacket, black jeans, and a white button down shirt.

Closing the door to Helene's car, Eva had to admit she was impressed by the sheer number of cars lined up around them. Watching Helene take one last look at her compact, Eva followed suit as the girls walked together to the entrance to Terrance's house. It was a lot bigger than what Eva had expected, though at the moment they seemed to be the only ones headed in. 'Fashionably late', as Helene had called it, though truthfully it had taken some time for them to get ready. Eva's nerves had gotten the best of her, and after arguing, fake crying, and outright trying to run away, Alyssa had to calm her down before she could get ready. She (wrongly) assumed they would just get dressed and go, but nope, the Helene Etoile makeover included hair and makeup, and for the first time in a long time, Eva wished her hair wasn't so long. But eventually, their combined efforts paid off, and after what seemed like forever, they had finally got on their way. Surprisingly, Helene hadn't spent too much time on herself, but Eva guessed that her stuff had already been prepared beforehand. Helene's own little black dress showed quite a bit of cleavage, topped with a very daring red lipstick. Alyssa's red dress was a little more decorated, sleeveless and on the sparklier side, and Gigi...Actually, they had to wait for Gigi, because when they first arrived at her home, she was once again covered in dirt, apparently having lost track of time, but she didn't take terribly wrong, choosing a dark green romper and ignoring Helene's insistence on adding some more glam to her look.

Honestly, the closer they got, the more nervous Eva got. Second thoughts kept popping into her head, one crazy theory that this was actually a trick of Helene's showed up. Not getting the chance to see Arthur also got to her. What if he forgot about her? Would she just play it off? Get mad? Remind him? The thought of him forgetting about her was depressing, and she found herself biting down on her lower lip, her pace slowing somewhat as she brought her nails to her lips. Ah, anxiety, she did not miss that feeling, but it gripped her mind and squeezed it so tight she thought she was going to have a panic attack. Luckily for her, Helene had noticed, though her approach was a little harsher than intended. The older girl slapped Eva's hand that had been on her mouth, scolding her with, "If you keep biting your lip, you're going to smudge it!" Exasperated, she pulled out a clear, shimmery lip gloss and handed it to her. "Relax, we're here to have fun!"

"And my definition of fun is getting plastered to the point that I forget where I am," Alyssa told them, crossing her arms. "I really don't know how you keep dragging me to these parties."

"The best things in life are free," Gigi commented, much to Helene's delight, though she caught Alyssa's glare. "Free drinks, free food...and probably free smokes, if that's your thing."

"Just remember the three rules of partying: keep an eye on your drink, keep all valuables in your front pockets, and if you're getting lucky, use protection," Helene reminded them, much to Alyssa's chagrin. "Maybe you and Jacob can make up, hmm? I hear it gets real good after a fight~"

It? Smokes? Like cigarettes? She wrinkled her nose slightly, not a fan of smoking herself. Alyssa grinned at the girl's ignorance, and then it turned into a grimace as Helene opened the door to Terrance's house. As the door opened, Eva nearly jumped back from how loud the music was. Taking her hand, Helene led Eva in, and just seeing how loud the people were made her nervous again. She clung to Helene somewhat comically, letting her lead the way. Coming to a halt, her heart skipping a beat as she noticed Arthur first and her nerves seemed to melt away to give room for excitement. Of course, rather than step forward confidently, she couldn't help but hide behind Helene, suddenly feeling very exposed. This was a bad idea, what was she thinking?! Was her face red? Did he see her? Shoot, she thought after their first day she'd get used to him but for her it was like losing all progress.

"Hello~" Helene greeted both Terrance and Arthur as she pulled Eva along. Sensing Eva getting cold feet, she pulled her to her side, hugging her around her waist. Oh yeah, he definitely saw her now whether Eva wanted it or not. "Hope you didn't miss us too much, Arthur~"

ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴ'Ｓ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe тнe вαd мαɴ
тσ вє тнє ѕα∂ мαη

