Fabian POV
I see Nina – my best friend and ex-girlfriend who I want to be my girlfriend again but I'm too nervous to say anything in case it wrecks our friendship, maybe that will change today - walk into the room, and I smile and call her name, she doesn't answer so now worry is etched all over my face, as I see her tear-stained face. "What's wrong?" I ask, getting from my seat and moving towards her. "What did Sweetie wanna talk to you about?"
I look over her shoulder at her laptop, and read aloud, "'A certain American student may seem as wholesome as her Granny's apple pie, but when she spends so much time cutting class, you have to ask is she worthy of the scholarship? If she spent as much time caring for her seriously ill Gran in hospital as she did running around campus, why doesn't she fly the old lady home?' Nina this is horrible!" I exclaim.
"Way harsh!" Amber yells, and now I see that Sibuna have joined us, Amber on the coffee table, and Alfie and Patricia on the sofa on our right, with Nina on the single chair, and me over her shoulder.
"Mr Sweet had some questions on the whole 'cutting class' part." Nina tells us.
"Who would write that about you?" Alfie asks.
"I do have a hunch. Maybe..." Nina replies.
"You mean, Joy?" Amber voices and Nina gives her a look, one which to the naked eye would look normal, but we all know Nina so well, that we can see it means 'yes, I think so'.
"This isn't Joy."Patricia states.
I back her up, "Yeah, no, no way! Joy would never stoop this low!" I defended my friend.
"Oh, come on!" Amber exclaims, "Break it down, people, who's jealous of Nina? Joy. Who'd like to get Nina out of the way? Joy."
"Err... Senkhara." Patricia names.
"Vera." Alfie gives.
"Rufus." I join.
"And Victor." Amber says.
"Wow! Loads of people hate you." Alfie muses and we all turn towards him, with expressions on our faces that say 'Why would you say that? You do NOT say that!'
"Alfie!" I whisper/yell at him, I mean, who says that? Really?
"No, this is not Victor. And Senkhara may be one big bad sprit lady, but I don't think she knows how to work a laptop." Amber tells us.
"Look," Nina says, talking for the first time in a while, with her voice cracking, and I feel so bad for her. She then sits up and shuts the laptop, and I rub her back, comfortingly, as I crouch down beside my best friend, "I don't care who it was, OK? Because it's true, (she's crying, now, a little) I didn't even think about flying Gran home, because I've been so busy following this quest, and... I'm a terrible granddaughter."
I look at her and I'm so shocked, and confused, so I decide to speak up, "NO! No! Look at me," And with that command she turns her head to face me, "If we don't find this mask, she may not even have a granddaughter!"
"We have to keep going! Even more than before!" Patricia continues.
"Right! So we'll go, we'll get the other reflectors of Victor, we'll go downstairs, we'll complete the constellations, find the mask, give it to your ghost-y friend, (she chuckles at this) and then we're free. And then you can get back to being the devoted granddaughter that we all KNOW you are. (Everyone nods, agreeing, Amber very fiercely) Deal?" I say, and I think it does well, she seems happier afterward.
She nods, smiles, and whispers, "Deal." But I can see that she's not 100% sure yet, so I ask the rest of Sibuna to leave so I can talk to Nina alone.
"Look, Nina, whoever wrote this is just low on self esteem and takes it away from those who have big self esteem, - like you - to try and make themselves feel better. So don't you DARE give in to it! Because you'll just be giving in to them and I will not allow you to do that! You are my best friend and I can't let you feel this way about yourself! So I am gonna cheer you up! Come on!" I tell her, and hold out my hand to her.
"Where are we going?" She asks, and worry crosses her face, so I smile at her, with an attempt to calm her.
"Stop worrying, will you? You trust me, don't you?" I ask her, now it's her turn to smile as she nods at me. "Good! So take my hand and let's go! But first we have to make a tinsy weensy little stop, OK?"
"OK." She replies.
I lead her into the kitchen and grab a tissue, "Here. I hate it when you cry; it hides your beautiful face." I tell her, truthfully and she beams so much it seems like she's the taken the sun's shine and put into her smile. "Come on, let's go!"
