Alright, I realized that I hadn't actually finished this chapter before, so this is the edit with completed chapter! Sorry about all the confusion everyone XD

Chapter 20: Stella's Counselling

Lying in my bed, in the darkness of the night, I can't fall asleep. So many things are going through my head. Should I leave Alfea and just run away from everything? If I do, where would I go? How would I survive? I don't want to end up like all the other Dark Ankelons who sided with the witches and got killed by the other Ankelons in the end.

I tried to avoid all the girls today. I didn't even go to any classes… My eyes are red and dry from all the tears. I probably look like a mess. What am I supposed to do? Am I just supposed to accept this and move on? But I… I have feelings for him that I've never had for anyone else. And I was just shot down before I even had the chance to say it… It's too cruel…

I curl up under my covers and hide my face in my arms. Good thing tomorrow is a day off. At least, I won't have to see him.

"Onyx…? Are you alright?"

Stella's back… I don't want to talk to anyone right now, but I can't just be rude. It's not her fault that I'm feeling like this.

"…I'm fine."

I say softly, not wanting her to hear my choked up voice.

"You're obviously feeling under the weather. Tell me what's wrong."

She sits on my bed and looks at me. I sigh and sit up. Stella gasps and her eyes widen.

"Oh my gosh, you look terrible!"

I grumble at her comment.

"Sorry, sorry. You just look like a hot mess right now. Something really bad must've happened…"

I sigh.

"It's nothing serious…"

"Nothing serious?! You cry your eyes out over stuff that aren't serious?! Come on, Onyx. You know I can see right through your excuses. You can tell me what's wrong."

Stella took my hands in hers squeezing them a bit to comfort me. Should I really tell her? Would that solve anything? I guess there's nothing left to lose either…

"Well… It's about professor Palladium."

"I knew it."

I blink a few times.

"How did you know?"

"Who else would make you this upset other than the person you're in love with?"

Love… I feel tears coming back up again. Just when I thought I didn't have any left…

"Oh… I'm sorry, Onyx. What did he do that was so bad?"

I gulp back down the tears and try to keep my voice from shaking.

"He… I… I was about to confess but he… He told me not to… It's as if he knew exactly what I was about to say… And he didn't want me to say it…"

I take deep breaths to keep myself from crying.

"What…? Why would he do that?"

"He said it's because of how it's improper for us to be more than a student and a teacher to each other… But I don't know if I can see him everyday, knowing that I won't be able to talk to him the same way ever again… I don't know if I can stay here if he's also here… Maybe I'm better off just leaving Alfea…"

"Don't say that! Don't even think it! I know this must be really hard on you… But you have to keep trying! Doesn't that mean that he also has feelings for you? He's trying so hard to resist it, but he can't stay away forever. If he truly loves you, you guys will be together in the end. I'm rooting for you all the way."

I manage to smile a little at Stella.

"Thank you for that, Stella… I really needed it."

"Anything for you, Onyx! Now to cheer you up, I want you to come with me and the girls to the beauty pageant that I'll be participating in!"

"A beauty pageant? But we have exams tomorrow. I didn't have time to study a single thing."

"Oh… Alright, I guess you should stay and study then…"

"What about you?"

"I'll study later! Bloom made me promise to pull an all-nighter tonight for that…"

"Well, you'll tell me how your pageant goes then."

After Stella leaves for her beauty pageant with the girls, I find myself alone in our little dorm. Even though I still feel kind of depressed, there's now new hope in my heart thanks to Stella. Professor Palladium never said that he didn't like me back. He only said that the right thing was for us not to get into a relationship.

I should stop thinking about all this for now, though, and focus on studying. The written exams here are so much easier than the ones I had back in Infinite Castle. It shouldn't be too hard to get a good grade tomorrow. To be honest, I would've probably been able to go the pageant with the girls, but I just honestly didn't feel up to it. I'm not really into these kind of things…

It's still early out and I'm done studying. If I stay in my room for the rest of the day, I'll probably drive myself insane with my thoughts. I should go out and walk around the school or something. I just hope I don't run into professor Palladium. I don't know how I'm supposed to act around him after what happened…

While walking around, I notice that there aren't that many fairies around. They're all probably studying. The library is probably packed. Maybe I should go out. I heard from Flora about one of Alfea's gardens located in the backyard. She keeps telling me about how beautiful the flowers are there. I might as well go see it. Hopefully the flowers won't wilt from me being there…

As I get closer I can already smell the flowery fragrance in the air. It's almost intoxicating. When I get there, I understand why Flora keeps talking about it. First of all, it's huge. It even has a fountain. There's probably flowers of every single colour in the garden. Except for black, of courses… It's always the one that's never included. And just as I thought, the nature here also is starting to cower away at my presence. I shouldn't stay here for too long; this is not a place for me. As I was turning around and started walking away, I heard a voice calling out to me.

"Onyx?"

I turn around.

"Hey, Flora."

That's true, Flora told me that she had to stay at school today to take care of the plants here. Apparently it was her turn to do that

"It's very unusual to see you around here."

She looked worriedly at the plants.

"Sorry about that... I was just about to leave, actually."

She looks at me with concern in her eyes.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah... Don't worry about me..."

I give her my best attempt at a smile.

"Flora! The plants are acting strangely. Come see."

I almost gasped out loud at the voice I heard. It was Palladium's voice... Now I really need to go. I'm the reason the plants are acting weirdly anyway. I wave at Flora and leave as fast as I can. I feel a pain in my chest. I really didn't expect him to be there... It must be nice... being able to work together with him on the plants. It's such a beautiful place. A beautiful place that I'll never be part of.

Alright, I realized that I hadn't actually finished this chapter before, so this is the edit with completed chapter! Sorry about all the confusion everyone XD