The Chronicles of Soraya Thenayu: Darkwood Academy

Chapter 17: The Duet

    "Oh no, there he goes about Zaruna again," Olive shook his head. "She has no idea how lucky she is. He never shuts up about how great she is."

    "You wouldn't either if you ever had the chance to meet her," Ujuu winked before heading towards the entrance door and beckoning for Soraya to follow him. "I was about to mail a letter myself. I'll show you where to go."

    He paused and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "We'll also stop by my locker on the way, so I can give you some stamps. I have a lot saved up, so I don't mind sharing."

    "Thank you so much, Ujuu!" Soraya exclaimed. "Do you need me to pay you back?"

    "Nope. Thank you for offering, but don't worry about that," Ujuu held the door open and insisted that she exit first. "I want to be a proper gent, let me spoil you, please, if that's okay."

    "You're too kind."

    As the two of them made their way down the hallway together, Soraya couldn't help but wonder who Zaruna was.

    "Can I hear more about your best friend?"

    "Well, we used to be next door neighbors for four wonderful years," Ujuu's face turned red. "She is such a beautiful soul. So sweet, intelligent, kind, and beautiful, like you," he winked. "But I already swore to marry her someday, so sorry, you're out of luck."

    He held up his right hand, showing a piece of red string tied to his ring finger. "She wears the other half of the string. I know it sounds silly to make vows at such a young age, but I swear to Gods, I will be with her one day."

    "You're so romantic," Soraya gasped in adoration. "That's the cutest thing I've ever seen! Zaruna is so lucky to have you."

    "Thank you," Ujuu beamed. "I'll be traveling to go see her at the end of this school year. I've saved up enough Lari to ride a sky ship over to the Kingdom of Rosinka. Her family is going to let me stay with them. I can hardly wait!"

    He skipped in his steps, causing Soraya's heart to swell with happiness at how over the moon he was for Zaruna.

    I hope everything works out for them. He deserves to be happy, and she must be amazing for him to act like this.

    They flew down several flights of stone staircases and stopped at a hallway full of tall, rectangular shaped metal lockers covering both sides of the wall. Ujuu hummed to himself and made a beeline towards one near the top. He turned a black dial knob with numbers on it, and with a small click, he pried open the door.

    "I keep pictures of my family and Zaruna in here. Take a look."

    Soraya peeked her head in and spotted several photos lining the inside of his locker. One was of his parents. His father had beautiful red eyes, black hair, and black ears, like his sons. Their mother, on the other hand, had bright blue eyes and light dirty blond hair. They were both smiling, as if they were in the middle of laughing, while holding each other.

    "They look lovely," Soraya commented, before turning her attention to a picture of her friends as children. Both of the twins looked like smaller and cuter versions of themselves, while Ujuu's crush was similar to Kalisha. Zaruna had dark skin, like the bark of a chestnut tree, light pink hair, and dark magenta eyes.

    "She's so adorable!" Soraya gasped. "I've never seen someone with that color of eyes before, they're stunning!"

    "Aren't they?" Ujuu sighed wistfully. "In just six more months, I'll be on my way to see her again."

    The boy picked up a small sheet of stamps and ripped off two before closing his locker shut. "One for you, and one for me."

    "You're so sweet, Ujuu. Thanks again," Soraya looked up at the boy, half expecting his brother to be behind him. "Where's Rhys, if you don't mind me asking?"