And here's the last of the summer chapters; on to the next school year! Hopefully nothing bad will happen. Hopefully.
This chapter ended up running a bit longer than I anticipated- Skuld and Ven just kept on wanting to talk. Which is actually kinda nice in a way? Skuld didn't really trust Ventus when they first met; something about him seemed... off. You know? Any who...
Thank you for reading!
Ephemer knew a good barrage of curses; many of which he had learned from Gula and Aced. Which one would be better for the situation? One of the s-words? Perchance that delightful f-bomb he's heard so much about? Yes, maybe that one, repeated multiple times with an increasing range of incredible panic.
Never leave Anora, I love you.
Why did he say that? He was lucky that Anora pretended not to notice before heading back to the cabins. Maybe she had taken it as a compliment- but it was the first time Ephemer had ever uttered the words 'I love you' since they met. Hopefully it wasn't that obvious that it was meant romantically. Hopefully. It was still incredibly mortifying either way.
Suffice to say, he did not sleep at all before they were all called to get on the bus. He wasn't the only one that looked rough. Strelitzia looked like she hadn't slept in days- her eyes looked weary and had light bags under them. She refused to look anyone in the eye, and more than once she almost fell asleep on Lauriam's arm while standing up. Brain also looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep; his fedora slightly skewed than usual. Actually, the more Ephemer looked at him, the more it looked like Brain had been in a fist fight with someone.
Anora hung around Invi like a zombie. It had to be Invi in particular because Shelby wouldn't let her get near Ava. Invi didn't seem to make a fuss about it and opted to use Anora to help back everyone's things onto the bus. This worked out in the girl's favor because then she could find a place to sit, toss her stuff so no one could sit with her, and stay there until they were ready to leave. To further her new found spot, Anora curled herself into a ball on the bench seat and threw a blanket over her body; it hid her from the world and for a brief moment could allow her to believe that nothing else existed.
She must have gone to sleep because the next time she was aware of everything, the bus was in motion and someone was gently shaking her.
"Anora? You awake in that cocoon of yours?" Brain's voice asked. It sounded quiet, almost a whisper, as if he was trying not to wake her up if she was sleeping. Carefully, Anora brought her blanket down. It actually made her heart stop to see how close Brain's face was to her own. He was kneeling at the bench seat to be about eye level with her- considering the distance between seats, it looked like a very uncomfortable position.
Brain also looked to be in some amount of shock in seeing Anora's drowsy face. Almost bashful, he placed a finger at the front brim of his fedora to hide a bit of his face from her.
"I, uh… I wanted to say that I was sorry." he told her. "This summer, I'd thought I do some… let's call them social experiments. The funny thing is, experiments fail if you don't account for every variable. I thought I knew the variables. But I didn't. So… even if it doesn't make sense, I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry."
Anora's face crinkled into one of small confusion. Seeing it allowed Brain to let out a light laughter.
"Just go back to sleep, Anora-bird. We can talk again later." And with that, he gently brought her blanket over her head again and left.
Brain refused to look up as he went back to his seat. On the way, he did happen to pass the seat Lauriam and Strelitzia were sitting in and paused for a moment. Strelitzia had gone to sleep with her head against her brother's shoulder.
"I hope you're happy now." Brain darkly mumbled to Lauriam.
"You still need to talk to Ephemer." the older of the two replied without even looking at him. Brain let out a gruff sound of acknowledgment before returning to his seat. Like the initial confrontation with Lauriam just hours after the girls' kiss, the meeting with Ephemer was not something Brain looked forward too, nor planned to go his way.
. . .
Anora did eventually come out of her hiding spot after they make the first restroom stop. Once they were moving again, she had a small thought and pulled out her phone. Her email inbox was almost deserted so it took little time to find a particular email. She pressed the 'Reply' button but hesitated to type a new message. After several minutes of struggling to write something, she instead started to reread the thread.
She really needed to meet back up with her cousin. There was just so much that she wanted to tell him- but travel to Daybreak Academy would have been expensive. She almost felt like she'd need him for a lot guidance in the very near future. But she couldn't ask her cousin to constantly go back and forth just for her. Could she? It's not like he wasn't already doing that for his fiance…
The girl quickly shook her head. What a dumb idea. Her cousin had a life outside of her, just like everyone else.
