Your POV 

A few minutes later, Chanel and I have made it onto the outskirts of Petunia mall where we have the perfect view of posh department stores boldly placed. My parents won't be home until seven, so I decide to spend at least an hour more at Petunia, walking without a purpose.

The neatly laid stone tiles shift and disappear into sand as mall scenery turns into beach scenery. Chanel, who had changed into a happier state almost as soon as she finished crying, closes her eyes and gently smiles as the ocean breeze rushes over her. 

For the first time in our lives, she looks free. She looks like the weight of the world has been lifted off her shoulders. 

And I think I know what she feels, for that is what I felt when I saw Shu for the first time in this world. 

My eyes wander around to the Chatime stall, in which I shared my first kiss with Jack behind the building. And by some fate, Layla is there, lonely sipping her ice tea as she watch sun rays hit the ocean and bursts into shimmer diamonds. 

She makes eye-contact with me, surprised. Her eyes widen even more so when she notices Chanel besides me. 

That's right.

I had nearly forgotten.

Chanel and Layla used to best friends too, once upon a time.

And because Chanel has been strangely bubbly ever since letting her feelings out (she thinks she should do that more often, and I agree), she waves and gestures for Layla to come here.

Layla awkwardly nods, finishing her ice tea and discarding it in a nearby bin as she makes her way to us until us three are standing in some triangular formation. 

If we were in an anime, a soft breeze would flow. They would add some flashbacks to when we were close, maybe even some emotional music.

But we aren't in an anime (though, I am in IREL but that has stopped filming) and all I can think about is how awkward this interaction will be. 

"It's been a while," is all I can think of to say. Layla and Chanel both silently nod, and the three of us starts travelling closer to the sea, taking off our shoes to feel the sensation of overlapping waves caressing our feet. 

"How's hanging out with the jerk herself?" Chanel asks Layla. The blonde looks at me, surprised that Chanel's talking foul about Ashley. If I'm being honest, so am I. It wasn't that long ago that Chanel was defending Ashley.

But Layla easily replies, "Terrible. I'm not sure why I'm putting up with it. Maybe it's because the other Elites treat me to iced coffee every morning."

Though this joke is meant to lighten the mood, and it does, Chanel lets out a light laugh and I'm tempted to crack a smile, I stare at the floor and ask, "Can we not talk about Ashley and the Elites right now?"

"Sure," Layla shrugs before slyly adding, "Do you want to talk about anything in particular?"

"Uh, " my cheeks heat up. "Yeah. Shu and I are dating."

"What?" Layla and Chanel excitedly shriek in unison.

I blush even more and nod silently. "It's not that big of a deal..."

Lie.

"Lie!" Layla points at me, repeating my thoughts. "I suspected you two had a thing going on but I didn't know you were full on dating!"

"Have you two kissed yet?" smirks Chanel. The smirk widens when I nod again. "Oh my gosh! (y/n) is growing up! She's not so innocent anymore!"

"We just kissed, it's not like we had sex," I roll my eyes as a laugh escapes my mouth.

"I'll give you tips for that," Chanel says, winking. 

That joke, combined with the usually serious Chanel winking has us three doubling over with laughter. Maybe it's just because we haven't joked in ages and this kind of humor seems utterly hilarious to us laughed deprived humans. Or maybe it's because we're so off guard that the three of us aren't having an awkward conversation.

Either way, I'm glad for it.

Once the laughter dies down Layla pipes up, "I heard Shu Kurenai was actually broadcasted live to us through a TV show."

"Really?" that piques Chanel's interest, though I already know this. "How come we never heard of it?"

"Well, it's an anime," I put in. "Anime isn't that popular."

"True," Chanel nods before furrowing her eyebrows. She glances at me pointedly. "Did you watch it?"

"The anime?" and Chanel nods again. 

With both of them looking at me, I realize that this is a pitchfork in my life. Go one way and submit to peer pressure and the desire to fit in. Go the other way and conquer not being ashamed of who I am and what I love.

The path I should go is obvious. But then Chanel's eyes start burning brighter and brighter, and I am reminded of how acidic they can be when she sees something she doesn't like. And she doesn't like anime.

So like a coward, I shake my head. 

"I don't watch anime," I lie, the word 'coward' running over and over again inside my mind. 

"Good," Chanel breathes a sigh of relief.

"If you don't mind me asking," I hesitate before asking anyway. "Why don't you like anime?"

Layla nods in agreement. "It's just cartoon from a different country. What's so wrong about it?"

Chanel looks at us in confusion. "Don't you remember? When Hayden dumped me-"

"Hayden dumped you?" Layla raises her eyebrows.

"You two dated?" I widen my eyes. 

