In late July, a week-long holiday swept through Hartsera, prompting all businesses to shut down. While schools were out for the summer months of June, July, and August, adults, too, were given the luxury of a much-needed break, which meant that I could spend the entire week with Farrah without worrying about her internship.

Farrah and I enjoyed walking around Hartsera, visiting the park, and having lunch together. However, even outside of mealtime, she brought up stories about her friend Orson. On my final day in Hartsera, as I waited at the docks to board my boat to Port Harbor, Farrah recounted yet another tale about Orson.

Irritated, I snapped, "I'm sorry, but I'm tired of hearing about Orson. You've been talking about him nonstop since I arrived."

Farrah's eyes widened in surprise, and her jaw dropped. "I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't talked about him that much."

"Yes, you have. Your parents would agree with me, and you've been mentioning him nonstop in front of me."

"I don't understand why you're so upset that I have a close friend at work," Farrah retorted, her tone sharp and cutting. "Orson is hilarious, and I thought you might enjoy his stories. Sorry."

"I don't mind that you have a friend at work," I replied, "and I'm glad you do. It's just that every time you talk about him, you seem completely absorbed."

Farrah scowled at me. "I think you're jealous."

I took a deep breath, realizing that she was right. "I am jealous, but it's not because of Orson. It's because I feel like I'm competing for your attention with someone else. I just want to spend time with you and without any distractions."

Farrah frowned. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but you should have told me that sooner. And I'm sorry if I wasted your week." Farrah had a sheen of tears in her eyes. "I'll talk to you later."

I held her hand as she tried to leave. "Wait, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow up at you the way I did. I'd feel horrible if I left you for a month, and this was the last thing we talked about."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you right now. I just want to go back home. I'll write to you, Rollie." Farrah turned away from me again and stormed off the docks as my boat started boarding.

Getting on the boat, I replayed the scene in my head over and over and over again until I became nauseous. I couldn't tell if it was the constant bobbing up and down from the ship or if it was from my own depression. The same questions echoed in my head. "Why are you alienating your girlfriend? Why are you alienating your only friend? Why do you have to get so upset about everything?"

Returning to my grandpa's house, My grandpa instantly said, "What's the matter, Rollie? You look the saddest I've ever seen you."

"I don't want to talk about it," I mumbled.

"Did something happen with you and Farrah?"

"I guess. I don't know. Like I said, though, I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, you can share with me anytime, though. I'm here for you."

Going into my room, I stayed there the whole evening, staring out the window, wondering what I could write to patch things up with Farrah. I received a letter from her a few days later.

Rollie,

When you came to visit me at the end of July, I was so happy to see you, and every day we spent together was so special and so much fun. You mean a lot to me, and I still feel enthralled whenever I hold your hand. The more I thought about what you said, the more I realized how I did talk about Orson a lot. My parents even agreed as well. But it's made me think about many things, and I'm not sure what they all mean yet. I know we have plans for me to visit you at the end of August, but I'm not sure if I will be able to do that after all. I just need time to think about things.

Sorry, I don't mean to ruin the rest of your summer, but I'll see you when school starts back up, and I will hold your hand, hug you, and give you the biggest kiss.

Love, Farrah.

After reading her letter, I reread it, just the top part, because I could hear her voice come through the words, making me feel so special. But the grim reality of the ending of the letter made me sink into a depression again. I was back where I was.

The next few days, I mainly laid in bed and did nothing. I couldn't bring myself to do much. I barely ate and kept telling my grandpa not to worry about me, that I was sick.

Eventually, my grandpa cooked dinner for us and said, "Rollie, I'm not sure what happened when you visited Farrah, but I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"I don't want to talk about it," I said.

My grandpa exhaled. "I get that, and we don't have to talk about it, but I did want to give you some advice. You haven't done much around the house lately, and I've noticed. It's okay, I'm not expecting you to do any chores or work around the house, but it seems like your spark and motivation are gone. I can only guess that something happened between you and Farrah, and I know what that's like. And I have to say, what really helped me handle that emotional pain was Dragonstryke."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I had too much respect for him. I wasn't sure what he was getting at, but I continued to listen.

My grandpa said, "When something went wrong in my life that was constantly in my head that I couldn't shake, I would go outside and practice my Dragonstryke skills as much as possible. I pushed myself harder to improve and try things I had never done with Dragonstryke. You know, you see some of the moves pros make, and when I was younger, I tried to replicate that. When I was going through a depression, Dragonstryke really helped me focus my attention on something else. It was the perfect distraction, and I felt I could channel my frustrations through sports. It was honestly the best medicine for me. Getting enough sleep was important too, and by the time the days passed and the emotional wound healed into a scar, I saw that I improved in my game. And so part of me feels like I would never have become the player I grew up to be if I didn't have those external emotional factors pushing me to focus and use Dragonstryke as an outlet. Do you understand what I mean?"

