We followed Señor Uhl to the gymnasium, where we were met with the sight of fold-out tables and posters of what I assumed were past Spring Fling dances.

"You will have half an hour to prepare your ideas for the Spring Fling theme," Ulh warned us. "Use the materials around you to draw inspiration. When the time is up, you will present your ideas in front of the entire school. May the best theme win."

And with that, he shut the doors, leaving Seamus and I in the huge, empty gymnasium with Toby who didn't look at either of us; he was too absorbed in cutting and pasting something together.

"So, Krel," Seamus said, slugging an arm around my shoulder and walking us both to the center of the gym. "I know we got off on the wrong foot last year, but I really do want to be friends."
"We are friends," I said, confused as we reached the tables. I absentmindedly picked up a green poster that had the silhouette of a girl in a grass skirt on it. "Aren't we?"

"Of course," Seamus assured, grabbing a pair of scissors and slicing colorful paper to ribbons. "I just want to take advantage of our time together and get closer to you, and what's-her-name."
"Her name is Lunalis," I corrected, feeling defensive of my Ventil friend. "And she doesn't really trust easily, so it will take a while to become her friend. Parsons; keltons, even."

"Oh, that's a shame," he said, eyes glancing over me for a split second before turning back to his project. "And here I thought we could get real close before I asked her to the Spring Fling."

I nearly choked on my own saliva. Lunalis? Go to the high school dance?! With SEAMUS, of all people?! "I see," I said, keeping my eyes down on my shaking hands.
"Hey, Krel," Seamus said after a pause. "If you're willing to help a bro out, I'd like it if you put in a good word for me when you next talk to Lunalis; she seems to like you a lot. I'm sure it won't be a problem. Right?"

His hand was back on my shoulder, but this time it was less casual, and I could feel the pad of his thumb pressing into the back of my neck. "No problem at all," I whispered. "Bro." Seamus slapped me roughly on the back. "Great," he grinned. "Then I guess I'll see Lulu at the ice cream parlor sometime this weekend. Make sure she wears something nice; it's her date with destiny, after all!"

I wanted to hurl as he walked away laughing his head off like it was the funniest thing in the world to openly mock Lunalis. "She hates being called that," I couldn't help but mutter once he was gone. "Pssst!" Toby hissed, beckoning me over. Slowly, I trudged over, and my yelp of surprise was silenced with a hand when Toby pulled me under the folding table, letting the cheap cloth over-top of it hide us from view.

"Did Seamus just ask Lunalis out on a date?!" Toby asked incredulously. "He's gonna get himself killed by her!"
"Maybe not," I sighed, thinking of the way Lunalis' eyes sparkled when she received her gift from Seamus. "She seems to have taken a liking to him."

Toby's eyes were blown wide open in shock, and his mouth was hanging open. I was about to check if he was still alive when he closed his mouth and started rambling. "This is horrible! I can't believe the Krellis ship is SINKING!!!"
"The what?" I asked, horribly confused.

"Ugh, never mind," Toby waved me off. "Look; Seamus wants Lunalis to go out on a date with him this weekend, right?"
"Correct."
"And you like her too, right? Like, 'like' like her, right?" I nodded slowly.

"Great. So, to keep him from scoring your girl, we beat him to the point and get you to ask Lunalis out first!"
"Toby, that is an insane idea," I hissed. "She could refuse me!"

"That's where the Love Guru comes in and works his magic," Toby smirked, pointing his thumbs towards his chest. I just stared, blinking curiously. "Me, dude. I'm the Love Guru. Look; the plan is to get you on a date with her without Lunalis knowing you're on a date."
"So...you mean not telling her?"
"Exactly!"

"I don't know," I peeked out the tablecloth at Seamus' back, who was talking with someone. When he turned, my breath caught in my chest as I saw it was Lunalis, looking over his project. "Ooh, this is getting spicy," Toby grinned, looking from over my shoulder.

My rapidly fluttering heart turned into a harsh thud of anger and jealousy when she laughed at a joke Seamus made. "Don't you want to be in that position, Krel?" Toby asked when I turned back to face him. "Be the one she comes looking for in her free time? The dude who makes her laugh and smile so brightly the sun's rays can't compare to it?"

