Phoenix Drop High School

Chapter 15: First Date!

After the eventful slumber party, the weekend, as well as most of the school week, was calm for Aphmau. She played online games and waited for Monday to come around so she could see her friends again.

Kawaii~Chan found Aphmau and Katelyn talking at the bottom of a set of stairs.

"Kawaii~Chan!" Aphmau exclaimed, seeing her.

"Hey, Kawaii~Chan," Katelyn replied.

"Hey Aphmau~Chan, Katelyn~Chan. Ah, Aphmau~Chan, I wanted to give this back." Kawaii~Chan held out a book for Aphmau. It was the book Midnight that she let her borrow. "Kawaii~Chan never got the chance to read the book before she saw the movie."

"It's no problem at all! What did you think?"

"Much better than the movie!"

"I still can't believe you ship everyone in Midnight," Katelyn said.

"Speaking of shipping Aphmau~Chan, can we talk about my ship with you and..."

"No! We cannot ever talk about that! Ever," she emphasized.

While the girls talked, Garroth and Dante stood across the hall with Laurance.

"For a small potato, she's got some spunk!" Dante said.

"A spud and a potato are the same thing, Dante," Garroth replied.

"I said she's got spunk," he corrected.

"Oh. S-Sorry. I wasn't really paying attention."

"You okay, Garroth?" Laurance asked. He noticed something was off about him.

"Yeah, you're kinda off right now," Dante pointed out.

"No. Really, I'm fine."

"You know what? I don't think you are."

"Huh?"

"Every time we've been around Aphmau lately, you've been acting weird."

"You can't prove that!"

"Yes, I can! Remember that one time we were practicing potions in the library after school? You said, 'I have no idea how to mix these potions!' So I told you, 'Carefully, that's how!' And then we saw Laurance conjure up a giant puppy that Aphmau sat on. After she said, 'Wow, Laurance, you made a giant puppy appear! You're amazing!' You yelled, 'I can science smartly too!' And even though I told you, 'No, Garroth, this isn't even science!', you poured random potions and blew up the library!"

Garroth scratched the back of his head, recalling the incident.

"Or that one time at practice," Dante continued. "You threw the baseball at me and it hit me hard. I was telling you that I was new and you needed to take it easy on me. You laughed and told me that's why you had to be extra hard on me. 'You better watch out, or you might catch with your face next time,' is what you told me. I stood up and told you I would give it all I had. I picked up the ball and threw it, not knowing you were staring at Aphmau while she was laughing at Laurance' joke. The ball hit you dead in the face! Oh, and let's not forget--"

"Okay, okay! I get it," Garroth said.

"Why don't you just admit you like her?"

"What?" Laurance said. "No, he doesn't."

"D-uh-Dante! Uh, that's preposterous! I don't like her at all!"

"Sure," Dante dragged out. "Sorry, but I can see it on your face."

"Dante, Garroth tells me everything," Laurance assured. "He and Aphmau knew each other when they were kids, and just reconnected. So, of course, he gets nervous around her, he just misses her as a friend."