Fangirl

Chapter 13 Phillip

I showed up just in time. The girls surrounded Martha on all sides. I heard the question and gave the answer I had hoped for.

Martha wore the bracelet, and it gave me the confidence to fight for both of us.

I came to the dining hall with the usual company. My friends were pressuring me for details, but I was worried about something else.

'Guys, I'm going to sit with Martha today. But if I could invite her to our table, that would be great.' I glanced at my friends on either side of me hoping for support.

'I'm not sure it's a good idea,' Kirill said. 'This is all kind of weird.'

'Call her,' Maxim agreed after some thought.

Gregory's words decided everything.

'I like to stay with men's company, but one girl probably wouldn't hurt.'

Kirill frowned, but didn't object. It had long been customary for us to decide common questions by majority.

Martha, fortunately, didn't oppose it either. At our table, we had the conversation I'd feared — it wasn't every day you introduce your gorlfriend to your friends... Your first girlfriend. But even then, it went great. Surprisingly, being strikingly eccentric, Martha seemed to fit in well with us.

She wasn't chatty like all my friends and didn't seem anxious to meet me; I was more anxious to tell the truth. And I was ready to celebrate victory when Nikita showed up.

This problem had arisen in my life not so long ago. The senior student clung to me worse than a leech and responded to all my turndowns with stupid flirtation and a nasty smirk. He was clearly out of his mind and just didn't take no for an answer.

Even if Martha hadn't appeared in my life, Nikita had no chance. Aggressive, insolent, arrogant, narcissistic — I was sick of this type. He was just an unpleasant person I'd never deal with.

My friends also tried to explain to him that his claims were inappropriate, but the insane firebender, alas, was stronger than all of us put together. It wasn't just that he was older and knew more than us, he was also considered the strongest elementalist of the group. The high degree of magical gift was clearly not in favor of the mage's arrogance.

That jerk even thought to give me a bracelet! I found out about it from the guys, who were usually sorting through the piles of gifts in the common room. I asked someone to burn the abomination.

Nothing good could come of his sudden appearance. For a moment, when I heard what he was after, I thought there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon. If he could see I was busy, maybe he'd leave me alone.

I didn't get my hopes up.

I don't know why, but Nikita's appearance embarrassed me immensely. I wished the earth would swallow me up even though the academy was sympathetic to any relationship — no one checked into someone else's bed; and my friends, as well as the guys in the group, knew about the fire mage. The senior wasn't shy about giving me a lot of attention during gym class or during free time when we were practising our skills in magical and traditional combat, but Martha was hardly aware of that. And now I was terrified of what she'd think of me.

Frankly, I thought I was going to start a fight in front of everyone, despite knowing that I'd be the instigator and would be punished, but Martha's sudden question confused me. I could hardly keep up with the rapidly unfolding events.

I didn't immediately realize what he had done to Martha, and when I did, I was furious. Had he lost his mind? I was absolutely going to punch the bastard in the face! Maxim had stopped me with his controversial claim that Martha allegedly 'burnt' the jerk. And when he asked Martha directly about it, she didn't answer. But she didn't deny it either.