She stares at us. "Yeah, like officially a year or so ago. Didn't I tell you?"

"No," I say slowly, shaking my head. 

"Oh," her voice diminishes slightly. "I swear I did."

"You only told Harper and Ashley everything," Layla adds with a sad smile. She shakes her head. "Anyways, continue. What happened when Hayden dumped you?"

Chanel's lips form a thin line, grim from either realizing that us three clearly weren't as close as we thought we were back then or from remembering the break up. "I said that I lost feelings too, which I did eventually. But right then it was a lie, only to make to break up mutual and to stop my reputation from being ruined. 

"He didn't lie. He did lose feelings for me, and instead started taking an interest towards this other girl. Who isn't an Elite. A normal school girl. But that wasn't the part that made me angry. He didn't dump me because that girl was prettier or smarter or kinder than me. Not that I'm really kind in the first place.

"Anyway, it was because simply because she liked anime. Hayden loved anime, but I never watched any despite his pleading. So he wanted to talk to her about it, discuss everything about the shows they watched. And it was that stupid, trivial fact that lead to our breakup."

"So yeah," Chanel yawns, looking pretty unbothered considering she was talking about a break up. "I lost my temper and made all those who liked anime be in a new, low rank of Claritate's hierarchy. That way, Hayden couldn't date somebody with that low a rank. So we became a something that wasn't an official relationship but still something. We were like an option to each other, never first but always there. 

"Though nowadays we've definitely drifted. And that girl still is in a low rank. I know I shouldn't overreacted like that, but anime still rubs me the wrong way. I'm just petty like that."

It's silent for a moment as Layla and I process everything. Maybe, considering the shocks and drama of today, I made the right decision, despite hiding a part of myself. If I said I did like anime, would Chanel have reacted badly?

"Let's not dwell on the past too much," Chanel slices through my thoughts, giving a knowing look to me and Layla. "(y/n) is dating somebody, we shouldn't be shifting all the focus to me. Although, I'm very much deserving of it, considering how sexy I am."

So the three of us ditch any serious or negative thoughts weighing us down, letting laughs float into the air as the sun begins to dip into the ocean.

-------------------------

The next day I half-expect to see Shu somewhere along the way to Claritate. But I don't. Rumor has it that he didn't even show up to school.

I glance at Ashley, on the other side of the classroom, finally permitted to sit next to her friends now that the incident is beginning to fade from memory. Would she have something to do with it?

I consider asking Layla about this, but just like previous times she nervously avoids eye-contact. I can't tell if it's because she's been sworn to secrecy or yesterday she was only herself because nobody else was around. Now that I think about it, it's probably both.

"(y/n)?"

A meek voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I glance to my right to see Esme, troubling over a math equation. "Do you think you could help me?"

"Of course," I lean over and instruct her so that she will get the right answer next time she does it. "And there you go!"

I've returned to my previous occupation, doodling on my math exercise book, when Esme asks, "Do you mind watching me to see if I do it right?"

This action unsettles me.

Esme is usually very sure of all of her actions, all of them carefully thought out to avoid any consequences. Thought sometimes annoying, her confidence and stubbornness has become one of her greatest traits.

So now that she's so unsure about something, even it's just about a math problem, it worries me. I turn to look at her fully. And I notice the swollen eyelids and the eyebags. 

"Are you okay?" I whisper, particularly wary of Ashley's blue eyes that sweep over to us, noticing this form of secrecy. 

"No," she whispers back, and I see tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. "Georgia and I talked last night over Skype. A-And..."

"Did you confess?" I ask slowly. "Did she...reject you?"

Esme shakes her head. "No, but she might as well have. She told me started getting closer to this Abioye guy from Venuste a week ago and s-started to develop f-feelings."

I decide not to mention that Abioye is a member of the Supreme Four. But I don't know what to say. I'm at a loss for words, Esme's situation is something that I've never experienced and something that I never want to experiene.

So instead, I just hug her tightly. Wishing and hoping that the warmth from the hug will gradually begin to reach her. She smiles faintly and opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted sharply by the ring of the class phone.

Which never rings.

With an arched eyebrow, Mrs. Norris picks up the phone, "Hello?"

The class is dead silent now, but all we can hear is a distant blur of words from the other side of the phone. Mrs. Norris, however, doesn't seem to have this problem. "I see. Thank you, Ms. Caprit. I shall inform her."

Mrs. Norris perches the phone back onto its stand. She gazes at the class, looking for someone. Her gaze stops at me and my throat goes dry, for some irrational reason. "Ms. (l/n), Shu Kurenai requests your presence right now at the school gates."

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sorry it's so short

word count: 1938