When the Smoke Clears

barn

James

I felt satisfied after my first official solo meeting with Azure. The closure I longed for had been found, even if she did press a little at things I told her to leave alone. As I left the room, a small smile graced my face. I turned before I reached the door frame, looking back for a millisecond before abruptly turning around and leaving.

I was met by the majority of the group waiting for me in the lounge. I tried to hide the small smirk growing on my face, but Beverly managed to catch it.

"Oh, find out something interesting?" Her leering voice made me roll my eyes, but couldn't spoil my mood.

"I did, for your information."

"Well," Louise said from the chaise lounge on the other side of me, "I had that Micheal dude, Lukas had the Mindy chick, Felix had the Quinn girl, and Bevvy over here had... who was it?"

"Leo Smith. And don't call me that," Beverly reproached.

"Sure thing Bevvy," Louise mocked as she winked. Beverly scowled and turned back to me.

"What we're trying to say is that there's only one other person you could've been paired up with. However, your facial expression at the moment wouldn't make sense if that were true."

I stared at the group, wishing that I could get out of the confrontation but knowing any attempt to escape their questions would just lead to more inquiry later. "We didn't even talk," I lied, "I was just smiling because I was happy to leave."

Beverly immediately didn't buy it. I looked away from her prying eyes and sat down next to Felix. I hadn't talked to him in a while and I doubted he was listening so I assumed he was a safe bet. Wrong choice.

"So what's up with you and that Cian girl?" I could hear the excited tone in Felix's voice and I sighed. I fidgeted with my tie as I tried to process how to best answer the question. For some strange reason, I didn't want to tell anyone about our conversation; as though talking about our new kinda friendship would make it completely void.

"I'll tell you some stuff on the train. You have to swear not to tell Beverly though." I wasn't actually going to tell him the full truth, I just wanted time to think of a lie good enough.

Our group eventually made it out of the meeting house with our normal clothes on. Beverly and Louise pestered me on about my meeting with Azure as I racked my mind on how to lie about it. We eventually reached the doors of the train and I settled down next to Felix.

"So..? I was promised some info!"

"Keep your voice down," I warned, "If Beverly catches word of this, I will not tell you anything ever again." He nodded and let out a small giggle.

I looked into his peach-colored eyes and sighed. "We made up. I apologized for my disrespectful attitude and she apologized for riling me up. That was it."

Felix inhaled and exhaled. "To be honest, I think you should tell Beverly. It's obviously not a huge deal. It's not like you two got married!" He chuckled and my face turned red. I gave him a friendly shove and murmured under my breath.

He kept laughing for a good ten seconds and then turned back to me. "You don't have to if you don't want to, though. She's pretty scary."

I snorted. "You have no idea," I thought, "How scary she can be." I had been the receiving end of her wrath when I was 17. Never again would I dare to cross her.

I shuddered a little a the memory and addressed Felix. "I think we'll just keep this between us for now."

He smiled, then turned to talk to Louise. I couldn't help but feel a little sad, even though I wasn't directly being ignored. The blazing hills passed vibrantly past us as I admired the landscape. "Rua really is beautiful," I thought.