A Goddess Wears Orange

Chapter 14

Yumi dreamed of a Goddess. She moved gracefully through shafts of light, her form dissolving into rippling shadows then back again into a shining figure of indescribable beauty. She raised her hand—and slipped on a pair of glasses studded with rhinestones. 

The ground jolted underneath Yumi. Then the Goddess spoke: “Uhurrm.” 

Yumi jerked awake, and the textbook she’d propped up in front of her fell to the floor. As the rest of the class laughed, she looked up to find Ms. Ponce frowning down at her. “I’m glad you’re finding our lesson on the triangle sum theorem as riveting as ever, Miss Muñoz.” 

Her face flamed as she bent to retrieve her book. “I’m sorry, Ma’am. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” 

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Ms. Ponce said with a sigh. “Fine. This being school-fair week, I’ll let this slide, but I expect you to do better on the next quiz than you did in the last one.” 

As the teacher moved away, Yumi felt something thump against the back of her chair again. She glanced over her shoulder at Ren, who was holding out a pen she’d dropped. “Thanks,” she mumbled, her gaze sliding away from his as she took the pen." 

“Yumi, are you okay?” Fran asked worriedly later as they were changing into their café uniforms in the washroom. 

“Yeah,” she replied, wrestling her curls into a ponytail. “I just didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all. Besides, geometry, you know.” 

Leaning against the sink, Lisette crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow at Yumi. “Okay, that might explain you, but that doesn’t explain why Ren’s looking even worse than you. And don’t think we haven’t noticed that you’re avoiding him again.” 

“I’m not avoiding him,” she said as she gathered her stuff. “I talk to him just fine.” 

But she was avoiding him. She’d woken up much earlier than usual so she could hitch a ride to school with her dad again, just to avoid running into him. When he came into the classroom, she’d immediately looked away and mumbled about going to the washroom, and as a result was three minutes late for their class despite being one of the first to arrive. He’d tried to catch her eye, but she kept her gaze glued to her books, with the notable exception of geometry. After their morning classes, he tried again to talk to her, but she’d spouted some excuse and fled with Lisette and Fran in tow, while Angelo appeared a little while later, looking slightly bewildered at having to pick his girlfriend up for lunch at the girls’ washroom. 

Yumi spent most of lunch period in hiding. When their café opened, she avoided talking to or even looking at him as much as she could, busying herself with her clients instead. The problem was, she still needed him to channel energy into her every now and then, and it was almost unbearable to see how her actions were affecting him. His threads bit into her skin and dragged her down like chains—burning blues, chilly grayish violets, and a sticky-slimy mix of brownish-yellowish-green, with only a few streaks of brilliant rainbow hues left. She sent wave after of wave of warm, loving gold into him but effect didn’t last long, and the last time she found herself coming back to her senses with her face wet with tears and her other fist clutching the front of his shirt, clinging to him as tightly as his threads clung to her. 

“Yumi, talk to me,” he pleaded in a low voice as she pulled away and wiped her face, once again avoiding his gaze. “What’s wrong? If this is about this afternoon, then I won’t go—” 

“No!” she said sharply. “No, you have to go. You have to talk to her, and you have to confess your feelings for her once and for all.” She sat back on her platform and hugged the pillow to herself. “This is the moment you’ve been waiting for your whole life. You’ve got a chance to make her yours, just like you’ve always dreamed.” She looked him straight in the eye, her gaze steady and intent. “This is what you wanted, am I right?”