Chapter 3

Renale's POV

I lay in bed that night, with the biggest smile I had on my face in a while. Lumaria and I had talked for nearly an hour and a half. We had taken a walk in the park and talked the whole time. He wasn't only attractive, but he was talented in acting and singing. I entered a trance whenever I stared into his perfect blue eyes. I told him a little bit of my hobbies, which consisted of reading and absolutely nothing (he got a kick out of that one). It was nearly 11:00 at night and I couldn't stop thinking about Lumaria. I felt like an insomniac who was madly in love. Lumaria even gave me the strength to handle my dad yelling at me for getting detention and wondering why the hell I got home so late. I finally fell asleep, my thoughts still filled with joyous thoughts of Lumaria.

This was probably the happiest I've been since my mom died.

A week later…

I woke up in the morning, actually looking forward to going to school for once. I threw on a dark blue T-shirt with angel wings coming out of heart on it, a short-sleeved black hoodie, boot-cut jeans, and my boots. I quickly got ready for school and literally floated out the door. My heart lit up when I saw the pink-haired teen leaning against the school, texting someone on his cell phone.

"Hey! Morin' Lumaria!" I called as I approached him.

Lumaria looked up, his blue eyes meeting my green ones. "Good morning, Renale," He greeted as he closed his phone.

"What's up?" I tried to start a conversation, which I obviously can't due to my lack of social skills.

"Not very much, my friend Steffan has a nasty cold and he won't be in school today," He replied.

"Sorry, but you can still talk to me, right?" Yeah, I need to work on some conversational skills with Arina.

Lumaria nodded as a bus pulled up to the school and kids began pouring in. "I guess you're right,"

We walked together into the building, getting some strange glances. I would be a bit weirded out too if I saw the school's most violent chick walking with one of the most popular guys in the entire student body. I gave him a small wave as I headed off to my locker. Lumaria gave a smile back as we parted for the day.

The day went by at its usual, slow pace. I forced myself to pay attention or else my dad would beat the crap out of me again. I sat at my normal lunch table, the one so far away in the corner that no one ever bothers to sit there. I still got glances every now and then from Hikari and her group of snobs, but I ignored them. The second half of the day went by quickly, much to my delight, and I gathered my stuff and headed out.

On my way out, I heard yelling. Teen at my school got into fights all the time, but I heard a boy and a girl. Curious, I went to the side of the school to where the yells where coming from. I ducked low and hit in the bushes that surrounded the school and, much to my surprise, I saw Hikari and Lumaria.

"I can't believe you! You're hanging out with that violent bitch when I'M your girlfriend!" Hikari yelled, pointing to herself.

"For the last time, just because we were lead roles doesn't mean we have to be dating!" Lumaria sounded like he wanted to murder someone. "Renale has something you don't: she actually cares about something other than designer clothes and make-up!"

"Only because she's so poor she can't afford it! She would defiantly look better with some," Hikari growled. "You and me had a good relationship last year before that Renale came in and screwed everything up,"

"She looks good enough without it! I'm tired of you clinging to me like a baby and giving me no time to myself! I have a life too!" Lumaria was beyond pissed.

"You're my guy and you're not dumping me for some jerk who needs anger management! You're staying with me and Renale can be her violent self!" Hikari was screaming now. "She's just jealous because I'm so much better than her! You don't need an angry snitch like her," Knives stabbed at my heart as Hikari grabbed Lumaria by the shirt collar and kissed him passionately.

Hikari closed her eyes and savored every last moment, which wasn't very long. Lumaria pushed her away wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glared at her. If looks could kill, Hikari would've died right there and be out of my life.

"Leave. Me. Alone," Lumaria said each word by itself with an irritated tone to his voice before he walked away from Hikari.

After both of them left, I stood up from my hiding spot and ran away from school. I wasn't going home, even if my dad yelled at me again, I didn't want to go home. I ran as far away from the school as I could. The park came into view as the sky turned into overcast, and threatened to rain. I stopped running near my favorite bench; the one a couple yards away from the brook. I dropped my backpack on the bench and sat on the shores of the brook.

Lumaria was dating Hikari, the brat who calls me a violent bitch every other day. I wanted to cry, Lumaria probably thought the same of me. He didn't really love me. Just when I thought I found joy in my life, I didn't find it at all. I was still the social reject that everyone hated who didn't go to dances, have any friends, or do anything.

I heard footsteps pounding the pavement, but I assumed it was a lone jogger. I buried my face in my knees as the footsteps turned in my direction. I looked up and saw Lumaria standing above me, painting from his run here. Sweat gathered on his brow and stray locks of pink hair clung to his forehead.

"Renale…I need…to talk…" He painted.

"Wanna brag about how much better your girlfriend is than me?" I asked coldly.

Lumaria took a seat next to me. "I knew you were there when I was with Hikari. I meant all that stuff about you: you're different from the other girls in our school," His voice sounded compassionate. "You're not some make-up and clothes obsessed freak,"

"But you don't like me at all. You and Hikari probably feel the same about me," I said turning away from him as it began to rain.