I stared at my grandpa briefly in silence, and I nodded.

"So if you'd like, tomorrow we can have a fresh start to the day, and I can make you a nice breakfast. After that, I can coach you through some drills in the backyard if you feel up to it. What would you say to that?"

Peeking out the window, The sun still hung load the sky, golden light illuminating the dining room. The windows were open, but the air was still. The perfect temperature lingered outside.

"Why don't we do some practice tonight?" I asked.

My grandpa arched his brow. "Rollie, I think that's a terrific idea. But we don't have to rush into it. We can do this starting tomorrow if-"

"That's okay. Let's do it now. That's a great idea."

My grandpa paused. "Are you sure? I really think we should--"

"Yes, I'm sure. Let's go outside right now while there's still daylight."

We went outside, and on the Blackbird dragon bike, I took to the air and channeled all my frustrations into Dragonstryke techniques. My grandpa would tell me to perform a maneuver in the air, throw a firebolt at a post, and then dodge the bolts of his own he shot at me.

For the rest of the summer, we did this every day possible. Even in the rain, my grandpa said we shouldn't practice in the storm, but I insisted. All of my energy went towards Dragonstryke and getting better. After a month of so much practice and training, I felt noticeably better than when the summer began. I couldn't wait until the start of the school year.

The summer flew by, and I was ecstatic when I moved back to campus. I received my courses for the year and would finally start learning how to use Arcane Magic, just like all the other mages who surrounded me.

Moving day was a breeze, and I actually saw Mortimer upright and walking around for once. I and my three other roommates all helped each other move in. I felt like it was the friendliest the four of us had ever been to each other, but even then, it didn't feel like we were anything more than loose acquaintances.

I wasn't sure what to do about Farrah. I stayed holed up in my suite's common room when I finished moving in. Mortimer slept while my suitemates walked around campus and met up with their friends they hadn't seen all summer.

It was awkward since it was my first time on campus at the start of the new year. There was moving day and then a day off to get settled and meet up with everyone. Then another day was devoted to the first-year students getting tours of the campus, getting their classes, and doing activities with them. I was jealous since I never had that experience, but it didn't bother me much. I had always felt like an outsider, even in my home world.

The first night back on campus, though, at the end of moving day, 1 hour before dinner would happen at the dining hall, there was a knock at my suite's door. I thought it may have been for one of my suitemates or even Mortimer, but it was Farrah, smiling wide.

My heart plummeted into my stomach, and then it felt like it got spun around a million miles an hour.

"Hey, can I hug you?" Farrah asked.

I nodded.

Farrah wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight. She pulled back and gave me a kiss on the lips. I was so confused and happy at the same time.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Can we talk privately?"

"Yeah, of course, let's talk in my suite. Everyone is gone, and Mortimer is in his perpetual sleep."

We entered the common room, the windows were open, and we sat on the couch. She held my hand as we sat next to each other.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about how the end of the summer went. I know it seems like I may have ended our relationship, and that's what I was wondering if I should do. I'm sorry communication wasn't clear, but I really wanted to think things through. But as the weeks went on, I really missed you. I couldn't stop thinking about you, and I wanted to visit you at the end of August, but I was worried it might confuse you or maybe you had other plans. Anyways, I'm digressing too much.

"It's okay. Digress away," I said. It was heavenly hearing her voice again and having her in my company.

"I had something I wanted to ask you," Farrah said. "I want to keep being your girlfriend, so is that okay if we're still together?"

Silence filled the room. I was so stunned that I couldn't say anything but desperately wanted to.

"Hey, uh, Rollie, if you don't want to date her anymore, would it be cool if I dated her?" Mortimer asked. He stood in the doorway of our room. I had no idea he was listening.

I quickly pulled out my hand and conjured a fire bolt as fast as possible, aimed directly at him. "Go take another nap or something!" I snapped.

Mortimer jumped back into our room and slammed the door before I launched the fire bolt. But my aim was off, and it hit the wall next to the door, dispersing into nothing and leaving no mark.

I sat there fuming, but Farrah stared at the ground and held her hand on her forehead.

"Well, that was embarrassing," Farrah said.

"I'm sorry about that. I thought we had total privacy. He's usually constantly sleeping or in bed if he's not attending classes. I'm surprised he even made it to the common room. Anyways, he's not going to bother us anymore. Where were we?"

"I'm not sure I liked how mad you got either."

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I still wanted to be with Farrah more than anything else in the whole world. I couldn't afford another bad look. "Sorry, I wasn't planning on hitting him with my fire bolt. I just wanted to scare him off, so I hit the wall," I lied. I truly wanted to aim the fire bolt at him.

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yeah, it was just to scare him off."

Farrah nodded. "So, what do you think? Do you need some time to think about it? I understand if you do, but I'd like to be with you and have everything be normal again if you're okay with that."

I smiled from ear to ear. "I would love for us to be back to normal again."