The girl from the air never came down. It was too dark for me to see her face, but I figured she had to be a member of the disciplinary squad. 

“Sorry about that,” Marg began.

My eyes were still on the girl in the air and for a moment it almost felt like she was glaring back. Without a word, she flew back. Had she come to stop the fight?

“No problem.” I shouldn’t have meddled into their family business anyway. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I feel like an item on display, so I’ll take my leave.” There were a lot of people still around. I really hated this kind of people but there was nothing to do. “Do be careful now.”

Somewhere around here, I’d dropped the half-eaten corn, so now I felt even worse. The corn was already bad enough, but now I had to lose it. It felt terrible.

“Yeah, I will.” And she was back to her old nonchalant, emotionless self again. I expected some gratitude but I guess there were none. She must have had her own problems but she could at least thank me, right?

‘Guess I shouldn’t have meddled….’

It wasn’t like I was regretting it, but I just felt stupid. I wasn’t some knight in shining armor, but I did help her out because she got me to school on time, so maybe asking for gratitude was uncalled for. After all, I hadn’t thanked her properly either. 

***

I walked back to the dorm. Nothing of note happened: At least not this time. I didn’t get lost and I didn’t end up near the girl’s dorm either. Not entirely true but yes. 

‘Great. More stairs.’

This was a long day and it just kept getting better and better. I sighed. There was no going around it. I really wanted to be able to fly right about now.

When I finally reached the fourth floor, I was breathless and yet again surprised. It was still the same chaos. People were basically just chatting and still unpacking. 

‘Should have seen this coming.’

It wasn’t as festive as the literal festival outside, but the crowd was pretty dense here too. 

It didn’t bother me that much though. My room was on the right side of the stairs, so thankfully, I didn’t have to walk for another eternity.

I knocked on the door and it opened exactly a minute later. “Welcome back.”

I did not expect any responses from the guy. “Yeah.” So I didn’t have a good one either.

The room looked much cleaner now. In fact, I could even see some new things. 

“You have a guitar?” I didn’t expect the guy to have old instruments 

He had a lot more than just a guitar but that was the first thing that caught my attention.

“I can play it too. The chicks dig it.” He proudly puffed his chest and smirked.

Having one and being able to play it were two different things, so I guess he was right to take pride. I didn’t like it though.

And I certainly didn’t buy it. 

“Uh-huh.” I didn’t really care all that much about primitive music, but this one instrument really drove me in. I could see why chicks would dig him or rather his plays: I still doubted it though. “Anyway, it’s been a long day and I think I should turn in soon.”

I had classes tomorrow and I felt a little beat down from the little stunt I had to pull back at the field.

I couldn’t even think about opening a book, let alone read one. 

“It’s not even ten yet. Thought we could talk. You know, discuss what was allowed and whatnot.” He gulped. Was he nervous or something?

“Didn’t we already talk about that?” 

Besides, just who was the guy I was talking to? The same guy from before? He sure didn’t seem like him.

“The talk was about when I bring a girl. But not about when you-“

“Yeah, stop right there pal. I won’t bring a girl.” I was dead set on studies. I didn’t have time for relationships.

I was already pretty weak on academics, if I got into a relationship, bye-bye dreams. I did not want that. 

“You don’t swing the other way, right?” If he wasn’t nervous before, he was now.

“No.” My voice went flatter than I intended. I didn’t have any homophobia but I wasn’t too comfortable with it either: (I did respect everyone’s preferences though). So, I could guess his nervousness. “But I do want to focus on studies, so I don’t think I’ll ever bring girls here of all places.” Which is why I made myself clear.

“Well,” he chuckled. “Works for me.”

I hadn’t unpacked most of my things since there was no space before. But this time, there was. So nothing stopped me.

It was a gruesome process.

Merin wasn’t so bad. I mean, he wasn’t a role model for me but he wasn’t an asshole either. He even helped me with the unpacking. But I guess, he had ulterior motives for helping out. This afternoon, he seemed like a different person. I still knew nothing about him and talking to him only made me more confused.

Once we were done, Merin looked a bit flustered as he walked towards me. I knew he had something to say, but I didn’t really expect this behavior. “I heard” He paused. “You got into a fight with Evengeline?”

“Even who?” I did not know what this man was talking about. 

“You know, Eve. She’s my classmate and I kind of had a thing for her. And now for the last hour, I’ve been hearing rumors that some freshmen fought her and actually came out unscathed.” He glared half-heartedly.

“Why would you think it’s me?” More importantly, how the hell did word travel so fast?

“Who else would it be? Everyone knows you now. Besides, you’re like one of the top students this year. So everyone was talking about you from the start. I only heard about you after you left but-“

It made sense, no wonder his attitude changed so much. I guess having some luck and talent could be a good thing. But famous? Why would I be famous? I sure didn’t want to be famous. Well, maybe a little.

But if I started becoming famous, it wouldn’t have been long before I’d be infamous instead. 

“But I don’t care and you can go confess or something. Does it matter that I came out unscathed? Or did you want me to get hurt?” I tried to be blunt. I didn’t have time for unnecessary squabbles.

“No, it’s just-” He paused again. This guy really had a lot of pauses. “People are saying you two would make a good couple.” He was acting awfully shy too.

“People say a lot of things. Now get over it. And I have to sleep. Plus, I kind of don’t like that girl, so there you have it.” I didn’t hate the girl and I knew nothing about her: But I also didn’t like her, so technically this wasn’t a lie. But if I let this drag on, this would probably drag on till morning. So I had to do something. “Can I get some sleep now?” 

He turned around and shouted ‘yes’ in a hushed voice. That was this guy’s goal all along? He just wanted me to say it out loud. And now that he achieved his goal, his weird smirk made a comeback and his personality made a switch. “Okay, roger that.” This guy was good. Really good. 

I sighed and the lights went out: Merin did complain a lot but he still respected my wishes anyway. 

It was ten and finally, after a long day, I could rest.

Except I couldn’t. I couldn’t fall asleep on this bed. It was too hard. It didn’t smell bad but it didn’t smell like my room either. I turned to the other side, and then to this side, and then repeated the process. Time marched on but I couldn’t sleep.

I couldn’t stay awake either. I felt sleepy but there was no sleep. ‘Someone end my suffering already!’ I really wanted to scream, but I couldn’t. 

Sometimes past midnight, Merin started snoring with intervals. Did this guy needed to piss me off in his dreams too?

‘A good couple huh? Yeah right.’

Thoughts filled my brain over and over again. 

‘But why did her sword not explode?’

Moreover, her sword was like it was empowered or something. It struck me pretty odd. ‘Sylvanide, maybe?’

I couldn’t think and I couldn’t sleep either. I kept thinking and eventually sometime after midnight my eyes finally closed and I slept.

***

I woke up at six: not even the slightest bit refreshed. I felt terrible. I tried to sleep again but couldn’t. 

‘Awe, man!’

Well, I could imagine how this day would go. 

“That tickles….” Merin was talking in his sleep. 

I glared at him. Must have been great to actually be able to sleep. 

Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to go on a jog. With morning exercises and some coffee, I could bounce back, right? Right!? 

With a yawn and a sigh, my day began.

But I still didn’t like stairs.