"Jeanne, Jeanne, Jeanne?"
"Hn?" The young blonde finally stopped dazing off, her eyes settling on her friend before her. She had been spacing for about ten minutes now, but it was not the first time she had that day. She finally snapped out of her thoughts, shaking her head softly to let her anxiety cool down and her thoughts to halt where they wandered.
"Is everything alright?" The brunette leaned forwards unto the cafeteria table, "You haven't been yourself this week."
She fidgeted with the spoon in her hands, letting the light that shun on it reflect around them, "Yes, I'm alright."
Guinevere frowned, huffing loudly, "It's not like you to not eat the food on your plate… especially when it's free."
Jeanne laughed, clearly nervously. She shook her head, "It's nothing, really."
The young brunette scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes, "Nothing? Don't lie to me. I know you much too well. We've been friends for four years now, what's biting you?"
Jeanne shrugged, "Nothing."
Guinevere sighed, reaching over for Jeanne's hand.
They were alone at lunch that afternoon. Gawain and Lancelot had a soccer meet and would be gone for two days, while Arturia was of 'helping' the science department with 'errands' and Cú had been dragged to detention because of smoking on school property. Thus, the two females were sitting in their usual cafeteria table, originally talking.
"Look, I know Arturia has been much too busy to pay attention to things lately but I'm also your friend. Best friend. I hope that you see me as that too."
"I do," Jeanne nodded, "I just don't want to bother you with stupid things."
"Jeanne. Please. What ever may be troubling you is clearly not stupid. You never get this upset over simple things. So," Guinevere breathed, "come on, let's talk. Should we go to talk in a quieter place?"
The blonde hung her head but slowly nodded it, gathering her things and standing. They walked in silence to wherever they had deemed to be silent, which was the nurse's office. Since there were individual rooms, Guinevere asked the nurse with her sweetest voice if they could have one.
"So… what's wrong?" Guinevere jumped on a desk to sit on it, one by a big window.
Jeanne plopped down on the bed, skirt puffing up for a couple of seconds before flattening down again, "J-just… I don't know really." She shrugged, "I'm just being ridiculous."
The brunette dropped her shoulders in short defeat, "No, that's not true. Jeanne, listen to me, I promise you that if we talk about it, you'll feel better."
"I'm sure it will only make it worse."
"No," Guin swung her legs, "How about I start? I can talk about what has me anxious and then maybe you'll feel more open to talk, yeah?"
Jeanne kept silent, looking down at her skirt.
"So, Lancelot has been impatient lately. I don't know why. He gets jealous, he starts fights with me and he compares me to Arturia." Jeanne lifted her head upon hearing this, "Now, I know everything that happened between them but for some reason after all we've been through, he still thinks about her." Guin shrugged.
Still no words left Jeanne's lips.
"I know he likes me, I mean, we've been dating for about three years now. But, he goes on and still talks about her. I have never been jealous of Arturia, save for the part that Diarmuid fell for her—but that's all in good heart." She held a hand to her chest, "I'm still not jealous, per se, but just very hurt. The other day… Well you know me, I'm always fawning over cute boys; he just snapped. He went on and on about how Arturia would never do that and how I was not paying attention to him. But, he never had acted like that before. He never brought up Arturia.
"And then I started thinking about it and I stole him from Artie… I realized that I had just taken him like that. And then," her voice cracked, even though her face was still stern, "I realized how much of a horrible friend I am and how forgiving Artie is. If I were in her position I'd hate me, but she holds no slice of resentment and I don't know why."
Jeanne stood, the bed creaking in response. She walked to her friend and wrapped her in a hug, holding her tightly.
"I don't deserve anyone's kindness. I'm practically a who—."
"Wait!" Jeanne pulled back, holding the brunette by the shoulders, "No, no, no, you're not. Where did that come from? You're such a great friend and you did not steal Lance from Artie; they broke up."
Her eyes were red, tears pooling at the corner of her eyes, "They broke up because of me."
The blonde pet her friend's head, trying to calm her down, "That's not true. Now, Lancelot isn't trying to compare you to Artie. He's just troubled. Maybe, you could compliment him a bit more, flirt with him, make him feel like you are his girlfriend. He just feels you're paying attention to actors and stuff more than him."
"But he knows that I like him a lot."
"But," Jeanne bit her lip, "he wants you to show it and not just say it."
Guinevere took a deep breath, blinking her tears away, "You're right!" She assured herself, smacking her thighs, "Yes, that's what I should do." Then she slapped her own cheeks, "I was acting stupid."
"You weren't stupid. It's only natural to worry."
"The same goes to you."
Jeanne laughed, "Right, so I guess it's my turn to talk, isn't it?" Guin nodded, "Well, I don't think I can handle having a boyfriend at the moment. Especially not Cú."
Guin gasped, "You're not breaking up, are you?"
Jeanne shook her head, "No… well I hope not. It's just that…" She scratched her head. "I can't keep up. I know, I know it's super hard to quit smoking but I'm tired of seeing him not try. Well, I don't know if he has made an effort to stop, but I see no progress. He is still having two cigarettes a day and I can't stand it. Then… I got accepted by Oxford and my parents want me to go but I don't. I want to join the military."
Guin nodded, giving her time.
