This chapter title is also from a song by Girl in Red. This time, the lyric is from the song "Rue." Go check it out! Also, I was trying to do a cool format trick thing with a word by spacing out the letters but won't let me (ugh) so it's just normal text. If you want to see the cooler version of formatting read this chapter on Ao3!

"Ew, what the heck?" Zarina spat, pulling away from Nylian. This time, she didn't restrain herself from doing anything, lashing out to slap him in the face.

Nylian flinched away from her. "What do you mean? I was just trying to kiss you."

"Just trying to kiss me? Just trying to kiss me? Not even considering the fact that you just took away my first kiss, couldn't you have at least asked for consent first? I gave absolutely no indication that I wanted to do that, and yet you touched me and kissed me because you wanted to. I don't care what my mother says, there is absolutely no way I will ever want to date you again!"

"So…what? Are you breaking up with me?"

"YES!" she shouted, then took a deep breath. "Obviously, I am breaking up with you. I didn't even want to date you in the first place, and now you've ruined it!"

With that, Zarina spun around on her heel and used her home crystal to leap back to Mistyriver. She no longer cared about her parents; she'd broken their rules before, and she could do it again. They could say what they wanted, but there was no way she was going to stand by while some random, obnoxious boy did whatever he liked.

Zarina somehow managed to get to her room without either of her parents bothering her. Once the door was locked, she immediately hailed Lyrei.

"What's wrong?" Lyrei asked. I must look really bad.

"My date went horribly. Nylian kissed me, and—"

"Ew!" Lyrei interrupted her. Normally, Zarina couldn't stand people who interrupted others during a conversation, but this time she let it slide because of how much she agreed with the interruption.

"That was my exact reaction! Anyway, I slapped him in the face and told him I no longer wanted to date him."

"Aren't your parents going to be mad?"

"Well, yeah, but who cares about them? They can't stop us from being friends, no matter what they pretend to be able to do."

The two of them talked for a bit longer, and then said goodbye. They had school the next day, after all, and Zarina still had an assignment or two left over from her classes that day. Lyrei probably did as well.

After that, Zarina laid awake for a while, contemplating the feelings she'd slightly felt and then immediately dismissed.

Zarina may not have any feelings for Nylian—well, any positive feelings—but there was another person. While she was pretending to actually like Nylian, she'd wondered to herself if she would actually be having a good time with that other elf.

Not that she would ever admit to herself who that person was. She knew who they were in her heart, but she wasn't ready to actually say—or even think—their name. F

"Ugh, stop!" she whispered, turning over.

There was absolutely no way it would ever, in a million years, realistically happen. So she might as well just stop herself from thinking now.

Even after she banished any unwanted thoughts from her mind, Zarina still had a very hard time falling asleep. All of her other thoughts raced through her mind, over and over and over again. It almost felt as if she was spinning around in her mindspace, trapped and unable to find a way out of her own thoughts. Like a tornado, she thought to herself.

Finally, at last, she fell asleep. Thankfully, Zarina's dreams did not match her thoughts, and she was able to drift into slumber to images of the person who made her feel the happiest and safest.

Lyrei.