“You’re wearing a jacket right now,” Levi murmured back.
“You know what I mean,” Aida hissed. She felt her stomach drop as she noticed how intimate their positions were. Levi still had his hands resting on her shoulders, and his ear was only a breath away. She could smell pine needles wafting from his hair. “…There’s a cultural significance to the jacket thing, isn’t there?”
Levi slowly exhaled, straightening back to his normal height. He pulled her away from Ezra, and this time Ezra completely ignored the two of them. “There is. But don’t worry—“
The teachers interrupted Levi’s explanation, though Aida didn’t turn her glare away from Levi. She had dropped her hands from the collars of the jacket, and had her hands on her hips - though with how billowy the jacket was, it really wasn’t that obvious. She kept her glare trained on Levi as Bruce talked.
“Thank you everybody for attending and reminiscing. Please collect some more moon snacks before we have them cleared away. Have a good night, and do not stay up too late - tomorrow is a good time for you all to catch up on anything you might wish to work on, so please be responsible about how you spend your time.”
There was a flurry of movement around them as several students and staff members went to grab the desserts before they were taken away, and everyone departed, careful to give Aida and Levi a wide berth.
Levi laughed awkwardly. “It worked. You can give my jacket back now.”
“Levi…” Aida’s voice was deadly calm. Given the looks they had received from everybody, she could imagine the implications of what Levi giving her his jacket had done. She struggled to keep her temper in check. Customer service face. “Tell me what you did.”
Levi tried to dally, but relented when Aida swept the jacket from her shoulders and whipped it over his shoulder, relinquishing her possession of the problematic garment. Fortunately for him, the courtyard was already empty. “I just made it clear to others that they weren’t to approach you tonight.”
“And what right did you have to make that decision for me?” Aida’s voice was so icy that her jaw was tight.
“I was just looking out for you,” Levi argued. “You didn’t understand the full scope of this event, so I expected you to walk in and accidentally cause a misunderstanding with someone else - which I was right to expect, because you did just that. But fortunately, you made that mistake with me.”
“And you didn’t think it would be easier to explain to me the full scope of this event?” Aida fumed. “You kept me in the dark, so that when I make a mistake, you can say ‘I told you so?’” Being set up for failure like that - Aida couldn’t think straight with all the blood rushing to her head.
Levi’s own voice hardened, and his expression transformed into that of the predator she had met in the forest the night he accosted her about her real identity. “If you recall, I was trying to explain to you earlier today, but you kept avoiding the topic. And you already knew there was a romantic part of this event, so who was I to assume you didn’t already know the ‘full scope of this event?’”
“You waited until the last minute!” Aida struggled to keep from shouting. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier, when the teachers first posted the notice about this Festival? Or any of the other star cycles in between from then ‘til now?”
“For your information, I thought it would be fine - that maybe everybody would still think of you as Aida. But the more I watched, the more I noticed people weren’t just thinking of you as Aida - and if it wasn’t for me tonight, some other guy would have given you his jacket.”
Aida threw up her hands. “I still don’t see why you couldn’t have just told me clearly about how this event goes!”
“Why do you care so much?” Levi demanded. “You’re acting like you already had someone in mind you would want to receive a jacket from - why weren’t you honest about that, then?”
Aida scoffed. “You’re being ridiculous! No one was going to give me their jacket anyway.”
“I gave you my jacket,” Levi finally shouted at her. Aida fell silent. She had fallen into a groove in the argument, and had been prepared to throw her response back in his face - but his response, the vehemence in it - it did something to stall her arguments out. The meaning of his words finally broke through the fog of anger in her mind, and her brain seized up as she tried to reconcile what he said with what she knew.
Levi scoffed, whipping his jacket back around his own shoulders. “Forget it. I can’t handle this right now. I can’t handle you.” Without another glance, Levi strode past her and back into the school.
Aida stood there, frozen, for what felt like hours. But I’m the side character. She wasn’t meant to have a love plotline. She was just supposed to support Sue. Levi did give her his jacket, though - and he was so insistent that others would give her a jacket as well. None of this makes sense. The only thing that made sense was that Levi, playboy as he was, with knowledge that she wasn’t Aida, was released from the original More to Love plot.
So maybe he developed enough self-awareness to go for someone other than Sue - but that didn’t mean the other leads did. So why was Levi so insistent that she would get jackets from other boys? Her heart thrilled at the thought of who else might have given her a jacket - but she quickly clamped that train of thought down. Now was not the time.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Does Levi really like me? Aida wondered. If she took him at his word - and she knew she couldn’t; he was far too flirtatious to be trustworthy - he allegedly did. But words were one thing - actions were where the real intentions could be discerned. But he gave me his jacket. She shook her head violently. Not counting this most recent action…she frowned. He never really did anything to indicate he was interested in her romantically. Granted, he did go out of his way to help her assimilate to this world - but he had forthrightly admitted that was just because her predicament was an interesting pastime to him.
This is impossible.
Only one thing was for sure…Levi had no real good reason to like her. After all, nobody had been interested in Annie in the real world. If the dates her friends had set her on had taught her anything, it was that nobody was interested in quiet, serious Annie. The Annie who had no time - or means - to go on spontaneous adventures, who was limited to walks in the park or the occasional meal, who had serious obligations to her family.
