Scapegoat (SetoSolace)

Two: Part of a Healthy Diet

dude ok so i did this for nanowrimo right? now lets just put it out there that i failed first of all, te book just isnt going to be that long xD but i did practically finish teh thing, im just connecting loose ends and editing. soooo you've got like approx. 28k words to look forward to hopefully? yayyyy!

aaaanyways, my be-ay-yoo-tiful rulers, have a lovely lovely day and i hope you en-juh-hoy this chapter! ^.^

Scapegoat

Two: Part of a Healthy Diet

We walk out of Our City with heads held high and confidence held higher.

... For approximately ten feet.

"Where do we even look?" Danielle says, asking the question that's been on all of our minds.

"I don't know," I admit. "I guess we'll just... wander?"

While Brice and Danielle toss around ideas, Payten and I fall back a little. They lean in to whisper in my ear, and their curly blond bangs tickle my face. "We should try to find Miss May," Payten suggests. "She was the only one in Seto's stories who knew a lot about the scapegoats and could potentially be willing to help us."

"Point," I respond, nodding in agreement. "But where do we look?"

"The National Dark Magic Rehab Institution, I'd say."

"Would she really be there for six years, though?" I ask, wincing slightly. "I mean, she wasn't even addicted when Seto sent her there."

"Dang," Payten whispers, looking down as they try to think of ideas.

"I guess we could just work on finding the kids first. Maybe we'll figure something out along the way," I shrug.

"Seto doesn't have as much time as the kids do," Payten says sharply, and I purse my lips because they're horrifyingly right.

"We're going to the Burg," Danielle calls up from the front. "Brice and I think it's our best bet, unless you two lovebirds have any suggestions," she says, making exaggerated kissy faces, and I blush while Payten rolls their eyes. Three years ago, I thought that maybe they liked me back, but when I went to ask them out, it all fell apart. I stumbled terribly through my words, ending up stupidly asking them if they'd teach me how to play video games. You can imagine the confusion when I knew the purpose of each and every button on the controller.

Then we got pizza, and that was the most awkward thing ever because I've always been self-conscious about eating in front of people and so I hardly ate anything at all. I think Payten was weirded out by the way I just kind of... watched them throughout the entire meal.

Finally, it came time for me to leave, and, in a fit of desperation, I locked myself in Payten's bathroom and claimed that I was stuck, clinging to the hope that Brice's stupid advice would have some sort of truth to it.

Notch, was that embarrassing. As it turned out, the lock on the bathroom door was broken - it couldn't lock. When Payten effortlessly opened the door, I was met with a glance of their amused face and then a first seat view of their sock-covered feet when I fell over and hit the ground. Payten just laughed and held out a hand to help me up, and then they said something about how they'd been meaning to fix the lock anyways. They used their magic to summon a new lock, right then and there, and I was just... in awe. Of them, of their magic, of everything that they were - and I realized, in that moment, that it would be literally impossible for them to like me like I liked them. They were so perfect, so accepting and so willing to look past my embarrassing failures and just help me up anyways. They were terrifyingly pretty, with three piercings in their left ear and one side of their curly blond head shaved like that balanced out two sides of themselves - and, in a way, it did. They were one of the top visual casters in Seto's class - they still are! And I was - am - nothing but a normal human. They could get someone a lot better than me.