As everyone continues to laugh, I jokingly bow, bangs flopping down covering a grimace. When I rise, I shrug and offer the best smile I can, then take my seat. The laughter continues for a few more seconds. Once the last person stops, a few people clap, drowning out my sigh.
I give a cocky nod and shoot finger guns at no one. The volatile volcano within me needs to become dormant.
Next up is Julietta. She waits for the idle chatter to die down before flinching from her perfect posture. Why do I feel like I've secured the spot of class clown? Though the small talk doesn't completely go away, not until Mr. Spurr says, "Alright, that's enough. Next person up?"
What follows is absolute silence. All eyes fall on Julietta, who grips the bottom of her uniform vest and stands up as stiff as a concrete beam. The whole time, she's chewing her lip and looking down. Once I count ten seconds pass, she opens her mouth, then promptly closes it tight. She does it again, and again, and again.
Her cramorant stands loyally by her side and jitters. I'm not sure if it is my place to say or do anything. Julietta shuts her eyes, face contorting and shoulders narrowing. Finally, she takes a sharp breath and squeaks out, "My name is Julietta."
More silence follows. Someone forces a cough from the front row. My roommate goes back to chewing her lip.
Mr. Spurr throws her a lifeline. "So, Julietta, what do you look forward to most this year? What does being a pokémon ranger mean to you? And who's that little guy next to you?" Had it been anyone else but this seemingly-uber-friendly man saying it, it would have been condescending and demeaning.
But what's with that second question? It's just a job, isn't it?
"I… I look forward to taking steps to become a ranger proper. I've always wanted to be a ranger since I saw this movie when I was younger-" She cuts herself off with a gasp, then flushes red. "I mean, I just love pokémon. If I can help them, I will. And this is my partner Ophelia." With a caress to her pokémon's head, Julietta takes a stiff bow before sitting back down with her head hung.
Nothing I can say or do will probably help her. Instead I slip out a pack of gum from my pocket and offer her a stick while the person on the other side of her introduces themselves. Julietta takes it graciously and takes one chew before folding her arms on her desk and burying her head in them.
People go on and on with their introductions, right until the person sitting in the middle desk of the front row gets his turn. He stands and says two, maybe three sentences before sitting back down. He says it so quietly that I barely register that he's saying anything.
Right before the next guy goes, he stands back up and faces the class. Loud and clear, he says, "I apologize, but I ask everyone here with pokémon to keep them away from me. I do not deal well with close proximity to them. Especially you."
He points straight at me and Tessa. I do a double take and hear Tessa's croak sustain a stable, deep pitch. "I'm sorry?"
"Thank you." With that, he sits back down, leaving me with my jaw dropped. What the fuck is his problem? He's in a stupid pokémon ranger school. How the bloody hell is he afraid of touching, no, being next to a pokémon? How does this work? Is he sane?
"We've heard what Grayson has to say. Let's respect his request and get along, alright?" Mr. Spurr mostly looks at me, still dumbstruck with my jaw hanging. "I'm sure we've all got our little ticks. Okay, next up?"
I still can't believe that. What a load of bull. Tessa eyes him like he's prey. Meanwhile Julietta puts a hand on her cramorant's back and strokes it. Everyone's just going to go along with that, no comment? There are like five other people with pokémon at their side.
Finally, the last person introduces themselves. Once they sit, Mr. Spurr taps a stick of chalk on the board and doesn't get one stroke drawn before someone says, "Damien, introduce yourself!"
First name basis immediately? What? I guess I suppose he's maybe our age, but still. He's our teacher. Other people murmur in agreement, leaving the man in question to scratch the back of his neck bashfully.
"You guys remember what I said earlier, right?" People nod and still look at him expectantly. Though I spot a couple kind of smirking at him. "Alright, I'll give you a quick rundown of myself."
Julietta folds her hands on her desk and sits patiently, quietly. Our pokémon hold a low conversation behind us that only they can enjoy. At least my toxicroak doesn't immediately jump into a battle stance. Yet.
"Well, I guess the big question on everyone's mind is my age. That's usually it. I turned 20 a couple weeks ago." So young? What's he doing with his life? "I'm definitely younger than most people who are in my position and my ranger rank, but that doesn't stop me from charging ahead."
I catch someone rolling their eyes. What is going on? Do people like him or not? And what is his position?
