Ylisse High (Fire Emblem: Awakening fanfic)

A shove in the right direction

What would happen if I broke into the vending machine? I could use my textbook...

I blink a few times, trying to drag myself back from the lala land I had lost myself to. Almost immediately, I wish I was back. Important or not, I feel my brain numbing with every word. Stifling something between a yawn and a sigh, I glance up at the clock.

Well, I try try to convince myself, two minutes can't be too bad...right?

Discreetly, I try to start packing up my stuff, partially to shorten the time spent after the bell in this stuffy room, partially to distract myself and preserve my mental soundness. Somehow, though, my papers seem to have been strewn all over. Did a hurricane fly through when I wasn't looking?

Ugh. That wasn't even funny. I mentally flick myself for it as I act as disaster relief, equal parts urgent and too tired to care.

Heh. Now that was a decent joke.

The bell rings just as I drop my last pencil into my bag. I nearly smack five different people in the face with my bag as I swing it on and dash out as quickly as possible. But instead of the river of vaguely familiar faces I expected to swim through, I run righst in to just one.

"Easy there, roadrunner," Gaius says, gently bumping me away.

"Afternoon, Gaius," I reply, hoping the nickname won't stick. "What itbrings you around here? I've never seen you pass by..." I smack my fist into my palm, jumping to a conclusion that seemed actually pretty decent at the time. "You were waiting for a special someone!" I whip back around to face my classmates, scanning their faces for his potential crushes. Gaius interrupts !y investigation by clearing his throat.

"Er, yeah, you went and jumped three steps ahead there. I'm not looking to woo any ladies here, got it? But, uh... Is Zara around?"

I laugh. "You were saying about wooing ladies?" Gaius rolls his eyes.

"I'm not hunting for a date. I'm hunting for my candy. A whole load of it went missing from one of my stashes, and I have a sneaking suspicion of who took it... You're sure Zara isn't here?" He sticks his head up, searching. I raise an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm quite sure about my schedule. I've only got one class with her."

"Well... She might've popped in to, uh...visit..." My turn to roll my eyes.

"You really have no idea how this whole thing works, do you? And anyway, you're the only one that moves quickly enough after class to just sort of meet people on their way out."

"Well... I wouldn't really know with her. Or you, for that matter," Gaius says, defending lamely.

"Hmm? Why wouldn't you know?" A quick glance at the clock tells me it's time to go, though I want to continue the conversation. "Crap, I'm gonna be late," I mutter.

I've barely taken two steps before Gaius is beside me as is he teleported.

"Ever heard of walking and talking, Cinderella?" he says, shortening his strides to a more leisurely pace-for him, that is. My legs are far from as long as his. "Anyway, before you ran off, you wanted to know what I meant about Zara?" I nod. "Well, pretty much what I said. She hasn't been around for much longer than you."

"Huh. She blended in pretty quickly, eh?" I say, not having the capability of running through the map of the school in my head, listening to Gaius, and coming up with decent things to say at the same time.

"Guess so. Now, my turn for a question," he replied as we turn a corner that I'm only part of the way sure is the right one.

"Sure, shoot."