"Oh, how I yearned to write about Luke, and yet my dream, my lifelong dream, thrown into the abyss of lost hopes! Oh, the humanity! Oh, this travesty is far too much for me to bear!"
"The prints came out little more than a month ago, and the story a year ago. How is it a lifelong dream for you?" I questioned Victor, skeptical of his wild claim.
Science class finished up several minutes ago. Ever since the incident with the thugs, Victor made it a point to join me on my way to English class as an escort. Somewhere along the line though, it transitioned into a five-minute confessional, with yours truly as the witness. Today, he was bemoaning the artificial news I fabricated: that Anon ignored my messages about our planned fanfiction.
A pang of guilt struck my heart at the sight of his disappointment, but I felt there was no other choice. The idea of toying with everyone behind the scenes didn't sit right with me, yet this wasn't any better. But to allow our team to make the fanfiction was unfair to the people participating in the festival. Allowing an author who had years of writing experience in the competition was bad enough, but letting that same author use his own writing was just too one-sided.
"Anyway, it gives us the chance to make something original, right? I'd much rather make something new."
Ah, the irony of that forced statement.
"Perhaps... though I was looking forward to writing the next epic of Luke d'Tristania's quest. While I appreciate the sequel that came out, it doesn't have enough of him in it!"
With a creaking of my legs, I got up from my desk. Last night did them no favors. While I managed to submit the revised chapters in time, I had to write a couple more for when Ms. Carlsson decided to trash them. As a result, I spent the majority of the night writing.
We both made our way toward English class. After nearly half a month together, Victor and I had become relatively close. When I wasn't forced to listen to his lectures about Judgement of Fantasia, or his woes as the student council president, we would talk about ourselves.
From what he told me, he moved away from his parents' house. After three years of commuting by train, he decided to live with his grandmother for the last year, as his parents were on a business trip in another country, where they wouldn't return for quite some time. Consequently, he was left alone. Since it was lonely living alone, he moved closer to the academy, so he could take care of his grandmother.
Though I was still a bit confused, what with the picture in his grandmother's house. As he talked, I had the sense he wasn't telling the full truth. Maybe I was overanalyzing things, but I couldn't shake the feeling.
I decided not to pry. If there was something he didn't want to talk about, then it wasn't my place to either. From what I know of him, particularly his more dangerous side, there was a chance that I didn't want to find out. The fact that he carried a stun gun was more than enough to come to that conclusion.
As we walked the hallway toward English class, Victor's eyes strayed toward the windows, a vacant expression painted on his face.
"Hey, Travis, what is it like to have a normal body?"
"What do you mean?"
Victor sighed and flicked his blond hair out of the way from his eyes. His heterochromatic eyes contrasted brilliantly against the gold of his flowing hair.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Haha.... you do stand out a bit, don't you?"
"Mhmm. Though my eyes aren't the last of it. You see... as you can probably tell, I'm not quite as prominent as some."
Considering the fact that his head barely rose above my shoulders, I could see where he was going with this. Though I could think of several reasons why his height really didn't matter.
We both fell silent while I thought about his question.
The door for English class came into view.
"I can't say. Being normal is just... a non-event. Sometimes I wonder why I don't have eyes like yours, or have to looks of someone as beautiful as Melissa..."
I instinctively clamped a hand to my mouth. Unconsciously, I let something slip out, something I didn't want Victor, of all people, to hear.
"Oh, what's that I hear?" Victor's vacant expression turned into a gleeful smirk.
"Don't read too much into it, will you?" I said as I tried to hide my embarrassment, "everyone thinks that way about her."
"That is true. If I recall correctly, she was the perfect girl ever since she enrolled here. I remember seeing her at the entrance ceremony of my second year..." His smile soured somewhat, "back then, she wasn't as free-willed as she is now. Even when I chose her as my running mate for the student council elections a year ago, she wasn't a very cheery girl."
This was news to me. Though my interest was aroused by the sudden history lesson.
"But ever since I introduced her to Judgement of Fantasia after the elections, a sort of light woke up inside of her... I'm assuming it's related to her love proclamation, but that was some time ago."
"Wait, you're the one who introduced her to it?"
"Indeed. She seemed to be in need of a good read, or at least something to lift her spirits," He paused, as we had arrived at the classroom door, "at least that was my impression. Anyway, I have some paperwork that needs doing for the festival. Be sure to remember the meet-up tonight."
I waved at his retreating figure before entering class.
"Goooood Mooooorning, TRAVIS!"
The sheer volume of the greeting caused me to recoil in terror. Claire stood in front of me, her arms held high in an effort to maximize her jumpscare's effect.
"Don't handle scares well, do you, huh?" She grinned.
"I don't think anyone could handle that!" Was my flustered retort. I hastily withdrew to my desk, away from the smugly smiling girl.
As I passed Melissa, I could hear her muffled giggles, her face the picture of genuine delight. I thought about what Victor said about her, and it didn't make sense. If anything, I could only imagine her having the bright smile she wore now.
But then the memory of her reaction when I asked her about Anon flooded back. There was a meaning behind them, but what meaning it had, I didn't know.
"Did Victor tell you about tonight?"
Claire sauntered over to my desk, as I went about the daily ritual of pulling things out. Her short, brown hair swayed back and forth as she paced in front of me, her brown eyes turned towards the ceiling.
"Yeah. I got through telling him about Anon ignoring my messages too. So the fanfiction is scrapped."
"Melissa is going to be sad about that, I'm sure."
"Victor was too. He couldn't stand the idea of not being able to write his favorite hero."
"What are we going to do now?'
"I suppose we'll be talking about that at our next meeting, won't we?"
Claire's eyes narrowed, "You don't have anything in mind?"
"You think I did?"
She snorted, "Thought as much."
Sometimes I get the feeling this girl didn't like me all too well. That, or she just didn't have much faith in me as a person. Now that I think about that, there isn't any difference between those modes of thought, is there?
Claire moved to Melissa's desk to tell her about the news, while I turned my attention back to my bag.
When the day's classes were over, the three of us joined Victor outside the academy's grounds. He looked haggard.
"Doing alright?" I asked.
"Absolutely exhausted. Not only do I have my lessons, but after that, I had to approve the proposals from dozens of the academy's affiliates. I couldn't see an end to it all!" He groaned weakly, as his arms hung limply at his sides.
Melissa tapped him on the shoulder as she came up alongside him, "Cheer up, at least you got through today, right?"
"How can I? There's bound to be more on Monday. I have all weekend to fret about it too."
The pitiful cries from Victor, coupled with Melissa's vain attempts at raising his spirits made for a humorous sight. I stifled a chuckle.
While I might have put the dampers on our writing project, it didn't seem to get them down. For that, I was glad. I was worried they would lose the motivation to win the competition, but in some ways, the roadblock only seemed to make their determination stronger. And through them, mine did too.