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<08/04/2011 - 09:12 | Saffrin Middle School (GA Studies), Austell, GA, USA>

My entry back into the classroom was barely noticed, and I returned the bathroom pass without hearing a word about how long I've been gone. I didn't want to think about all the homework that was slowly piling up in front of me, but I had no choice but to put it off until later. I took note again of the schedule I glanced at as a reminder of what would come next.

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For a serene moment, I just stood leaning on the teacher's desk with my face towards the classmates whom I've been ignoring.

"So these are the people you've been hanging out with in my absence?"

Having Lumina back reminded me about all the principles of our shared connection, how she could see everything through my eyes, even where my vision focused most. I tried as quickly as I could to get used to it again, so that she can't surprise me later. "Are you kidding? Those people were nowhere to be found over the summer. They didn't want to talk to me. They've been only acquaintances for as long as I can remember... But maybe I can work some new magic on them." I wasn't too sure if I wanted to put in any effort in trying to keep up with these girls, but not all of them were so bad. I never called Laura or Zero for example when I needed help, because I never had their phone numbers to begin with. As for the others, if they continue to ignore me, I'll have to try even harder.

"You sound like a masochist."

"What is that?" I waited for her clarification as I made my way back to my seat, sitting in wait as I wasn't ready to talk to any of them just yet. With a pencil and eraser in hand, maybe I can pretend to work.

"Never mind. Let me ask you this. Where is Maddison right now?"

I guess I'll have to look up what a masochist is on my own. As for Maddison, "Should I even care? I'm sure she'd want it that way. I haven't been nice to her even after learning she has amnesia, and I don't feel bad about it one bit. She's off somewhere, not caring about things as usual."

For the faintest moment, Lumina boosted the connection using her passive ability, allowing me to see through her eyes as she showed me her place and her arms in front. "Well she's missing out. She might think she's someone's cream of the crop, but she doesn't have all this!" Lumina waved and pointed her arms and eyes down to her own body, bobbing to gesture showing off her entire package.

Delayed by only a half-second from denial, I couldn't contain my laughter at such quirks. I vocalized my excitement enough for everyone to hear, and found it so absurd how proud Lumina was to be herself instead of someone else.

"What happened?" Banarus, curious only to what set me off tried not to laugh in sympathy for how lost I was in myself. I wasn't able to answer her yet, and her curiosity spread to everybody else at the table.

Laura tsked her tongue a few times while studying me. "He's finally gone crazy."

Just when I thought I would recover, Laura's comment only made it worse. I had to hold my chest and take deeper breaths to not fall out of my own seat, though at least I became quieter in volume.

"Serious though. You are okay, aren't you?" The question came from Lumina, a voice I would never mistake for anybody else. Her concern, though mild, calmed me down faster.

"Don't worry about me. I was just thinking something over again from earlier." I only addressed the humans, certain Lumina would hear my separate answer from within.

"Smooth." I knew she was unimpressed only by my lack of emotional control in front of others, but I could care less given what I've been through.

"So, you're not being crazy?" Laura would have been asking as a joke in any other context, but she was the only one not laughing at my cringiness.

Oh well, might as well go all in from this moment forward. "Maybe I am crazy Laura!" I Gothicized my own voice to sound insane on purpose, hoping for a frightened or panicked reaction from Laura. "Maybe I'm crazy and you're too late in realizing it!" I went all out, trying to open my eyes wider while leaning in towards her slowly.

"Okay, calm down."

Laura finally admitted defeat by leaning away, making a crackling laughing cry for help. Already was I too much for her, and the moment got the others chuckling at us both. The whole atmosphere could have stayed so heavenly, until Banarus decided not to abandon her stubborn curiosity.

"You seem way happier all the sudden. I mean, there you were for days just sitting like a zombie, and now this? It's okay Reed. You can tell us if you've gone bonkers."

In just two seconds, her question killed what mood we had going. Everybody was staring at me now, waiting on an explanation they all deserved. She's quite the problem sometimes, saying what everybody else is thinking. Now I have to convince everybody that I'm okay, even though there is no visible reason for me to make such a swift one-eighty. I of course know the real reason; just thinking about her like this was making me blush a little. None of them can ever know about her though.

"Girls? I can be a complete weirdo sometimes. I may not make sense to some of you every day. And if that makes me bonkers, so be it. You can call me your everyday wacko!" My confession had Laura and Kate cackling somewhat, but I continued in all seriousness. "Right now, I'm okay if you all think I'm nuts. I for one don't need to change who I am to make any friends. So, if you're still wondering, I'm fine." I let my words end there, waiting for them to ask me something else... The silence trailed, all with easy expressions I've never seen before.

"...Interesting," Lumina observed. "They respect you more for saying something like that."

