Just like the last three practices, today's Grugby practice was absolute hell. I'm starting to get real tired of Boscha's petty attempts to get back at me for leaving her group. If only there was something I could do about it.
Leaving aside my internal turmoil of trying to come up with a way to kill the triclops and make it look like an accident, I hurried to the showers to get the smell of sweat and ash (because our amazing captain decided to play with fire today) out of my body and change into a fresh pair of clothes.
When I walked out of the showers and out of the entrance of the school, I found Willow sitting on the stairs with her back turned towards me. So, in a fit of mischief, I decided to play a prank on the Plant witch… or at least that was the initial plan. With a quick twirl of my finger to draw a spell circle, I made some illusory flower petals start to gently rain down above Willow.
When she noticed the petals her first reaction, was to place her hands in front of her to catch a petal and then watch it disappear. Then she looked up and then turned to look at me. When she did my breath got caught in my throat and I could feel the blush creeping up my neck and make its way to the tip of my ears.
What was I thinking?! Using cute, pink petals that would fall over her head?! Now she looks incredibly cute! Even more so with the way that she's smiling at me! AHHHHHH!
"Hey, Val" She's still smiling! "What a pretty surprise! How did you know that the Bright Flower was my favorite?"
"A wild guess" How am I this calm?! "Glad you liked it."
"Well given your friendship with the twins, I thought you would be more of a prank person."
"Oh trust me, Petal" I smirked at her while starting to walk down the steps. "That was my original plan, but I decided to do something nice instead."
"How kind of you" She said with a slight blush on her cheeks, maybe from the new nickname. "I'll keep it in mind the next time you get too close to one of my more dangerous plants."
I simply laughed at her threat, but when I saw the look on her face I knew she was serious. After a quick apology and some begging, she assured me that she would protect me from her plants if I bought her a cake at the café.
Our walk to our meeting place was spent with us doing small talk. She asked why I smelled like slightly burned flesh and so the conversation went from us complaining about our classes, to me bitching about Boscha and her training from hell and my possible plans to commit a crime for the greater good.
Eventually, our destination came into view and, I have to admit, the place looks nice: the outside was nice and simple, but it stands out just enough so that you know it's there. It's also located nearby the main plaza, so there's a constant stream of customers walking in and out. The inside is not that fancy, leaning more on giving a homey feeling so that the customers feel at ease and spend some time sitting by the multiple chairs that are located outside and inside the store.
As Willow and I began to get closer, I was looking for the signature mane of green hair of my best friend.
"I… don't see them." I said to my companion once we got to the store.
"Me neither."
At that moment I got a notification on my scroll. I summoned it and found myself with a message from Mittens saying that she wouldn't be able to come since her parents needed them home.
"Huh… Mittens won't be coming." I said to Willow while making my scroll disappear, only to find the Plant witch looking at her own with a frown on her face. "Everything okay over there, Petal?"
"Yeah… Luz just told me that Eda needed some help with something at the house, and Gus won't be coming because his dad dragged him to work with him." She made her scroll disappear and then turned to me. "I think we were set up."
I looked at Willow, then at the store, then back at Willow and began to laugh. She looked at me like I was crazy before she began to chuckle as well.
"I can't believe we fell for it." I said after calming down. "It was an obvious trap, and we fell for it. I can't believe Mittens would come up with something like this."
"That's probably because she didn't." Willow answered after calming down herself. "This has Luz's name written all over it."
"That makes more sense. So, what do you want to do?"
"Well, I say that we take this chance and enjoy a nice evening, just the two of us, over some cakes and drinks."
"So… a date?" I asked her, a slight blush covering my cheeks.
She blushed as well and looked down to the floor before fixing a strand of hair behind her ear and looking up to me. "Y-yeah, a date."
I swear to the Titan that I've never smiled so fast in my entire life.
After receiving Willow's confirmation, I moved to the door and held it open for her. "After you, Petal." Her blush deepened, but she still walked through the door while smacking me in the shoulder.
"Show off."
Once inside we managed to secure a table and ordered a couple of drinks and some cakes. She laughed at me for choosing a Thornberry tart and I shamelessly blamed Mittens for that. To be honest, we just kept talking about the same stuff we were talking about during our walk here, but now there was a nice, pleasant aura about everything. And the fact that there was a constant smile on Willow's face made everything a hundred times better.
After we finished eating and drinking, Willow paid for everything saying that I was already paying for the concert's tickets and that, seeing she was the one to ask me out, she could at least pay for the stuff we consumed at the café. Then we left the place and decided to walk around the plaza to look at the stalls and stores around it.
Now I don't know at what moment Willow grabbed my hand but hey, who am I to complain. I have to say that it feels really nice. I feel all warm and good and I can't stop smiling like a fool. And I guess Willow must be feeling the same because whenever I give her hand a slight squeeze she answers back and her smile brightens up a little bit more.
Currently we're walking through the same park where we met all those months ago and I decided to ditch Boscha, sitting on the same bench we talked that time. I sat there with a groan because my legs were killing me. Stupid practice.
"And there's nothing you can do about it?" Willow asked me while sitting beside me, her hand still grabbing mine.
"Well there is one thing, but I'm not sure if it'll turn out well." Crap, I shouldn't have said that.
"Really? What is it?"
"I could challenge her for the spot of Captain." She turned her head a bit, a silent request for me to elaborate. "Anyone on the team can issue a challenge to try and take the spot of Captain. If they win, the spot is theirs."
"And why do you think it won't work? Val, I've seen you play a lot of times." That made me blush and, before I could ask her about that, she kept talking. "And from what I've seen, you're a better player than her. I mean aren't you the star player of the team? I'm sure that, if you wanted to, you could take her down with no problem."
Huh, she makes a valid point. Sure Boscha is stronger than me, but I'm faster and more agile.
"You're right… I could challenge her. Hell if anyone on the team has a solid chance of beating her is me!" I turned to Willow with a smile and a chuckle. "You're a genius, Petal!"
She returned the smile (the blush on her cheeks made it even better) and then winked. "I know, I know. But you could stand to say it more."
Oh I want to kiss her so bad!
But I rein back my impulses and, instead, give her one of my signature evil grins. "I think it's time someone knocked that bitch down from her throne."
Oh yeah, the next Grubgy practice will be awesome.