"Truth be told, I've actually accepted the position of ranger base leader at a base not too far from here." Someone whispers something, causing another to laugh. Am I missing something? "It's always been my dream to lead my very own base, so I'm going to give it my all, for sure. Though it won't be operating until I get the okay from a higher up, so until then, I'm here to stay as your instructor." His voice tapered off a bit.
What is that supposed to mean? Someone explain this to me like I'm a baby. I catch wind of someone whispering, "What a joke."
Mr. Spurr continues. His ninjask flies in a circle above us, prompting everyone to shut up. "People like to call me 'Young Gun Damien' because of my persistence and age. I choose to take it as a compliment." Isn't technically an insult? He clears his throat and shakes his head. "But please don't address me as that. Anyway, that's enough about me. Let's get started, huh?"
Someone taps my shoulder, and it's not Tessa. Julietta holds a slip of paper out at me which I take after leaving her hanging several seconds too long. In small, neat handwriting it says, What's up?
Really, I should have been the one asking her that. Her cheeks are still tinged pink. But without wasting any more of her patience, I write I'm completely lost and give it back.
Mr. Spurr says, "Classes usually take turns having the outside field for demonstrations. Our class has Fridays in one of the three main areas all to ourselves. So until then, we'll be having lectures and small demonstrations in this room."
In my peripherals I see Julietta make a face, then scribble furiously before giving me the note back. Let's talk at lunch is written.
All I do is fold the slip and slide it into my pocket. Mr. Spurr says, "Today, I think we should get the dry stuff out of the way. We'll be going over stylers, how they work, their field use…"
Man, why does Reveriena have to be a non-competitive region? Battles are so much cooler than drawing circles in the air at angry pokémon. With my investment in this topic, I take a notebook out and write down whatever Mr. Spurr emphasises while glancing at the clock above the blackboard every other second.
"The point of capturing pokémon with stylers isn't for glory or power or what have you, as pretentious as that sounds. We do it to preserve nature and help…" Preach it, just not at me.
I mean, I get the gist of it, but don't really see the appeal. I guess someone has to do it, and I guess I'm one of them now. The reason I'm even at this school… I don't feel like mulling it over right now.
The lecture drones on for hours until a bell goes off signaling lunchtime. Mr. Spurr went through the oh, so thrilling history and science behind the capture disk and styler the whole time. I would say more, really, about this if I remembered and took diligent notes. Which I did neither of. Because honestly, I don't really care that much. So sue me for not being valedictorian material.
I shut my notebook as someone stands oddly close to me. Again, it's not Tessa but Julietta. She twists her hands over her stomach as she flaps her lips like she's trying to say something. I stand and offer a smile. "What's up?"
"Um, I… Wanna get lunch together?" She stutters several times.
I mean, I thought that's what she meant in the note, so I say, "Sure."
Julietta stiffly turns around and walks slowly ahead. Ophelia follows her, then me and a begrudging Tessa. Since I didn't bring the school map I got yesterday today (and I certainly didn't memorize any of it), I just trail behind and soak the whole school in, trying to find some glimmer of hope in this place.
A bunch of people clog up the hall by the stairs. I believe the cafeteria is in the basement level. Mindlessly, I walk ahead and weave through the crowd until I finish one flight of stairs, only stopping when Tessa grabs the back of my vest.
And only then do I realize that I'm not following Julietta anymore. Where the heck did she go? The staircase has a couple of students chatting, none of them her, so I go back out to the second floor and look around. Past heads of my peers, I manage to spot a ponytail tied with a blue ribbon bouncing about. Julietta keeps her head almost straight down and tries to walk around the other people, but keeps stopping whenever anyone steps closer to her.
But she doesn't just stop. She actually flinches pretty badly before walking to the other side of the hallway and trying to make it to (presumably) the stairs. I'm not sure what her deal is, but I feel pretty bad knowing that I unintentionally ditched her and left her to have whatever little anxiety moment she's having right now. So I make my way to her as quickly as I can and gently grab her elbow. "Let's go," I say nicer than usual and try to be her guide.
Julietta smiles and visibly relaxes. "Okay."
Together we make our way to the cafeteria, which is packed with other students. After getting our lunches, Julietta suggests we go back to the classroom to eat. I don't feel too strongly one way or the other, so I follow her back to room 2-A.
Once we settle down, I don't even unwrap my sandwich before I feel a gaze piercing through me. It's Julietta, of course, who sits opposite me after turning the chair in front of me around so we share my desk as a table. "Can I help you?" I ask in jest.
