The Harbinger

Chapter 13

At school that week, Mischa had a hard time not being distant towards Tai. Every time they spoke, Mischa could only think about Anna. Was she special to Tai? As special as Tai was to him? But Tai was persistent.

He didn't give up easily. He insisted on having Mischa eat lunch with him and his friends, and he was still texting him, even though Mischa didn't always answer. When he did, he sometimes answered with little pictures. He found it easier to do so than to use words.

One day, at lunch, Charles asked Tai about his date. "Didn't you have your date with Anna this weekend?" He had a bit of a cheeky tone.

Mischa lost any hint of a smile he might have had.

"Oooh, who is that?" Amy asked. "I didn't get that piece of news."

"She's a girl I volunteer with. She's nice," Tai explained.

"Is she cute?"

"Yeah, she's pretty cute." Tai looked down at his sandwich and smiled a little.

"Where did you go?" Marina asked.

Mischa did not want to hear the details, at all. His breath picked up and he didn't know how to slow it down.

"Pizza Delight," Tai answered. That's where Mallory took Mischa out for his birthday. It was a family restaurant.

"The ever romantic Pizza Delight," Amy joked.

"What a player," Charles added with a laugh.

"Well, I didn't want to create any expectations."

"I just hope everything goes better than with Sarah."

The friends nodded solemnly.

"Who is Sarah?" Mischa asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Tai's ex-girlfriend," Amy explained. "She turned out to be really possessive. She didn't want Tai to hang out with us."

"Of course, Tai chose us," Charles declared proudly. "Bros before... you know."

Mischa didn't know.

"She's in a lot of my classes," Marina explained. "It's pretty awkward."

"I don't think Anna is anything like that," Tai said. "And we don't even go to the same school. So it won't be awkward if we don't work out."

"Elf love is true love," Amy joked.

"It's a little early to talk about love, Amy..."

Love... The mere word twisted Mischa's heart in a painful knot. Yet, all he knew of love was the Keeper's love. If Sarah was possessive, then what did that make the Keeper? In Mischa's world, there had only been room for him. Anything different was unacceptable.

"You were at the holiday event, too, no?" Marina asked Mischa. But the boy was elsewhere.

"Mischa?" She insisted.

"Yes?" Mischa snapped out of his daze.

"You were at the holiday event, too?" Marina repeated.

Mischa nodded.

"You must have been such a cute elf!" Amy declared with her high-pitched voice, clapping her hands, and jumping on her seat.

"Mischa was an angel, actually," Tai corrected her.

Amy gasped. "Even better! Did you take a picture?"

Mischa hesitated.

"There's the one I took for Mallory," Tai pointed out. "On your phone."