No one's pov
Seraphina knocked on the door for the fifth time tapping her foot impatiently as she stood in the hallways.
She let out an annoyed sigh as she checked the time
"6:20 PM"
"Seriously John, I'll break down the door if you don't open up this very second."She threatened running out of patience.
The threat seemed to work when she heard approaching footsteps followed by a loud crashing sound, causing her to sweatdrop.
The door opened revealing a disheveled looking John.
"Sorry about that! "he gave her a sheepish smile.
"Come in" he moved to let her in.
"What took you so long?" she asked, stepping inside the dorm.
"Didn't I texted you to be ready by six" she reminded him.
"I was looking for something 'decent' to wear "he said, shutting the door behind him.
She noticed he kind of looked different today. It took her a moment to realize that he has gelled his hair.
"John!! "She called him" Why are you wearing that 'helmet' again" she inquired, crossing her arms.
"Uh...There was still some gel left.. "he said nervously"So I thought of using it before throwing the container. "
"Remove.it.now" she ordered, pointing towards the bathroom.
"B-But Sera it nearly took me an hour to gel my hairs" he whined, causing her to sweatdrop.
He was hoping that she will change her mind but luck was against him.
"No buts John" she said sternly"if you don't want to do it, then I will have to do it myself."
Knowing that he can't win against her, he had no choice but to compile.
"Fine" he grumbled.
"Do it quickly" she shouted as he reluctantly made his way towards the bathroom.
Seraphina decided to go to his room, and wait for him there. She sat on his bed looking at some videos on her phone but soon she got bored with it.
An album lying on his desk caught her attention. Out of curiosity, she went there to open it, finding pictures of John when he was younger.
"Aww he looked so cute" she squealed, peering at the pictures of chubby-cheeked John.
She nearly laughed at a picture of John in the bath. (A/N: Our parents all have those).
She took out her phone and snapped a photo of that picture.
"Perfect blackmail material" she evilly grinned, thinking about his reaction.
She flipped through the pages peering at his childhood pictures.
In most of the pictures, he was with his Dad doing all sorts of activities, from playing games to eating ice-cream. He had a wide grin plastered on his face.
"He looks so carefree and happy "she smiled looking at his face.' If only I could see him like that now...' she thought.
In some of the pictures she saw him with a green-haired girl, whose hairs were in braids and a spiky-haired blonde boy, whom she assumed to be his friends.
She wondered how they were, as she didn't hear John mentioning them before.
She looked at more pictures until she came across a class picture of a particular school.
Her eyes widened in shock as she spotted John among the other students.
He looked a bit younger with the same hairstyle and his golden eyes were unmistakable
She couldn't believe that he lied about being homeschooled. But Why?
She felt a pang of betrayal that he didn't even bother to tell her. They were friends and yet he didn't trust her enough to tell her the truth.
She had a strong urge to ask John about it. But then again, there must be a reason why he must have lied.
'Should I wait for him to tell the truth' she questioned herself. Although she was doubtful that it will happen anytime soon.
She remembered John telling her about being bullied. Maybe there's something that he doesn't want her to know.
She decided to confront him about it later.
She closed the album and placed it on the table. She sat on the bed and decided to text Elaine about her late arrival.
Soon John returned to his room with a towel around his neck.
He looked better than before.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!!" he said in an apologetic tone"Drying the hairs took longer than I thought".
"It's alright" She assured him. She decided to divert her attention towards something else as she can't help but feel uneasy in this situation.
"Let's get going" she said and she went out of the room, followed by John who shut the door behind him.
"Where are we going? "John asked, out of curiosity.
"Can't you guess?" she said, as they exited the school grounds.
"If its another horror movie then I'm not going to watch it" he said stubbornly.
"Why not?" she asked, amused.
"You took a picture of me when I freaked out. I'll not repeat the same mistake again." he puffed his cheeks in annoyance.
"It was only one time. Besides we're not going there" she said, causing him to sigh in relief.
Then suddenly a dreadful thought came in his mind."Don't tell me we're going shopping" he whined.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Do you have any idea how long you take to select a single outfit!!"John complained.
"I don't take that long" Seraphina said offended as a vein popped on her head.
