Out of every person in the academy, the one reaction I wanted to know about the most was naturally Diana's.
I was slightly afraid of how she'd react.
There was a chance that it would do more damage to her trauma because her subject of hatred "doesn't deserve," said hate because the crime he committed was out of his control.
In the best-case scenario, it would help her heal and place her emotions toward the demons.
I prayed that it was the latter.
As I was heading to my final course of the day, in the hallways where red lockers decorated both sides of the walls, my pathing was cut off by a girl half a head shorter than myself.
She had lavender purple twin tails and was wearing sunglasses. Chewing on bubble gum, she walked up to me and stared up at me with the same energy as staring down at someone.
I knew who this was.
She was another character in the novel and was just a tier below Diana when it comes to how often she appears in the story.
She was a side female protagonist who wasn't a part of the main character's protagonist but only because she wasn't into men. If she was, I believed the shitty god would've included her as well.
No, she has a crush on Diana, her best friend, but has been hiding it because she understands it's one-sided and will never come to fruition.
As you'd expect from a novel written by a terrible writer, even as years pass, she's still in love with Diana and never finds herself a significant other.
A lot of writers are so focused on the relationships of the main character that they never realize that the world continues to move for other characters as well and it's natural for them to date people and find love that isn't revolved around the main story.
I was curious, now that the novel had come to life, would she continue to follow the path of her written story, or would she branch out and move on?
"Sup," she said, blowing a bubble that popped a few inches away from me.
The way she said it made it sound like I was the one who approached her and not the other way around.
"Sup?" I said, pretending to be confused. "Do I know you?"
"Nope," she responded before another bubble popped.
I made a face to show my confusion. "Nice to meet you..."
"Peneri Acheson. But you can call me Peaches."
"Nice to meet you, Peaches. Can I help you with something?" I asked her.
Instead of responding to my question, she stared me up and down as if accessing her chances if she were to attack me.
Finally, after I pretended like I was about to leave if she had nothing else to say, she said with little aggression, "I don't know. Can you?"
If it wasn't for my knowledge of her dry sense of humor or her tendency to be sarcastic, I would've believed that I was being pranked and started looking around my surroundings for any hidden cameras.
"Did you know, when I arrived at school this morning, I didn't expect to see your ugly ass in my locker?"
A normal person would react with hostility to her insult, but I knew that was the kind of reaction she wanted, so I didn't want to give her that satisfaction.
"Sorry," I said, sounding like I agreed with her statement, voice full of lingering guilt.
Perhaps I made her feel a little bad for the unprovoked insult because she sighed and clarified, "That was just a joke."
"...Okay."
"Forget that," she said, swiping her hand in the air as if she was physically pushing it off to the side. "I'm here to ask you a few questions."
"Uhm... I have to get to my class. If you'd still like to ask me then... can we do it while walking?" I asked her.
She looked down at her watch and nodded.
"Come on, let's go," she said, heading off in front of me.
"Do you know where my class is?" I asked as I followed her.
"Nope!"
"Then shouldn't you be asking me where my class is?" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Peaches is a very interesting character, and by that I mean even after reading her story in the shitty god's novel, she was still an enigma that I still couldn't understand even to this very day.
Spinning around, she was walking backward, using her senses to avoid others.
Using her index finger, she pulled her sunglasses slightly so that they hung on the bottom of her nose.
"Where it at?"
"It's at Arthur Hall," I responded.
As we were walking, people were staring at us, mainly me, but some of them recognized Peaches and looked curious as to why we were together.
"First question, is it true?" asked Peaches.
"Is what true?"
"Come on, buddy, no need to waste both our times. You know what I'm asking you."
Again, I didn't want to play into her hand, so I said shamefully, "Sorry, but... I don't know what you're referring to. It's just... my day has been extremely hectic, so I'm afraid I'm a little mentally drained."
Successfully, I was able to knock her out of her unorthodox social rhythm by being overly "apologetic" and "vulnerable."
Hearing the criminal who attacked her friend apologize so willingly, she must've felt like a 12 gauge shotgun blast to her chest.
"I... never mind. It was dumb for me to assume. I was referring to the news everyone received this morning. Is it true?" she asked.
Looking embarrassed by her question, I took a while before nodding my head.
"It... I don't know how they overheard the conversation between myself and the headmistress, but everything in that envelope... is true," I explained to her.
She must've known this would be my answer because Maya's news club never published their articles without a hundred percent guarantee, but the implications of my words still stunned her nevertheless.
It implied that any negative feelings and thoughts sent my way were for naught because the one to blame was the demon that cursed me rather than Bell Agnus himself.
But I knew she was too hard-headed to apologize to me, so I wasn't surprised when her next words were, "I know that curse mark on you is partially responsible for what you did but that doesn't take away from the fact that it was still you who hurt Diana. So my second question is, will you apologize to her?"
'Diana didn't tell her best friend about our encounter in the hallways?'
"I... uh... I already apologized to her."
Shocked, she almost screamed. "You did?"
"Yes. My first day back, when I passed her in the hallways... I apologized to her as best as I could," I responded.
"Oh," she said, scratching her head, feeling embarrassed by my response. "What was her response?"
"She told me never to talk to her again," I answered with sadness and regret, voice cracking here and there.
"That makes sense," Peaches muttered, nodding her head slowly. "That was before the news about you was revealed, so Diana would never accept your apology no matter what."
Then she stopped in the middle of her tracks, and I had to turn around to face her.
"Wait... why didn't you tell her?" she asked me, looking directly into my eyes.
Was she suspicious about the story, or was she simply curious?
With a broken smile that belonged to someone who was hurt beyond repair, I answered, "It's because it doesn't matter."
"Why?"
"No matter what the cause is, the truth still remains that I hurt her so... I thought I'd rather have her continue to hate me rather than confuse her emotions by bringing a curse mark into the mix," I answered.
For the first time during our entire interaction, Peaches finally looked touched and viewed me with lenses that were slightly positive.
"It must've been hard to do the right thing," she said, patting me on the shoulder.
I didn't answer and just gave another smile, one that said everything I needed to say.
"Third question, I don't think you'll have an answer to this, but I just feel like I need to ask."
"Go ahead," I said as we resumed walking towards Arthur Hall.
"Do you happen to know where Diana is at the moment? I haven't seen her the entire day and no matter how many times I call or text her... nothing."
With a worried voice, I shook my head and asked, "Do you think it's because of me?"
"...Perhaps," answered Peaches, who sounded like she didn't want to respond with the truth out of fear that the truth would hurt me.
I was starting to get on her good side, which is a good thing because her ability to manipulate lightning after release was second to none amongst the students.
I hope to get close enough to her that I could ask her to teach me.
Why don't I ask my parents for a teacher when they are so powerful and have connections all around the world?
Well, the shitty god wrote the story to have this generation to be the most talented, and although there were stronger people in previous generations, they were bound to be overtaken by the student at the academy in a couple of years.
So long story short, no one is better to ask for advice when it comes to lightning post-release manipulation than Peaches.
Seeing the look on my face, Peaches gave me a few pat on the back and said, "Don't blame yourself too much. Let me get your number. When I find her safe and sound, I'll be sure to text you so... don't worry."
The two of us exchanged contacts, and as she was about to leave, she said, "Sorry."
It was brief, and she disappeared immediately after, but I knew what she was apologized for.
"Apology accepted," I said with a smile as I opened the door to Arthur Hall and entered.
As I walked up the stairs, I no longer had to worry about being pushed off, so that was a weight off my shoulders.
'Where is Diana, though?' I asked myself.
Little did I know, that question would be answered soon in a way that I didn't expect.