𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓻 𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕗𝕖 𝕩 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

003 '𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒚'

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪, 𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕠 𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕊𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕖-

 "Woaaahhh, Hunkyhair had a girlfriend?"

I sighed, massaging the crinkle between my brows that Keefe would've been sure to tease me about had he been here.
"No one can confirm it-" I tell her, "Except for those two themselves- but yes. That was the general conclusion most people came to."

Ro whistled. "Wow. That's a whole lot of blackmail- thanks Blondie!"

I shook my head frantically, standing up. "You can't Ro I'm serious. He hates this topic. Like seriously don't bring it up." I plead, shaking my head.

She groaned. "What was the point of this if I can't even use the blackmail I find?"

My head shaking only grew more intense. "He freaks out. Maybe not like a run-away-to-join-the neverseen kind of freaking out, but maybe a ditch-your-bodygaurd and start-a-multispecial-incident kind of freaking out. You have to promise me you won't tell him about this conversation." I insisted.

"Fine. I won't bring it up. Unless he really asks for it- and don't start lecturing me Blondie. You're not going to change my mind." She said, rolling her eyes.

"...Don't make me regret this."

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪, 𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕠 𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕐/𝕟-

"You alright N/n?" Jensi asked timidly, staring at me awkwardly.

I sighed, turning away from the blue eyed blonde elf sitting at the other end of the cafeteria with his band of friends. "Of course Jensi." I said, adding a smile to make my words seem more sincere. He shouldn't have to worry about me.
"Oh alright." He smiled. "Do you have plans for the weekend? I think my mom's taking my brother and I to Mysterium. I have to go gift shopping for midterms anyways. Speaking of which do you want anything? If you don't tell me sooner this year you're going to end up with whatever I find last minute again." He said, his rapid fire questions starting up.

I nod- only half listening. "Yea yea, anything works." I tell him, back to eyeing Keefe- except this time not being able to look away. "I think I'm going to head to my next session early, Jen. I probably need to get a head start anyways." Quickly, I grabbed my tray and put it away, exiting the packed cafeteria.

I began wandering the halls, turning down any hallway that looked even remotely interesting. I walked and walked, eventually finding myself down a very familiar path- littered with the names I had helped carve into the walls during a time that seemed so long ago it practically felt like a different lifetime. This had been our ditching spot. Many of my favourite memories had occurred here- although, that was most likely due to the company that I was frequently in when I was here. I sighed, tracing the small names etched into the wall with my index finger. Could it even be possible that all this had taken place just a couple years ago?

'The mastermind behind the Great Gulon Incident and his shorty sidekick.' Stated one of the carvings.

Or another- 'Two genius detention frequenters.' Or, 'Sencen X L/n..' Even the 'Wonder Duo' carved into the wall made my heart throb. What I wouldn't give to be back then- back when my biggest worry was not being able to get a seat next to Keefe in detention. Back then I had been quite close with Keefe. His popularity even began to rub off on me as everyone began recognising me as Keefe's. I missed that. Back when we could joke so openly- about everything and anything. From us dating, to the way my family crest was the opposite of my school reputation. Not that it was true of course. I would never do half the things I got assigned detention for. It was all Keefe's doing. But when he left, he took the loud, comforting jokes with him- along with all the detention.

I sighed, hearing the bell ring- not moving. I simply sat there, staring at my handwriting carved into the beautiful marble wall.

"You good L/n?" A voice asked. A beautifully precious voice- my favourite voice- and coincidentally the one I had just been reminiscing about. "Your emotions are spiking all over the place."

I stayed facing the wall, still having my legs tucked neatly beneath me on the bench. My fingers stopped their movement- freezing the same way my heart seemed to. "What are you doing here?" I questioned in an accusatory manner.

"Uh- this is my ditching spot, remember?" He insisted.

Of course. His ditching spot. "Do you remember? I'm the one who found it. You just kept coming here after I stopped."

He scoffed. "C'mon- let's keep this real. That's why you stopped. You just didn't want to see me- and you knew that if you kept coming you would."

I rolled my eyes. "Contrary to what you might think, the world doesn't revolve around you. I stopped coming because I chose to turn my academics around- after the bad influence left." I told him, annunciating the word I knew he would focus on.

"Shorty- listen-" He began.

"DON'T!" I cut him off. "Call me that. That title was given to me by my best friend. He would be disgusted to see someone like you using it." I told him- not fooling around.

"I'm the same person L/n- Y/n... Whether you like it or not."

"But you're not." I snicker sadly upon realising he truly believed that. "My best friend was the person who told me- no, who did put me above everything and everyone else. He would never have left me. Not for Sophie, not for anyone. And he certainly wouldn't have interrupted our conversation for her as we were talking about him doing that."

"You said I could make it up to you." He called after me as I began to walk away.

"No I didn't." I called back. "I was going to- I'll admit that much. But then she showed up- with your bodyguard. I'm done Keefe. It took me years to move on. And I won't lie, it hasn't been easy. But you don't get to waltz back in now that it's come to strike your fancy and expect everything to work out. I'm moving on- and maybe you should too- 'Shorty'" I mimicked, walking away.