"Alright," I growled. "I'll do it." As I stood up to make my approach, Toby launched himself at my ankles and brought me crashing to the floor. "Dude, you can't just walk out there," Toby hissed, dragging me back under the table. "You need to know how to woo her."
"Woo her?" I asked, confused. "I was just going to be myself and talk with her."

Toby sighed and put a hand on my shoulder, tutting like I was an idiotic child. "Krel. Sweet, sweet Krel. No high school girl wants that!" I gave him a raised eyebrow in response. "Look, this is the first time you've ever fallen for a girl. You're brand new to the delicate art of flirting, and thankfully, you have a master to show you the way to greatness!"

************

After school, I met up with Lunalis, who was hanging around with Douxie, Archie perched happily on her shoulders. After the incident with the pixies, he'd taken a liking to curling up around her neck like a furry, black scarf, sometimes even falling asleep there. "Hello," I waved to them.

Lunalis' eyes lit up happily when she saw me. "Krel," she exclaimed, tackling me in a hug once Archie had dismounted. "So....did you present your idea for the Spring Fling?!"
"Um, yes," I lied. "I went for an intergalactic theme, with stars and advanced technology. Unfortunately, I lost to Seamus and his Hawaiian theme."

"Hey, that was mine last year," Steve said bitterly, pouting and crossing his arms across his chest. "Oh, stop being a drama queen, Steve," Claire said with a slight eye roll before giving Archie, who had hopped back onto Lunalis, a scratch under the chin. I felt happy when she didn't flinch away from Claire's close proximity to her. Remember the dating advice, my brain reminded me.

Slowly, I came around Lunalis' side, faked a yawn, and tried to put my arm around her shoulder. "Chicks LOVE a subtle gesture to show a guy is interested in them," Toby assured me from under the table."Brushing some loose hair behind their ear, trying to hold her hand while you walk, even putting a hand on her lower back as she's walking through a doorway; just be sure to aim high, or you're gonna get slapped HARD. I speak from experience..."

Unfortunately, Lunalis walked somewhere else just before my arm landed across her shoulders, and I ended up stumbling into the bike racks and falling. I could hear Toby facepalm from behind me and groan, "I said subtle gestures, Krel!"

"Are you okay?" Lunalis asked, helping to pull me to my feet. "Y-yeah," I said, risking a quick glance at Toby. He mouthed, Do it now! "So, Lunalis," I said, trying to lean against a wall before realizing there wasn't one there and stumbling again. "Want to feel my shirt? It is made of boyfriend material."

Lunalis looked at me with surprise, mouth dropped open in shock, and I immediately felt like wanting to curl up into a ball and die. Toby facepalmed again from behind us, and the smack was so audible, people craned their heads towards the sound. "But you already are my boy friend," she said, confused. "Well, one of them, at least. There's also Toby, Jim, Douxie, Archie, Steve, Seamus-"

Abort! Abort! Abort!!! Toby screamed silently at me. "Ah, I see," I said, stomach sinking even lower in my gut if possible. The plan had backfired in the worst way possible. I, in the words of Toby Domzalski, had just been 'Friend-Zoned'. It meant the worst possible outcome in the roulette game of love had just happened.

"So, Lunalis, you free this evening?" Toby asked, sidling up to her side and grinning eagerly. I knew Toby had a fail-safe planned in case Friend-Zoned happened, but he had withheld information from me, saying it was a surprise. "Yes, I think so," she said, looking to me to confirm. I shrugged in response. "Let's go with yes, then."

"Great," Toby grinned. "I'll text Krel the details later. For now, go home and chill; I need to get more people on board for this to happen." And with that, he took off to go find more people to invite to whatever he was planning. Lunalis bumped her shoulder into mine, smiling, then walked off towards the entrance to school, letting me trail behind her and wonder what Toby would be getting up to later tonight.

"So, the weekend's here, right?" Lunalis asked, turning around to walk backwards and face me. "That means no school. We have at least two days to do whatever we want. Any ideas, except my meeting with Seamus and Toby's plan?"