Was that really the case? I wouldn't have guessed it myself, but if Lumina is so sure, I have to believe it.

"... Hold on a moment!" Being the first to interrupt achieved bliss, Laura leaned forward on top of her desk, until her face was right up in my own.

I instantly tried to lean away from her, being unable to see with all my vision taken up by Laura's curious scowl. "Eh, personal space much?" I shouldn't have underestimated her ability to make me feel uncomfortable, though it was probably payback for what I did to her earlier.

At last, Laura backed away, resuming her normal sitting bend while crossing her arms in awe. "So that's why you're acting so weird today!"

I shrugged my arms up with a slight nod of uncertainty to what she was getting at. Oh...? I thought I was always the weird one.

"Isn't he always weird?"

"Hey! Telepathy's our thing!" As Lumina shouted at Banarus for her comment, I rubbed my arm to try and catch up.

So that's why I heard two of the same questions at once! I thought it was unnatural for Banarus's voice to echo at all, but it was Lumina asking the same thing at the same time, which explains her latest jesting outburst. Still, I didn't even get the time to explain anything before Laura came out with the news herself, and she made a wide, naughty grin when she addressed me.

"So, who's the new girlfriend?"

Everyone around me just blurted "What?!" as if they'd never expect to hear that, including Lumina, though her shock was for different reasons. "Eha..." I was too confused to make words right now, shocked that Laura could somehow figure these things out first. I wanted to flat out deny it, but with my feelings for Lumina so fresh on my mind, my tongue just froze up with nothing else to say.

"I got to hand it to Laura. She read you like a two-page picture book made with glass pages."

"Girlfriend huh? Whatever do you mean?" I couldn't even engage my acting skills. There was too much for me to think about at once, mainly to the mystery of how Laura was so observant. She's much more skilled than me! I can read people really well too, but never who they're crushing on. As such, I probably didn't sound convincing in my own lie.

"Hah!" Banarus barked and pointed. "I knew it!"

"She totally did not know it."

"Can everyone just stop talking to me at once?"

Laura ignored my strange request though, penalizing me with the truth I tried so much to hide. "You've been blushing ever since you got back to the classroom, but you were extremely miserable before that. Admit it!" Laura stood up with her legs apart pointing at me like a five year old accusing a villain. "You were having girl trouble weren't you? You got the looove buuug!"

Without a dull moment, Banarus added on with my humiliation. "Awh! That's so cute! Reed, you finally found someone!"

At last I was given a moment to speak, but I had to rethink everything to say, since my facade of being a stone-cold single loner came crashing down in flames. This was the one thing I didn't want to have to deal with. I knew I would be bombarded with questions for details if I were to mention a secret lover to anybody, questions I could never plausibly answer, because of Lumina... No, I don't think I can hide this anymore, at least not the part that I do have a girlfriend. Allowing myself to come out with this truth, I decided to let them win this round, even though I could barely speak it. "Okay... So I might possibly have someone... Maybe..." It's so embarrassing to admit to others!

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"And her name's Lumina?" Laura grinned as she started to eat my nervousness up like pancakes. Even Lumina was spooked.

"Aaaagh! Laura has telepathy!"

But that's not possible! "The hell? How could she know that? Bullshit. Maddison must have talked after all."

"That's actually really bad if it's true."

"Come on! You wrote her name down right there on your eraser! Big surprise for us all."

If epiphanies could hurt, this one would have cracked open my skin. I could only sit there with a blank and confused stare on my face, slowly coming to the only reality that made any sense. Laura must have read the blue ink on my big eraser when she got in my face earlier, which means she's been teasing me about it this entire time. "Oh."

"Oh?! Oh?! Is that all you can say? You might as well just have your diary sitting wide open for everyone to read, then get surprised how everybody knows your secrets. It's the perfect plan!"

"Shut up."

"At least it's a step up from mindlessly drawing dicks everywhere."

"Look, I didn't remember writing your name on that eraser until just now."

"And the big bold blue ink with a heart stamped between our names didn't ring some kind of bell when you brought it out? She's not telepathic. She's just observant, and you're too oblivious."

Laughing in the background of my attention, Banarus took notice of the same thing the others did, mocking me for my stupidity. "He did! He wrote her name with blue hearts everywhere."

"Good luck getting yourself out of their suspicions now."

"Quiet! I got this." I cleared my breath in preparation to explain myself to the eager classmates, but the words I wanted to express didn't come out as they did in my head. "I... So, yeah... Her name is Lumina."

After a short eruption of gasps around me, everyone started asking rapid-fire questions, Laura going first. "Tell us more about her!"

Then Zero took her turn. "Does she go to the same school?"

Then Kate. "How old is she?"

