THE ELECTRIC BUZZER beeped once more as Remiel's sword landed on Livia's outstretched arm. Growling, Livia pulled herself back into a standing position from her lunge, pulling her mask off. "Damn it."

"What happened to you?" Remiel asked curiously. "You used to play so defensively, but you're so aggressive these days."

The fight had started with three points to Livia. Remiel had clearly been startled by Livia's aggression, by the way she sought out fights instead of counter-hitting like she used to when she was younger.

Livia gave a casual shrug. "I realised playing defensive didn't win when I was against someone who wasn't very aggressive either. Or someone who didn't necessarily make mistakes. This younger student joined the school fencing team and I just couldn't beat her with my usual style no matter what, until I started playing more aggressively."

"Well, you've gotten better."

"You're still beating me."

The score was four to five now. In the time it had taken Remiel to score four points, Livia had only managed to score one lucky leg hit.

Remiel shrugged. "I've learnt for far longer than you have. And I'm physically stronger." That was true. Remiel clearly worked out, and a beat of her sword could almost cause Livia to lose her grasp on her own. That strength was new.

"You've been hitting the gym every day?" Livia laughed, "because it feels like it."

"Twice a week, actually," Remiel said with a grin, "but yes, I've been hitting the gym loads, Livia. You should try it too."

"Once a week, maybe. But not right now. It's my vacation time."

Remiel let out a loud snort. "You'll keep telling yourself that and never actually get on with it. Come on, let's continue the match."

The next point was Livia's, after she baited and stop-hitted Remiel when the other girl overextended. They went on and on, until Remiel eventually ended the match with a perfect fleche. Livia didn't react in time.

"How long it's been since we've fenced each other?"

Livia shrugged as she took off her gear. "One year? We fenced a few times last summer."

"I'm not staying for very long."

"You're going back to Hong Kong with your family, right? I heard. The parents mentioned it."

"Anything you want me to get for you? That you forgot?"

Livia shook her head. "I'm going back during Christmas anyways, doesn't really matter. I think I'm good."

"Christmas is months away," Remiel pointed out. "I'll get you some snacks anyways. The ones you like."

"Thanks."

Both girls were back in their normal clothes now, and Livia returned their gear to the counter. Then, the two girls walked out of the stadium

Of all the places she'd expected to run into the Calvert-Egerton twins, the stadium had not been one of them. But that was there they pulled up, along with two other boys that Livia vaguely recognised. Remiel glanced at Livia, and Livia shrugged.

She was on good terms with Zeth now. And Remiel hadn't said hi to them yet.

"Livia!" Zeth grinned, strolling forward. "And Remiel Wong! Been a while, Remy."

"Zethus," Remiel said, offering a mock salute. "And Amphion, of course. You two have grown even taller than before, I swear. It's terrifying."

"How long are you staying?" Amphion asked curiously, tilting his head with a grin on his face, ignoring Livia awkwardly standing by the side.

"Not long, about a week," Remiel said. "I'm heading back to Hong Kong after this, I'm really just here to visit our grandma."

"And us?" Zeth joked. "Good to see you though, Remiel. We should hang out sometime."

"Definitely, definitely." Remiel glanced at Livia. "We're heading to lunch now, what are you guys here for?"

Amphion showed the basketball he had tucked between his arm and body. "This, obviously. Can't you see?"

"Okay, fine, I should have figured that out," Remiel rolled her eyes, taking a step towards where their car was parked. "Alright, see you boys around. Have a nice day!"

"That was awkward," Livia murmured.

Remiel glared at her. "I wasn't the one who remained taciturn and silent and stood by the side."

"Amphion wasn't being fucking horrible for once, I thought that me speaking might ruin that, you know. I'm just being considerate."

"Stop your sarcasm for once in your life."

"Never, Remiel, never. Come on, let's go eat. I'm starving."

