The Arcane Society

Chapter 38 - Finale

June 11th: World-Cup Bonding and Steamy Tensions

{50 Parts, 38 Chapters, and 1 Book through years Summer of 2014 - 2015. Wow.}

World-Cup Bonding
Ahhh, I keep thinking that I'm above infatuation and the allure of love, but really, I've felt so much pain, I'm not sure what to do with it anymore, so I keep sinking myself back into the realm of heartbreak. So, before you flame my comments section, let me explain.

This guy isn't oblivious to the fact that I'm there. He's helped me more than once on math, and we've shared a couple inside jokes. He's not a douchebag, more importantly. Etcetera, Etcetera. Let's call him Emil.

Emil, has done more than enough to help me, and I may have fallen for his sarcastic sense of humor.

So, it was a glorious steaming day outside, and we all decided to partner up for a soccer game of World Cup. Me being the socially awkward turtle, I wasn't quite sure who could be my partner in a field of boys and cheerleader-ish type girls.

"Elisabeth." I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned. It was Emil, hovering slightly above me. "Do you want to be partners?" His clear blue eyes looked down on me with expectancy.

I couldn't tell whether I was blushing or if the sun was unusually hot, but I nodded. "Sure, I don't mind."

He smiled, "Alright, let's do this. Aren't you from Brazil anyways?"

So that's why you picked me...? "Yeah, but I--." I began. I was meaning to say that I wasn't a great soccer player like my brother, but I guess that's what happens with stereotypes.

"Great!" He cut me off excitedly. Yes, I understood this was rude, but come on! When your crush gets excited over something, it's almost adorable.

The Game actually goes like this: Once you partner up with someone, you are officially a "team." Once you or your partner scores a goal, you're safe and you can watch everyone else. If you're one of the last 5 (or 3) teams remaining, an with no goals, you're eliminated.

I actually did quite well with someone for a lack of foot-eye coordination, despite having almost sprained my ankle. Emil came up to me when I did, cause I found it hard to stand up and we had to pause the game.

"Yo, Elisabeth, you alright?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I didn't give an immediate response, but I did manage to look at him. That's when he stretched out his hand to me. And it immediately felt like a scene from Ouran High School Host Club. The wind gently blew my hair to the side, rustling the grass around me. Gripping his hand, he pulled me up effortlessly.

"Thanks." I breathed, with a smile. Emil nodded. "Alright," I shouted to the rest of the group gathered. "I'm just fine. Let's do this!" The group acknowledged this and continued playing. For once, I felt a new feeling: Inclusion. I was a active part of something, something where I could make a difference. Something I felt was missing in my elementary years. I didn't have to be friends with everyone to have my voice heard.

As we scored a goal, Emil and I celebrated, but it brought me something that I would've never thought of earlier. I didn't care if Emil liked sports and I preferred books. I was always glued to this idea that I could never be friends with a sports-orientated person (let alone date) and that I should go for the more artistic/thespian side of the spectrum. Well, I know some people who proved me wrong by a long shot.

And although Emil went with his own separate group of friends, I had a wide smile on my face as I laid in the grass and watched the other teams flail for a goal. A good friend of mine, Adeline, noticed this. She was best friends with Katie so I figured she had her fair share of third-wheel l'amour.

"I've never seen you so happy after a sports game, Elisabeth. You got pushed around so much you're actually bleeding, but you're smiling?"

True, everything from the waist down felt on fire, and it was continuing to blaze in the midday sun. But, I honestly didn't care. "I had a breakthrough and I was able to let something go that I've been trying to for the past three years."

"Emil helped you with this? You looked so happy with him." Adeline noticed, tossing her brown hair to the side.

"Mhmm. I've had so many moments here where I just wanted to curl into a ball in disappear, but I've found happiness in even the small things."

My US history teacher had brought her infant son and her mom with her, and a group was gathering around. We decided to join them and we approached the subject of what we learned.

"You know, we talked about a lot of touchy subjects, and that's the thing about middle school. It's a glimpse into what life is like in High School, heck, even college."

Everyone nodded. Adeline and I exchanged smiles. The infant, Cole, wasn't entirely sure what was going on so he sat on the grandma's lap, eating his cookie with content. We all started laughing as he tried to say it's yummy. And even harder when he tried/failed to say thank you.

Steamy Tensions
Toblat came up soon after, and I was surprisingly close to him. You could literally sense the aura of discomfort that I had around him. I glanced at him several times and tried to open my mouth but looked away when he looked at me. I wanted to reconcile for my actions, and be the better person. But I'm not an ever-forgiving goddess and I think I had already pushed me limits. There was just something about him that I couldn't let go completely. Several times have I tried to wipe clean the slate, but I ended up failing every single time, sometimes making it worse.

Once that was done, and we had lunch, I sat with Nella on the bench. We were still a little steamy after the canoe trip, so things were a little tense. She was reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard from Harry Potter, while I sat there massaging my ankle. Again, I wanted to speak, but I held my tongue. I didn't want to push things over the edge.

Something I forgot to mention in the Canoeing Nightmare segment: We fought. Some insults were thrown at each other, without meaning to. One of my defense mechanisms when I'm scared, are more powerful insults. My logic is that she would not calm down for the life of her, and that I was doing at least 70% of the work. Long story short: I was sick of this entire trip.

The words I shouted rung regrettably in my head. "Perhaps I should've gotten a more dependable partner!" And the thoughts behind it rung out even clearer.

"I'm sick of you not having a backbone!"
"Do you not trust me?! We haven't tipped once because I'm the one doing the steering!"
"The water isn't even that deep, no matter how tall you are!"
"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were scared sooner?"

I couldn't take this tension anymore and went to find Marina. From there, I had a very deep conversation about the life of a caterpillar.

And I learned a lot, really, but I have yet to truly break out of my shield of prejudice and isolation. For this, I'll be recording my Summer Adventures and the year of 2015 - 2016. In all, the book ends here and so does a chapter of life. But a new one is just beginning.