Then Banarus. "Where is she from? What does she look like?"

Their questions all alarmed me too much to speak, even though the four of them were now excitingly waiting on my answers. I felt my head spinning already, wishing I could just moonwalk on out of here without saying a single word.

"Well, it was nice knowing you Reed... Good luck out there."

"Wait, what?! You're just going to leave me to these wolves?"

"Tell us!" Nothing scared me more than all four of my acquaintances chanting the truth from me while leaning forward toward my face, in every direction all at the same time.

I can't possibly get out of this situation by pretending like it's nothing. "This is really bad! I can't tell them a single thing without it leading them closer to the forbidden truth."

"Then shut this down before it gets any bigger!"

I felt much calmer now that Lumina was serious about helping me out of the social grave I dug myself. Her advice was easy enough to follow, and I trusted her without resistance. "Uh, right... Let's see..." I have to find out how to deter their interest without giving them too many answers.

With the plan in mind, I started first by describing what person she was like in not-too vivid detail. "Well... She's very nice... I mean, she's wonderful! She's the most amazing person I've ever known. And on top of that, she's absolutely beautiful. Long dark brown hair, bright blue eyes..." I wound up getting lost in intrinsic thoughts about her, until I developed that dreamy face anyone would recognize.

"I said get them less interested Reed!" Lumina didn't sound as angry as she did flustered, rubbing her fingers to her hair.

"Right, sorry." I only now realized how easy it was for me to get lost in her elegance, the elegance of Lumina. I think somehow, I'm even more in love with her now than I was before. "And she doesn't go to this school. Sorry, but that's all I'm able to tell you."

I should have expected the reactions that would come of my decision. Banarus was the first one disappointed. "Whaaat?"

"Now that's just plain cold." Though she failed, Laura tried to make me feel guilty about the secrets.

Yet Zero took a more modest approach to satisfy her curiosity, reminding me exactly how observant and intelligent she was. "Is there something wrong Reed? I mean, is there a reason why you don't want us to know more?"

I knew I was in trouble with this one, since I wasn't able to answer, but as luck would have it, Laura was much less patient with me. "We promise not to tell... Much!" Meant as a joke that she would never keep my secrets, the others including Zero started laughing at the idea, and it generated this atmosphere of cuteness for the situation.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." I already knew I could never tell anybody here without risking my secret going around the school. I was oddly lucky that it did not end up that way when Maddison became aware of it. It might seem cruel to them, but this is for the best. "Seriously though. There's a lot of complicated elements about our situation. It's more than just a long story, and it's impossible to understand for the most part. She's already asked me to keep her story as private as possible, so I won't say anything that reveals any part of her personal life." There. After all that, everything I just explained is the most natural way to tell them off. If they ask any more, they'll be the nosey ones.

"Awh, come on!"

I guess Banarus is a nosey one...

"It's fine, I guess." Zero respected this privacy request from me, but she didn't hide how disappointed she was to not hear a juicy story.

"Still, it's cool that you found someone." Kate is simply happy for me, making her stance on this so simple.

I still have to make sure they don't go searching for those answers on their own. I don't know how well I can hide Lumina forever. "Look, it's not like I don't want to talk about it, but I know when things like these are better left alone. I can't talk about it with anyone, because it would cause problems if I did."

"I see," Banarus replied unconvinced. "Is Lumina actually a boy?"

"What?!" I noticed the others wincing from the same question, and I would have spit out anything if I were in the middle of drinking. Even Lumina wasn't thrilled by the direction she took.

"Okay, now that's just rude."

"I mean, you can tell us if you are gay, you know?" Trying to justify her accusation, Banarus didn't seem the least bit disturbed that we all took offense to it.

I quickly stood up, pressing my hands against my desk and facing forward to say it loudly to her face. "I'm not gay!"

"Glad to hear it Reed. Now pipe down and get back to work!"

I didn't realize that Ms. Hill started walking right next to me during my own declaration. My outburst followed by her reaction was part of a one-time clown show the entire class started chuckling at, and I sat back down in shame for publicizing that moment. I was already frustrated by the sight of Banarus and Laura laughing their butts off at my humiliation, but I decided to double down on my affirmation to her mistake. "Lumina is obviously a girl's name."

"Can I see a picture of her?"

At this point, I was ready to curl into a ball and rest my way through this. Laura just didn't care at all about what I said earlier. Besides, it wasn't physically possible for me to produce a picture of Lumina. "No, you can't. I told you already. Any more disclosed information about her is not something I can give away."

Banarus put her fingers on her chin with a wide grin, eyes sparkling as they focused entirely on me. "I'm getting a weird secret-agent vibe here."

After trying not to laugh, Zero added to Banarus's fuel. "Is she a secret agent Reed?"

