Arma was convulsed against a violent shaking sensation before rousing himself off a lucid and vivid slumber. The brunette blinked against the light that broke into his eyes for a minute and stared in a state of confusion to the person who woke him up, Stabs.

“Are you okay? You looked like you had a nightmare.” Stabs asked concernedly in which Arma bat both his eyelids confusedly before nodding absentmindedly. He scanned his surroundings, trying to recall the last thing he did before he realised that he had drifted off to sleep which was getting on the bus. Without much further thought, Arma had sat on the right side of the bus that was a window seat. Stabs sat beside him and Zatch was in the seat right behind Arma.

Zessica too had a window seat but at the left side of the bus who was accompanied by Lucky on her lap. Titania sat next to her and Phoenix sat right behind Zessica. To what seemed like Zatch’s annoyance, Euphino sat next to Phoenix, occasionally smirking at Zatch’s lonely companion seat from time to time.

When the bus set off, the slight bumps on the road, the rattle of the vehicle and the gentle wind that breezed right on the tall lad’s face, all off this formed an equation to lulling Arma to sleep. That is with the addition of the fact that he didn’t quite slept well the night before. He knew he had a nightmare judging from the way his body quivered and the sweat beads trickling down from his head, but this time, very likely to Zessica’s case, he couldn’t remember. Arma frowned lightly which only conjured up a black fog of the events of his dreams. There was also a voice, a very faint voice which made it hard for him to distinguish from a female’s or a male’s and that was all he could recall.

Everyone’s attention was then out through the window since the bus had halted to a stop, where the beautiful scenery of the beach and the oceans crashing on the golden sand awaited before them. Sea gulls soared across the flawless blue sky and there was only few people wandering and splashing around the beach. Phoenix was the most excited out of the seven visitors, marvelling the exquisiteness of summer. Soon, the fiery headed girl stood up abruptly, impulsively grabbing Euphino’s hand and dragged the surprised teen out.

Arma was shell shocked to find his female childhood friend doing this and quickly turned to Zatch who looked as if he had seen a ghost. Zatch was blanched lightly and his eyes were widened in bewilderment and shock. Even Stabs and Zessica seemed a bit perturbed with the sudden situation. Titania simply shared Phoenix’s enthusiasm and followed her out, along with four dazed teenagers and a cat behind her. By the time they stepped out and ventured towards the golden sand, Phoenix awkwardly pulled her hand away from Euphino who scratched the back of his head sheepishly. There was an evident bright red blush on both of their faces and Arma knew from the expression Zatch was making then, the guy in glasses wasn’t too thrill about it.

“If you love her, why can’t you just confess already?” A small voice whispered just loud enough for three guys to hear. Arma, Stabs and even Zatch jumped out of their skins and turn around to find Zessica staring both of them with a poker face as usual. They hadn’t notice that she had silently sneaked up to them. Maybe she did it unintentionally but she did certainly move like a ghost.

 Zatch’s eyes widened and turned towards Titania who didn’t seem to hear the shorter girl and simply jogged up towards the other two. He then turned and actually glared at the shorter girl, making the two other lads to take a step back unconsciously because one, they never seen Zatch on edge, two these two had a tendency to trollz and three, because they trollz, they always seemed to be have a battle of the trollz going on.

“Who told you I love her? You put your head too much into imaginations there.” Zatch snarled lightly which earned a hiss from Lucky. Zessica simply stroked the top of Lucky’s head before answering back in a matter of fact tone.

“And you are still in self denial. Admit it, you do love her despite all the injuries she inflicts on you. Either you share the same affectionate feelings for her, or you are a masochist and I don’t believe that you are a masochist...I think."

“Really Zessica? Really? Did you have to put that last part there?” Arma asked sarcastically, half heartedly ignoring his bastard of a friend who was now winded up for full throttle by then. if he could, he would have face-palmed. Stabs simply looked from the short girl to Zatch and back to Zessica again, ready to plunge himself in if things got any nastier.