The blonde gulped, "I just don't want to deal with all that. I don't want to be thinking about Cú if I have to worry about school and what my parents want. I don't want to think about anything."
"Well," Guin sucked at giving advice and she knew, "How about, you sleep over at my place tonight and we forget stuff for today? Having a boyfriend is sucky sometimes but you have to trust him if he promised you something. I'm sure he'll pull through for you, I know Cú cares about you, a lot."
Jeanne nodded, "Sure, I guess I could do that. But I have to ask my parents first. Are you inviting Arturia?"
Guin shrugged, "Could it be just the two of us with boy problems? Arturia is jumping on one foot right now and I don't want to depress her with our sad talks."
She laughed, "I guess you're right."
After getting approval from Jeanne's parents, the girls made their way straight to Guin's house after school and since Jeanne was off for the day, it worked out in their favour. They did not even wait for anyone before heading off.
"Welcome!" Guinevere opened the door, "To my not-so humble abode!" The open door revealed marble floor and high ceilings. They walked in, Jeanne was already quite familiar with the layout of the house since she had slept over countless times. The house was spacious, ivory painted walls, chandeliers and a spiral stair case that they walked up to get to the second floor. There were countless painting and sculptures that decorated the house—Guin's mother was an artist and a very famous one in Europe.
"So… what are we going to do?" Guinevere asked.
Jeanne shrugged, "I'm not sure, what would you like?"
Guin lifted a finger, "Chick flick, dance, eat, or we could also write my blog if you wanna help me."
Jeanne grinned, "How about, Music, food and your blog."
"So it shall be!" The brunette clapped her hands together quickly and ran to her room, soon followed by Jeanne, "Today's edition will be about reencountering lost loves. What do you know about that?"
"Anything K-dramas taught me."
Guin gulped, shrugging, "Good enough!"
The two girls walked towards their class, laughing about the previous day's events.
"What has my babe so giddy?" Cú winked and wrapped an arm around the short girl. He had quite literally appeared out of nowhere because there were no other hallways near them.
Jeanne smiled up at him, still noting the smell of death that clung to him like a desperate wife, "Nothing, just some funny stuff."
"Why else would you be laughing?" He raised a brow.
"It's girl stuff." Guinevere answered pulling Jeanne towards her and away from her boyfriend, "Nothing to concern yourself with."
Cú lifted a brow, "Feisty so early in the morning, huh Guin?"
"Glad you noticed." Her smile came out rather sarcastic.
"What's got you so fired up?"
"Nothing." She deadpanned, "It's just that Jeanne and I were talking and then you came and interrupted us, that's all."
"I see I am not welcomed here. And I know much too well to overcome my stay. I'll see you around," he gave a two-finger salute and grinned before turning to Jeanne, "And I'll see you after school." He winked at his girlfriend and gave her a kiss on the cheek, heading off soon after.
"You did not have to be so mean to him…" Jeanne mumbled.
"Oh yes, I think I did."
They parted at the sound of the bell, hugging each other farewell before also heading off to their respective classes. With the new semester, Jeanne had first period English and she was not very excited for it.
"Jeanne!" Arturia waved her over, she was already seated at her desk, waiting for Jeanne to arrive for class.
Jeanne smiled and walked towards her desk, taking a seat next to her friend, "Hey."
"You ran off yesterday and didn't wait up." Arturia frowned, "Did you get called in for a shift?"
Jeanne shook her head, "No, Guin and I went to her house afterwards since she wanted help writing her blog."
"Yeah, I saw she updated." Arturia leaned back on her seat, shrugging off her jacket, "It was a good edition. I liked it, but very angsty."
"Mhm, we based it off experience and K-dramas."
Arturia nodded, "True, true. Anyway, how are you and Cú doing?" She smiled leaning unto the table, "Any updates in your relationship?"
"No," Jeanne deadpanned, "Nothing. I've been avoiding him more or less."
"Why?"
"I'm just a little all over the place and I need to settle things before something goes wrong." Jeanne shrugged, "Having trouble with school."
"Maybe instead of ignoring him, you could talk to him about it. It worked for me when you helped me out." Arturia suggested, "I know it's troubling but it would be better to talk with him than to make him think that you stopped liking him."
Lunch strolled around at a tiring pace, Jeanne and Arturia walked to the cafeteria lazily talking about workload and their teachers. They made it to the cafeteria with no problem and sat down with Guinevere who had already been seated. Cú was still in detention and would be there for the entire week as he informed them.
"Why are you asking to meet me?" Gil crossed his arms over his chest, leaning onto the table in the room, "And in the broadcast room of all places?"
Grainne smirked. She shrugged, pacing about the room, "Oh, you know, just wanted to finalize things."
He lifted a brow, "What do you mean?"
She bit her lip, winking at him, "You said you wanted out a few weeks ago, but it didn't end there. You are chickening out, aren't you?"
"What?" Gil groaned, "Are you dense?"
Grainne blinked, "Then why else would you quit wishing to find out?"
"Because, unlike you, I do not like frolicking in the ruin of people's lives." He scoffed, rolling his eyes, "I have better things to do."
"I beg to differ," she grinned, unbeknownst to Gilgamesh; a red light flickered on, "I have a feeling that you like the little Jeanne girl, huh?"