Drystan stared at his phone as he lay on his bed. He stared hard at the text message that he and Galene had exchanged.
To: Galene
We need to do something about Malkiel and Serenity
From: Galene
Wdym?
To: Galene
During your little plan Malkiel confessed
From: Galene
FOR REAL!!? OMG!
Drystan smiled, he could imagine Galene's expression and he was so sure that it'd be funny to see. He froze when he realized that he was smiling while looking at their conversation. At his and Galene's conversation.
"Are you crazy?"
He turned off his phone and closed his eyes as he muttered silent curses to himself. He should stop thinking about her, but he couldn't. Ever since the incident by the stairs, Galene seems to invade his mind every now and then. It came to the point where he would wait for even a simple conversation through text messages.
There was seriously wrong with him and he didn't even know what it was. He was just a tad bit thankful that everyone was too focused on Malkiel and Serenity to even notice him.
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"So was it really a coincidence that a certain music camp was taking place at the same time that Malkiel got his heart broken?"
Drystan stopped walking to turn around and immediately saw Galene behind him with a large grin on her face.
"Are you more curious about that instead of thinking of a plan on how to fix those two up?"
Galene shrugged at his question and just simply said.
"They're old enough to fix it themselves, all they need is a little push"
Drystan scoffed at what Galene said and continued walking. He glanced at Galene who was still smiling while walking beside him. He tilted his head before stopping in his tracks, immediately Galene sent him a questioning look as she stopped in her tracks too.
"What? Why'd you stop?"
"Why are you following me?"
Galene sent him another questioning look.
"Whatever could you mean? You're going to Miss Emily aren't you?"
"And what is it with you?"
Galene let out an exasperated sigh before pointing at herself and saying what's likely an obvious remark.
"Manager"
Drystan blinked a few times before it dawned on him that he'll need to work with Galene to organize their itinerary and all the plans for the music camp. He wanted to curse under his breath and when Galene's grin went wide, he turned his back on her and walked briskly.
"Why? Do you want to have Miss Emily all to yourself?"
Drystan grimaced. He already knew what kind of thoughts were running through Galene's head and he didn't like one bit of it.
"Shut up"
"Oh I see, so it's either you have a thing for her or there is something between the two of you"
Drystan abruptly stopped and glared at Galene.
"It's nothing like that so don't even spread such groundless rumors"
Galene's right eyebrow shot upward as her laugh howled through the hallway.
"Why are you putting on such a serious face? I was only teasing you"
She said matter of factly before she walked ahead of him towards the teacher's office. Drystan knew it was a joke and that she was pushing his buttons but he didn't know why it irritated him that Galene was joking about him and another woman.
He took a sharp breath before he followed her into the teacher's office. He could have sworn that one of these days, Galene would seriously break his patience.
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"We'll have an awkward dinner?"
Galene turned to Drystan after looking back at Serenity and Malkiel who were left at the cabin's porch.
"What? I mean that is what we'll have if they don't patch things up"
Drystan shook his head and looked straight ahead. The path they were walking on was uneven making it hard to walk straight. He pointed at Galene's bag.
"Why did you even bring that? It's not like you're really going to talk to the organizers"
Galene looked at her bag and shrugged.
"If you're going to act might as well make it look realistic"
Drystan scoffed at her and instinctively held out his arm when he noticed that the path that they were walking to was hard to walk at. Galene looked at his arm and then back to him which Drystan found annoying.
"Hold it, it'll be my responsibility if you get into a small accident here"
Galene froze for a second to process what Drystan had said.
"You want me to hold your hand?"
Drystan glared at Galene who was surprised at his sudden invitation. He was wondering what was wrong with him wanting to help her but then suddenly he realized why. He turned his back on Galene, his ears a shade of red. Why did he offer her arm to her?
"Then don't if you don't want to, if you trip over it won't be my fault"
"Ahh wait that wasn't what I meant, hey!"
It didn't even take Galene two seconds to eventually trip on a large branch. Drystan immediately caught her by her waist before she fell. The sudden close contact of their bodies was enough to send shivers down Drystan's spine. He could feel the soft curves around Galene's waist and a thought ran through his head. He imagined how it would feel to run his hands around her waist and hips.
Drystan was mortified when he realized what he had just imagined and with Galene on that note. He cleared his throat before helping Galene regain her footing. When Galene looked up at him, a pink tint on her cheeks was visible and Drystan couldn't help but blush too.
"Thanks, I guess I could really do use your arm's help"
Drystan cleared his throat before offering his arm once again, this time Galene held on to it. A small spark ran through both of them jolting them at the exact same time. Galene inhaled a soft breath to which Drystan's eyes hovered. His gaze dropped down to her lips which were slightly apart.
And that was enough to send Drystan into a frenzy, countless images running through his mind. Images that he wasn't supposed to imagine and yet he couldn't stop it. He imagined how it felt like to have Galene's lips on him, to explore her mouth, and to have his hands on her body.
That was enough for Drystan to realize that all those past encounters, the feelings he could never determine, and the weird sensation he gets whenever he and Galene were alone meant all but one thing.
He was attracted to Galene.
And it might be hard for him to stop at this point.