“Well it doesn’t hurt to be honest now does it? If anything, I believe that Zatch believes that he is a sadistic instead. Though, I must conclude that he needs to brush up with his skills as one since he seems a little rustic in that area of his so called expertise.” Zessica retorted back politely and by then Zatch looked as if he was going to pounce on top of the girl and rip her throat out. Zatch’s right eyebrow twitched irritatedly before he gradually restored his composure and smiled plastically.

“This isn’t over. You are on.” Zatch whispered in a creepily calm voice that sends shivers down to the other two guy’s spine. Arma watched as Zessica simply nodded curtly before slowly strolling towards Phoenix who was waving at them manically. Zatch muttered something unintelligible under his breath and eventually followed too. Stabs glanced at Arma who did the same to Stabs. Both looked completely lost, wondering why can’t Zatch admit his feelings too. Or was it like what Zatch was trying to point out, that his feelings weren’t mutual?

As if they were using some secret telepathy by reading each other eyes, they both decided to drop the matter and carried on as well. There was a small hotel nearby, located at the right edge of the beach. Outside, there was a gruffly looking man in his late thirties with a red beach shirt of flower patterns on. He was obviously shorter than Arma by a head but he was a whole lot broader than any one of the guys. One would have easily mistaken him as a Viking with those huge beefy built arms and broad shoulders and toffee brown curly beard. He too, like Euphino, had curly hair and for a moment, the tall lad wondered whether the person in front of the hotel was Euphino’s uncle, or father.

“Gage my boy! You certainly grew up from the last time I saw you!” The man cried out enthusiastically, almost running towards the boy who almost cowered back and fled. Arma watch in amusement as the man wrapped his big arms around the smaller and slimmer boy, embracing him to a tight hug. The man was so big; it almost looked like he was going to break Euphino to two pieces like a thin toothpick. Already Euphino’s face was shifting to a shade of blue from the lack of oxygen transporting in his bloodstream.

“Uncle...too...tight...” Euphino struggled to speak out, his voice raspy, making the man’s eyes widen before he let go. Euphino fell limp on the sand, gasping for air before the bigger male who crouched down and slapped him not so lightly on the back with passion. Euphino almost dove nose first into the sand, despite how the other male teenagers wished to see.

“Sorry Gage. You know how I am like. It’s been so long.” The man chuckled, slapping on Euphino’s back not so lightly again. Once again Euphino narrowly missed hugging his face on the sand but his face was red with embarrassment that it even turned his ears rosy.

“Uncle! I told you not to speak my name so loudly!” Euphino hissed who the uncle simply blinked innocently. Everyone else blinked too, not knowing how to react when someone blatantly exposed a secret so carelessly. It was something that just doesn’t happen every day for anyone to get used to.

“What’s wrong calling you Gage?” Euphino almost hissed back again when someone interrupted.

“Oh, so your real name is Gage?” Zessica spoke out of the blue. The man looked up to find the short girl several feet away from him. Euphino’s, Gage’s uncle backpedalled away in fright, his eyes widened into saucers while his breathing got laboured. Arma had seen that look before; it mirrored the same expression Arma had when he was first exposed with Zessica’s sudden appearances.

Then almost instantly after the uncle whirred away from the girl, he scampered to his feet and quickly rushed towards her with wide open arms. This gesture was enough to spring panic in not only the tall lad, but in everyone else as well when all of them started screaming nonsense and trying their best to move out of their petrified positions and help the oblivious short girl. Silence reclaimed the air when the uncle did not give a bone crushing hug like they thought he would. Instead, he placed both his hands on the startled girl’s arms and tossed her in the air before catching her again.

“Zessica! It’s lovely to see you again! You have grown into a fine young woman too!” The uncle cried before tossing the girl up in the air again. By then, Arma knew that his jaw was hung ajar, astounded at the fact that this man knew her. He was too stunned to observe the other companion’s reaction and could only guess that they were reflecting the same expression too. When Euphino’s uncle caught Zessica again, the short girl was not only startled, but she was also staring at him with confusion, obviously trying to remember him.

