Xellos was back at school the next day. I had thought he was sick, but apparently not. He was waiting for my at my locker, a very pretty girl stood next to him.

"Hey Mia." He grinned, "I missed you yesterday." I looked from him to the girl. She was smiling and I felt a little put off. Who was she and why was she with my boyfriend? "Hi, Xel. Were you sick?" I asked. His grin widened. "Nah...Me and Mom had to go get Dolphin here." He indicated the girl, "She's going to school here now."

She was looking at me from under a fringe of blue hair. Her azure eyes were lit with excitement and her hands flapped wildly. "HI!HI!HI!HI!HI!" She exclaimed in rapid succession. "She's really excited about being here." Xellos explained, "And she gets really queer when she's excited."

I was at a loss for words. "But...Who is she, Xellos?" She was sort of bouncing up and down, a dopey grin plastered on her face. "She's Phibby and Gaav's sister." He told me. "Their sister?" I was even more confused. "She's not quite right...Uncle Shabby's had her off at some special school for a while, but they decided to mainstream her. Mom and I went with them to pick her up yesterday. She's a sophomore." His explanation made sense, but I was still confused. "Oh." That was all I could say at that point. "Oh."

"Well, I've got to take her to her class. I'll see ya in psychology, Mia." He said cheerfully, "C'mon, Dolphin, you'll like it." She hugged him, "YAY!!!" and they went off down the hall together, leaving me standing at my locker.

Absently, I spun the dial on my lock. As I pulled things out of my locker, I thought about what had just happened. He had blown me off for her. But then, she was his cousin...And who was I to get in the way of his responsibilities? Only his best friend in the world. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have, but I did feel a little hurt.

Milgasia was sitting in Xellos' desk, waiting for me when I got to psych. He smiled and said hello as I slid into my seat. "Xellos is here today, so you're not going to be able to sit there." I told him. He frowned slightly. "Oh. I'll move." He looked crushed. Dear God, Elisa was right. He was, to put it her way, "quite taken by me." I fiddled with my pen, "Look, I like sitting by you. Maybe Renee will switch seats with some one and you can have her seat." He stood up. "No, it's not a big deal."

But it was a big deal. As Xellos flounced into the room, I began to re-evaluate our relationship. We were close. We'd been friends for our whole lives, best friends for seven years. Of course we were close and I loved him very much. But was I in love with him? I wasn't sure any more. I rested my head on my book bag (it was on my desk) and closed my eyes, which was the thing I did most when bothered by something or tired.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I heard Xellos' voice in my ear. "I don't know...I have a lot on my mind." I said as a lame excuse. "Oh? What are you thinking about?" He pressed. "A lot of things...I don't really want to talk about it right now." I sighed. My life was coming unraveled.

Baking class was most interesting that day. Not only was Xellos up to his usual high jinx, but Dolphin had been added to the class and she was proving to be a very...unique...individual. She was, as we would have said at camp, a "special needs boater."

Mrs. Hollis introduced her to the class and she stood at the front of the room flapping her hands and looking quite terrified. Then she caught sight of the fish tank and the hand flapping increased. "Oh! Oh, FISH!!" She exclaimed. In a moment, she was peering through the aquarium into the murky water, looking for the lone goldfish. "Fish?"

Mrs Hollis was at a loss as to what she should do, but Xellos knew exactly how to handle the situation. "Dolly, " He called her by a pet name, "Come here and sit down." She looked at him, grinning, "What's the fish's name, Xelly?" He looked back at her seriously, "If I tell you, will you promise to sit down and be a good girl?" She nodded, "Yes, Xelly." He smiled. "Good. The fish's name is George. Now come here and sit by me and Mia like you promised."

He kept her under control all period. I guess he was used to her. I found out from Guilia that his mother had watched Dolphin for a while when Shabby needed a break from her to focus attention on Phibrizio, Gaav and their oldest brother, Dynast. Guilia, being related to them, knew all this. I did not. It was the first time I'd heard anything about Dynast, who was a senior at the University of Scraton. I'd known Xellos all my life and I hardly knew anything about his family.

"Lis," I said to my sister that night, "I've been thinking..." She looked up from her physics homework, "If it's about Xellos, his cousin and what I think of her, I don't want to hear about it."She muttered distractedly.

"No, this is about me and Xellos. Did you know he has a cousin named Dynast? And that he's Gaav and Phibrizio's brother?" She nodded. "Sure. I hang around with Gaav sometimes, you know. I've heard all about the perfect brother, Dynast, who graduated first in his class and is a chess wizard. I even knew about Dolphin too. You didn't?" I frowned, "No, Xellos never bothered to tell me about either of them. How long do you suppose our going out will last, Elisa?"

She was quite for a while as she stared at her text book. "I'm sorry, Sis," She finally looked up, "But I can't see the relationship lasting more than a couple more weeks, what with Milgasia around and all. But I don't think a break up will end a life time of friendship. You probably shouldn't have been going out in the first place. People always say you shouldn't try to date your friends." I flopped down on my bed. "I suppose you're right..."

The next morning, I got a ride to school with Guilia and Filia so I'd be there nice and early, as opposed to taking the bus and arriving right before the first bell. I went to my locker, then hunted Xellos down. He was in the cafeteria, eating breakfast. "Mia, hiya. You're here early today." I sat down next to him, "We need to talk." The smile vanished from his face. "About what?" I thought for a moment, "Me and you. I really do love you, Xellos, but I don't think this is going to work. We're too close for a high school romance." He frowned. "This has something to do with that new kid, doesn't it?" He accused.

"No...No, it's not because of Milgasia. Xel, we can't try and fool ourselves. It's not working the way either of us wanted. I know it. You know it. Every one knows. It's just a matter of time before we end up hating each other over this and I don't want to lose you." I explained. He sighed. "You are right. It was good for a while, but it wouldn't have lasted. We know too many disturbing things about one another." I nodded, "Or there are things we don't know about each other..."

A smile crossed his face. "Sorry I never mentioned Dynast or Dolphin. My mom hates Dolphin considerably and I don't talk about her much. And Dynast...you don't know what it's like to have an honest-to-goodness genius in your family. I try to avoid talking about him, because every one expects us to be just as smart as him."

I smiled. "It's all right. Friends?" He grinned. "Forever." Then he tossed his arms around me, "You've set me free!" He exclaimed, "Now I can go back to chasing around cheerleaders!" I shook my head. "Why do I put up with you?" He smiled like the Cheshire cat, "Because of my charm?" I laughed. "I don't think I'd quite call it 'charm,' but yes, I suppose so."


And thus ended my first real relationship, if you could call it that. We'd never really gone on a date or anything, but the word love had been tossed around freely. Funny thing was, as much as I loved Xellos, I was far happier just being his friend. Strange how life works sometimes.