Olympia Academy (Stray Kids)

Chapter Twelve (Selene)

a/n: this chapter was written by one of my good friends! shout out to her! :)

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Selene woke to the warm autumn breeze flowing through her window. Yesterday had been daunting, even if she wasn't the one competing in the competition. She and Iris had made a deal to come back and study, seeing as their competition dates were not far off. This intent studying left Selene wide awake hours after Iris flopped into bed. Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue for the young goddess, but today she had to tackle something she had been lamenting: Apollo. Iris had urged her to pursue a friendship at the very least with the young god, but Selene, already incredibly shy and introverted, could barely bring herself to tutor him. He was nice -cute even- but Selene couldn't see past that. Her heart was closed off to the world of romance and she liked it that way. Besides, it wouldn't be just her and Apollo-- Artemis would also be with them.

Rising from her bed, she combed through the knots in her red hair, staring at the small mirror in front of her. These eye bags... she thought. Though Hypnos had repeatedly assured her that Night deities didn't need much sleep, Selene knew that it was a lie. Still, she finished with her hair and didn't bother to touch up her appearance. She put on her long, flowing uniform and sighed. Time to embrace the world.

Selene walked from her room to the cafeteria, where Artemis and Apollo had instructed her to wait for an escort from either twin. The weary goddess couldn't help but pout as she saw Apollo cheerfully making his way towards her. He was practically glowing, making Selene shift, embarrassed at her lackluster appearance in comparison to the god. These divine kids are no joke.

"Selene! You came!" Apollo smiled brightly. Selene nodded, tired and already stressed about socializing, let alone tutoring. Apollo held out his arm towards the goddess. She stared at him, blank and confused. "Ah," he stifled a small laugh, "I'm your escort to the second year lounge. You're supposed to take my arm." He once again gestured towards Selene.

"Oh," she whispered to herself. She shyly put her hand on his upper arm, her lips still puckered in a small pout. Apollo proudly turned to guide her to the lounge.

"I forgot to tell you, it'll just be me today," he chirped. "Artemis decided to study by herself. She's really determined to do things herself." Selene just nodded, her nerves beginning to override her senses. The two continued to walk, with Apollo occasionally sneaking fond glances at the sleep-deprived goddess.

They arrived at the lounge. Empty. Selene blinked, speechless. Apollo gently took Selene's hand and led her to a small table in the corner, pulling a chair out for her.

"Thank you," Selene said quietly. Apollo smiled and nodded, taking a seat across from her. Selene wasted no time and brought out her arithmetic notes and wearily placed them on the table. "Okay," she began, "where do you want to start?" She looked up at Apollo.

"Uh, well, I got stuck around here," he said, leaning over to point at her geometry notes. "I'm not that great at geometry."

"Alright." Selene ran her hand through her hair and prepared to teach Apollo. She began by explaining the fundamentals, pointing at her notes and drawings as she did so. Apollo sat, intently listening to Selene, writing down her every word. "Okay, got it?" Selene looked at the blond as he finished scribbling down notes.

"Actually, yeah!" he smiled warmly at the goddess. "You explain it a lot better than our teacher."

"Ah, really?" Selene said half-heartedly. "Well then, should we move on?"

"Sure," Apollo said, brushing his hair from his face. Selene began to go deeper into geometric concepts, and although he tried, Apollo wasn't really focusing on her words. Rather, he sat gazing at her, his cheek resting on his hand. Selene kept rambling on, avoiding his eyes.

Gosh, why is he staring at me? She thought to herself. He should really be focusing on this stuff.

"So that's how you find the hypotenuse," she concluded, lips pursed. There was an awkward silence between the two for what seemed like forever to Selene.

"Yeah," Apollo smirked, aimlessly writing and pretending he was paying attention. He looked back at Selene, noticing a thin piece of hair out of place from her constant messing with her hair.

"Well if that's all you needed..." she trailed off as Apollo stood up and leaned over the little table towards her. Like their first meeting, she found her face was mere inches from the young god's. He reached out a hand and took the misplaced strand of hair, curling it behind her ear. Selene's cheeks flushed a bright pink, her mouth slightly agape as Apollo's eyes met hers. He sat back down, grinning slightly.

"I think I'm caught up," he told her. "It seems that you have some catching up to do, on sleep that is." He laughed innocently. "I'm sorry if this took an opportunity for a nap away. You look tired."

"Ah, do I?" Selene gasped, touching her blushing face.

"N-not, um, I meant, well, you still look incredibly beautiful, even if you're tired, I didn't mean..." Apollo rambled, attempting to console her, blurting out his feelings. The two blinked, and again, an awkward silence settled over the two. Selene was bright red, her green eyes welling up with embarrassed tears.

"O-oh, um, I've gotta go, I have m-my seminar class, yeah! Can't be late! Bye!" She haphazardly picked up her notes and rushed out of the room, hiding her face behind the parchment. Apollo slumped in his seat, sighing heavily whilst looking longingly at the open lounge door.

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Thanks for reading!!