“Hey, Aida!”

Aida glanced around at the hiss, to see Levi beckoning at her from one of the corner classrooms. She looked around curiously - nobody was in the hallway, since most of the student population had gone home for the upcoming Festival recess. So no reason for Levi’s secretive attitude.

Levi shut the door behind her as soon as she stepped into the classroom. “What’s going on?”

“Old Moon Festival. It’s tonight.” Levi crossed his arms, seeming uncharacteristically wary.

“Uh huh. The teachers have organized a small get-together to moongaze, right?” Aida tilted her head at him, frowning. He was so uptight, and seemed distracted. She stomped towards him, thrusting her face into his at the same time. “Boo!”

Levi gasped, collapsing against the door with a hand over his heart. “What was that for?”

Aida snickered. “You were so tense, so I wanted to mess with you. What’s going on with you?”

Levi waved her back as he straightened, his cheeks colored from the shock. “I just wanted to make sure you understood the ramifications of the Old Moon Festival.”

“Ah.” Aida considered. She had done some further research about the event after Levi’s brief explanation, but she didn’t notice anything particularly convoluted about the celebration. “It seems fairly straightforward, just an end-of-year celebration with family and loved ones. What’s important about it?”

“The loved ones part,” Levi prompted. “Are you planning on engaging with an individual in that portion of the celebration?”

Aida laughed. “That’s unexpected. I would have thought you would ask me to help orchestrate something for you and Sue.”

“Humor me,” Levi wheedled. “What are your plans?”

Turning thoughtful, Aida started pacing. “Well, if it makes you feel any better I wasn’t planning on partaking in the romance part of the event.” Not least because everyone around her was younger than her - she doubted any of them had eyes for her, not with Sue around.

Dev’s cryptic message about friendship flashed through her mind, and goosebumps rose on her skin, making her rub her upper arms unconsciously. Don’t be silly, she chided herself. For all she knew, Dev might be trying to orchestrate some sort of forgiveness campaign for Pritchard. No matter what he said about Pritchard having learned anything from Professor Gemma’s mentoring sessions, the fact was she still didn’t know what their motives really were.

“You know, in order to avoid any awkward questions, you could always spend the Festival with me,” Levi suggested delicately. Aida tripped on her own ankle as she turned to look at him incredulously.

“Don’t tell me - you don’t think you can get Sue alone, so you’re trying to use me as a backup plan!” Aida accused, slamming her hands on the desk she caught herself on. It was accidental, but it added a nice touch to her mock severity.

To his credit, Levi looked appropriately aghast. “No! That’s not my intention!”

Aida leered at him, but he refused to relent. “I just thought it would be a mutually beneficial arrangement! If you spend the Festival with me, no one else will try to seek your company - and since I know the truth about you, we don’t have to worry about any misunderstandings arising between us.”

“Don’t worry,” Aida replied, waving his concerns off. “I was already planning on sticking with the staff during the moongazing event, and then returning to my room as soon as the event was over. I’m unlikely to run into any trouble following that plan, right?”

Levi actually started to look a bit frustrated. He opened and closed his mouth several times, before finally raising his eyes to the ceiling. “Fine. I can see there’s no convincing you.”

Aida rested her elbows on the desk, leaning her chin against her hand as she looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. “Levi…are you trying to court me?” she teased. She swished her hips for emphasis.

Levi leaned down to meet her gaze, his arms folded across his chest. “What if I am?” His voice was deep and humorless, and his lips were serious. His bronze eyes were steady, completely serious.

Aida swallowed, trying to keep her smile on her face. She couldn’t play chicken with him. Who knew how much practice he had wooing girls as the resident playboy of the cast - and even though Annie knew he was a playboy, she was starting to acknowledge she might not be able to hold her own if Levi actually turned his charm onto her for real.

She blew into his face, forcing him to close his eyes as she stood up. She was able to think more clearly when he didn’t have her pinned by his gaze.

“It’s a good plan, isn’t it? As long as I stick with a group, there shouldn’t be any issue. Why are you so worried about me, anyway?” Aida asked suspiciously. Now that she started questioning motives, she couldn’t seem to stop. She didn’t like it; it took too much thinking.

Levi looked at her with exasperation. “Never mind. I’ll be making sure you stick to the crowd,” he declared, pointing a stern finger at her. “No roaming off on your own.”

“Yes, Father.” Aida rolled her eyes as she hauled open the door, leaving Levi swelling indignantly behind her as she headed for lunch. She really didn’t understand why he was so worried; she wasn’t planning on seeking out trouble. Dress modestly, keep her head down, go home at the appropriate hour - what could go wrong?

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

She skidded to a stop, seeing Ezra approach from the other end of the hallway.

“What are you two doing?” Ezra asked, wariness tingeing his dispassionate question. His eyes lingered on Levi stepping out of the classroom behind her.

Before Aida could fumble for an explanation, Levi swung his arm around her neck, dragging her towards him. “Aida and I were making plans to get together for the Old Moon Festival tonight!”

Aida squawked in outrage - or at least, she tried to. Levi was nearly choking her in his enthusiastic embrace. Ezra nearly rolled his eyes but managed to put a lid on it, maintaining his refined demeanor.

“Since you’re the one who said it, I know that’s not true.” He glanced at Aida. “What were you doing?”

Aida fought her way out of Levi’s hold, taking a moment to catch her breath - and also come up with a reasonable answer.

“What are you all up to?” A dulcet voice floated over them, making a shiver run through their group.

Lara had just come down the staircase, and was smiling serenely at them. Her eyes glossed over Aida, lingering on Levi and Ezra.