She hesitates before twiddling her thumbs. I've never actually met a person as nervous and shy as her. Makes me feel kind of worried that I'll offend or hurt her without meaning to.
"Well, about what you said earlier… Were you really joking about wanting to be a champion?"
The look on her face says it all. Eyes squinted due to how she's puckering her lips, which are trembling constantly. Cheeks flush red from either embarrassment, anger (question mark?), or both. Eyebrows knit, reminiscent of the times my mom was disappointed in me for being "reckless" and "socially tone deaf" as she's put it a couple times before.
Yeah, I must have offended and hurt her without meaning to.
"Why? Is something up?" Now it's my turn to hesitate.
"Oh, no!" she says all too quickly, waving a hand left and right. "I mean, you don't really hear talk about trainers and all that here in Reveriena… But you're from Sinnoh, right? So I guess that kinda… yeah." She says the last part just above a whisper.
"No, no, it really was just a joke! Man, guess I gotta work on my delivery next time, huh?" Good thing I'm a good liar. But I don't know which hurts more, lying to Julietta or lying to myself. Actually, I think the answer is clear. "Sorry if it was in bad taste or something."
"Of course not. I'm sorry."
Damn. It seems that every conversation we've had so far has one or both of us apologizing profusely. I want to be her friend, not her bully. "Uh, what about you? You from out of town or…?"
Julietta looks taken aback. At what, that I asked her a personal question? Come off it, did I offend her again? With hesitation I'm already used to, she responds with, "I'm staying in the dorms because I'm from a different region too."
"You mean you came out here, alone, just to come to this school?" How boring must her home region be? "Like, just to be a ranger? Not anything else?"
"Mm," she hums in affirmation.
"Okay then, tell me about Ophelia." Anything to get away from this topic. I refuse to believe she finds ranger-ing fun.
"She's my partner." Julietta says nothing else and begins eating her lunch. The flow of this conversation is drier than anything I've ever experienced before. Neither of us are brilliant conversationalists of any sort.
Her answer is nowhere near what I want to hear, but I don't dig into her any further; she's not pestering me about Tessa. Speaking of, our two pokémon are eating at Julietta's desk. I'm amazed my toxicroak hasn't picked a fight with anyone yet.
Since the conversation ended way too long ago, we just eat together in only slightly-awkward silence until class starts up again.
~X~
"Alright, before we let out for today, I have one last announcement to make," Mr. Spurr-I guess it's okay to call him Damien, but that feels too weird for me-says over people pushing in chairs and packing up. "As per school policy, it is mandatory that everyone joins an extracurricular club. I've just got word that starting today, there will be a club fair held after classes for the rest of the week to help decide on which club you want to join. I recommend checking it out as soon as possible. Have fun while you're here, okay?"
No one really responds, but Mr. Spurr smiles and holds a hand up. "I'm heading the Ranger Apprenticeship Club. Like it sounds, we'll hone our skills beyond what we do in the classroom and get a jump start on experiencing the ranger career. I hope some of you will consider joining."
With that, he takes his leave. A few other students exit the classroom too. Since I don't have any plans for today (especially since I don't really care for exploring Hionit City despite it being where I'm living right now), I hover around Julietta until she's ready to go. "Wanna hang out?" I ask awkwardly.
She nods her head vigorously. "Absolutely."
I lean on my desk and cross my arms as I think. I have no idea what to do for fun around here. I don't even think there is anything fun around here. Maybe Julietta knows something I don't. "Any ideas?"
"Um…" she hums, visibly struggling to come up with something.
As she tries to formulate an answer, I glance around the classroom. It's more or less empty with only a handful of students still here. Of them, I notice that Grayson guy sitting at his desk, reading a book. I'm pretty sure there's a library in this school for that, but that's not even the issue. He needs to get his head checked. There's a lot wrong with him, I can tell.
But as tempted as I am to tell Tessa to go up to him, Julietta brings me out of my sadistic thoughts by shuffling in place and letting out a whine she probably doesn't know she's making. "We can explore campus?"
Not what I expected. Hopefully I didn't sigh in front of her. But I guess that's not the worst idea there ever was. Maybe we can check out the wooloo the school has. "Sure, let's go."
I let Julietta lead the way. Ophelia sticks close to her partner's legs, so I end up following the cramorant. Tessa begrudgingly trails me. Just as I leave the classroom behind, I look back at Grayson. He's glaring at someone's deerling that stands like three yards from him. What an asshole.