Halfway through lunch at the local cafe, though, and Remiel held up her phone with one brow raised. "Amphion asks if we're free for dinner tonight."

"We're?"

"They're not just going to invite me," Remiel said, exasperated. "Of course you're going to be tagging along, whether you like it or not."

"Say I'm busy or something. And then go alone."

"Livia, you're coming with me."

"Fuck you."

"Shut it."

"Bring Pamela instead," Livia said. "Auntie Xu's making hong siu yok tonight, I want my food."

"There's going to be plenty of leftovers. Red braised pork belly can be recooked over and over again anyways, so you're coming with me, Livia. Tell your parents we're not going back to dinner tonight."

Livia raised a brow. "What, are we just going to stay out until whenever?"

"There's no point in heading home," Remiel pointed out. "Might as well go shopping. I'll tell the boys yes."

Which was fair enough. She did really have to stop that instinct of immediately wanting to escape from and avoid the boys. It was bad and made her seem cowardly, and she hated seeming cowardly. Not that it seemed to be affecting her subconscious choices in any way.

But how was she supposed to face Amphion? If it was dinner with the four of them, she'd have to talk to him. And how did she do that? How do you look a boy who you once loved in the eyes and act like everything was okay? That he didn't break your heart without a second glance and leave your spirit humiliated in the dust?

There were only very few people Livia could ever accredit with having broken her before, and Amphion Calvert-Egerton was one of them. The people closest to you were also always the ones who knew exactly where to twist that knife, whether they wanted to or not.

As if noticing her internal debate, Remiel spoke again. "Have you gone to Melody's...?"

"Not the time yet," Livia quickly replied. "It's early next month."

"I'll be gone by then."

"You don't need to go even if you were here. You never knew her anyways."

"You're over that."

"It's sad, but I'm over it. It's been like, six years, Remiel. I'm not still going to be moping over it. I've moved on. We all have. We all miss her, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"See? This is you over something. You're not over Amphion. When you're over something or someone, you don't avoid them."

"Well, maybe it has something to do with the fact that one's dead and one's not."

"Livia."

"What? It's true."

Remiel swore under her breath, placing down her fork. "Dear mighty god, Livia. That just sounds so wrong."

"But it's the truth," Livia protested. "Besides, it's not like I was in love with Melody. We were great friends, yes, but like... it's different."

"And you were in love with Amphion?"

"Sort of, yeah," Livia muttered. "It wasn't the biggest crush in the world, but they were still feelings. And it's difficult to face him again knowing that, well, that happened and at the same time it didn't."

"Livia, you poor, poor thing."

"Thank you very much for that, Remiel. Thank you so much for that. It really is appreciated. Absolutely necessary. I'm extremely touched."

"Stop it."

"No, you stop it."

Their eyes met, with Livia glaring and Remiel's gaze filled with concern. The latter sighed. "You do you. You're not a kid anymore, you know what you should and shouldn't do."

"I do."

"Can you look me in the eyes and say that you've put him down completely?"

"Romantically?" Livia murmured, "I think so. It would have never happened anyways."

"Is that the only reason you're over it? Because you think it would have never happened?"

"Look at him, and then look at me." Livia raised one brow. "You really think we would have ever worked out?"

"You've known each other since you were children."

"So what? That changes nothing. I'm not the kind of girl he'd ever have feelings for, and he's not the right one for me either."

At that, Remiel pursed her lips. She was silent for a long time, before starting, slowly, "Do you remember when you were fourteen?"

"No."

"Well, I do. Remember that time we were going through pictures of that one actor who played the main male character of that one show?"

"You could not be any more vague."

"The one about the fire goddess who had to go through a bunch of reincarnations to reach the fullness of her abilities and all her love stories in the human world."

"Oh, that one! Of course I do, of course I do." Livia grinned. "That actor was hot."

"Yeah," Remiel murmured, "and you proclaimed that. Very loudly. You didn't notice, but I did, the way Amphion looked at you at that moment."

