God Please Save Us,, || Reilo Jarlo || unOrdinary

Chapter 3

The train rattled and creaked as it descended from its last stop. And when the movement was especially bad, some of the lights overhead would flicker. It was a relatively old train, but still it got the job done. But soon it would become obsolete as it had been said that new trains would be put into operation. Four Wellston students had boarded this train. It was going to be a long ride to the site of the turf war they had been challenged to.

A single buzz caught Arlo's attention. His hand went to retrieve his phone from his pocket. By now the conversation between him and Cecile had taken place a year and a half ago. Yet still, her words rang louder than any other now than before as he read the text he had gotten. It was from Rei. He shut his eyes for a moment and recollected his thoughts.

"Don't let those feelings of yours get in the way of your kingly duties."

"Pssh" the sound escaped his lips, dismissing the thought. A sudden nervousness arose within him. He hadn't spoken to Rei for what seemed like ages. Both him and Rei had been so busy lately. Arlo had finally gained control over the school and Rei was off to college and had apparently picked up a new job. Arlo had put so much time and energy into cleaning the mess Rei had left he had no time to actually talk to him. Now that he actually thought about it, the lack of interaction with Rei bothered him. That being said, Arlo was pleased that Rei had reached out to him.

Rei: hey what's up?^^ Wanna meet up soon?

The message stared back at him, the mint colored text box searing into his eyes. And for a second he felt a warmth within him. The warmth then appeared on his cheeks but he then fought it down. But the corners of his mouth were lifted forming a small smile.

"What's up with the smile, Arlo?"

A familiar, smooth female voice rang out. Arlo's eyes shifted to Cecile's violet irises. She sat across from him with a sheepish Elaine seated next to her. Cecile's eyelids were dusted with dark teal eyeshadow and she fiddled with the string of her dark hoodie. Cecile's outfit clashed with the pastel pink flower shirt Elaine sported.

Arlo winced. "It's none of your concern," he sneered. He figured if he told her, she'd throw some sarcastic, conniving remark at him. He heard a "tch" emit from Cecile's mouth as she crossed her arms and directed her attention to the magenta haired sophomore seated next to him - the girl who had easily dethroned her.

Seraphina sat there in her buttoned up shirt and her hair tied up - as usual - in a ponytail. At first it was nothing out of the ordinary but the current activity she was doing was. Her phone was in her hand and she was playing some obscure pig game. A buzz was heard and a notification appeared saying she has received a text. Her blue eyes scanned the message and a small chuckle came from her lips. Her thumbs tapped her screen and she generated a response then sent it off. She had been acting unusual for the past few months, she was constantly on her phone and had started to ignore her duties as queen. Her demeanor had also changed, the proper Seraphina that Arlo had met a year ago had been degraded to a more laid back and distant one.

"What's so funny?" Cecile made Seraphina's business hers. Seraphina's eyes flickered from her phone to Cecile and the back to her phone. She gave no response. "Yeah," Arlo started. This made Seraphina turn her head to him. "You've been on your phone an awful lot recently. Who have you been texting?" Arlo raised an eyebrow. Cecile cracked a small smile, no it was more of a smirk, pleased that Arlo seemed to be on her side of this conversation. Seraphina opened her mouth to speak but she was interrupted by the sleepy murmurings from Elaine. It sounded close to an "are we there yet?" Cecile ran her fingers through her short hair. "We're almost there. Hopefully Agwin isn't there yet, or else they're gonna rip us a new one," Cecile huffed. Her hand went to the bridge of her nose. "I can already hear Broven whining..." she complained. A small hum erupted from Elaine as if to react to Cecile but she was just barely awake, if she was even awake at all.

"It doesn't matter what Broven says," Arlo stated. "It won't interfere with the outcome of the turf war - that is what we should be concerned with." The blonde glanced up at the rectangular screen mounted to the ceiling. He studied it as it presented the train's next destination. It was then that an announcement was heard reporting that they were arriving at the next stop. It was not soon after that the train came to a screeching halt. "This is our stop," Cecile affirmed and readied herself to exit the train. She tapped Elaine's shoulder. She made a few murmurings before becoming conscious. Her emerald eyes were a bit watery and her eyelashes were damp. Elaine rubbed her eyes to rid them of sleepiness. "Are we here?" She spoke with slight hesitation. Arlo stood and said, "yes, we're here." Elaine nodded in response a redness dusting her cheeks and a small smile on her lips.

Once the doors opened the three began to exit but Arlo lagged behind Seraphina. The four entered the train station. The queen's fingers were tapping against the screen of her phone when the king's fingers tapped her shoulder. "Seraphina," Arlo addressed her. Said girl turned her head to make eye contact."You didn't answer my question earlier," his eyebrows furrowed and he looked down on her. "Now tell me - who were you talking to?" He demanded. He wondered if this person was to blame for Seraphina's recent behavior. Who was this person that held so much of her attention? Who could be worthy enough to deserve to be blessed with the attention of Seraphina, 7.0 queen of Wellston, the top school in the entire region?

She was silent for a moment but then a sudden gleam in her eyes came about and she smirked. Arlo squinted at her unexpected change in mood.

"'It's none of your concern,'"

Her mischievous grin did not disappear when she proceeded to walk leaving Arlo in the dust. Of course she wasn't going to give up that sort of information that easily. Seraphina was witty and she knew a way to get around certain situations. And in this occurrence, Arlo was that certain situation. Of course she'd use his own words against him and twist things to avoid him. He should've known he couldn't pry that information from her. But still, it was worth a try.

Arlo sighed deciding he should let her be. He then pulled out his own phone and gawked at the message from Rei. He should respond before he forgot or before it got too late. He blinked a few times as his fingers tapped against his screen. When he was unhappy with a certain part of his response he would aggressively press the delete button and retype. He needed to stop second guessing himself when it came to his interactions with Rei. Arlo was so confident in everything he did but when it came to Rei, well that was a different story.

"C'mon, Arlo, we don't have all day!"

"Agwin's waiting!"

He heard the jack and queen call out to him. He looked up from his phone to see the three females staring at him. Seraphina had her phone out, Cecile stood there with her arms crossed, and Elaine timidly fiddled with her aqua curl. When did they get so far ahead of him? Oh wait, he had stopped walking after his interaction with Seraphina. He had nearly forgotten. Had that simple text from Rei really thrown him off so much? Damn he really had it bad for him didn't he?

"Coming," Arlo said as he started to walk again. When he caught up again he noticed Cecile eyeing him and his phone. She really wanted to know everything didn't she? A small spark of nervousness ignited in Arlo as he wondered if she would question him about it again. Maybe it was best to ward her off. He shot a glare at her. "Is there something wrong?" He asked. Though the question seemed fair his tone was poisonous. The cyanette returned his glare. "No," she sneered. "Nothing at all..." Cecile shot her words at him as she directed her attention elsewhere. A small smile appeared on Arlo's face, now he could text Rei in peace. He reread the response he had typed out and then mentally smacked himself for doing so. Stop second guessing yourself, Arlo's mind told him. Arlo sighed once more and finally pressed send.

Arlo: Sure. I'm attending a turf war today but I'm free tomorrow.

Rei: Cool! How about at 2pm tomorrow?

Rei: I can meet you near campus.

Arlo: Yeah, sounds good.

Rei: See you then!

Rei's instantaneous responses made Arlo crack a small smile. He was looking forward to tomorrow.

W/C: 1562 words

A/N: A very special thanks to @SORA165  for making the beautiful piece of artwork for this month's chapter! Please go check out her account with her art and stories!