Curious, Anora picked up her head to see what everyone else was doing. Ephemer and Skuld were talking to a very happy Ventus (the boy turned around in his seat so he could face the other two), Strelitzia and Lauriam were occupying their time with a travel version of Reversi, and Brain was minding his own business that Anora couldn't see. Unlike the drive down, Aced was driving the bus now. Invi was on the phone talking to some teachers still at Daybreak. Gula and Ira were also talking about something Anora couldn't quite pick up. Then there was Ava and Shelby, the Vulpes headmaster once more insisting that Shelby stay on the bus seat instead of roaming freely around.
Anora wondered for a moment if she could sit with Ava. But Ava likely would have wanted to talk- and that was if Shelby let Anora near his 'mother'. Anora wasn't really ready talk about anything yet. Trying not to think about her inherit loneliness, her gaze finally fell on Brain. Lightly nibbling her lower lip, Anora carefully got up from her seat and started to walk over to where Brain was.
Ephemer happened to notice her out of the corner of his eye. He stared at her with a blank, weary look as she softly asked Brain something. There seemed to be a sense of surprise from the older boy, but he moved over so she could have a seat. The initial jealousy Ephemer had as he watched the display was quickly overridden by fear. Why was he so jealous all of a sudden? Anora was her own person, she could talk to whoever she wanted to. One little accidental love confession (one that she completely glossed over, mind you) wasn't enough to spark that much jealousy in his heart. Was it…?
This summer was the worst.
"This summer was the best!" Ven happily cheered. "Do you think we'll be able to go back next year?!"
Skuld gave him a small smirk of bemusement. "I don't see why not. It's ultimately up to the headmasters though- it's their timeshare, after all."
Ven grinned from ear to ear. "My family always goes to the beach whenever we can, but it was nice hanging out with you guys. I can't wait to tell my dad that I finally beat someone at volleyball!"
"Headmaster Aced was going easy on you." Skuld teased. "You've never seen him in a 3 to 1 match with Ephemer, Gula, and Ira. He had them begging for mercy just before the five minute mark. Isn't that right, Ephemer?"
"Huh?" came the absent response as the boy brought his attention to the others. "What did I do now?"
"And you guys say I'm the space cadet." Ventus lightly giggled. But the boy's initial amusement gave way into a mild concern. "You've been doing that a lot lately, though. Are you okay?"
The disheartened stare Ephemer gave Ventus should have been the only answer the youngest needed. Regardless, Ephemer put on a light smile before telling him, "Don't worry about me, Ven. I'm fine. Might have caught a cold or something, but nothing to be worried about. Honest."
"Oh..." was Ven's small answer. "O-okay. If you insist."
Ephemer gave his friend another thin smile before reclining a bit in the bus seat. Both Skuld and Ventus continued to give him a wary glance, as if they were expecting him to confess that he wasn't okay. And maybe he would to Skuld later- but he'd never say it to Ven. They could hold off on having a talk about unrequited love when Ventus was, at least, five years older.
"I can't wait to get back to campus." Skuld decided to say, hoping to redirect the conversation. "I've got to get into contact with my therapist so we can resume our sessions. This summer was nice, but I don't want to waste that feeling with biting off more than I can chew. Another year, another step closer to finally graduating."
"Oh!" Ventus suddenly realized. "This is Lauriam's last year at Daybreak, isn't it?"
Skuld gave a small nod of agreement. "Brain and I've got another two, not counting this year. Then Ephemer's got three."
"And I just started… sorta." Ven finished. Giving a small, exasperated sigh, he put his head in his hands. "I hope guys all decide to take that internship thingie Headmaster Ava promised us. It's gonna be so lonely without you guys there."
"You won't be alone." Skuld told him. "You'll make other friends, and we'll be sure to keep in contact."
Ven gave a small, rather sullen sigh. "You promise?"
"Promise." Skuld agreed with a nod. "No matter what we do or where we'll go, we'll always be friends."
It went unnoticed by the others, but Ephemer let out a small snort. 'Friends.' Didn't he say that he and Anora were just friends not that long ago? It seemed like it had been a lifetime away. Now here he was, practically stewing in jealousy because she chose to sit with someone that wasn't him. Maybe when school started up again, he'd be so preoccupied with schoolwork that he wouldn't think about Anora as often. Maybe he would shrug off that he admitted to loving her too. And he could forget about her kiss with Strelitzia, and how beautiful she was, and how much he just wanted to grab her face and…
Once more tuning out whatever conversation Skuld and Ventus were having now, Ephemer made himself a bit more comfortable in his seat before closing his eyes. Since his dreams got him into this mess, maybe they could shed some light on what he should do next. Because, honestly? He had no clue what he was doing anymore.