Before she could come up with anything to remember, the man put the girl down and turned to face the rest of the bunch. He smiled warmly at Phoenix then at Titania and Zatch as well as Stabs. However, when his eyes settled on Arma, the warm smile faded away and Arma couldn’t help but feel a bit indignant about it. Was this man going to look at him as a monster too? Was he one of those people who didn’t see the human he was? Just by thinking about it, Arma felt his hands clutching on his bag tightly in dismay.

That’s when the man’s eyes widened in surprise and a huge smile lit up on his face which could lit up a whole room. Arma blinked, and almost scampered away when the man walked towards him with wide arms too. Before he could escape, Euphino’s uncle embraced him with a tight hug, cutting off his oxygen supply immediately. Arma’s eyes widened both in surprise and pain. What he said next only mystified him more.

“Arma young man! I almost didn’t recognise you. You were such a small little tot back then and look how much you grown! My, you are even taller than me! Sweet Lord of Mercy, how have you been?” Arma would have sworn his eyes would have popped out of their sockets and rolled to a side if it weren’t for Zessica who maybe a bit too bold for her own good.

“Excuse me but who exactly are you?” The man tensed up briefly, causing Arma to yelp at how tight the hug had been. At the corner of his eyes he could see that Euphino was in the borderline of laughing his head off and utterly confused at the same time. Mercifully, the man finally let go and Arma almost crumpled on the sand, gasping out for air.

“Jee, don’t tell me both of you don’t remember me?” Euphino’s uncle asked, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. Zessica didn’t answer and Arma could only give an awkward negative shake of his head. He then turned to his nephew who looked just as confused as everyone else was.

“How exactly do you know both of them anyway Uncle?” Euphino asked curiously, causing his uncle’s eyes widened into saucers again and a hand went flying over the man’s left side of the chest dramatically, where the heart should be.

“Bless the sands! Even you, Gage ol boy, don’t know? Don’t you remember me visiting in that shabby sad ol orphanage of yours few years ago? Or the first and only time you visited my beach?” For a moment, the three teenagers stood there in silence, scanning through their memories as if they were files. At first, nothing came up by then but out of nowhere, like a hidden key to the hole in their memory clicking into place; it all came back in a jolt, rushing to fill their vision with pictures of the events that happened in the past.

Zessica’s emerald green stone sparked out neon green electricity, showering her with it briefly before it ceased a second later. She then cocked her head to one side innocently, her eyebrows furrowed over and a frown gleaming in her eyes.

“Poppy?” She asked curiously. On cue, Euphino’s uncle smiled broadly. Even Arma was slightly dazed with the sudden recollection of several memories he thought he never had before. He could remember the orphanage much more clearly now along with the pranks Zessica had mostly set up for him. He could also remember Euphino, who was a whole lot different back then. The curly haired boy back then was more timid and shy and had dark circles under his eyes. Arma had seen it so often, he had once thought whether it was permanently etched on his skin.

Even Zessica was completely different back then. She was livelier, just as Euphino had described her. She was unstoppable too. To this day, Arma can’t remember anyone succeeding on preventing her crazy schemes and mischief from attacking any lone victims. Then there was that occasional mischievous smile that not only made hearts melt but also made some of them flutter. Like Zatch, she had the look of an innocent person but deep within, she was a trouble maker.

There was also that one man, Euphino’s uncle, who would visit them almost daily, bringing in beautiful and exotic seashells as presents. He was the one who didn’t think all three of them as a handful and he was also very close in adopting all three of them. His memories only stopped there, leaving him questions of what made it impossible for the man to adopt them and why he didn’t bring Euphino with him when he got the chance. Then Arma finally got the name he called Euphino’s uncle as.