The hallways are pretty empty now that classes have ended. Only a few people loiter around. Julietta leads the way to the stairs. She says something, probably our destination, but says it so low that I don't catch anything at all. It seems we're going upstairs.
After we clear one flight, I take a long look outside a conveniently-placed window. From it, I spy the garden area behind the school. Like how it was last night, a huge amount of people litter the grounds. The only difference is that there are a bunch of booths and signs set up with crowds of students huddled around teachers this time.
My thoughts don't linger on it for too long as Julietta waits patiently for me at the top of the next flight of stairs. I only notice this because Tessa whacks me on the back to get my attention. Rather harshly, if I can add. Yeah, and she has manners befitting royalty. Not.
"Sorry." I dash to catch up. Julietta says nothing, just politely smiles and nods. She's probably holding back an insult or complaint meant for me. If I were in her shoes, I totally would feel that way. I need to stop doing things like this since she's definitely not the type to say when things bother her.
We make it to the fourth floor, then our dorm. With no clue as to why but not wanting to upset my roommate any more than I probably have today, I continue to follow Julietta's flow. Once inside our room, I flop down on my bed and close my eyes for a few seconds. Luckily for me, Tessa doesn't use me as a second mattress like she did yesterday.
At the sound of splashing like the one I heard last night, I sit up and look around. Julietta's squatting at the foot of her bed, whatever she's doing obscured by Ophelia. I can only go so long without saying something, but before I even open my mouth, Julietta yelps.
Next thing I know, she's wrestling her cramorant's beak open. "Spit out, now," I catch her whisper. "I thought-"
"Uh, everything alright over there?" I can't help but ask. Is she hiding something that I'll regret finding out? Please no.
"Oh, yes, absolutely." This is followed by Ophelia coughing something up. Julietta pokes her head up and gives a sheepish smile while blushing like mad. One familiar zapping noise that I can't quite place a name on right now later, my roomie stands up and shoves her hands in her pockets. "I'm sorry about that. Let's go now."
"Where to?" I say slowly. No, no, pretend that didn't happen. That's probably what's best, for both our sakes.
"How about… the garden?"
"What's there?"
"Well…" She wrings her hands together and bites her lip. "We'll find out when we get there?"
I give an amused laugh and cave in. Maybe she wants to check out the wooloo too. "Sure. I actually saw a bunch of people there a few minutes ago. I guess it's that club fair thing, yeah?"
Julietta perks up and drops her hands to her side. Oh, was that what she wanted to do? She could have just said so. "Is it?" She's not a very good actress. "Well, why don't we check it out?"
Playing along, I say, "I've gotta join a club anyway, right? Why not."
With no trouble at all, we make it to the garden. The summer-not-quite-autumn sun beats down on us and the air is filled with chatter and bleating in the distance. Now I have a good look at the scene before me. A lot of banners sporting club names are everywhere along with teachers boasting about their clubs. In this specialized school, students typically only study here for a year under intensive and hands-on instruction before going out into the world (I do see that being a ranger is an experience-based job), so the student body is nonexistent. What I'm getting at is that it's funny seeing a bunch of adults trying to be hip with the kids to get club members. In particular, I catch a teacher, an older man, riding a skateboard.
Julietta drifts through the area, carefully avoiding places with heavy clusters of people. This results in her skirting the edge of the paved road while whipping her head left and right. Whatever her issue is, I try not to judge and make sure to walk alongside her. "A lot of choices, huh?"
"Yeah." She hugs herself as she walks. Whether she's mesmerized by the clubs or anxious being around other people, I can't tell
"Anything on mind? Light Music Club? Literature Club? A community service club?" All of those seem plausible for her. I'm actually impressed that there are clubs that don't relate to being a ranger.
"Not really…" As she says this, she looks ahead, to the right. I follow her line of sight and see three clubs she can possibly be thinking about. What stands out to me is the club with three wooloo advertising it.
"Hey, let's check that one out." I gently pull her arm and point at the Gardening Club's setup. A large number of people are already there, following a woman giving a small tour of the area. Julietta and I join in and listen to the instructor.
"Every year we have the Gardening Club plant a new row of flowers in the field that we don't have yet, representative of the new graduating class." And she loses me immediately. The teacher drones on as I shift my attention to Tessa, who's holding her head in her stubby hands in sheer boredom. Her and me both.
