Astra Chronicles

Chapter 17: Stroke of Midnight

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"You can love someone so much. . .But you can never love people as much as you can miss them." ―John Green

Year 2113. Southern Quadrangle, Academia Astra. A City, Gaea.

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The preparations for the Winter Dance were coming along nicely.

The final exams ended last week.

Plus, I also recovered very well from my ankle sprain.

I watched as Lexi helped Travis place the transparent star on top of the giant pine tree. They were smiling at each other as he helped her down the ladder.

Cute.

She and that bully seemed to get along nowadays.

Even Lizzie's groupie and her fan boys seemed to have stopped picking on us.

Ever since the foraging accident.

I guess that was probably the only good thing that came out from the accident.

Things were getting peaceful. The kids were a lot more mature and we were all trying to get along somehow.

Everything was falling into the right places.

I rubbed the sides of my arms.

The winter mornings were getting colder. I shivered at the sudden gust of the wind.

"Your clothes are too thin," said a voice I recognized the most. He put his scarf on my head, blocking my face.

"Chase," I protested at my chubby school mate. "I'm not in the mood," I added with a warning tone.

He laughed and gave my head a pat, despite him being a few inches shorter than I was.

This was one of his unusual habits which I had grown accustomed to.

Instead of dodging him like I normally do, I just allowed him to pet my head like a lost puppy.

To be honest, I disliked Chase a lot.

He was a user, a black mailer, a glutton, a bully and he just didn't care about anything.

He was extremely lazy and it was still a wonder how he miraculously got in the Team B of the Knights' League.

However, lately, his presence was becoming tolerable.

Perhaps it was because he has been tagging along all the time. Or maybe because he bullied me every day. But this annoying brat has become part of my daily routine.

I probably developed an immunity to him by now.

Chase stood beside me, watching the other kids finish the decorations on the Christmas Tree.

His hands were kept snugly in his pockets. That was another habit of his that I observed every time he was near other people.

A sign of distrust.

Even when he made himself appear like a carefree boy, Chase had lots of things about him that made me slightly curious.

"You should be out there helping too," I reprimanded him, eager to get rid of his presence.