"It's okay, Elsa." I had to take her off my head before she tried to pounce on the grumpy man. He gave me a look, but it didn't disturb me in the slightest. "Let's go." I prompted Alicia to come outside with me.
After a quick exchange of numbers, we shared a look of happiness.
"Funny how we randomly met! My card reading said I'd meet someone."
"Card reading?" I inquired and stared at her bunny. "And he's seriously your boyfriend?"
She smirked and looked around to make sure no one was in the hall. "I'll show you if you close your eyes for a moment. He doesn't come with clothes."
We both giggled at her hushed whisper before I placed my hands over my face. "Show me your magic trick."
I felt the shift in magic in the air, and then there was a long sigh.
"Alicia," the voice whined. "Why do you like showing me off?"
"Because you're my boyfriend?" she answered. "A very naked one, though."
He grunted and there was another wave of magic. "Your friend can move her hands already. I want to get this over with so we can go home. I'm hungry."
I moved my hands to see the tall man. He had to be 6'4" and he immediately reminded me of Jax because of his bright red hair. Adding the pale skin, red eyes, and black attire, he really reminded me of Jax, or like an alternate of Jaxsin.
"You look like my boyfriend," I voiced.
"Really?! Roxas! You have a twin!"
"No," he dryly declared. "I'm only going to guess your boyfriend is the guy on the poster with the flaming hair."
"Yes," I replied. "To be fair, all four main guys in the posters around the school are my boyfriends."
Alicia was gawking while Roxas stood there, speechlessly.
"Weird, huh?" I casually shrugged. "I'm sure it's not often you see a girl with multiple boyfrie-"
"I have six!" she said with pride, which had me speechless as I blinked at her declaration.
"She's actually serious," Roxas added. "I'm just the boyfriend she travels with because I can change into a bunny and the others can't."
"Oh, c'mon. You make it sound like you hate traveling with me. Look! We're making friends!"
"Hmph," he replied. "Whatever."
She beamed and looked at the door. "I shouldn't take too long, but here, Brianne." Pulling out a card from the inside pocket of her blazer, she offered it to me. "You can have this!"
"What's this?"
"It's one of the tarot cards I pulled out when I was doing a reading on myself yesterday," she voiced. "I was nervous about coming over to this school for the art competition, but this card said I'd meet someone who'd let my nerves fade away, which is exactly what you did."
I accepted the card and stared at it. The word UNITY was at the bottom with five colorful flames that were in various colors. The card itself was pink with a holographic golden orange shade.
"This card is super beautiful though. Won't it shorten your deck?" I asked.
"I'm sure you'll give it back to me in the future," she assured me. "You have my number! We have to go back to our home after this, and I may be pretty busy due to the art festival, but I'll be free all summer long! Maybe we can do a girl hang out with Alice!"
The thought made me smile as I thought of Jade. "I have another friend, too, who probably would come along."
"A girl vacation! We can bring all our boyfriends!"
"Too many men," Roxas huffed.
"Oh please. You're just going to get your pride hurt because those guys are all muscled hunks while you always lose muscle whenever you nibble on grass."
"Maybe if you stopped feeding me grass, I wouldn't lose muscle.”
"You're a bunny. I can't feed you carrots. You're gonna get fat."
"Better than nasty hair," he grumbled. "I'm hungry."
"Here." I snapped my fingers and summoned a voucher. I printed and signed my name on it before giving it to Roxas. "This will give you access to the school cafeteria and restaurants. I don't go often since I'm pretty busy, so I have a ton of vouchers. This will get you anything for the day, so go ahead and eat after you're done. It doesn't expire, and it can be used during the festival. It just has a limit during that event."
"That's so nice!" Alicia cheered. "An exchange. We're very thankful, Brianne."
"I'm thankful for meeting you guys. Let's keep in touch."
"Totally," Alicia agreed. "Nice meeting you."
"Pleasure meeting you, and thanks," Roxas expressed his gratitude.
"See you." I waved as they did, before turning around to head to the art room. Lifting the card to stare at it, I admired the artwork.
"She reads tarot cards and her uniform has stars. Why do I feel as though she's super important?"
Slipping the card into the safety of my blazer pocket, I continued to walk down the hall as I lifted my hand to pat Elsa's head. "Good job, Elsa. That girl was a bitch."
"MewMew!" she replied happily as she purred along the way.
Unity. Maybe that card will somehow bring us together one day?
18
Rollercoaster Dream
~FINNICK~
* * *
That's Finnick Rosedale?
Girl, can you believe it? He's been on the trending page for weeks!
You'd never think he has a body like that!
A man who is perfectly fit, does well in school, and paints like a god!
Ugh, we fucked up! Why didn't we try to date him?
Bitch. You were calling him a boring archer for the longest time.
Can you believe he used to be bullied too?
Or that that Elisha bitch was running her mouth and said he raped her.
Did you hear that it wasn't even her? It was her twin sis. Totally crazy.
Imagine if they hadn't investigated and threw Finnick in jail.
Well, we wouldn't be having such eye candy on our walls.
Brianne is so damn lucky. Four fucking hot guys with futures.
Right. She's hot as fuck, powerful like a damn god, and is probably guaranteed a job after graduation.
Don't forget she's rich. Didn't you hear the rumor that she paid off the trip they went on when one of the organizers tried to bribe them?
That's insane. She's a trooper. After the dead girl in the council room, I wasn't sure if they would be okay.
Ya, man. That shit was insane. It's inspiring to see them still thriving.
* * *
Closing the locker door, I took a deep breath to zone out the world around me. I was getting a headache from the commotion over the photoshoot we did. Weeks had passed since the announcement and yet people were still buzzing over it.
In a way, I couldn't blame them. Many were acknowledging that this was going to be the last time we participated in such a huge event.
It kind of amazed me that everyone was really recognizing our growth over the years. I'd definitely changed in comparison to the first semester, when I used my joking, playful banter to hide my real emotions and anxieties.