I forced down the sick feeling rising in my throat when she mentioned the redhead's name, and we started trading ideas as we walked back home. Lunalis wanted to go exploring more of Arcadia and the forest surrounding it, and I wanted to stay at home and work on a few inventions. In the end, both of us lost the argument, so we had to brainstorm more ideas.

We ended up walking side by side at one point, and I couldn't help but smile as she examined the terrain around us with wide eyes. No matter how many times she had seen the view on the walk to school, she always found something new and exciting to focus her attention on. It was so adorable, I could feel my heart flutter when she grinned at a butterfly passing overhead.

Even in her human form, she was a goddess, inside and out. Her fawn hair caught the afternoon sunlight in such a way, the reflection on the strands made her entire head look like it was glowing golden. Her shamrock eyes sparkled, darting here and there as she picked up on even the slightest breeze shifting the fallen leaves at her feet.

Every little piece of her was flawless, and I was not willing to let her perfect self be scooped up by another man who couldn't even remember her name.

Wetting my lips nervously, I slowly approached until we were walking perfectly in sync. She didn't look my way twice; she was too busy taking in the breeze that had just passed over us. Subtle gestures, I reminded myself, as I approached and slowly brushed my fingers against hers.

She tensed, and I immediately backed off, until she relaxed again. I tried again, coming close enough to bump shoulders. Either she was completely oblivious to my advances, or she was trying to ignore me and act like I didn't exist. The mistake came when I tried to entwine our fingers together.

Lunalis froze as soon as I fully slipped my fingers into hers, and my feet didn't stop fast enough. Still trying to pull her along with me, I slipped; for such a small person, she had incredible strength and balance, and was about as movable as a mountain. My weight falling caused her to be pulled over, and I found myself turning trying to catch myself, so when she landed on top of me, our faces were in very close proximity to one another.

"What the heck, Krel?!" she yelled at me, shoving herself off me with a rough push on my ribs and yanking me to my feet. "What is with you today? You haven't been acting like yourself at all! Did Toby tell you to do something? I've seen you talking with him way too much between classes."

"Well-" I started.
"I'm not finished!" I shut my mouth. "And another thing; you've been avoiding me like crazy lately! I'm not sick, and being this way isn't contagious!" I knew she was talking about the voices. "Lunalis, I don't see your....condition, as contagious," I said, choosing my words carefully. "It's just-"

Lunalis got up in my face, glaring, and breathed, "If you're really scared of me because of my 'condition', I guess I was wrong about you being my friend."
"No!" I said too quickly. "I'm not scared of you!"
"Then why have you been acting like I don't exist?!"

I faltered once I made eye contact with her bright eyes. Even sparkling with anger and the beginnings of tears, they were strikingly beautiful. Up close, I could pick out little details on her face I hadn't noticed before. The tan and light freckles that had popped up on her skin from spending so much time outdoors. How young she looked with her lips pouted like that. There was a little mole next to her left ear I had the overwhelming urge to touch.

In a way, it was like seeing her for the first time.

After a few minutes of just watching in awe, I noticed my fingers still touching icy skin. Our fingers were still entertwined. Lunalis was studying me just as intently as I had been looking at her. I enjoyed the moment of closeness, and sighed softly. Unfortunately, it seemed to snap Lunalis out of her trance, and she pulled away quickly.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and I thought I saw a hint of pink on Lunalis' face as she whipped hers away from mine and pulled her hand from my grip. Thankfully, the silence was soon shattered by Toby's ringtone. Fishing my phone from the pocket of my sweatpants, I checked my text messages.

Yo, Krelito!
Plan is in motion.
Come 2 the woods @ 5,
Bring warm clothes!

"Who is it?" Lunalis asked, peeking over my shoulder at the message on the screen, the brief awkward moment forgotten. "Toby," I replied, scanning over the more texts that followed. Lunalis struggled to read the small text on the screen, so she eventually gave up and came back to rest beside me. "What did he say?"

I quickly tucked away Toby's plan into my mind and shut off my phone. "Have you ever been to a bonfire?"