Jane's POV . . .
I was so confused, a few seconds ago I thought I got rid of all my problems, but now it is no longer about me. " Jane?", Torch's voice snapped me out of my thinking, and I felt his warm hand on my shoulder.
"What am I supposed to do?", I asked him nearly on the edge of tears while looking at the ground.
"Just ignore it" , he said helping me stand up. Our eyes suddenly met , I was able to feel my heart pounding like a drum, and my cheeks burn hot, but I wouldn't have called myself the most nervous person. Torch was red till his ears , including the fact that he was sweating so much. I broke my gaze trying to get rid of the awkwardness.
" Umm there is a restaurant close from here do you wanna go there?" , I asked and started walking away awkwardly. I looked at the red tulip that was in my hand, and I felt a soft smile spread on my face.
" Are you coming?", I asked turning back to him. " Yeah sure wait up!" , he answered in a hurry.
"Try catch me then!", I said childishly and broke into a run with Torch chasing me. ' It feels like I am playing with my little brother' , I thought as I ran past the small shops . " You won't last long Jane!", I looked back at Torch and was surprised that he was catching up with me. My legs tried running faster, but I ended up bumping into someone. "Ahhh!", I stumbled backwards , and heard the person moan a little, I quickly stood up hoping I did not hurt him, but my mouth dropped down when I saw Gazel sitting on the floor rubbing his head. "I am really sorry Gazel!" , I apologized completely embarrassed. I could have sworn I saw him blushing, but I just thought it was my I imagination.
"Are you two okay? ", Torch asked finally catching up.
"Your here to?", Gazel asked Torch feeling pissed. I glanced back at Gazel, and analysed his clothing, I was surprised when I noticed that the purple hoodie and simple brown pants made him look really casual.
"What are you staring at?", Torch asked with a small spark of jealousy in his voice.
"Well . . I just thought that Gazel's hoodie just suited him", my face had a tint of red as I spoke my opinion in front of him. Torch glared daggers at Gazel , but Gazel was too busy brushing his hair with his fingers.
"Whatever let's head to that restaurant you talked about" , Torch said impatiently. Gazel finally stood up form his crouched position, and gave Torch a cold look. ' What is wrong with them? They seem like they want to destroy each other ', I turned my hand to a fist , and laid it on my chest. ' This is so uncomfortable ' , my smile drained from my face as I watched them both glare at each other for a few minutes until they noticed my uncomfortable expression.
"Are you okay?" , Gazel and Torch asked with worried tones at the same time. "Oh it is nothing!" , I said giving them the best fake smile I can make. They looked at each other and back to me.
" Well then let's go", Torch said with a lazy voice and started walking away, but he stopped in his tracks as if remembering something.
"Where is that restaurant again?", he asked confused, and looked back to me, I sweat dropped at his question. " I-It is that way", I answered cheaply, and pointed my finger in the opposite direction he was going.
" Oh yeah right!", he laughed awkwardly and started walking again, I just sighed and followed. ' I wonder why Shawn just disappeared?' ,that question was in the back of my mind for a while and was still unanswered. Before I knew it, we reached the resturant, the beautiful aroma of noodles and dumplings filled my lungs as we entered.
"Well well well if it isn't Jane Wolf", said an old man, behind the counter.
He had a white messy hair, a puffy beard, and a piece of purple cloth tied around his head.
"I am surprised you remember my name out of all the people you see in one day", I said happily and sat on one of the stools.
" I see you brought some friends today", he said , turning his attention to my two friends. "Hey you two! Are you gonna just stand there?", I asked with an eyebrow raised. They both shot each other a glare before each one of them sat down beside me.
"What is your order kids?" , th old man asked laying his hands in front of us.
" I will take the dumplings", I answered with a soft smile.
'I have always loved coming to this place ever since Mark brought me here, and I wish that Gazel and Torch will feel the same soon' . I looked at Gazel and stared at his snow like hair which seemed really soft. He finally noticed my gaze, and his eyes went wide for a second before looking back at the old man.
"I will have the miso soup", he said bored. "I will take the Ramen!" , Torch said nearly shouting.
" Well this might take a while, but who is gonna pay? " ,the old man asked I was about to volunteer but Torch nd Gazel raced me to it.
" I WILL!" , they both shouted, shooting each other glares, and standing form their chairs with their hands raised up. I just sat there with no clue of what's happening around me.
"I said I will pay for it!" , Torch bursted.
"Shouldn't you be thankful that I want to pay?", Gazel argued coldly.
" Umm guys" , I had both of my cheeks red as an apple, but I continued talking.
" Can I pay?" , I asked playing with my fingers. I looked at them both and noticed them pulling each other form the collar.
"Am I responsible for your conflicts?", I asked starting to regret being their friends. Both of their eyes widened at my at my question, and sat back at their seats as if it is the end of the world.
"No, it's just . . ." , I looked at Torch who stopped talking for some reason, and sighed.
" Its nothing really, but you were never the reason", Gazel continued with his eyes looking down in shame.
" Think too much happened to you today, my advice is to relax", we all looked at the old man with surprised eyes.
" Honestly playing soccer might help you", he added, turning his back to us, and working on our orders . I pondered a bit until Torch interrupted my thoughts. " I have soccer practice!" , he quickly rushed out of the restaurant without looking back.