ＡＮＤ ＮＯ ＯＮＥ ＫＮＯＷＳ ＷＨＡＴ ＩＴＳ ＬＩＫＥ．．．

тo вe нαтed
тσ вє ƒαтє∂

 
The door flew open, and in front of Arthur and Terrance stood the infamous group of girls from earlier that week. He recognized them all instantly, Helene leading the way with Gigi and Alyssa around them. The three of them weren’t unfamiliar with Terrance’s crazy parties and were pretty common guests they saw frequently. There was a weird, foreboding feeling rising in Arthur. Why did seeing these three bring on a kind of anxiety? ”Welcome, ladies! Glad to see familiar faces… and one not so familiar! This is your first party with us, isn’t it, Eva?” Terrance spoke up, a huge grin on his face and greeting the group. Arthur’s heart stopped in his chest, and out from behind Helene, little Evan was pulled around and standing hip to hip with Helene. Everything around Arthur stopped. It was as if the Earth froze and everything melted away. The noise of the party was gone, and everyone else disappeared. All there was, was him and Eva. And dear God, did she look stunning.

She was more beautiful than Arthur could remember, and more so. He had never seen such a tight outfit flatter every curve on a girl’s body so perfectly as it did hers. He also got a good view of her natural figure, and his heart pounded so hard it felt like it was going to explode. And her face, she was wearing make up? She didn’t need it. Sure her lips looked more bright, and her eyes popped with a bit of mascara. Her face was looked so soft and sweet, he just wanted to cup both of her cheeks in his hands. In reality, Arthur just stood in the hallway, frozen like a stone statue and eyes locked on Eva, looking at every bit of her. It was a good thing that he had just finished his drink, because the red solo cup fell out of his hand, bounced on the floor a bit, and rolled away from the situation at hand. Arthur was so locked in his own world, his hand remained in the air, his hand looking as if it were still holding an empty cup. Then it finally hit him- summersaults, explosions, twisting, turning, the tightness in his chest, and the sporadic heart beats. All the thoughts he had, the dreams, it all hit him like a tsunami wave. And it hit him- just as Jacob began to walk inside from the bonfire for a new drink.

He was going to puke. Arthur turned on his heel and shot up the stairs, ran down the hall, and slammed the bathroom door shut. From across the room, Jacob and Terrance locked eyes, and as if transmitting data to one another, they both launch themselves towards the stairs. ”OH MY GOD! HE’S GONNA BE SICK! I HAVE TO GET A PICTURE! OH MY GOD!” Terrance was frantically trying to find the camera app on his phone, while also wrestling with Jacob to get up the stairs. ”
Du röv! Gör inte det för honom!” The two wrestled at the foot of the stairs for a second, and Jacob took the lead up the stairs, getting into the bathroom before Terrance and locking him out. Terrance banged on the door once. ”NOT FAIR! This is MY house!” Terrance huffed outside the door.

In the bathroom the sound of the party was greatly muffled, and Arthur was sitting on the floor, head placed on the wall. It felt like everything around him was spinning and it wouldn’t stop. He wasn’t going to puke, he was too much of a heavy weight drinker to throw up what he had so far. But why did he feel so sick all of a sudden? Too many thoughts were racing through his head before he realized Jacob was in the bathroom with him. ”Arthur. Something has been up with you all week. What is going on?’ Arthur opened his eyes and looked across to his friend, who joined him on the floor and leaning against the door. ”Jacob… I think I’ve been poisoned… I think I’m dying.” Jacob rolled his eyes so hard they almost fell out of his head. ”Almost all week, I’ve felt like my insides have been betraying me. They are eating themselves, or shutting down. I don’t know. But I don’t know what is wrong with me.” Arthur was holding his head in his hands, almost shaking. Jacob shook his head and sighed loudly. ”Arthur, you may be made of stone, but you’re not thick in the head. You and I know exactly what is going on.” Arthur looked up at Jacob, his eyes showing confusing and Jacob sighed again.

”You’ve only been getting this way when Eva is around, Arthur. Face it. You have feelings for someone.” Arthur stopped shaking and sat still, looking directly at Jacob. He finally said what Arthur was fearing the most. Feelings for… Eva? He didn’t understand. He had never had feelings for anyone like this. All the girls that chased him around, he never felt attracted or interested in any of them. What made Eva so different? Why was his body betraying him like this? But with this revelation being stated, for some reason it felt like a great weight was lifted from his chest. ”What do I do, Jacob? I want these feelings… my stomach, my chest. I want it to stop.” Arthur looked down on the ground. Was liking someone always this painful? Why did people fall in love then? It was too painful to fully endure. Jacob just laughed.

