A sharp clap echoed through the hall.
Professor Eveline's heels cut across the floor like blades, commanding absolute silence.
"Alright! That's enough. Class dismissed." Her icy gaze scanned the room. "Saturday morning. Don't even think about being late. Understood?"
The students bowed. "Yes, Professor!"
Eveline glided out like a storm queen, her mere presence still suffocating the room several seconds after she left.
Isolde, humiliated beyond reason, spun on her heel and stormed off, her braid whipping behind her like a furious tail.
Elion watched her go, an amused huff escaping him.
When he turned back—
Aria was still there.
Still pink.
Still clutching her hands together over her stomach.
Still refusing to look up.
Still squirming like she couldn't decide whether to run away or melt into the floor.
Her breath was uneven.
Her ears were red. Every few seconds, her fingers fidgeted nervously, tangling and untangling.
Elion stepped toward her.
She froze, again.
He reached out and lightly traced his finger from the corner of her jaw down to her chin.
Aria's eyes fluttered shut, a tiny shiver running through her.
Her lips parted in a soft, trembling inhale.
He almost felt like kissing her.
Almost.
He felt the urge rising, almost uncontrollably.
But he held himself back.
Instead, he murmured softly, "I'll see you after dinner? Your room?"
"Un…" Aria breathed out weakly, barely audible, nodding like a shy rabbit.
Elion's voice deepened with amusement. "Or…"
Her head snapped up instantly, eyes huge.
"…we could have dinner together."
The shine in her eyes said everything.
He smiled. "I'll take that as a yes."
But the moment exploded like glass.
"WHAT— THE— HELL!?"
Two figures stood behind them, jaws dropped so far that they might've hit the floor.
Cindy and Lily stared like the world had ended.
"I TOLD YOU!" Lily screeched."TOLD YOU, TOLD YOU, TOLD YOU, I KNEW SOMETHING WAS GOING ON!"
Cindy shoved Elion aside with zero hesitation, and he let himself be moved, mostly out of shock.
"ARIA. LOOK AT ME."Cindy grabbed her shoulders."What. Is. This!?"
Aria immediately turned her face away, cheeks glowing, lips pressed together in mortified silence.
"Aria! No, NO, don't do that! Don't hide!" Cindy yelled."A, ARE YOU SERIOUS!? You— YOU— AND— HIM!?"
She pointed at Elion with the outrage of someone accusing a demon of stealing their family heirloom.
Elion lifted both hands innocently. "I'm standing right here, you know."
Lily marched straight up to him, grabbed his collar, and yanked him down.
"What did you do to her?! Talk!"
Elion's smile deepened.
"Why do you assume I would do anything to my Aria?"
The word echoed.
My.
Aria swayed on her feet.
Cindy nearly fainted.
Lily's brain shut off for two full seconds before rebooting with a violent squeal inside her chest.
Why is he so handsome when he acts like this!? Focus! FOCUS! THIS IS FOR ARIA, NOT FOR YOU—
"M—MY—!? Since when—!? Since— WHAT!?" Lily stammered, utterly floored by his boldness.
Elion gently removed her hands from his collar, stepping back with a slow, confident grace.
Then he looked at Aria again.
"I'll see you later," he said softly.
He turned to leave, pausing only long enough to add:
"I think you three have… important things to discuss."
Aria nodded weakly.
Cindy and Lily closed in on her like interrogators preparing for war.
As Elion left the hall, he felt dozens of gazes drilling into his back.
Confusion. Curiosity. Envy. Shock.
He didn't bother to suppress the quiet smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
Things were about to become far more interesting than they had any right to be.
The moment Elion stepped out of the hall, the air around Aria changed.
Like prey caught between two very hungry predators.
Cindy and Lily slowly turned toward her, their gazes sharpening into something terrifyingly focused.
Aria gulped.
"…Girls?" she whispered, smiling wryly.
Cindy lunged first.
"ARIA. START TALKING."
Lily joined in with equal ferocity.
"Yes. TALK. NOW. Immediately. From the beginning. No pauses. No stuttering. No cute, shy blushing. WE WILL NOT BE DISTRACTED."
Aria squeaked, taking a tiny step back, but Cindy and Lily boxed her in instantly.
Lily leaned in, eyes narrowed to slits. "Why were you blushing like a maiden in her first romance novel?"
Cindy pointed at Aria's chest accusingly. "And why were your hands like this—" she mimicked Aria's shy pose, intertwining her fingers over her stomach, "—like you were holding a bouquet and waiting for a confession!?"
Aria turned even redder.
"I—I wasn't—I mean— it wasn't—"
Cindy grabbed her shoulders.
"ARIA. Please. We love you. We will support you. But we need answers."
Lily nodded solemnly."We are prepared to stay up all night if we must."
Aria stared at them helplessly.
Then she whispered, barely audible:
"…It just happened."
Both of them froze.
"…What?" Cindy croaked.
"It… just happened," Aria repeated, cheeks burning. "I don't know. I didn't plan it. He just—he just touches me and—and I can't think straight…"
Her voice dropped to a whisper of pure mortification.
"I don't know what he's doing to me."
Cindy and Lily stared at her.
Then they slowly turned toward each other.
Their expressions were identical:
Understanding.
Resignation.
The crushing inevitability of fate.
Lily exhaled dramatically. "Oh no…"
Cindy nodded grimly. "Oh yes…"
They turned back to Aria.
"Aria," Cindy whispered with the seriousness of delivering a prophecy, "why him? Of all people?Why Elion? Not to be rude, but. You know what I mean."
Aria blinked.
Her answer came without hesitation.
"…Do you need to ask?"
Silence.
Cindy and Lily looked at her.
Looked at each other.
Then, in perfectly synchronized realization—
"…Oh."
"OH."
They both nodded slowly, jaws loosening.
"Aria…" Lily murmured, rubbing her forehead, "…you've fallen for a pretty boy."
"A dangerously pretty boy," Cindy added.
Aria shrank, hands covering her face. "I can't help it…"
Cindy sighed deeply, dramatically. "Why do pretty boys cause so much suffering?"
Lily shook her head. "Why are we even surprised? Aria always had a type."
Aria peeked through her fingers. "What type?"
"The 'makes-your-heart-race-and-your-brain-stop-working' type," Cindy shot back instantly.
"The type who lifts your chin with his finger and ruins your emotional stability," Lily added.
Aria whimpered, sliding down to crouch on the floor, face crimson.
"I hate how accurate that is…"
Cindy and Lily crouched with her, patting her comfortingly.
"It's okay."
"We understand."
"We'll support you."
"And interrogate him later."
Aria snapped her head up. "NO. You are NOT interrogating him—!"
But it was already too late.
The two girls exchanged a lethal smile.
The kind that promised chaos.
"Oh, yes, we are," Lily said.
"Absolutely," Cindy agreed.
"It is our duty as your friends."
Aria groaned into her hands, energy draining from her soul.
Why did first love come with so much suffering?