I had to shut my eyes, rubbing my face while I tried to keep my aggravation so silent, so I dumped some more sarcasm into my voice. "Yes. Lumina is a secret agent working for the CIA. And now that you know that, they'll have their eye ball on you."

"I see. Don't tell them by almost telling them... Reverse psychology works like a charm."

"Is she a spy?!"

Does Banarus really believe Lumina is a secret undercover agent? Now I can't tell if she's the one being sarcastic, but she has that excited fiery look in her eyes, as if she just stumbled onto the story of a century. "You seem to think I'm just going to tell you, but I'm not."

Laura made a mild sigh of fantasizing before addressing me with, "It's okay though. At least she's making you happy. That's all that matters."

Yeah. I let my goofy grin trail off into the distance, reminding myself how great my mood was, even in this awkward class situation. Lumina does make me happy, and that's why I chose to continue being with her, even knowing that I'll be destroyed all over again for it.

"That, and how strong she is. Tell us Reed. Is Lumina actually taller than you?"

Banarus will just go all out to get any tiny detail she can! The girl is quite dedicated... Oh, what's the harm in speaking to an insignificant detail like that? "Okay... I'll freely admit, out of respect for Lumina that she is definitely stronger than me." The joke's on them if they think this detail bothers me one bit. Men, most heathens anyway, make a big fuss if they're physical strengths are lower than their own female partner. I never once cared about something so trivial, especially since I've never been strong or healthy to begin with, and Lumina's body can probably best most vampires. Oddly enough, I feel better this way, that Lumina is the strong one.

"Careful Reed."

"What?" I noticed what Lumina already had, since my attention shimmered off for a moment. The others were staring at me with the most disbelief. Of all the things to feel skeptical about, that was the one thing?! "What's that look for? She works out a lot more than I do. It's a given!"

With another second to think on it, Laura turned to face Banarus while pointing her thumb at me behind her. "He does have noodle arms."

"I'm sitting right here ya know." I wasn't too hurt about the truth. Anyone could see the lack of meat on my bones. With as much food as I cram down these days, even I'm still amazed. "And yes, she is a bit taller than me, but that's also a given, since she's also a few years older than me."

"Nice underexaggeration."

A few years, a few thousand years, whatever. "You don't honestly think I care about that age gap, do you? The only gap between us is intelligence, and as more time passes, that gap will shrink. I already care too much about you to bother my brain about a numbers game of how many birthdays we've celebrated."

"She's older?" Zeros curiosity picked back up where she left it earlier, and Banarus was in disbelief to follow.

"No way. You're making crap up now."

I see. So age is where they draw the line? "Yes, she is a bit older than me. I don't see why that's so hard to believe."

"Well," Laura led on, "it's rare!"

Banarus agreed instantly, allowing her point to be elaborated. "Yeah. In these situations, the guy is usually older than the girl."

Usually?! I coughed in my thoughts. There's much more to this that would shock the hell out of every person in this room, and they're going to die on the hill of age appropriations? What on Earth do any of these people know about love anyway?

"Well Reed, it looks like you didn't think this one through. Should I tell them that our love isn't creepy to us, or should you?"

"Oh, shut up. We both know that you didn't catch onto that either." "Did any of this indicate that my relationship with her was usual? I don't care if our situation is rare or common. Things are simply the way they are. And I'm happy with who I am right now in this moment."

"Okay, I guess we'll just have to take your word for it." Not that Banarus sounded convinced. Given what I just explained, it was going to be harder for her to poke holes in my story, since I wasn't technically lying about Lumina just yet.

"They're going to have to take my word for it. Even if they think I'm a nutcase, reality is just too intense for any of these fools to believe. Maddison's reaction was proof of that."

"Yeah, but Maddison is just one girl. And according to you, she's also a bitch. I guess I'm just pointing out that you shouldn't judge everybody based entirely off the reaction of another. I don't want to get your hopes up, but there might still be some candidates who could believe you among the crowd of this school."

"I'll look into it."

"Look into what?" Laura tilted her head at me, confused by all my missing context, and making Lumina and I both realize that I spoke out loud without realizing it.

"Really? You've been practicing this for how long now?"

"Don't blame me for having to adjust again. It's been several months!" "Nothing Laura. Don't worry about it." At least I'm getting better at juggling my thoughts and words when having to address the people in front of me and Lumina in the same moment.

"I suppose you're right. We do have a lot of catching up to do. But will the weather allow us to?"

It's a valid question, one most important to me now. With the bells tolling for our next class transition, I knew I was going to have to find a way to actively monitor the temperature outdoors, right now and later on. "We'll spend some more time tonight Lumina, even if we get cut off in the middle of today. If this weather report on my phone is trustworthy, then you can count on my promise!"