"This is gonna be a long year, huh?" I nudge Julietta lightly. She flinches and just nods like she has a knife to her back. Oh boy. Tessa punches my side and I kind of kick her foot. She's not the only one bummed about our situation, okay?
"And we can't forget about the wooloo! The Gardening Club is also in charge of taking care of our resident flock regularly, so if you're already smitten by them, this club's for you." The teacher wins me back just as fast. Tessa groans loudly, probably at the pokémon she can look at but not battle. Though I doubt she even wants to battle any of the wooloo; they probably serve no challenge at all to her.
I don't have any real talents, so most of the other clubs are out of my reach. Either that or they sound utterly boring. Quiz Bowl Club? Give me a break. So I'm ready to sign my soul over to the Gardening Club. Nothing else calls for me. A couple of girls by the teacher are scribbling something down on a clipboard that must be for signing up. "I think I'll join this club."
As I wait for my turn to sign up, I stare at Julietta. Instead of at the wooloo or teacher or anything else nearby, she's gazing into the short distance at another booth. I squint to catch what has her so enamoured and am not sure what to make of it.
It's not a booth so much as a foldable table on its last legs with a large paper taped to it reading Ranger Apprenticeship Club. Mr. Spurr leans on the table with his arms crossed. I catch him mid-sigh. A couple of guys walk in front of him, past him, not even giving him a first glance. I hear that a teacher's job ain't easy, but this seems like something else.
Julietta keeps looking his way, eyes boring holes into the banner sporting the club name. Is that what she wanted? I'm not a mind reader and I'm not good at conversing, so getting to know her is going to be a long and bumpy road. I don't think I have the drive to befriend anyone else at this school anymore, so I really want to make nice with her. Even if it seems that her dream is to be a ranger. Reluctantly, I say, "Let's go check out some other clubs."
"Huh?" She wrings her hands together. "Didn't you say that you wanted to join this one?"
So she did catch that. Either way, I suck it up and reply, "Can't hurt to keep looking."
But before I say anything else, I hear a familiar squishy, wet, guttural noise that I haven't heard for a month. Time freezes, as does my heart as I snap my head to the source of the sound, back by Mr. Spurr. Once my eyes settle on the scene, a gross splat followed by a bubbling and sizzling sound out.
And no, the nearby Cooking Club booth isn't sauteing anything.
Why is this happening?
I shut my eyes tight for just a second, my stomach knotting up and sinking immediately. Once I open my eyes, I search desperately for Tessa but find her nowhere near me anymore.
It is her. Of course it is.
A chorus of gasps forces me to look back at where Mr. Spurr is. And there stands Tessa, hunched over and sneering. Darts the ninjask flies high in the air, buzzing something at my toxicroak. Below him is a slowly dissipating puddle of Tessa's sludge bomb, as volatile and sickly purple as it always is. I know for a fact that the patch of grass it landed on is not going to grow back for a long time.
I pinch myself and feel like I'm slipping from reality. The huge group of students forming a circle around the two pokémon, many with their phones out taking pictures and videos, as well as the equal-in-number amount of my peers who run a safe distance away, obviously intimidated by and probably scared of Tessa make me want to disappear. Why now, of all places? She's done a great job of holding herself back from battle so far. This is too surreal. And embarrassing.
This is the worst thing that could ever happen. From now on, I'm going to be labeled as the big bad trainer with a hostile toxicroak. Could I be expelled because of this? I dislike this school, but I have some pride.
My brief fading moment is broken by Julietta shaking my arm. "Eryn, what's happening?"
My social life and standing taking the steepest nosedive in history is what's happening. And poor Tessa, assuming she really doesn't know any better, is caught in the middle of my tumultuous brooding. Someone do something, please.
"Capture on!"
A deep voice cuts the tension in the air, as well as my erratic and dramatic train of thought. I rub my eyes harshly before seeing what's up now.
Standing across from Tessa is Mr. Spurr. He takes a wide stance holding his styler out, the capture disk shooting straight for my toxicroak. Without even thinking, I dash the hardest I can over to them, pushing people out of the way if they become obstacles. My chance of a pleasant life here at Hionit Ranger School is most definitely dead, but I refuse to drag Tessa down with me. If I make it there in time, I might be able to hold her back and convince everyone that she poses no real threat to them.
The last thing both of us need is more stress due to Reveriena's standards.