"Besides we're also not going there."
"Then can you at least give me a hint?."
"Fine" she agreed."You will find a lot of games there".
John thought for a moment before his eyes lit up.
"We're going to an arcade right?!"John said excitedly, he was sure that he have guessed it correctly this time.
"Nope" she replied, causing him to frown.
"I give up" he hung his head in defeat.
"Don't worry we're nearly there" she patted him in an attempt to cheer him up. She could see the bright lights radiating in the distance from the festival.
"You didn't tell me that you and Blyke are friends now" She decided to keep the conversation going.
"How did you know ?"John was a bit surprised that she already knew about it.
"I asked him about the reason you couldn't attend school today. And besides it was bound to happen sooner or later" she said confidentially.
Judging from her behavior John was convinced that Blyke came up with a good excuse. He decided to thank him later.
"You were right about him" John said " After hearing your opinion of him, I decided to approach him and he turned out to be a great guy.
Unlike some snobbish elite-tiers, I know"
"Glad to see that you're making friends instead of enemies"Seraphina teased him.
"Now I don't have to worry about your life anymore"
"I can take care of myself" he grumbled.
"Look! We've finally reached there" she pointed towards the festival at a distance.
The colorful lights, the sugary scent of mini-doughnuts lingering through the air caught John's attention.
"We're going to a festival" John said happily as realization dawned upon him.
"Come on John !!
Let's hurry up" she said excitedly grabbing his hands dragging him along with her.
John couldn't help but smile as his gaze fell on their intertwined hands. Her hands were soft and warm, he could feel his cheeks getting heated up.
The two of them eventually arrived at the festival.
The normally quiet city square was now bustling with people, vendors, and carnival games.
In the center of the city square was a large concert stage where various bands played live music.
Small bright lights were hung all around the city square, illuminating the area.
There was also a collection of rides, from a Merry-Go-Round to a roller coaster!
"Woah... it's so crowded" John gasped looking around.
"So what do you want to do first? "Seraphina asked.
"How about we play some games"John suggested.
"Let's do that"With that said they went towards the game booths.
They went to a ring toss game stall where a vendor greeted them.
"Would you like to try your hand at my ring toss game"
"Let's try it out John " Seraphina said eyeing the prizes.
"Nah" he declined " I've never been good with this game anyway."
"Besides this game looks a little shifty" he remarked earning a glare from the vendor.
"Come on. Stop being so negative."She persuaded him.
"Alright" he said as he decided to try out his luck.
John gave him a ten-dollar bill in exchange for ten rings. The vendor explained the rules.
"Okay, here's how it works," he began. "You get ten rings to throw at those little small boxes in front of the prizes. If you manage to get one around a rod, you win that prize! Go and give it a shot."
"Is there anything you want Sera?" he asked her.
"Um..let's see" she glanced at the prizes on display.
"John I want that piggy doll"Seraphina pointed towards it.
He sweatdropped on looking at that prize. It seemed like the odd one out in comparison to the other cute plushies.
'She has a weird taste' he thought.
"You got this John " Seraphina cheered for him boosting his confidence.
He threw the ring towards it which bounced off the metal box.
He threw another ring towards the metal box which missed again.
'8 more tries to go' he inwardly counted.
John grew more and more frustrated as every ring he threw missed. Eventually he was down to his last ring.
'Should have gone for a different game' he mentally cursed his luck.
"Alright it's your last ring" the vendor warned " make it count".
"Just relax John " Seraphina assured him"Take a deep breath and focus".
John did as he was told. He took a deep breath, focused on the doll, and threw the ring.
Luckily to everyone's surprise the ring landed on the box.
John couldn't believe that he managed to win.
"Sera did you see I won," he said excitedly, as stars sparkled in his eyes.
"Congratulations John!!" she clapped.
The shopkeeper handed the piggy doll to Seraphina who hugged it tightly. She looked so cute that John was unable to tear his gaze from her.
"Let's try the shooting games" Seraphina said interrupting him from his thoughts.
"Wait for me !!" he shouted running after her.
When they reached there both of them decided to try their luck.
She walked over to the vendor, pulling out her wallet. "How many tries?"