”Arthur, this isn’t a feeling you can really control. You have to let it take control. And as you work with it more, it becomes better. Trust me.” Jacob placed a hand on Arthur’s shoulder reassuringly. Let his emotions take control? Arthur had never done that in his life. At least not since he was a little boy. He wasn’t sure what to do. ”Take your time to think it out, Arthur. I need to check on the stoners. Make sure they aren’t freaking out. But remember Arthur, just let the feelings take control for a little bit. It will start to feel better.” Jacob smiled to Arthur before getting up and closing the door behind him. Arthur stayed on the floor for a minute, taking a few steady breaths. He didn’t like becoming a slave to his emotions like this. But he trusted that Jacob knew what he was talking about, being the only real one of his friends to have probably experienced it… Maybe Terrance liked Helene, and maybe Alexander was true in his feelings towards Gigi. Did they get these pains as well?

Arthur sighed and took in a deep breath, thinking back on Eva when she first walked in. Her tight shirt, the short skirt, the bright eyes, and beautiful hair. His heart began to beat faster, and he let it go wild. He felt warm all over, and it wasn’t hurting as much. In fact, it felt relatively blissful this time around. A small grin grew on the corners of his mouth. He understood.

While these happenings were occurring upstairs, when Terrance got locked out he returned to the entry way, shaking his head. "Sorry about that, ladies. Technical difficulties. But don’t let that give you a bad impression. We are going to have a ton of fun tonight." He smiled slyly, pulling Helene by the hand and dragging her into the kitchen, where Alexander continued bartending. ”Hey! You made it in time! I guess better late than never. Alyssa, Helene, your usual!” He pushed two red solo cups over to the girls. Grabbing another, Alexander mixed up cold orange juice and Malibu, pushing that towards Eva. ”Malibu and orange juice. I was told you like fruity drinks, and this is going to be sweet too. It will be hard to put this drink down. Come back if you need refills” Alexander turned towards Gigi, getting closer to her and wrapping his hand around her hip and playing with her green romper. ”And for min vackra blomma, a special concoction by yours truly.” He put a solo cup in her hand. ”It is both as sweet as my adoration for you, and as spicy as your attitude. It is really good, I hope you enjoy it, min vackra blomma.” Alexander smiled cheekily. Terrance rolled his eyes and looked towards Gigi. ”They are having smokes outside, if you want. Alex isn’t allowed back out there since his first time smoking.” Alexander shot a death glare towards Terrance, giving away the only place Gigi could run off and hide from him. ”Let’s move out into the living room, shall we? That is the central hub of the party.” With that, Terrance guided the girls into the living room. There was a large couch and several chairs all crossed around a coffee table. A guy sat at the center, shuffling a deck of cards and dealing out a single card to everyone. Everyone looked at their single card, and then all showed them. No cards matched and everyone laughed out loud, and took either a shot, or a good swig of whatever their drinks were.

”Marcus. We have some new players… If they are interested in playing that is, why don’t you introduce them to The Game of Pairs?” Terrance pulled up seats for all of the girls, but wasn’t expecting them to all join in. Especially Eva. Marcus looked at the girls, recognizing all of them except Eva. ”I assume you don’t know The Game of Pairs, do you?” He began, he didn’t really wait for Eva to answer as he shuffled the cards skillfully. He could be a magician or a casino dealer with all the tricks and flips he did, shuffling the deck very well. ”Rule 1. Don’t play unless you are perfectly fine with kissing a stranger tonight. Helene, I know you are no stranger to the game.” Marcus winked and Terrance just chuckled a little, snaking his arm around her hip. ”Number cards represent seconds. Either 2 to 10 seconds. That is how long your kiss has to last with someone who has a matching number as you.” When he flipped the top of the deck, all four of the top cards were each of the 2-cards from each suit. ”If your card doesn’t match someone else’s card, you take a drink. If you and someone both get a 2, then you kiss for 2 seconds, 3 for 3, 4 for 4, and so on. If the suits are matching colors, then the time is doubled. For instance, diamonds and hearts, or spades and clubs. If there are 3 of the same cards in play, like 3 twos, then only the matching colors have to kiss each other.”

