Raz rested his chin on top of his arms on the desk and did his best to keep his ever-drooping eyes open. It had never occurred to him that Psychonaut training could possibly be boring, but two hours into an ethics lecture and he was starting to lose all will to live.
Psychonaut training hadn't ended after the catastrophe at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp - as it turned out, being awarded the Psychonauts badge only meant further training, more teachers and more lessons, many of them much drearier than the excitement of the summer camp.
You better not fall asleep, Wonderboy.
Raz smiled at the sound of someone else's thoughts in his head, and he lifted his chin up a little to stare at the back of the head of the girl a few seats in front of him. Lili Zanotto was the only thing that made classes like this bearable.
After a hellish few months searching the country for Truman Zanotto, she too had been invited to the Psychonauts base for further training, which was all that Raz had been hoping for. The only problem was that she'd made in clear in that gruelling time that all she wanted was to find her father - sorting out what they were to each other could wait.
One thing piled on top of the other, and somehow, they had managed never to talk about it again, which left their relationship in the completely unwelcome somewhere zone.
Years passed. They remained the best of friends - there are some things you couldn't go through without becoming best friends, and surviving evil plots involving lost brains was one of them - but Raz had found himself wondering all-to-often what it would be like to be something other than friends with Lili Zanotto. Nothing seemed to dampen his feelings for her, not time, not different classes or different dorms, and certainly not the nickname 'Wonderboy', always said with sarcasm, but always able to make Raz shiver.
If only he could just spit it out. He could take on censors, personal demons and deranged psychonauts, but no matter how hard he tried, he was completely unable to form the words, 'I like you' in front of Lili.
"Hey, dirt brain," Lili said, clicking her fingers in front of Raz's dazed face. "Class is over."
"Wha—" Raz spluttered as he was torn from his trance.
"How you're considered the 'best and brightest' of our graduating class, I'll never know," Lili said, her voice dry. She flicked Raz on the forehead and marched towards the door, turning back to look at him just before she headed out. "Are you coming, or what?"
Raz scurried after her, matching her stride as they sped off down the corridor.
"Personally," Raz said, "I don't see how Agent Jackson's class is of any use to us."
"What, because you can't psi-blast something in it?"
"Shooting things is fun and useful."
Lili snorted. "That's been your philosophy since camp, and it's caused you more trouble than good."
Raz stopped short in the middle of the hallway. "Lili Zanotto, tell me right now that you did not enjoy psi-blasting those cardboard cut-outs we made of Bobby Zilch."
"Speaking of…" Lili said, a grin forming on her face. "Come with me."
She grabbed his wrist and they ran the rest of the way down the corridor, stopping just outside one of the many lecture halls. With a jerk of her thumb, she gestured at the window. Raz craned his neck to see through and spots a familiar cloud of orange hair.
"No way," he said, breaking out into a smile. "So, he was capable of getting all the merit badges."
"Looks like it."
"Do you think he remembers our levitation race?" Raz said, rubbing his hands together in gleeful anticipation. "Do you think he'll want a rematch? I would do anything to rub it in his face again."
"Are you actually capable of not being a little shit for more than five minutes?"
Lili turned on her heel and continued down the corridor, mostly just to hide her smile. Raz hurried to catch up, puffing out his chest in smug pride. "You can't learn to be this annoying, Lili, it's a talent."
Lili rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I've got another class, I'll see you later?"
"Yeah. Later, Lili."
"Later, Wonderboy."
She gave him that half-smirk, half-smile that always turned his insides to goo, before sweeping off down another hallway, leaving Raz staring goofily at the space she had been.
He wandered back down the corridor, wondering what he was supposed to be doing right now, and trying to ignore his sweaty palms and the way his heartbeat had lifted a little. His schedule was far from his thoughts though; his brain has been thoroughly one track minded lately.
He really, really needed to do something about this.
With Lili in the forefront of his mind, he hurried back off towards his dorm, stopping when he reached the noticeboard, pausing to read the leaflet pinned over the top of all the others. He'd seen it before, dismissing it and not really bothering to look.
PSI-CADET SPRING DANCE, it said, in big gaudy letters.
Perfect.
It was going to be so good. He had all these plans about how to ask her, how he was going to pull the most romantic stunt possible and finally, once and for all, sweep Lili Zanotto off her feet. Yeah, it would be great. Raz had already started to picture it in his mind: he'd get her flowers, the ones that she really liked, the ones that would whisper nice things into her ears, then he would tell her how he felt and then he'd ask her to the dance.
He had it so well planned out that he'd stopped thinking about asking her and had started planning out how the dance would go, right down their clothes, the flowers and how their first dance would go.
He just needed to know Lili's intentions.
Lili was lying on her bed when he walked in, her feet rested on the wall, pigtails hanging down towards the floor. She turned a page in then book at arm's length above her, something about herbaphony. Lili had always liked to sit and read in odd and uncomfortable positions - Raz had teased her about it at one point and then regretted ever opening his mouth.
"What do you want?" she said, not looking up from the book.
"Charming," Raz muttered, making himself comfortable at Lili's desk and taking the time to spin around in her desk chair. "I was just wondering what colour tie I should wear to prom."
Lili looked up from the book then, sitting back up in bed and staring over at Raz. "Uh, I don't know?"
"I need to know what colour dress you're wearing so I can match."
There was a thump as the book slid from Lili's hands and dropped to the floor. "Since when were we going to prom?" Lili says.
Raz froze, his whole face turning white. There was a pause and then – "shit. I forgot to ask you."
There was a pause. The room was silent.
Then Lili started laughing. It was more than her usual giggle, though: she rolled off the bed, her hands clutching her stomach as she let rip, tears streaming from her eyes. Raz's cheeks burned and he covered his face in shame, while Lili spluttered in a heap on the floor.
"Holy shit," Lili said gleefully, in between giggles. "This is the dumbest thing you've ever done."
"I will literally pay you my weight in psitanium for you to never speak of this again."
"No way." Lili wiped tears from her eyes and breathed heavily as the last of the giggles subsided. "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm never forgetting this."
Lili finally calmed down, and the room fell quiet once more.
It was so quiet that Raz would have been surprised if Lili couldn't hear his heartbeat. He took a deep breath, ignoring the way his hands are shaking. "Seriously, Lili. I really, really like you."
There was silence as Lili shifted up from her seat on the floor, staring up at Raz. He suddenly found it difficult to hold her gaze, his eyes flickering down at his hands.
"Raz," Lili said, her voice softer. "You know how I feel."
"How?" His voice was barely a whisper.
"My feelings haven't changed since I was ten."
She moved closer, standing up, and Raz found himself standing up too, and all at once they were both in the same space. Their foreheads were practically touching when Lili looked him in the eye and grinned.
"When are you going to shut up and kiss me?" she said.
He didn't need to be told twice, closing the space between them, pulling her closer, his arms sliding up around her back. When they finally broke apart, Raz smiled as he said: "Lili Zanotto, will you go to the dance with me?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
They kissed again, Raz unable to keep himself from smiling.
"Oh, and Raz?" Lili muttered.
"Yeah?"
"Don't wear the goggles."