Don't Mess With Time

Chapter Twenty-Two

She pushed that thought away.

The two spent the next half hour complaining about emotions and how life would be much better without them.

But they also sprinkled in their favorite things about their respective crushes.

It seemed as if they contradicted themselves at least once a minute.

"I can't believe you like Theresa! She's like the Tedros of your friend group," Anadil said.

Amber glared.

"She's way smarter than that oaf."

She paused for a moment and then continued.

"And better with spells."

Anadil shook her head as she laughed and Amber felt her face heating up.

She was about to snap and tell Anadil to stop insulting Theresa, but the door opened and two forms strode in.

They walked in perfect sync, looking almost identical in confidence and demeanor (although the clear physical similarities were their height and their respective tattoos).

Hilda looked between the two and then her red eyes flashed in understanding.

Amber could tell she was asking if she'd made any progress with Anadil.

She nodded just slightly, something that nobody else would have noticed.

She raised one eyebrow just a hair (puns) and glanced at Hester.

Hilda rolled her eyes and made an annoyed expression, holding up her hands and looking like she wanted to throttle Hester's neck.

Amber snickered and glanced at Anadil, wondering if she'd noticed.

But she shouldn't have worried.

Anadil was watching Hester as she sat down on their bed beside her.

The two had a whispered conversation and Anadil seemed to be in a dazed state as she watched her.

Amber rolled her eyes.

She didn't look like that when she was with Theresa.

Of course not.

But suddenly she remembered the other day when she and Theresa had been talking at lunch.

Theresa had been smirking as always and Amber hadn't noticed her twin trying to get her attention until she actually screamed her name.

Amber blushed and turned away from her sister.

Hilda raised an eyebrow and stared at her sister.

She needed to figure out what was going on with her.

But all of her thoughts seemed to revolve around one specific Ever that was just so...

She didn't know how to explain it.

Milly was just... different.

She saw everything in such an amazing, unique way that Hilda had never seen anyone else do.

She wasn't sure why she was thinking like this.

It was weird.

She shook her head and then sat down beside her sister, glancing at their parents.

Hester had leaned over and was whispering to Anadil, their faces less than an inch apart.

The albino didn't seem so devoid of color anymore as she tried not to focus on the close proximity of her future wife.

Hilda rolled her eyes.

People were always in denial about their crushes and it was annoying.

She had more important things than dealing with these emotionally stunted people.

Such as tying to figure out why Milly made her heart beat twice as fast.

That was far more important.

~

There was an awkward silence between Theresa and Tedros.

There had been ever since he had heard she liked Amber.

But as they entered the sword training class, Theresa broke it.

She drew her sword and grinned at her father.

"Let's go show them what real swordsmen look like."

Tedros stared at her for a long moment, clearly considering.

He finally made the same grin that she herself was making.

"We'll see if you can keep up."

"Me?! Keep up?! Come on, old man."

Tedros laughed and they prepared themselves for the inevitable onslaught of their fellow classmates.

By the end of class, they were back to normal.

Tedros still didn't think it was okay for Theresa to like Amber, but he let it be and they were soon joking and laughing together.

Everything was back to normal for them.

But not everything was normal for several others.