The vendor grinned, crossing his arms. "It's 12 $ for ten tries. All you have to do is to take down all the ten standing figurines to get the prize."
"Sounds easy" she said confidentially, handing him the money.
"Good luck Sera" John cheered for her.
"You too"She replied as she took a hold of the gun and aimed at the figurines.
John stared in amazement as she managed to shot down 8 of the figurines without breaking a sweat but she missed her 9th shot.
She was a bit disappointed.
"Don't worry! I will make sure to win it! "he assured her.
John was careful in his aim and was able to knock down all the figurines much to her surprise.
"You didn't tell me you were a pro in this game" she raised an eyebrow.
"Dad and I used to compete with each other in this game before, to see who was a better shooter" John said feeling proud of his another win.
"So I'm a sort of expert in it"
He waited for the prize.
The vendor handed him a soap bubble that set much to his shock.
Sera couldn't help but giggle at his crestfallen expression.
"Can't I get anything else?!" he tried to change the mind of the vendor"This stuff is for kids".
But the vendor sternly declined his request much to his disappointment.
"Look on the brighter side John!!
At least you managed to win it"She tried to cheer him up.
They decided to explore the festival.
They eyed the various stalls, listened to live music, and smelled the food.
The two were glad to have gone out with each other. John was feeling a bit of joy that he hadn't felt in a long time. Seraphina could see this and was glad to see that her plan worked.
"So you want to go on some of the rides?" John asked.
"How about that roller coaster they have set up in the corner right there?"Seraphina answered.
"I'm not sure" he said, worriedly.
"What? You scared of roller coasters or not?" She teased him.
"No! Of course not! Come on, let's go!" John said, boastfully.
The two of them then quickly made their way to the ride.
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"Tonight was just amazing," Seraphina said, as she and John decided to grab some snacks after the ride.
The two of them were still holding hands and Seraphina still carried the Piggy doll in her hands.
"I don't think I ever had so much fun before tonight!" she said, happily.
"Yeah me too," agreed John. "The festival was pretty fun."
John reached into his pocket and took out a folded picture. The picture was of him and Sera that they had taken in the photo booth. They were both smiling brightly.
He decided to add it to his album after reaching his dorm.
"You know, your face looks really funny while trying not to scream on the roller coaster," Seraphina said trying not to laugh.
"Did you see how rickety that thing was?" argued John. "I'm amazed that thing held up for the night."
"Still I thought it was a pretty fun ride."
John was beginning to feel a bit dizzy from the ride, so he excused himself to take a rest on the bench.
Meanwhile Seraphina decided to fetch ice-creams for both of them while he was resting.
He was massaging his temples when suddenly one of the booths caught my eye.
The sign at the stand said "Ability Gauge Measures from 1-10. Scores of 5+ get a prize! $10".
He paled on remembering the conversation he had with Arlo about it.
Arlo mentioned about a tracker in those prizes with which they were tracking on high tiers. Then that invisible guy must be somewhere around here.
He got up from his seat and scanned the area to find the trace of the invisible person. Luckily he could make out a familiar faint gray aura that seemed to be looking at the booth from a distance.
Anger boiled in his veins as he was reminded of the reason Sera was in this state.
Those fuckers!! Not only did they stole her ability but also tried to kill her.
I will make them pay for it!!
Murderous intent was radiating from his body.
Blinded by rage and hatred, he made his way towards them unaware of the risks he was undertaking.
"John" he was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice calling out his name.
He turned his head to that direction to find Seraphina looking for him.
Panic rose to his chest as he deactivated his ability.
"How could I be so stupid" he cursed himself when he was reminded that Sera was still their target.
"My top priority should be her safety not revenge".
He was a bit relieved to find that the invisible guy was unaware of them.
There might be a huge chance that he might come after her.
They need to get out of her now.
"I am not going to allow her to be in danger again "he vowed to himself.
He quickened his pace running towards her.
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Finally this chapter is done.
I have already planned the chapter but then I was struck by a different idea out of the blue so in the end I have to rewrite everything.
I hope you guys liked it.
I didn't get a suitable picture of John and Seraphina holding hands so I decided to draw it myself but I ended up making John a bit shorter.
Thanks a lot for reading.
Hope to see ya soon.