“Grandpops?” Arma asked sheepishly and impossibly, Euphino’s uncle lit up like a Christmas tree. Once again the tall lad found himself with a bone crushing hug and his eyes widened against the pain. Euphino’s uncle, also mainly known as Poppy, patted too much enthusiastically against the brunette’s back, making him wince inwardly.

“You remembered! Of course you would remember! Then again, it had been years since I last saw you so I don’t blame you for forgetting. Good to see you again young man!” Arma simply nodded forcibly, having no strength and air supply in replying back with words. Once again Poppy let go and Arma refrained himself from gasping out in large amounts of air.

Suddenly remembering that Titania was the only one unaware of three of the bunch having memory loss; Arma looked up only to sigh in relief when she didn’t seem to suspect anything. Explaining Oliver to the trio idiots and his old time rival along with his partner was tricky and Arma doubt he can do it again with another passenger on board of weirdness of the current circumstances. Nonetheless, Arma still felt a bit weird about remembering things that was once stolen. It felt familiar but at the same time, foreign. It was like watching some other person’s memory, only it was really his.

Everything else became a blur. There were more warm tight hugs from Poppy to the rest of the gang and more bone jiggling handshakes and before anyone could realise, they were having lunch in the diner of the hotel. Apparently, Poppy not only owned the beach and the hotel, he was a great chef too. However, the most appealing one he did was for desert, despite how it was lunch. It was a chocolate stout layer cake with chocolate frostings that not only made a tear escape from Stabs’s eyes of pure appreciation of a great edible masterpiece, it made Phoenix, a girl who isn’t fond of chocolates, ask for seconds.

“Woah Phoenix, slow down. Jeez, relax. Chill. Mr. Poppy doesn’t have like, six arms you know.” Zatch teased lightly which was accompanied by a small chuckle. Phoenix rolled her eyes sarcastically and stuck out her tongue at him to show that she didn’t give a damn. Though, Arma had to admit that Phoenix was most certainly not a chocolate lover. The cake was good, the brunette will admit it but he didn’t expect it to go as far as to change a stubborn fiery girl’s mind in a complete hundred and eighty degree turn.

“No its okay. If Miss Phoenix here asks for seconds, then seconds I shall bring. I find it as a compliment to my cooking skills.” Poppy chortled heartily before bringing another plate of chocolate cake. Phoenix stuck out her tongue at Zatch again before devouring the cake in the most civilised fashion she could. Titania, who happened to be sitting next to the tall lad, leaned closer to him without warning. Arma almost yelped and dropped his fork which was caked with chocolate.

“How is it?” Titania asked curiously, flashing her glamorous smile. Arma instantly looked away, suppressing a blush from his face and turned his attention to Zessica who was nibbling on the cake expressionlessly. Nonetheless, he managed to catch his partner’s attention who simply sat there and stared while stroking Lucky’s ear absentmindedly.

“I-its good. Really tasty. Never tasted anything this good before.” Arma answered, not breaking his even gaze with the short girl. He didn’t know why but every time he looked into Zessica’s emerald eyes, he could not help but stare into them as well. He also knew that he would never win a staring contest between them because the longer he stared Zessica, the more his heart would beat against his ribcage and the more he felt running away in blind terror.

“Good? Are you crazy? This is the best cake ever dude! This is beyond good!” Stabs exclaimed loudly, wiping off another tear of pleasure that escaped from one eye. Arma almost scoffed at Stab only to remember that he was after all, a person easily moved by almost anything.

“I admit the taste in this small mouthful is simply extraordinary. You are lucky to have such an amazing uncle Euphino.” Zatch pitched in, taking another chunk of cake in his mouth. Euphino, whether it was Phoenix rubbing it off on him or whether it was simply a normal reaction to whatever Zatch spouted, rolled his eyes sarcastically and sipped on his coffee which was escorted with his plate of cake.