Livia's brows scrunched. "Like what?"

"Like all his hopes and dreams had just been dashed."

"Wait, what?" Livia shook her head. "You're basically suggesting that he has feelings for me because he looked at me funny once four years ago. That doesn't mean anything, Remiel. And if he has feelings for me, he'd have said it long ago. He's that kind of person."

"Not if he thought you never had feelings for him."

"Well, I admitted it. Last year."

"There hasn't exactly been much of a chance in between for him to say it back, has there?"

Livia's eyes narrowed as she stared at her cousin, studying her, trying to read what she was actually trying to reveal. "You know something, don't you?"

"I do. I don't know if it's still true, but I'm willing to bet on it. Are you?"

"No, not really. I'm not someone who likes to take blind risks."

"You should talk to Amphion. Not about what nasty shit you said to each other last year. But about the things you've been avoiding. I know you, Livia, and if you were truly over it you wouldn't feel the need to avoid him at all. You're a stubborn person. You should talk to him. Alone. Civilly. I think you'd find that there's a lot to discuss."

"I don't want to talk to him, Remiel. It's not going to change anything. The best bet is for us to just coexist peacefully. That's all I ask for."

"Do you not want things to go back in time?"

"Of course I do," Livia said with a short, abrupt laugh. "Of course I do. But I'm not sixteen anymore and there's no point pretending that I am. Those days are long past me. There's no reason to linger in the past."

"Not even one last try?"

"It stopped being the thing I wanted a while ago."

"No it hasn't. Stop lying to yourself." Remiel picked up her fork to continue eating. "You've never been a liar, Livia."

"Well, people change."

"And not always for the better, I suppose. I prefer the older you. Sixteen year old you would just have charged to Amphion the moment you'd stepped foot in Briarville and demanded an answer out of him."

"I'm two years past that."

"Yes," she murmured, shaking her head solemnly, "I can see that. You've become a bit more mature. Not by much, though, just a tiny bit."

"Thank you, Remiel. Such kind words."

"You should talk to him."

"No."

"One way or another, it will happen," Remiel pointed out matter-of-factly. "If it happens sooner, you might still have a chance of patching this all up. Later?" Remiel let out a scoff. "It's still in your hands, Livia. Take the chance before it's too late."

"He doesn't have feelings for me."

"He's nowhere as close with Lila or Brie as he is with you. It's not like they're not friends or anything like that, Zeth is just as close with those two as he is with you. They're friends with Sarah, but again, never as much as they were with you either."

"We were neighbours."

Remiel shook her head. "He always had just an extra bit of heart just for you."

"Never stopped us from arguing."

"Because you're both too headstrong. You both are so insistent on maintaining the way you do things. That's why you never, ever seem to get along. But I always thought that it was just because you both cared a little too much."

"I think you're overreading this."

"I don't," Remiel said blankly. "I trust myself with this kind of thing. And I just don't think I'm overreading this at all, Liv. Give it some thought."

Livia did not reply.

Remiel shrugged. "Either way. Dinner with the twins tonight, you're not escaping it and I'm not going alone."

"I think I already agreed."

"Just making sure," Remiel sighed. "I can never be assured of anything regarding you, Livia Wong. Especially not these years."

Livia frowned, but she chose to remain silent and continue indulging in her burger rather than making any kind of rebuff. It would be pointless anyways. Arguing with Remiel had never ended in her favour before. It wasn't the two years of experience, it was the way Remiel always managed to remain rational. While Livia could still be prompted into anger, Remiel remained utterly cool-headed and unaffected by anything thrown her way. Nothing ever ruffled her feathers.

In a way, Remiel was a better version of Livia, and Livia rather thought that the reason she stuck to this particular cousin like glue was because a small part of her brain believed that if she spent enough time around Remiel, Livia could become more like her too.

And wouldn't that be great?

Of course, life didn't work that way and a great deal of things would be easier if it did.

