chapter seventeen
dreaming of two
choices

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I didn't immediately return to my class. Not because I feared the rumors or hadn't forgiven my friends. No. Because I didn't wish to be selfish and leave Raven as soon as old allies returned.

Honestly, I didn't care what he thought.

But I cared how he felt.

A lot.

"A top morning to you, Missus Relia!" I greeted as soon as I entered through the double doors of the library. The woman tipped an imaginary hat in return.

"Same to you, dearie. You might want to check up on the young lad. I think I smell burned eggs from a mile away, don't you?"

I nodded, sweatdropping. Concern kicked my insides into overdrive, and I clambered up the stairwell and didn't bother knocking.

Mistake one: I barged in.

Mistake two: my eyes were wide open.

The eggs looked dead on a rusted black pan, left abandoned without a proper ending speech. A spatula lay on the counter of the kitchenette like it had been defeated in a wrestling match.

A few paces away was Raven—sprawled on his stomach, face-first onto the tatami, looking like he had tripped from the bathroom.

"You good?" I asked, unsure whether to step in or run out screaming.

He let out a strangled groan, muffled by his own bare arms. "You weren't supposed to see me like this."

"Like what?"

"Like I totally didn't leave two poor embryos to burn to take a quick shower."

"And...?"

"And couldn't find a hoodie because," he rose up to a cross-legged position, pouting at me, "somebody thought it was great to steal three out of my five hoodies, and the dormitory launder is out of order."

Mistake three: I laughed out loud. Like clutching-my-sides and slouching-against-the-doorframe kind. His abashment didn't concede.

"Get a tee-shirt."

"I don't own tee-shirts, y'know."

"You're telling me you wear hoodies in summer?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, you little baby boy," I teased, shutting the door behind me. "What about the 'Mandarin Suit'?"

His nose scrunched.

"That's for special occasions—only when I'm dining alone or I'd jinx my date to be complimented by some random dude."

"I see green now?"

"No, you don't."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I must give you this~"

"Shut up, Serena."

"The lavender really brings out your eyes~"

"I'm literally shirtless in front of my only friend. You don't get to narrate it like we're in a romantic musical."

"We starred in one when I asked you to the Scavenger Hunt." I picked a towel from his open chest and tossed it to him. The boy draped it over his neck instantly, like he would have disappeared if he didn't have fabric clinging to his skin.

"Pardon me for trying to impress you with my culinary skills. I wasn't set on avenging your nose."

I watched him stand up, dust off his shorts, and freeze at the counter, trying to salvage something from the mess of a breakfast that lay there.

I walked over, reaching for the bowl he had used for beating the eggs. Our hands brushed, but he didn't freeze or flinch like he used to.

"Why don't we start over and you teach me how to sauté an egg, Raven?"

He grinned. "I'll teach you to marinate, stir-fry, and barbecue an egg on the condition that you don't use it on pitiable humans like me."

"Deal."

— xoxo —

Greninja dove right through the deep bushes, recharging, I presumed. My heart nearly stopped when the opponent’s Espeon neared. Urging my Delphox faster, we managed to catch it off-guard and sweep it off its paws.

Three seconds.

A Gengar tried scoring under the cover of its Unite move—Shadow Cloak. We killed it.

Time up.

Our team won. Mid-diff. High excitement. I was the MVP for once. Ash liked my performance immediately, even sending the first "Nice!" Alolan Vulpix compliment.

For some reason, I could picture Raven with a Greninja similar to Ash's. A minikin with unruly black hair, bright brown eyes with stars of amber studded in. A breath warm enough to tickle your neck, hands strong enough to hold you while trembling.

A partner for a girl who wasn't a witch or a fire-breathing fox. A partner who wasn't just blue webbed feet, nonchalant eyes, and shuriken-launching armada.

It came easy.

Picturing Raven in Ash's profile.

But the other way around? Thinking of Ash as Raven? A guy who'd body-sacrifice for my fox, who'd dive to the left to save my hide, who'd always send the most positive of stickers even after a loss—they didn't match Raven.

Regardless of how our banters went, how he'd sometimes get under my skin, I just couldn't fathom him as an energetic boy, bursting with reckless energy.

Raven was soft, careful, guarded. Ash was the opposite. He was reckless—calculated in terms of going over a game, virtual.

But it didn't mean that I saw any less of a boy who just decided to play every day without any official wording or invite, just because you show up at the same time.

I twisted my pillow, falling into the covers. Vanilla lingered somewhere in the room. His hoodie. The one I had stolen that day he offered it under the rain. Dark grey, just like his portrayal.

But quite the opposite, just like his soul. Warm, smelling like cake, inviting. Heat warmed my insides, the weirdo butterflies taking flight.

Since when did I start comparing Raven to Ash? Raven to other guys who were part of my life?

Flipping my phone over, I turned the light off so the stars wouldn't catch me blushing and whisper the secret I now guarded to him.

Is this really just a mere crush?

I knew the answer.

No.

It wasn't.

But which him?

That night I dreamed about sunlit fields, an unrestricted cream dress, sprinkling rain that drenched us in sweet laughter and vanilla. A black-haired boy chased me into the meadows until we slumped to the grassy glades, chuckling.

When I asked his name, he didn't reply. A wistful melancholy crossed over his face. Just before everything swirled away, a familiar voice echoed:

"Raven or Ash. Your pick, Serena."

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Next up, a little misstep pushes Raven away for some reason. Will Serena find out why?

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x