It had only taken two “serious” relationships for Annie to realize that no matter what her dates said in the beginning, they did not have the patience to wait for Annie to climb out of the financial and social debt she was in. Nor did she have a right to expect them to - if she was faced with a potential partner who was deep in debt and responsible for aging parents, she also would not want to be tied to that obligation. Not when there were so many other…options with no baggage.
Sure enough, each of her dates she had built remarkable rapport with had drifted away within months of learning more about her life.
Her current position as Aida - no time, no means, all efforts directed towards just catching up - was equivalent to Annie’s life. She just didn’t have the standing to be considered a romantic partner.
Feeling more vindicated, Aida straightened, feeling the puzzle pieces come back together to form a coherent image. The cold winter air was refreshing on her heated face, helping draw her back to her current problem. Though it was also starting to raise goosebumps on her bare skin.
She could agree that Levi exercised his best judgment in protecting her identity - this all boiled down to misunderstandings. She should have let Levi explain to her how the event worked, instead of trying to show off her knowledge when he pulled her into the classroom. After all, Levi had consistently given her good information and help in laying low at Maglica - so in that regard, she believed his intentions were still good.
As for Levi liking her? That was clearly false. Levi was comfortable enough to flirt with everybody, so he would have no compunctions about misleading everybody into thinking he liked her for one night - especially if the alternative was to have the whole school in an uproar about the fact that Aida Loreh had received a personality transplant. As far as anybody else expected, if he started chasing Sue again tomorrow it would be completely in character for him.
Now that Aida thought about it, she had a grudging respect for how decisive Levi was when it came to taking critical action - especially when it came to protecting others. I guess that’s something I should learn from him - screw what anybody else thinks, do what’s necessary.
He was really angry when he left her, though. Aida bit her lip. She’d have to apologize to him. But she wasn’t as good with words as he was…and she didn’t have it in her to wait until tomorrow, letting the anxiety eat at her all night and wondering if she would see him the next day - he could easily avoid her for the rest of the star cycle if he wanted.
Making up her mind, Aida turned towards the school again, when a shiver ran down her spine. Glancing around uneasily, she didn’t see anything - and neither could she sense anything.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching her.
She looked up at the sky. The sliver of moon winked out of sight just as she looked up, leaving only stars glimmering down at her.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Aida knocked quietly on Levi’s door. It was late; the rest of the boys’ hallway was still, and she couldn’t sense anybody in Levi’s neighboring rooms. She knocked again when she got no answer.
“Levi, I know you’re still awake,” she called quietly. After a grudging moment, Levi’s door finally opened.
Levi was still wearing the festival pants and tunic, though he had removed the offending jacket and his hairtie. His dark green hair hung in long locks around his face, down to his chest. Aida’s heart thudded at his simmering eyes. Yup, still angry.
“Can I come in?” she asked quietly. Levi glared at her for another moment, before finally stepping back from the door and allowing her entry.
The first thing she noticed was that Levi’s festival jacket was crumpled in the far corner, as if he had hurled it there as soon as he walked in and had no intention of picking it up any time soon. The next thing she noticed was that Vanita’s gift was sitting at the foot of his bed, precariously close to the edge. The fire ruby was glittering gently, a tiny flame dancing merrily between the sculptures. Completely disrespecting the mood between Aida and Levi.
“Aren’t you worried it’s going to burn your room up?” Aida asked softly, pointing to Vanita’s gift.
“What are you doing here?” Levi asked coldly. He was not in any mood for chit chat.
Aida swallowed. “I came to apologize.”
“For what?”
“For…not understanding you,” Aida said softly, unable to meet Levi’s thunderous gaze. “I thought about it, and I realized it was my fault - I got too comfortable here these past two moon cycles, and I thought I knew everything about your culture already.” She blinked, focusing on what she had to say before she lost it.
“It was wrong of me to blame you for what you did…you only did what was necessary to keep me out of trouble, and I took it for granted. Beggars can’t be choosers, right? And I’m the one who needs your help more than you need mine.” Aida couldn’t hold back a choking laugh. That’s right. Even here, I’m still technically a beggar.
“Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say,” Aida said, her voice thickening. “You’ve been a better friend to me than I’ve been to you, but I promise, as soon as I can, I’ll repay all my debts. I’ll help you in any way I can, no questions asked.” Blinking her tears away, she looked up at Levi, determined to meet his gaze with her own strong will. As an equal.
Levi was looking at her with his lips parted in confusion. She took in the shape of his lips, with its perfect cupid’s bow. His perfectly sculpted nose, that led gracefully to his bronze eyes that shimmered in the dim light. “What—“ he started to say. He sounded so lost and confused that Aida’s heart crumpled. I can’t believe I made a friend feel this way.
Swiping her arm across her eyes, Aida blubbered out her apology again - for questioning his integrity, for accusing him of malicious behavior, for making him feel like she didn’t value him.
“Aida—“ Levi said helplessly. He handed out a handkerchief, but Aida couldn’t stop crying.
“Sorry for everything,” she choked out, knowing she was botching her dignified and sincere apology. Deciding to cut her losses, she fled from his room.