“It’s really good! It’s like it fell out of heaven or something.” Titania spoke, her voice muffled with her chewing the very cake in her mouth. Arma almost burst out in laughter at that but miraculously avoided it in case it would bring awkward stares. Even so, it was funny. Everyone was giving positive and serious reviews of a particular cake. Everyone...except Zessica.

“Hey Zessica. What are your thoughts on this work of art?” Stabs asked suddenly, as if reading the brunette’s mind. Zessica perked up lightly as she was drinking banana milk that was convoyed with her plate. Honestly, it was like watching a small girl drinking milk and Arma knew that he wasn’t the only one who thought of this. The smile on Titania’s and the giggle that came out of Phoenix as well as the amused look on Euphino’s backed this claim. When Zessica finally placed the milk down, Stabs almost wished he didn’t ask of her opinion.

“If I were to get married and plan to have a wedding, this would be my wedding cake.” Zessica voiced her thoughts out loud while wearing her usual serious yet subtle poker-face.

Even though they were at a beach, all six adolescents heard the cartoonish cricket noises drifting towards the room from a distance. All at once, Arma felt his face heat up and on impulse he accidently knocked not only the spoon and fork on the table, but also his on cake that fell ungracefully on his white shirt. Typical.

“Ah, that was a waste of good cake.” Stabs pouted lightly, causing Arma to finally chuckle due to hysteria. With the help of Zatch who was sitting next to him too and Poppy, Arma managed to get most of the cake off his shirt which now had a brown stain. He then turned to Zessica, taking a sip of coffee before musing out loud.

“I am really amazed how you say the most embarrassing things with a straight face Zessica...hehe” To this, the short girl simply cocked her head to one side in a child like fashion.

“What’s so embarrassing about admitting that I would have this as a wedding cake?” For some reason, every time she mentioned ‘wedding’, Arma realised that his face would heat up a thousand degrees. It was naive and lame, he knew that and he also knew it was ridiculous because after all, it was just a crush! She shouldn’t make him feel that way with just simple words. Then again, he did like her so wasn’t she supposed to make him feel edgy anyway?

Getting even more confused with what he had not intended to do; Arma blankly shook his head, letting the topic drop. That was when Stabs decided to pop in the question of the day.

“So...where will we go first? I heard there are several sights to be seen near the beach” Almost in synchronisation, both Phoenix and Titania slowly turned their heads towards the lanky lad in a creepy fashion. The two girls had the same eerie and spine-chilling smiles on their faces while their eyes glinted sinisterly at the rest of the bunch. Stabs gulped nothing but air as Zessica comically placed her empty glass and sighed nonchalantly, unperturbed with the Phoenix’s and Titania’s responses.

“It seems to me, we will be going to our worst nightmare” Zessica regarded out loud, taking another bite of the cake while Arma stared at her with perplexed eyes. What on earth encouraged the short girl to say that?

“One word, eight letters~” Titania cooed, winking mischievously at Phoenix who got the secret message. The fiery girl’s smile only grew, making the rest of the bunch to coil back in fear.

“Shopping~”

‘Oh Lord, save me now’ Arma thought hopelessly.

Arma had to admit, shopping didn’t turn out as bad as he had thought it would be. That is if you exclude the fact that both Titania and Phoenix kept barging in every single malls or shops they found where only in most cases, come out buying nothing. There was also the fact that not only those two had incredible resilience in covering large distances, they made the boys carry all the bags. At first, they used Euphino as a fact that he was the one who invited them over in the first place and they shouldn’t make the guys carry the bags but with Phoenix’s short temper threatening to lash out and Titania’s helpless facade, the girls won full victory.

“Come on out Zessica. You were saying you were dizzy! This will make you less... dizzy...er.” Phoenix begged awkwardly outside the changing room. After around two hours of walking around, the girls mercifully landed themselves right into a shop that sell anything related to the beach which was from clothes to surfboards to souvenirs. At one point, Zessica started lagging behind more than usual and when Euphino finally asked, she stated that she did feel a bit sluggish due to the heat.

