Greendale

Trust

"Oh give it a rest, dog!" Ambrose called from behind me.
"Oh, you're as chipper as ever Ambrose! How good to see you!" Nick laughed.

Ambrose was standing in Greendale's cafeteria. Why? Could this day get any worse?

"Can you read the room, puppy? Shoo!" Ambrose sat in front of me.
"I could but I'd be able to hear everything anyway" Nick spat.
"There's good ole Nicholas!" Ambrose raised his arms.

That was the first time I had seen Nick react to something in that manor, as if he felt threatened.

"Fine, I'll go take a wiz but, you should be a lot nicer to me you know. I just put in a good word for you" Nick pointed to me as he made his exit.

"Lydia."
"What!?" I frowned.
"I am sorry, I tried to warn you." He put his hands on his head.
"Yeah, that worked out so well." I shook my head, "and why are you here?"
"I needed to see you." He looked into my eyes.
"I can't trust you. I feel like everyone in this town lies. They all have dirty secrets and everyone just lies to each other all the time. Sadly, the only person I feel like I can trust is Nick. He hasn't lied yet." I felt a pain in my heart.
"What?! You can't trust HIM! I'm sorry I lied but I can't go around telling everyone that I can read minds!" He got flustered with anger.
"You can read my mind?" I drew back.
"No. You're like your own wizard shield, Nick should've realized that by now."

No one could hurt me through magic. At first I feared it was only Nick, but now I know it's everyone. Is Ambrose the reason I have my own personal hell dog?!

"You told them?!" I started to feel rage.
"No no no! Zelda told them you remembered that night. No one knew at that point that you were shielded except for me." He crossed his heart.

Was he lying? I don't think so, I never actually heard him lie, yet. I felt the rage loosen inside of me. Part of me wanted to be mad at him, just be mad at someone, but the other half knew he had my best interest, I could see it in his eyes.

"I just want this nightmare to end"
"I know you do. I will make sure nothing happens to you. But please, don't be fooled by Nick, acting harmless is just one of his many tricks." He grabbed my hand.

He stared at me for some time. I hated everyone, they all looked at me the same. He felt different. Ambrose looked at me like he would lose a piece of himself if I chose to shut him out.

******

I would lose a piece of myself without Lydia. She filled a void in me, like she repaved a place in my heart. I wanted to buy her every piece of jewelry in the world, teleport her to Paris, buy her the moon, but she didn't want all of that. She wants to trust someone. I had wished I had done everything possible to keep her from this mess, as soon as I discovered her, I should've scared her away. I was selfish.

"So, can he actually hear us right now" Lydia tapped her fingers on the table.
"He can hear me, though I'm fairly certain he can't hear you." I looked around the room.
"He can hear other wizards?" Her eyes widened.
"Yes, we can all sense when we are near. I'm quite surprised he didn't tell you I was coming" I nodded.
"Asshole" she shook her head.

She was beautiful, like a sunflower coming to blossom in the late summer. Even when she was angry, she still shined.

"Who? Meee?" Nicholas sat back down at the table.
"Yes" Lydia and I spoke in unison.
"Rude" he shook his head in disbelief.

Nicholas has played games for years. He was known to be a trickster in the other realm, so easily deceived in this world. Lydia had fallen into one of his chess games, I would not let her be wiped out so easily.