Grabbing the next 3 cards from the deck, Marcus produced the Jack, Queen, and King of hearts. ”If two people have a matching face cards, like two people have a jack, or two queens, or two kings, then they become ‘star crossed’. They are a “pair”, and any time one of them gets a pair with another person, the other ‘star crossed’ person must drink twice. So for instance, if you and I both shared a King, Queen, or Jack. But then on the next turn, I and Stacy both get 5’s. Stacy and I would kiss, and you would have to drink twice in response.” Flipping two more cards off the deck, revealed the colored Joker and the Black-and-White Joker cards. ”The pair of jokers is the hardest to get, and… well, have you ever played 7 minutes in heaven? If two people get jokers, they are locked in a room together. Something can happen… something may not happen. Whatever happens in the room, stays in the room.” Marcus smiled cheekily, gathering up the cards again and shuffling them well. Terrance leaned forward, whispering to Eva. ”Don’t worry. Marcus is a master of slight of hands with the cards. You don’t think he got all those cards at the top by pure luck, did you? You can play if you want, but I told Marcus earlier to always give you a nonmatching card, just to ease you in.” Terrance had tole Marcus that… with an exception: if he was able to get Arthur in on the fun, then try to get them a pair. Terrance sat down and nodded to Marcus, who shuffled the cards well and began to deal them out to everyone again. ”This game moves pretty fast, so it is a good way to get everyone started drinking, and get buzzed quickly.” Marcus stopped at Gigi, Alyssa, Helene, and Eva, waiting for a que if any of them wanted to join in.



ＢＵＴ ＭＹ ＤＲＥＡＭＳ．．．

ＡＳ ＭＹ ＣＯＮＳＣＩＥＮＣＥ ＳＥＥＭＳ ＴＯ ＢＥ

Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＨＯＵＲＳ， ＯＮＬＹ ＬＯＮＥＬＹ．．．

ＴＨＡＴ'Ｓ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＦＲＥＥ

✖✖ Translations:[1]You ass. Don't do that to him!
[2]My beautiful flower
✖✖ I Feel... Very Drunk
✖✖ I am At... Terrance's Party -> Bathroom
✖✖ I am With... Alone
✖✖ I am Thinking..."Don't fight it."
✖✖ I am Wearing...Blue jacket, black jeans, and a white button down shirt.

Uh...what just happened?

Honestly, the blonde had been prepared for a nod in acknowledgement at best. Maybe a smile in her wildest dreams. Well, no, her wildest dreams contained a lot more than a smile along with one or two options of something more romantic, but him up and running away was the complete opposite reaction of what she had expected. Whatever little hope she had seemed to have crumbled away, and she wasn't really sure she could handle the rest of the party at this point. Terrance and Jacob gave chase, and as they did, Eva turned around and went for the door. Helene managed to hang onto her, putting a halt to her march, and she turned her around. "Where are you going?" She asked, spotting Eva's rather disappointed expression.

"Home. This was a mistake," She shook her head, her voice making her sound like she was on the verge of tears.

Looking at the other two for help, Helene jerked her head towards Eva, motioning for them to say something. Considering the fact that she wasn't exactly the best at comforting people, Gigi thought she would do more harm than good, but Alyssa was still thinking of something to say, so she decided to go first. "Nicely done, you shattered him," Gigi's comment was likely to be a compliment, but in the moment, Eva didn't see it as such. When Helene shot her a look, the dark haired girl rolled her eyes. "Maybe he needs a little time to recuperate."

The brunette watched Jacob and Terrance struggle on the stairs, though she seemed to have come up with something. "Wow, maybe it's not such a hopeless endeavor--OW!" Alyssa's sentence was cut off by Helene kicking her shin. "What? He's got it bad! That's a good thing! I mean, I was just as surprised to find out you had all that hidden under the uniform!"

"Way to be supportive!" Helene chided them.

"I don't do emotions well, and she's distracted by Jacob," Gigi replied in earnest, causing Alyssa to glare at her. "What did you expect?"

"He looked nauseous," Eva frowned.

"He'll be fine, Terrance and Jacob went to check on him," Helene tried to wave away Eva's concerns. "You just caught him off guard! He looked drunk, and I'm pretty sure he has never seen you outside your uniform. The shock must have been too much!"