Phoenix blamed her attire which was consisting of a hoodie, a maroon shirt and short shorts. Zessica on the other hand said she needed the hoodie to shield herself from the sun. Phoenix and Titania didn’t want to hear any of it and dragged her in before she could protest, which led where they were at present. Stabs sat beside Arma on a leather seat as they waited patiently and gave the smaller girl silent condolences at the nightmare she was facing. Zatch and Euphino were waiting while standing up.

Before they set off to shopping, Arma had changed his cake stained shirt to a sleeveless dark grey one. Even Zatch and Stabs changed their shirts too. Stabs wore a beach shirt with a flower pattern, similar to Poppy’s but he didn’t button it up. Zatch had asked him why while Stabs answered that it was because it was summer. The guy in glasses didn’t add any further and only muttered something under his breath as he changed to a sleeveless shirt too. Euphino was the only one who didn’t change but it was evident that Zatch was ticked off at him.

For one thing, it just happened to be that all four of them would be sharing a room while the girls shared another. The room they had was extremely tremendous, covering enough space for four beds. There was also the balcony that displayed the great view of the ocean crashing onto to golden sand before them.

“Please Zessica? I bet you look cute in that bikini!” Titania pitched in, gently trying to pursue the short petrified girl inside of the changing room to come out. Titania and Phoenix had changed too, into bikinis. Arma was slightly embarrassed to see so much of skin being exposed but eventually, he grown immune to it. He wasn’t surprise to find Zessica didn’t transform her attire to something else but all the same, he had to agree with Phoenix and Titania that maybe that sort of clothing isn’t going to help her endure the heat.

“I hardly believe that justifies on what you are doing. This is preposterous! I do not wish to expose so much of my body to the harsh broiling hot heat of summer! If anything, I strongly believe this will only make it worse! Now please, give me back my clothes!” Zessica snapped, her voice muffled. However, the way she said and the tone she used, it was more polite than a harsh remark she was obviously trying to achieve.

“Phoenix, I believe when Zessica use vocabulary that is beyond what you can comprehend, it means she is serious and disapproves on what you are doing.” Zatch sighed out dramatically, only smirking when Phoenix gave him the stink eye of doom. Titania, who had Zessica’s shirt, short and jacket only hugged the clothes tighter to her chest. She turned to Phoenix, nodding slightly at her who mimicked the same gesture.

Without warning, Phoenix barged in to the changing room, making all the boys to almost jump out of their skin when they heard the short girl practically scream.

“Hey! Let me go! I-

Not a second later, a small figure emerged out of room, almost crashing onto the tile floor if Phoenix hadn’t caught hold of her tiny wrist in time. Zessica stood before the guys awkwardly, her hair tied back into a small pony tail and her slim figure only wearing a green bikini that was more of an extremely short skirt and clothing to cover her chest. Her face was more exposed than usual, with her hair tied back and Arma could see a deep red blush overwhelming her.

All four of the guys, the second they saw her they froze. It was a difficult to digest the fact that the reserved and composed girl who always wore long sleeved clothes no matter how hot the weather is; was standing right before them with a bikini on and clearly feeling self conscious about it. Zessica quickly covered her navel with her arms as if it could cover her embarrassing glory and Arma could see she was fighting back the tears that threatened to fall as she look down and stared at her feet which wore flip-flops instead of boots. Despite how uncomfortable Zessica was openly displaying, Arma couldn’t help but think that she looked appealing and cute.

Wait. Did he just think that? The tall lad groaned internally as he tried to suppress the blush that blasted off heat on his cheeks. He turned to look at the other’s reaction. He could tell that Euphino was also fighting back a blush while Stabs openly admired the girl.  Zatch simply stared, shell shocked. Knowing all too well that the heat on his cheeks won’t go away soon, and also feeling slightly jealous, Arma abruptly stood up, causing Stabs to flinch back in surprise. He strolled over to Titania and casually lifted up the hoodie from her arms.