They left the cafe after they finished their meal, and since Remiel was adamant in refusing to head back home, Livia drove them to the nearby shopping centre (the one she had been with Lila some time prior) and they began a brief shopping trip there. Brief, because they soon decided they were bored of spending money on things they did not necessarily like anyways, and instead headed down to the beach.

"One thing I miss about Briarville, other than nai nai, is the beach," Remiel murmured as the two girls walked up and down the coastline.

"You don't like Briarville."

Livia knew that Remiel didn't hold the same kind of nostalgia towards Briarville. This was not some land of dreams and fantasy for Remiel, just a place where her grandmother lived. Remiel had few friends in the town since she rarely stayed here for a prolonged period of time, and she'd never quite bothered either.

"I don't hate this place or anything, but I certainly don't love it either. I'm not you."

"I can tell."

Remiel gave a faint nod. "I never quite got this place's magic."

"It's different for every person, I suppose."

"Yes," Remiel murmured. "It certainly is. You hold onto this town like a falling man to a straw. I bet you tell yourself that everything's just going to become okay when it comes to summer and you're in Briarville again, all year round."

Livia's mouth was dry. "I used to."

"Not since last year, eh?"

"Not since last year."

Remiel shook her head. "This town has become your crutch, Livia."

"I wanted it to be my crutch. I chose it."

"Don't you regret it now? The mistake with letting anything become your sole crutch is that when it changes, when it alters into something you can't recognise anymore, you are irreparably damaged too."

"I don't need lessons from you," Livia said quietly. "I've figured all that out myself."

"Sometimes, I wonder how you can even stand to be here. Especially after everything that happened with Melody. It's just strange to me."

"We were so young then, I didn't let it affect me. My mind just didn't link it to this town, I guess. Melody is Melody, Briarville is Briarville."

Remiel sighed, lowering herself onto a large rock. "I don't want to keep talking about this because it's just making me depressed, so I'll just leave it here with a final message to you," a turn of her head, and she was staring at Livia, one brow raised. "Talk to Amphion. Get this situation done and over with. As quickly as possible. Aim to try and be on civil terms with him, if you get what I mean. It'll be useful."

"The practical solution."

"And you're a practical person, aren't you, Livia? You know this is the right choice, so stop avoiding it and being a coward. Get straight to the point. It's already nearly the end of July, you don't have forever."

"One month left," Livia said quietly.

"And are you planning on spending the rest of this time hiding away?"

"No."

"Talk to him tonight," Remiel murmured. "I'm sure Zeth would agree. Talk to him. I think both of you need to sort out your fine and delicate feelings." Remiel shook her head in disgust. "Never thought there'd be a day you of all people handle something in such an ugly way. I'd expect this from someone like Pamela, who enjoys a spectacle and a large-scale fiesta. Not you. I thought you were more like me."

"Well, we're different people." Livia raised her chin stubbornly. And this was where she and Remiel differed. Because Remiel was already perfect and older and able to handle everything by herself, while Livia was still the lesser no matter what. People wondered why she felt like she always lived under someone else's shadow despite being the older sister, and this was why: Remiel Wong, who'd already taken every step for Livia before she had.

She didn't hate it, but she certainly didn't love it either. It came with being anyone except the oldest in a family, that pressure to measure up.

"It's in your hands."

"I know what to do."

Remiel studied her. These two girls, who looked so alike in appearance. Mirrors of each other, but in different shades.

Remiel wasn't happy with how Livia had dragged this on. Livia could tell this very clearly, and Remiel hadn't bothered hiding that when they were alone either. Livia wasn't happy with how she'd handled this situation herself—it was just that every time she wanted to do something about it, she'd chicken out. She'd become scared and turn away before the words that needed to be said left her mouth.

So, Livia repeated, more firmly this time, "Yeah. I know what to do. I'll have this sorted out by tonight."

Remiel gave a light nod in response.