Deciding a change of subject was best, Alyssa snapped her fingers. "Oh, right, we should get a new code word," Alyssa reminded the group.

"Code word?"

"If spoken or texted, it means we leave no matter what. Best used for emergencies," Gigi explained.

"We've really only used it three times, though, Terrance is pretty good at keeping the party people under control," Helene pointed out.

"But you still had to use it?"

"Well, there was that one time Anthony Malone got a little too frisky with Gigi, so she ended up roundhouse kicking him right into a table," Alyssa recalled. "And the table broke in half...with all the food and drink on it."

Gigi shrugged. "I warned him. I also replaced the table, no harm no foul."

"No harm--he must have gotten injured!"

"Pretty sure that's why the Knights didn't make it to the finals that year," Helene chuckled.

"How about when Miss I Know My Limits got completely plastered after having three drinking contests?" Gigi reminded her.

"I still won them all," Helene defended herself.

"Oh yeah, and passing out shortly afterwards made for a great victory speech," Alyssa grinned.

"And how could any of us forget you throwing a drink into poor Jacob's face?"

"You don't know what happened," Alyssa snapped. "And I'm not the first girl to do that, I'm still not sure why you called it."

"She didn't call it, I did. You looked like you were ready to attack him," Gigi shook her head. "That would have ended very poorly."

Oh, boy, apparently even mentioning Jacob was enough to get Alyssa into a mood, though luckily for the group, Terrance started coming down the stairs. Eva was a little surprised, but Alyssa nudged her. "Anyway, let's just enjoy ourselves. The code word is 'panther'," She decided on the spot, the three agreeing to let things go. For now, anyway.

Eva felt Alyssa push her gently from behind, the little group following Terrance into the kitchen. Gigi looked about ready to hide when she spotted Alexander, the poor bartender either oblivious to her reaction or just playing it off. After being handed her cup, Eva surprised Helene by immediately taking a swig. She thought she'd have to maybe persuade Eva to take a drink, but it looked like things would be easier than she thought. Grinning, she watched Eva drink, though made a mental note to make sure she didn't go overboard. Last thing she wanted was for Eva to end up in the bathroom like Arthur. But Eva didn't seem to mind, only after letting out a sigh did she realize the group was moving again. There were a lot more people around than Eva had anticipated, though she just trailed behind Helene and Terrance. Watching them for a moment, she took note of how they looked at one another, and she couldn't help but get a little jealous. If she had Helene's confidence, then maybe...

Her thought was interrupted by said redhead waving her over, pointing to something. When Eva took a look, she noticed there was some sort of game happening. Cards? She didn't recognize the game happening, though the way people reacted to it did catch her interest. As Marcus spoke of it, she found herself a little lost--until the phrase 'kissing a stranger' was uttered. What?! Was that really what people did? Helene grinned at Marcus' statement, and as he went to explain the rules, Eva thought she followed. Sort of? No, not really, the music pumping and drink in her hand left her just a little muddled if she was being completely honest. When he finished speaking, Terrance explained that Marcus was an expert with the cards--so technically she had nothing to worry about.

"Maybe I'll just watch the first one," Eva said, unsure.

If she wasn't going to play now, she wasn't going to play later, this much Helene recognized. She shot a look at Alyssa and Gigi, as if urging them to play. The girls looked at one another for a moment before looking back at Helene, who looked like she was about to get up and physically drag them in. The faintest hint of a groan escaped Gigi, and she dragged herself to the chairs. "As long as I don't end up getting partnered with Helene again..." She reluctantly took a seat.

Helene grinned, giving Gigi a playful wink. "Oh please, we both know that was the best kiss you've ever gotten," She batted her eyelashes as she spoke.

Gigi rolled her eyes, instead looking at Alyssa. The brunette seemed resigned, nodding. "I've been told I'm a pretty good kisser, so prepare to have your heart stolen, Gigi!" She joked, grinning at Gigi's grimace.

"What--ugh. Come on, then," Gigi told Eva somewhat grumpily, clearly not happy with the prospect of having to kiss one of her friends again.

"Okay," She agreed, earning her a cheer from Helene. "But...just girls?"