[GL] Black Gold

Chapter 11

Camie couldn't stop worrying about Théa. She knew from the visions that when she got hurt she would take care of it herself and pretend as if nothing happened. She wouldn't even take a day off scared that people would notice she was Black Gold.

Camie really wanted to go visit Théa and make sure she was okay but she couldn't. That would mean she knew who Black Gold was and Théa wouldn't like that. In fact, the only rule Black Gold had for her powers was that she never told anyone about her identity. Camie didn't find out about it from her but she still knew. If Théa knew that Camie knew, this would make her panic. She would get scared that she will lose her powers and she will start hating Camie.

Helping Théa was more important than being liked by her but it was more than this. Théa wouldn't feel safe and she would think about the possibility of Camie telling everyone the truth every day. Or maybe Camie was exaggerating. Maybe Théa would be relieved that someone finally knew. Unfortunately Camie couldn't know which one it would be and she preferred not to act rashly.

But then what could she do? Should she pretend as if nothing happened? But then should she just let Théa suffer when she could help her? Camie had no idea what to do at this point. Couldn't she anonymously bring Théa medicine? That could scare Théa. Wouldn't it be worse knowing that someone knew about your identity and not knowing who it was exactly? In Théas place, Camie would imagine the worst case scenarios and would imagine her worst enemy being the one who knew.

That made Camie frown. Who was her worst enemy? Did she have any enemies at all? She didn't really hate anyone and when she didn't like someone she just avoided them. But Black Gold had a lot of enemies. And even Théa had an enemy: Ember. What if Théa thought that Ember was the one who found out about her identity? She could use it to threaten her and would force her to fail her year and get kicked out of her formation.

Camie shook her head:

"We can't have that..."

Théa had enough problems as there was. Camie couldn't add to them. She started walking up and down her room, rubbing her chin like a villain preparing her evil plan.

"But then what should I do?"

Talking was helping her think:

"I have to help her. She was struck by an arrow because of me after all. But what could I do? Should I call a doctor and tell them to go there?"

Camie suddenly stopped walking:

"Rah! This is too hard! Maybe I should ask the girls for advice. They were a big help for the villain attack."

Camie stared at her phone for a few seconds, not dialing anyone's number.

"But what do I say? I can't talk about Black Gold's identity. I could ask them what to do when you know someone is hurt and you could help. The obvious answer is to help. So I should help her. But how?"

Camie sighed:

"I am back to square one."

The door to her room suddenly opened and Camie jumped:

"Ah!

-Oh, sorry darling. I didn't mean to scare you. I knocked but you didn't answer so I got worried. Are you okay?"

Camie quickly nodded but her father didn't seem to believe her:

"Are you sure? You have been talking alone for quite a long time. Do you want some cake?"

Camie's eyes started shining and she immediately accepted. She followed her father to the kitchen and sat down in front of a still smoking piece of chocolate cake:

"Thank you so much!

-Eat slowly. It's still hot. The whole cake is for you so take your time.

-You are amazing, dad.

-I know."

They both laughed and Camie inhaled her cake, not without tears in her eyes because of how hot it was.

"I told you it was hot. Spit it out."

But Camie quickly shook her head and tried to say that it was okay but she couldn't articulate it.

"Here, drink some water.

-Thanks."

Camie got a first degree burn but she felt way better than before:

"Thank you, dad. This is exactly what I needed.

-I'm glad."

Her father hesitated a bit before asking:

"May I ask what is on your mind?

-Well... There is this girl.

-Ah, I don't think I'm the best person to give you dating advice.

-What? No! That's not... She's just a fellow student.

-It's okay. We don't have to put labels on it. She can be anyone you want to you.

-Dad, no. I don't like her. And this is not about this. What I meant was that there is a friend...

-Oh so she is a friend now?

-Dad!

-Sorry, go on.

-I have a friend and I know she is having a hard time."

Feeling that the conversation was turning serious, Camie's father put down his towel and sat down in front of her.

"But I don't know what to do to help her. I really want to help and I feel like I need to help her. But she doesn't want the help or at least that's what she says. I think she does want help but she just doesn't want to admit it or is scared to. Anyway, that's not important. What I mean is, I want to help her but I don't know how. And I can't have her know that I helped her because if she finds out that I helped her she won't like it. So I need to help her without her knowing that I helped her. Do you understand where I'm getting at?"

Her father blinked a few times.

"Well... Hum... I understand that this is a difficult situation for you and your... Friend.

-It is! I have no idea what to do. But she really deserves help.

-May I ask something?

-Of course.

-She can't know that you helped her.

-Nope.

-Why is that?

-Well... It's a long story. She can't know that I know about her problem because she didn't tell anyone about her problem and I just happened to find out.

-I see. So it would be uncomfortable if she realized that you knew something she didn't tell anyone.

-Exactly! And I don't want to make her uncomfortable.

-Of course you don't."

Camie sighed:

"So what should I do?"

Her father thought about it seriously:

"But are you sure that she doesn't want anyone to know about her problem? You don't have to tell her that you know. You could just show her that you are there for her and make her feel that if she ever needs someone to talk to, that someone could be you.

-You're right. You know what? I am going to go to her house right now. I'm going to knock on her door and tell her that I am here if she needs me.

-Wait... That's not what I..."

But her father didn't have time to say anything more. Camie jumped up and kissed him on the cheek to thank him. She then put her dirty plate away and thanked him again before running out of the house. Her father stayed in the middle of the kitchen and smiled:

"She is such a nice soul."