Aida swallowed her laughter. Of course Lara would show up - just in time to save her from an awkward situation, and thereby making things even more uncomfortable with her presence.

“Hey Lara,” Aida said neutrally. “We were just talking about the Old Moon Festival tonight.”

“Ah, of course,” Lara said smoothly. “You are attending, yes?”

“Yes,” Aida said. Ezra and Levi just nodded stiffly, exchanging glances.

“Excellent. I shall see you all there.” Inclining her head, Lara moved sedately past Ezra, not even bothering to look at Aida.

After Lara turned the corner, Aida turned to Ezra and Levi. Both of them had sour expressions on their faces, thoroughly distracted from the original topic at hand. That could have a lot been worse. “Should we get lunch?”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Levi and Ezra were reluctant to remain in the dining hall while Lara was in there, so they ate on the lawn in front of the school’s massive front doors.

“So…is there anything you’re looking forward to in the new sun cycle?” Aida asked brightly. Levi and Ezra were both silently eating, and the silence between the two was awkward - Aida was partially worried Ezra would begin interrogating them again about what they were discussing in the classroom, and was trying to forestall that thought process.

Levi smirked. “Graduation, obviously. I can’t wait for the freedom from this grind.”

“But once you start working, that’s another grind itself,” Aida pointed out.

“At least work will have more flexibility than this,” Levi said dismissively. “Work will just be about how your perform at your job, and once you’re done for the day there’s no more expectation for you to keep practicing your skills for another exam the next day.” Levi grimaced. His words reminded Aida of her last year of high school, where every one of her classmates suffered a severe bout of senioritis.

Aida grinned, turning to Ezra inquisitively. Ezra wasn’t as gung ho as Levi; he actually had a look of melancholy on his face as he contemplated her question.

“I think I will miss it,” Ezra finally said.

“Miss what?” Levi gaped at Ezra. “School?”

Ezra nodded, ignoring Levi’s shock. “I like having this routine. I know exactly what will happen each day, and that makes it easier to plan my studies.”

Levi continued to goggle at Ezra. “You want structure, so that you can do more work?”

“It’s not work if I enjoy it,” Ezra informed Levi haughtily.

“I think Ezra has a point,” Aida said quietly, cutting off Levi’s response. “I like knowing what’s going to happen in the short term…thinking about the future is…intimidating.”

“But - that’s going to get so boring!” Levi leaned forward, peering into her face. “If you know you’re going to do the same thing every day, day after day…”

Aida shrugged. “Honestly, I like having there be one clear goal in front of me, instead of…nothing.”

“But that’s the beauty of it,” Levi argued. “You can decide what your goal is. You’re not going to be forced to achieve some arbitrary goal decided by the teachers. And besides, you have a goal, don’t you? Becoming a Healer.”

“Yes, but I don’t truly know what being a Healer entails,” Aida confessed. “I think I’m romanticizing the idea of being a Healer, but what if I find out I hate it?”

“But nobody knows exactly what something is going to be like before they do it. What are you really afraid of?” Levi challenged, scooting closer to her. Aida scooted back.

“Just…what if I make the wrong choice?” Aida asked softly, looking down at her hands. She couldn’t meet Levi’s insistent gaze. “What if my choice leads to a worse outcome?”

Her question was met with silence. She glanced up to see Levi and Ezra exchanging glances.

“I know it’s illogical,” Aida assured them hastily. “Since no one can anticipate the future, but I just can’t help but feel that way, you know?”

“For what it’s worth,” Levi said lightly, “Even if you, say, pick the ‘wrong’ job from among the Affiliates, you’ll still be able to get a new job relatively easily. So don’t feel like you’re locked in to your choice at the beginning.”

Don’t feel like you’re locked in to your choice. Even though Levi’s sentiment had been floating in the back of her mind, futilely battling the irrational fear of making a mistake regarding her future, hearing him say it seemed to crystallize the meaning of the words. Making the prospect of escaping from a job she hated more tangible. Even though this world had magic and monsters, everything she’d seen so far indicated it was just as fluid and susceptible to random chance as the real world. She wouldn’t be forced into a single job she hated…she did have the Tulvers’ offer, after all. That’s so much better than nothing.

Aida smiled gratefully at him. “I guess all I needed was to hear someone say it.”

Ezra coughed lightly. “If I may…surely any career decision you make won’t be worse than…” he trailed off, glancing meaningfully at her. She gazed blankly at him, before feeling her cheeks flush.

Something about having a boy mention relationships in direct relation to her made her feel…giddy. It was easy to talk or gossip about someone else’s relationship status, because it was never about her. But having Ezra broach the topic of her impending arrangement…it was almost as if he really did see her as a girl, and not just a friend.

“Yeah, it can’t get worse than that,” she muttered, pulling her knees to her chin.

“Can’t get worse than what?” Levi asked keenly.

“None of your business,” Aida said curtly. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go do some more mana exercises before the Festival tonight.”

“You are attending the Festival event the staff is organizing?” Ezra asked quickly, following her with his own lunch tray.

“Yes, Aida and I are,” Levi sang from behind Ezra. “Will we see you there?”

Aida looked at Levi, exasperated. Teasing Ezra for no reason.

“Of course I will be there,” Ezra responded stiffly, squinting at Levi. “You’re not going to spend the evening with…someone else?”

“Like who?” Levi asked airily, squeezing between Ezra and Aida to return his tray first. “Aida and I are good friends. We’ll have fun at the event.”

“Okay, I’m out.” Muttering at the needless posturing between the two boys, Aida made her way down to the Lake.