Shadowteer

Chapter 19

"YOU- you said your name as Nathan!" He squirmed and moved backwards.

"Well, it is. My middle name to be exact." She slammed her head against the table, refusing to look up.

"I hate you Kemen Nathan Cassel."

"Ooh, you know my surname too?"

"I can't believe- why would I even- of course I would run into you." He reached over the counter and pulled her head up.

"Don't be so grumpy. This is good. Tell me about what happened."

"I... I can't."

"What? But you were literally about to tell a random stranger. Why can't you talk to me?"

"Why do you care? I want to be alone and I don't need you making today more difficult. Okay?!" He winced and fell to the ground. She gasped and looked over the counter. "Kemen? Kemen, where are you-" he hugged her waist and sighed.

"Whatever it is, I'm sorry okay? I'm just trying to help Meera. That's all this is." She blushed slightly and pulled his arms away from her waist. He ducked back behind the counter and continued to wipe glasses, smiling at her to continue.

"Whatever. I had a brother. He was killed in a car crash. If the idiot only looked up from his phone..." she sighed. "Today is his birthday. So I skip school every year on this day to honour him. Happy now?" He chuckled and hugged her. Puppeteer gasped and gushed silently over how  adorable they both looked together.

"So cute. Which ship should we do next?" He sighed.

"You really don't want to talk about why you've been akumatised, do you?" She shook her head vigorously. "Fine. How about Etta and Fred." She picked him up and flew back to their school. The two were sitting on a bench, Fred leaning dangerously close to her. The Puppeteer rose an eyebrow.

"Dang Fred, go get some. Do these two even need help?" She flicked his forehead for saying "go get some" and grabbed Etta's puppet.

"There is one thing I can do to help." She pushed Etta's puppet to Fred, causing Etta to kiss him. She smiled in satisfaction when they pulled away from each other, red in the face. "Now let's see... Ella, Ella, Ella. Probably in the library. Let's go little man." She grabbed his torso and flew up a few feet, entering the library from an upper window. He sighed.

"We could've gone through the door you know."

"And risk being seen? Uh... no thanks dude." She got up and caught Ella and Tyler whisper yelling at each other. The Puppeteer rose an eyebrow and watched.

"I came here to read you idiot. Can you just go?"

"But I like keeping you company ice queen."

"C-can you just leave me alone? I'm done. I don't need this from you." He noticed her hurt expression and rubbed his arm, feeling slightly guilty.

"Uh... Ella, I-" she snapped at him.

"I can't take this anymore Tyler. We were friends once for goodness sake. Please... please tell me why our friendship ended. I need to know why you hate me and... What are you-" he grabbed her shoulders and pressed his lips against hers without a thought. She gasped, shocked but returned it, confused when they pulled away from each other.

"I don't hate you Ella. I just... Just wanted to be a bit more than friends and when you turned me down, I kinda turned into a jerk..." She titled her head to the side.

"Turned you down? What are you talking about? You've never asked me to... uh... you know."

"What? But I... are you sure about that?"

"Yeah. I'm definitely sure." She giggled a little as he facepalmed.

"I messed everything up, didn't I? I'm sorry for ruining our friendship. I just couldn't bear to be near you knowing that you would never be mine. It drove me mad. Sorry for being an idiot." The Puppeteer chuckled as Ella hugged him, turning him into a stuttering mess. She grabbed Chris and flew to their alley. He chuckled and turned back to her.

"This place again... Manon?" She was on the floor, her arms wrapped around her legs. Why is this girl so freaking cute?! For crying out loud I'm a guy here. Being exposed to this much Manon isn't too good for me. But...
He walked closer to her, concerned and tapped her arm. She looked up and sighed. "Manon, are you-"

"I'm not Manon. I'm the Puppeteer. Nice to see you kid." He furrowed his eyebrows, a million questions rising in his head. She held up a hand before he could speak. "Don't. This is... important..." She fell to the floor and groaned, clutching her stomach.

"What's happening to you? I bet it's that Poopillon again. When I get my hands on her I'll-" he froze when she put a hand on his arm. He moved away, his eyes linked with hers suddenly. "Sorry. You look like Manon so I react I guess."

"You still hate her? Still despise her for whatever she did when she was younger? How bad did she hurt you Chris? How bad must it have been to make you want to hurt her back? She was sweet, naive and innocent back then. She didn't know what she was doing." He rubbed his eyes, choosing to ignore her statement.

"What do you want?"

"You don't get it, do you? Everyday... every smile she makes... she goes to sleep each night praying that she dies the next day. She uses those smiles to hide the pain Chris. And if only someone would look... maybe they would notice. Ah well." She handed him her wand with shaking hands. Manon was screaming at her internally. He wasn't supposed to know... no one was. She could fight it alone! How dare Puppeteer do that to her? He held her wand in his hands, watching a few tears stream down her face. "She's a strong girl Christopher. Please love her."