I take her hand again and lead her into the unknown, which is also known as outside. I continue leading her until we reach the Sibuna clearing and I grab my iHome from behind the tree and put my iPod on there and hit play where My Perfect Day by Mark Johns comes on.
"Dance with me, please?" I ask her, with hope filling my voice.
"Yes. Of course. How could I say no to you?" She chuckles, as we begin to dance, slow and steady, my arms around her waist, hers around my neck, much like when we danced at prom and had our first kiss (the best day of my life so far).
After a few minutes – with My Perfect Day on replay – unfortunately for us, and this being England, it starts to rain, but we keep dancing, lost in each other's eyes, and getting soaked by the rain. We don't care though, we just listen to the patter of the rain on the wood, which is on the ground, the beat of the music, and the chuckles we sometimes let slip, and I can feel her face nuzzled into my neck, and the rain dropping off of my nose and into her hair, making her lovely hair more damp and matted than it already is. Our clothes stuck to our bodies a while ago, and I can see every outline of her body, and I'm even more in awe of her. She takes her head out of neck and looks at my body for a while.
"You have a six pack and didn't tell me? Thanks Fabian!" She says, still mesmerized by my body (can you blame her though?)
"It never came up! You never asked!" I defend.
"Yeah... 'Cause I'm really gonna ask my best guy friend: Have you got a six pack? Can I have a look? Crazy!" She laughs and I do as well.
A few moments later I break the comfortable silence that we let fall over us afterward, "You know we're gonna be late for school, right?" I joke.
"I don't care." She answers, "I just wanna live in this moment, no school, no sprits, and no ancient mystery. Just you and me. Plus, with all this rain, we'll get a cold, so we'll have a few days to spend with each other. This gives us the excuse why we weren't in school." She laughs, I love it when she does that, it reaches her eyes, and makes them sparkle, like Amber's jewellery.
I laugh with her, it's hard not to, her laughter's contagious, when you've known someone for so long, it's impossible not to laugh when they do.
I sigh, we're still dancing I'm beginning to get dizzy, "I have a confession, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bought you here; I've most definitely got you a cold, now. I knew it was gonna rain today. I needed an excuse; you were so upset; I just wanted to cheer you up. This was meant to be a date for us, once I'd gathered up the courage to ask you out, that's why it was all here. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to break up with you, I just wanted what was best for you, and I always will do. So when we were in the cellar, and you said you wanted to be friends, I couldn't bear to hear, so I said it myself. I want to be your boyfriend again, because without you, I don't think I can live any longer."
I look at her eyes, before I feel her hand connect with my cheek, in a slap. "OW! Nina! What was that for?!"
"For not telling me that sooner!" She slaps me again, on the other cheek. "That was for kissing Joy!" She slaps me yet again, on the other cheek. "And that was for interrupting me in the cellar! I didn't want to break up! I was about to tell you we should act more like a couple! I thought you wanted to be friends, and I went along with it because I wanted what was best for you! Don't ever do that to me again! Understand?"
"Yes. You know, you're hot when you're angry." I answer honestly, still reeling from the slaps.
She blushes, and I chuckle at how beautiful she is. "Thanks." She mutters under her breath, barley audible.
"Well, now that's out of the way, I can do this." I tell her, feeling a sudden confidence that will vanish any second.
"Wha-?" She asks, but I cut her off half word with my lips connecting to hers for the second time ever. She seems to be expecting it, though, as she immediately takes control of the kiss, not that I mind.
WOW! Kissing Nina is the best experience ever! Like someone's put a billion fireworks and a billion sticks of dynamite inside of my head. BEST FEELING EVER!
I start exploring her body as the kiss gets deeper, and she smiles underneath my lips. In response she takes my hair in her hands and starts to massage it, and I let a low growl escape my lips, and she smiles underneath my lips for the second time in under a minute.
"Wow!" I breathe as we break apart for the need of air. "You... wow!"
All she does is laugh at my comment, then says, "Well, I certainly know how to make you speechless don't I?"
Now it's my turn to laugh at her comment, and I lean in for another kiss.
Apart from 3 other days of my life this is the best one.
So from then on I loved it when it rained.