Without saying another word, he unwrapped the folded jacket and placed it over his partner’s shoulders and front torso that caused her to flinch at the touch. Just as he thought, the jacket was long enough to cover her short skirt too. Dazed, Zessica looked up to find Arma lifting up the hood and pulling it down over her head, low enough that the sun wouldn’t glare right into her eyes.

“Better?” Arma asked uneasily, looking anywhere else but Zessica as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He heard Euphino scoff lightly which made him snap his neck at the curly haired boy and glare. Euphino simply stuck out his tongue while Stabs smiled at him for being the gentleman he was. Zatch remained deadpanned, occasionally glancing over to Phoenix only to rest his gaze on Euphino and to mutter something again.

“Yea. Thanks.” Zessica replied courteously before turning to Phoenix.

“Can I at least wear the jacket?”Phoenix frowned lightly, as she stared at one point in a distance. Her red eyes were glazed over as she engulfed herself into a deep thought. However, it was Titania who answered, with a light pat on the short girl’s shoulder.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to wear a jacket. Here are your clothes.” Titania smiled broadly as she practically dumped Zessica’s former attire to the girl’s hands, causing her to wobble lightly. The jacket nearly fell off the girl’s shoulders but fortunately for both Zessica and Arma, it didn’t. The small girl nodded curtly at Titania while she tapped her clothes to her inventory. She then wore the jacket properly which covered most of her body to make her look a bit more decent. However, her navel and legs were still exposed but it seemed she could live with that.

The next shop they went next was a jewellery shop. Arma could hear Euphino grumbling loudly and also joining Zatch with muttering something under his breath. Even Stabs seem a bit blanched out at the fact that the two girls kept on going. Zessica, now a bit more active than the last time stared impassively at all the necklaces, bracelets, rings and ear rings displayed behind every glass.

“Are you not interested in jewellery Zessica?” Zatch suddenly asked curiously, joining her as she skimmed through all the ear-rings without a second look. The only response he got was a mere shrug of her shoulder as she walked away browsing through another row of rings. Zatch simply nodded to no one in particular, his smile unwavering and joined Phoenix, who for the past few minutes discussed seriously with the shopkeeper about which ring was the best.

“How long do you think this will go on?” Stabs asked tiredly, stretching out his sore legs on the couch that was stationed at the side of the hotel. Arma, who was sitting next to him for the umpteenth time simply shrugged. He didn’t know how much time had already passed and could only estimate that it must be around late noon in the least. Euphino had went outside to buy ice cream for everyone since all of them walked a long distance in just a day.

“Arma! How’d you like this one?” Titania suddenly cried, dragging the startled teen away from the couch he was sitting on. When the infamous idol peeled him out of his couch, Arma felt his heart spring up at his mouth, leaving him unable to attempt any words. Before he could protest, the infamous idol flashed her left hand, presenting an outrageously designed golden three rings in one with a tiny bright red rose ornamented on top of it. Arma stared at it for a minute, trying to find the best words to express his thoughts.

“It looks... extravagant... Really compliments you well.” Titania smile charmingly at the tall lad that was so vibrant, it lit up the room. For a moment, Arma felt his cheeks heat up for a moment. He still couldn’t believe that one of the prodigy player and a popular girl in school was acknowledging him as a friend. Either the world had gone made or Arma was the one that lost his marbles.

“Aww...you say the sweetest things. You can make a girl fall for you if you keep that up!~” Titania teased lightly, making his eyes widened up so much, it looked as if they were going to pop out any second. The infamous idol simply laughed at his reaction and playfully pushed him away, expressing just how much she found his reaction funny.

“Kidding~” Titania joked out loud in a sing song voice. It took her a matter of seconds to realise that Arma’s attention was somewhere else entirely. Titania knitted her elegant eyebrows together and followed his gaze, her chest nut hair flying out as she landed her gaze on Arma’s partner. Zessica was glancing at one thing in particular for just one second, hands behind her back before she resumed surfing through the rest of the rows. For some reason, this made Titania a bit infuriated.