"Please wai-"
I get cut off by a sharp crackling. Tessa uses sucker punch and swipes the capture disk out of the air. Oh why. Mr. Spurr calls his disk back and readies himself again. I'm pretty sure you get a shock from your styler if the line gets broken by an attack. Tessa, why aren't you behaving?
Darts shoots to right in front of her face and buzzes again. This pisses Tessa off. She charges both her hands and flails around with drain punch, coming dangerously close to both the ninjask and a group of students. Anyone who gets hit by that will be knocked out, no doubt. There's no way that Darts is purposely agitating her, though. Who in their right mind would?
Without warning, Darts uses string shot and ties Tessa's arms to her body like a lasso would. His partner holds a hand out and says, "Let's not do that unless necessary. Stand by, alright?"
Why would he do that? Tessa hates being immobilized more than anything. Any time she was caught in string shot or psychic or any kind of trapping move in the past, she trashed and thrashed until she tired herself out and we lost by default.
And as expected, she started stomping and twitching like no tomorrow. I pray that she'll get tired as soon as possible, but my worries about this only grow as instead of staying bound, Tessa breaks out of the hold with bulk up.
What a weak string shot. Reveriena truly isn't a land of battle.
Mr. Spurr, you can get a better hold of your ninjask, you know? I think he's purposefully setting Tessa off. I squeeze her poké ball in my pocket, contemplating all the possible consequences of showing off me being a trainer.
And I'm not sure how ready I am for them.
All I do is shout, "Tessa, stop it, now!"
She pauses for a second mid-poison jab before Darts hisses something at her. It sets her off immediately.
"Darts, please stand back." Mr. Spurr takes aim. Another sludge bomb whizzes through the air at the ninjask. "Everyone, this doesn't have to be a big scene. I have this situation under control. It'll be safe, I assure you." Darts dodges the poison while it flies past and misses his partner. Luckily no one else stands in the line of fire. Tessa, if you want to paint yourself as a villain, keep it up.
Though I can't really speak for myself. It's not like I'm even trying to hold her back, as much as I want to.
A couple people break away from the crowd. With a little more breathing room, Mr. Spurr shoots his capture disk out again, drawing one large loop around Tessa. Like I would expect, she lunges to break the line with a poison jab. He closes the circle in time to avoid the hit, then steps up to continue his capture.
What should I be doing? What can I do? I'm so out of control and lost outside of battles.
This whole scene ticks Tessa off the most I've ever seen since we moved here. Her poison sac is bloated beyond belief. The people staring at her like she's some animal, the man trying to calm her down against her will, me doing nothing but freezing and telling her to back out…
No wonder she snapped.
"Okay, then." After what feels like an eternity in slow motion, Mr. Spurr winds down and takes a breath. Across from him is Tessa, her croaking now low, her poison sac deflating, and her face less pissy.
He captured her? He did?
With everything back to equilibrium, more people from the crowd disperse. I stay still in my place as I watch my teacher approach my toxicroak and hold a hand out. Like always, she smacks it away and turns around, too prideful to do anything properly.
Tessa saunters back to my side and tries hiding behind me. On her way, a student she comes close to bumping into jumps out of the way like she's some menace.
Great. I branded myself as an alien trainer slash class clown on day one, and Tessa is now a savage beast. Damn it all to Hell.
Even still, it was my fault. I hate that I didn't do anything to even try to help. I'm so sorry, Tessa.
Mr. Spurr approaches me with Darts in tow. "I apologize for this, Eryn. Darts has a track record of being a trickster, and it seems he angered Tessa here." He pats my and Tessa's shoulders. "I hope we can move on from this."
There is no correct response. But he did stop Tessa from having that messy battle she kind of started with Darts. I stutter and say, "Thank you."
"She's rather powerful. Very impressive." As he pays the compliment, he starts walking by us. "But please keep in mind that there aren't any battlefields in Reveriena." So he can see right through us.
But I know there aren't. I appreciate what he's trying to tell me, as well as how quietly he said it, but it's not like I wanted Tessa to do that. And as my partner keeps her head down while kicking the ground in shame, I try to come up with any excuse as to why this happened.
And when I look off the side in my own shame, I see Grayson scowling at me yet hugging himself and shivering like we were experiencing a Sinnohan winter.
Author's note: After this chapter, Eryn's definitely going to step up her game and be less worrisome, and I'll start to go into more detail about Reveriena. Thanks to everyone who's reading.