The next day, I woke up with a thought: "In the end, when were we supposed to meet?"

The teacher - I already had to get used to calling her that - had not given me precise instructions about the place or time for our training sessions. I wandered around the room while thinking of a solution.

"Maybe she meant the same place as yesterday at the same time. This way, she would have another chance to sneak out of the chosen ones' dormitory or wherever she was staying." I thought.

So the only option was to hope that by going to my designated training spot once again, the teacher would magically show up there. I had no idea if this was actually a good idea, and I certainly couldn't go to the training field and ask her what time we were supposed to meet. It would be both complicated and risky.

Then I thought of something else while pacing the floorboards.

"What if she did it on purpose to challenge me? To sneak into the dormitory and meet her there?"

It really seemed like something Malia would do, to be in a forbidden place and have me scold her for forgetting to tell me where and when to meet for training, or for doing it on purpose.

I didn't know what to do. It was the first time I saw my future so uncertain. Everything now depended on that damned girl, and I couldn't decide what to do. I didn't know her well enough to understand how she thought or what reasoning she had. It was also possible she hadn't thought about it at all.

"Damn it... Falco, you couldn't have asked her?!"

A calculator like me, not asking such fundamental information, was really pathetic. I had been caught up in the excitement of the moment when Malia offered to take charge of my training. I wasn't used to those strong teenage emotions.

I said to myself, "So should I come to your dormitory, like a boy sneaking up to look for his girlfriend... You probably thought it is romantic, like the time I found you out of the training field, but I'm not stupid enough to play along with your game, idiot."

I drank my breakfast milk in my mother's presence, who had been warming it up for me since I was a baby.

"Mom, you don't have to warm up my milk every time," I said annoyed.

She, who had known me forever, always knew what to say.

"What happened, honey? You're usually so full of energy..."

She sat at the table with me while I sipped my milk without saying a word, not because I was mad at her, but at the other one!

"Sigh, don't tell me it's about a girl?"

I don't know. I have no idea how the hell she knew that Malia had something to do with my mood. I don't know if it was a mother thing or the fact that women in general always seem to understand what's going on in men's heads. Maybe it's us who are too simple and decipherable to women. Anyway, my reaction was anything but composed, so much so that I spilled some milk on myself.

"Falco" she said gently, tilting her head a little and looking into my eyes.

"No mom, I swear, I don't want to marry her!"

She widened her eyes and laughed, "I didn't mean that, you silly son!"

Then she sat back properly, "I was just saying that if this... girl has this effect on you, maybe you should try to understand her better. I don't know what happened between you two, but girls are sensitive, they're not like you or your dad, hard in spirit as if they had no feelings."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I always appreciated what my mother said, and I listened to her gladly.

"No, mom, sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. But I can't tell you anything about it. Let's say it's a secret."

"Oh, so you have secrets your mom can't know?! Remember, I'm the woman who will love you forever."

"Come on, mom!"

She embarrassed me. Every time she talked about love, I couldn't look her in the eyes and felt a sort of rejection. Why did she have to say such sweet words? I couldn't stand them a bit, but I loved my mother very much too. She had always been there for me when I needed it most and tried to encourage me, even though she didn't fully understand my dreams or motivations. Yet she always supported me in whatever I decided for my future. For this reason, even though I never told her, I loved my mother very much.

I left the house, my father had already headed to the shop, more towards the center of the village, where all the services and stalls were grouped, taking advantage of the warmth of the Great Star, protecting us from the external cold. I decided to go to the chosen ones' training field, mainly to clear my mind a bit. I thought that maybe, if I saw Malia, I would understand what to do.

I peered over the usual fence and climbed until I could see the other side. It was morning, and the chosen ones, waking up earlier than me, had already started training. Watching them for days, I had already figured out their routine. Everyone was there, including Malia. Unlike the others, who were doing different physical training, she was talking to her master, who had his back turned, a man said to be very knowledgeable and to have studied the powers and their various physical and psychological ramifications most of his life. I couldn't tell if they were just talking or if he was scolding her. The training field's perimeter was very large, so facial expressions were really hard to catch.

I stared at her as intensely as I could to glean even the slightest facial expression or body movement that might helped me understand what was happening, but nothing. However, after a few seconds, the master dismissed her and headed towards the others, probably to continue with his training. The moment she turned around, her gaze met mine.

My heart started beating like... really hard, as if someone had added coal to the boiler of a steam train, and I started sweating more than when I trained. Instinctively, I ducked down suddenly and, losing my balance, fell with a thud onto the dusty ground. My butt hurt, but I didn't think about it, because the thought of being seen by her again (this time knowingly) made me lose my mind. I couldn't understand why. Why did I have to react that way? I knew she would keep the secret. But then a doubt.

"What if she just told her master everything?!"

Had I made too much noise? Had I perhaps drawn their attention? What should I do if they caught me spying on the sacred chosen ones' training?

Even though I was afraid of the consequences, I couldn't organize my thoughts. It was as if my thoughts were clouded by that look. I didn't even know if she had actually seen me, but even if she had, what would have changed? Besides, she wasn't my type anyway.

I got up slowly, after - perhaps only a little - coming back to my senses. If she had really seen me, maybe it was a good thing. That way, I hoped to make her understand that I was present, ready to train at any moment. Or maybe it was just that I couldn't wait for her to scold me once again for spying on their training.

Sitting on my dear and "soft" rock, after training as usual, this time without punching any trees, hoping never to have to do it again, I waited, and waited, and waited. Until...

No, no one arrived. By that time, the sun had set and the stars, like the previous night, were vivid in the sky. Even though I had waited there all day, she didn't come. Maybe I had too high expectations. Did I really think a simpleton like me would be helped by a true chosen one? Yes, thinking of it that way really seemed like a mere illusion.

However, the words she had spoken that evening "I will do everything to make you fight on the same level as us" seemed sincere. I didn't want to lose hope right away, so I gave her a few more days to meet me. Once I accepted the fact that she had abandoned me, maybe I would stop waiting for her.

I waited for her for five whole days, hoping that at any moment a female voice would shout something like, "So you're so desperate that you managed to wait for me," and then insult me, as if she hadn't already, about how weak I would be if I couldn't even wait for her for a week. I decided to wait for her again, for a week at least. But I don't think I would have accepted giving up after just one week anyway. I was angry, sure, she had promised to help me without telling me anything else, how could I not be. I felt mocked, ghosted, but it was nothing compared to the last few years I had spent training.

After the first day, I stopped spying on the training sessions and trained in my favorite spot. The more days passed, the more I was ready to train. I didn't realize, though, that the more time I spent training, something in my motivation was changing. If initially, my goal was to train with the aim of knocking down a tree, it was slowly starting to change, turning into something sweeter and more delicate. If my task before was to train, now it seemed to have become waiting for her, hoping that one day a girl's voice would say from behind me, "Sorry for being late!"

No, I don't think she would ever apologize like that. Maybe she would say, "Your magnificent teacher has arrived!" or something like that. I'm not a masochist, but just to hear her voice again, an insult would have been fine too. I just wanted to see the stars with her, again.