“Uh...excuse me a minute.” Arma spoke suddenly, breaking the girl’s chain of thoughts. Titania felt as if she had been slapped with cold water as Arma made his way to the shorter girl. Why, there was no one who was resistant to her charms. Even girls worshipped her while boys succumbed to her looks. She also had perfect grades, a witty personality and everything that boys would look in for an ideal girl. What did one short girl have that Titania didn’t?!

As Titania mull over this, Arma took out the ring he saw Zessica staring at for just a short while. Even thought it was brief, her eyes lingered on it longer than she did for the rest. The brunette examined the small ring closely. It was a slightly thick braided silver ring that had three tiny ruby embellished on it.

“Hey Zessica, give me your hand for a second.” Arma suddenly called as he walked towards the quiet girl. She watched him inquisitively as he took her left hand even when she didn’t permitted him to do so yet and let a small gasp escape when he gently placed it on her ring finger. The silver ring slipped in easily, though it was slightly loose. For the first time, Arma actually took notice of her small hands. They were small, like a child but unlike one, it was cold. Her fingers were small too but slim. Arma’s own hand would almost cover her hand since it was just that petite.

“Arma, you are well aware of what you just did right?” Zatch’s voice broke his chain of thoughts. The brunette blinked at Zatch who was smiling broadly. Phoenix was beside him giggling like a middle school girl she was. Arma frowned as he then turned to Zessica, who was once again blushing furiously as she tried to hide it by pulling down her hood. This made the tall lad blink again; staring at the ring on her hand and wondering what he did that would cause such a reaction.

“Arma...this is a wedding ring...When someone is getting married or is engaged you place the ring on the left ring finger...” Zessica meekly answered the question that was spiralling around the dense mind of Arma. Even when he got his answer, it took him a full minute to fully absorb what she said. Once he did, he blinked and stared at the ring before flaring up like a volcano going to erupt.

“Oh shoot oh shoot oh shoot oh shoot! Holy cow! Holy cow! I honestly didn’t know! I am so sorry! Oh hell this is so embarrassing!” Arma burst out loud, fighting himself to bail out of the shop and go crawl up into a hole like the miserable guy he was. He could barely pronounce anything right and was now babbling nonsense while Zatch howled in laughter. Even Phoenix was giggling behind a hand. Arma really wanted to die then, after all, he just randomly picked that finger out since Titania was wearing her ring at that finger too. He also blamed karma to bite him in the neck. It was just this afternoon Zessica had been talking about a wedding and now this had to happen! More than anything, the tall lad wanted to shrivel up and disappear when he heard a child-like giggle.

The giggle not only snapped him back to reality, it made him glance at Zessica who was quivering vigorously. Eventually, she giggled more loudly than ever, openly showing her amused smile. Zessica was still blushing but that only made things all the more better. Just that one smile, unlike Titania’s, she lit up the whole world. There were imaginary rainbows and sparkles here and there and Arma felt his own cheeks flame up not due to embarrassment, but due to the reason why his heart skipped a beat. Zessica’s smile was also contagious because soon, Arma found himself smiling too.

“You are hopeless Arma!” She cried out, now giggling even more. Phoenix’s jaw went ajar in shock and Zatch’s eyes froze at Zessica’s smile. Stabs beamed and practically launched himself off the couch while crying out at the shopkeeper to bring a camera to capture the rare moment. Titania on the other hand, became quite for once, her eyes shadowed by the fringe of her chestnut hair. She then smirked silently, observing the short girl as she murmured something low enough that no one could hear.

“Well played Zessica, Well played...”

Author's note: Yesh! I am back people! Sri lanka was fun to visit but not so fun when you have motion sickness and two shopaholics (mom and aunt) Anyway, its been 11 days since i last updated so i sort of rushed this. Please notify me any mistakes you find in this k?

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