"If I didn't like you, then why would I talk to you for an hour and a half straight almost every day?" He asked.

My heart softened a bit. True, we took a walk together and couldn't stop talking the whole time a week ago. Lumaria gave me the courage to stand up to my dad's curses. We talked this morning and I gave him company because his best friend was out. I looked into his blue eyes briefly before I threw my arms around his neck. His beautiful pink curls tickled my arms as rain continued to pour down. Lumaria rubbed my back, as if he were comforting me.

"Why would I date some creeper like Hikari when I've got you?" Lumaria still had his arms around me.

"Yeah," I muttered as I rested my chin on his shoulder.

Lumaria slowly pulled away and stood up. I climbed to my feet as he handed me my, soaking wet, backpack.

"C'mon, wanna come to the diner and grab some hot chocolate?" He asked, holding out his hand.

I nodded and grabbed his hand as we raced across town, desperate to get out of the rain. My face was burning but the coolness of the raindrops made it fade away. My blonde hair was clinging to my neck and shoulders and Lumaria's was now stick straight instead of slightly curly. We stepped into the brightly lit diner and took a couple minutes to dry ourselves off. It was just us and a couple people who were eating pie and drinking coffee. A waiter led us to a booth and we took a seat and set down our backpacks.

"I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order," She said as she handed us a couple menus and left us alone.

There was a slight awkward silence between us for a few minutes. Lumaria cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.

"Are you okay? You're shivering," He noticed.

I didn't I was shaking myself. Lumaria took off his coat and handed it to me. I slip it on my shivering body inhaling his rich, flowery scent. I swear I almost melted it right there. Lumaria smirked at me slightly, making him seem a little more like a bad boy. I smiled back at his playful smirk.

"Renale? Wow, surprising meeting you here," A voice commented.

I turned slightly and met Arina's pale green eyes. A man stood next her, who looked possibly a couple years older and was a head taller than her (but then again she was always short). He had long blonde hair that went past his shoulder and long side bangs framed his face. His eyes were only a couple shades darker than Arina's pale green, making seem like siblings…in a weird way.

"Hey Arina who's this?" I asked.

"He's of friend of mine, Even this is Renale. Renale this is my friend Even," She briefly introduced.

"Oh, you got yourself a boyfriend?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No, we're just friends. We've only known each other for a couple months," Even replied quickly.

Arina smirked a bit. "When did YOU get yourself a man?" She wondered.

I felt my face burn as a blush crawled across my cheeks. "He's j-just a friend…" I stammered as Lumaria chucked to himself.

Arina chuckled to herself as well. "Well, have fun. Even and I have to finish up business at Ansem's castle, I'll talk to you later Renale," The two of them walked away as Arina gave a small wave before she followed Even out the door.

"Who was that?" Lumaria wondered.

"Arina, she's the closest thing I have to a mom," I answered, starting to feel sadness fill my heart.

"What happened to your mom?" Lumaria asked.

I was quiet for a couple moments before I swallowed back the tears. "S-She died in an accident f-four years ago. Th-They tried to save her, b-but she died a couple days later…" I felt tears welling up inside my eyes.

I felt someone move my backpack and wrap their arms around me. I buried my face into Lumaria's chest as tears flowed down my face.

"I'm sorry, I lost my dad to cancer when I was nine," Lumaria whispered in my ear.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and signed deeply. Another similarity: we both lost one of our parents when we were younger and shared the pain. I felt like a child in Lumaria's strong, protective arms but I was comforted.

There wasn't really that much to mention after that. We traded more stories over hot chocolate and grilled chicken. I didn't realize I still had Lumaria's brown jacket on until we were getting ready to leave. It had stopped raining, but the streets were covered in water. It was around 6:45 when we left the diner, but it was pitch black outside. Lumaria walked me back to my house, holding my hand the whole way. I was blushing, but thank god it was dark outside. When we approached my house, the lights were off so my dad was obviously asleep. Before I could say goodbye, he leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips.

My heart began pounding and butterflies flew around my stomach like mad. Lumaria was kissing me, right here, right now. I pushed away my nervous thoughts and hugged him tightly. Lumaria ran his fingers through my blonde hair as the kiss lingered on. I didn't want to let go; I was happy right here with him. I gently pulled away and drew in my breath.

"Good night, Renale," He gave a small waved before he jogged off.

I was in a daze, but I managed a small wave too. My heart was still pounding, but a smile was plastered onto my face. I almost skipped into the house and into my room, if someone saw that they would've had nightmares for the rest of their life. I dropped my stuff onto the floor and collapsed on my bed, feeling like a lovesick puppy.

From outside, a figure watched Lumaria and Renale kiss with angry eyes. The figure growled as Lumaria run his gentle fingers through Renale's shoulder-length blond hair. There was no way Lumaria was falling for her. Fists clenched, the figure turned and walked away, fury for Renale burning inside their heart. There was no way in hell they would have Lumaria be with Renale.

Author: I've been hit with the insperation fairy this week! I typed this whole thing tonight! Sorry this is so short! The next chapter will be longer, I promise! I hope you enjoyed this!

~yukihikari99