" I hope his teammates don't punish him", I said innocently while looking at the entrance.
" Well let's go!",I shouted happily and dragged Gazel with me.
Torch's POV . . .
As much as I hated leaving Jane with Gazel, I couldn't help but feel guilty that I caused her to feel bad that she was the reason me and Gazel were arguing, but what made the matter worse was that she was correct, ever since we met me and Gazel never stopped glaring at each other. I can keep acting as much as I want that it isn't true, but sooner or later I won't be able to stay like this. I sighed and walked back to Alies Academy.
" The sun is setting, tomorrow will be a new day", I told myself and placed my hands behind my head.' But is it the right thing to run away?', once the question popped into my mind, my legs stopped walking, and I realized the mistake I have just made.
Jane's POV . . .
It took a while till we reached the riverbank, I placed my bag beside a tree, pulled my ball out, and placed the tulip Torch gave me ontop of my bag. " Are you ready?" , I asked Gazel walking to the field and placing the ball on the dusty floor.
" Hope you got better over the past few days", he replied , and waited for me to make a move. I smirked to myself and passed the ball to him.
" You do the first move", I said misciviously. He looked surprised for a second, but it disappeared once he started dribbling the ball across the field. I had to admit he was fast , and that I was barely able to catch up to him, but I was able to tackle him successfully .
" You sure got better Jane I will give you that", Gazel teased while laying on the ground. I ignored him and headed for the net wishing that the mysterious move I did while practicing with Mark would be successful this time.
"Here we go!", I told myself, and kicked the ball anxiously. For a second I thought my great would stop from all the pressure, but I ignored it and watched as the huge wolf from before appeared behind the ball. Unluckly, the wolf disappeared after a few seconds, and the ball went off course. I cursed under my breath, and looked at the ball hopelessly.
" You are putting too much pressure on yourself when using that move", I turned to Gazel, who had his hands shoved in his pockets, and a serious face.
"I guess that might be true?" , I was kind of confused, because the could have sworn that it wasn't the pressure that made me fail, but something was missing something important. My eyes kept staring at the ball wishing to find the answer, but nothing came to my mind. I heard footsteps coming closer to me, but my brain wondered off to what Mark would do if he was in my place, but my thoughts were stopped by the tickleling feeling of someone's breath, and that when I noticed a pair of arms rapped around me. " You know . . If there is something that bothers you, just say so", Gazel's cold yet comforting words eased the pain and confusion. I couldn't help but hug back, but it didn't last long until I felt both of us being pushed into the river. It felt nice and cool, but I stopped daydreaming and jumped out of the river with my soccer uniform from Royal soaking wet. My hands were on my shoulders , eyes closed tightly , and body shivering from the cold. " Hahaha you two should have seen the look on your faces!", my eyes quickly opened , and the first thing I saw was Torch holding his stomach and laughing out loud. I noticed Gazel slowly crawling out of the river with his hair covering most of his face, and his clothes soaking wet. " Your such an idiot!", I shouted and ran after Torch with my fist in the air.
" Oi! Stop", Torch shouted. After chasing Torch for the past few minutes, I was finally able to give him a good hit on the head.
" That's your punishment!" ,I said giving him a glare.
" Good thing I am not like him", me and Torch turned to Gazel's voice. My eyes felt like they were about to explode.
" Put your shirt back on Gazel, your making Jane nevous", Torch finally spoke crossing his arms.
Gazel's POV . . .
I ignored Torch and continued squeezing my wet hoodie. After a few seconds I finally turned my attention back to Torch.
" What is your problem?", I asked completely annoyed. He pointed his index finger to Jane, and it took me a while for me to noticed what i had done. Without wasting a second, I slipped into my hoodie, and felt a .
" I am sorry" I apologized, with a light blush on my face.
After a while, we sat beside each other under a the tree which was placed beside the soccer field.
" That was sure a good practice" , Torch said, looking at the colourful stars that filled them sky.
"It really does remind me about the first time I played soccer with you guys", me and Torch were surprised by Jane's words, who sat between us hugging her legs, and looking at the field.
' She was right though, when we all met we had a fun practice' , but my face grew red remembering our first kiss . I looked at Jane who was starting to dooze off, she let go of her legs, and leaned on Torch's shoulder, a hint of jelously struck me, but I was too lazy to complain now.
Torch's POV . . .
I waited a while to make sure Jane was asleep, and then glanced at Gazel who still had his hair soaking wet. Apparently, there has been something on my mind for a while.
" We have to talk about something" , he turned his attention to me and gave me a raised eyebrow.
" You know that we will have to stop arguing to keep Jane safe" , I said not bothering to look at him.
" Safe from what?", he asked looking back at the stars.
" Today Xavier was threatening Jane about the dangerous things that will happen if she doesn't go with him to Aleis Academy", I said with my voice growing a bit angry.
" I get it, but don't try pulling anything fishy", he replied stretching his hand for a shake, which was hard for me to accepted since Jane was on my shoulder.
" The deal is sealed", I said smirking.
This was such a long chapter!
Sorry it took long!
But as they say!
Good chapters take time to finish!
Until next time!