Chapter Text
Everyone in class could feel the animosity that Damian Desmond held towards the boy that Anya Forger had asked out earlier. It was obvious with the way he was glaring at the poor kid ever since first period had started, and the constant groans he had been making throughout class.
He was moodier than usual. Every sound seemed to tick him off and he would let out a huff before aggressively whispering to the others to shut up and pay attention to their teacher in front. The scion didn’t even realize that he was the one that was actually interrupting their class and their teacher was beginning to get annoyed of it.
With every passing minute, Damian’s frown kept growing. What had happened earlier wouldn’t leave his mind and he was dead set on figuring out why Anya Forger was leaning way too close to the boy from before. He didn’t understand why that was bothering him and that made him even more upset. In all honesty, he was already aware of his feelings for the pink-haired idiot but that didn’t mean that he had accepted them. With his constant denial, Damian often opted to bury his feelings deep within, not knowing how to explain or what to do with them, resulting to him being aggressive and coming off as a bully at most times.
It’s not like the two were doing something inappropriate, they were just having a casual talk. He paused. But casual talking doesn’t lead to one blushing. I shouldn’t even be so bothered by this.
Finally giving in, he was about to call out the name of the student in his side to ask about what was happening earlier when one of his friends beat him to it.
Emile Elman and Ewen Egeburg were beginning to get annoyed of their best friend’s behavior throughout class. They were aware of Damian’s longtime crush on Anya and his total denial of it. They also knew that the event beforehand was troubling him greatly. When it came to Anya Forger, every ounce of their friend’s common sense and decency gets thrown out of the window and he becomes a blushing and stuttering mess. They’ve seen it happen over and over again since they were six, everyone did. Wanting to give him a peace of mind, the two shared a knowing look before Emile tapped the shoulder of one of the students close to him. “Hey,” he called out.
The girl took in a deep breath before turning towards Damian and his friends’ table with anxiety sketched all over her face, clearly not thrilled to be talking to them. “Yes?” She piped.
“What happened early today? Why was Anya talking to that other student?”
Hearing Emile’s quiet question, she carefully explained the situation in a forced tone. With each word that the girl was spewing out of her mouth, the three were finally filled in on what happened. And instead of his anger wearing down, Damian’s frustration grew. It was evident in the way he reacted. His brows furrowed and he began to aggressively chew the inside of his right cheek while his gaze lingered on the girl that had been messing with his mind for the past hour. Damian was seething in range and jealousy.
Oh great, he’s in a worse state than before. Ewen begrudgingly glanced at Emile, both of them sighing.
Damian pursed his lips, “who does that commoner think she is? Asking someone out in such an inelegant way?”
“I know right,” the tall-haired boy mindlessly responded. He knew that Damian didn’t mean what he was saying.
“Poor Kevin was humiliated in front of the whole class because of that pink-haired freak!”
“Whatever you say, Lord Damian.” Emile secretly popped a piece of gum into his mouth. His name isn’t Kevin, bossman. He wanted to point out but kept chewing.
“What even made her think that anyone would want to date her-“
“DAMIAN DESMOND,” the sound of an exhausted teacher’s raspy voice erupted in the whole classroom. Everyone turned their heads to the mentioned student in bewilderment. Damian Desmond was not one to be yelled at.
“I believe we are currently discussing a lesson that will very much appear in tomorrow’s test paper, so you better listen! Being the second son to the Desmond family is no exception when it comes to upholding class rules.”
The dark-haired boy’s cheeks flared as he saw Anya glance towards him with an innocent look.
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Anya Forger reached out her hands to carefully accept the tray of food that the Cafeteria Server was holding out to her. The little esper didn’t bother hiding her disappointment when she saw that they had added carrots for today’s menu. Seeing her upset features, the older lady turned to her back to rummage through one of the nearby cabinets. Anya was about to leave together with Becky when the lady came back, a pack of peanuts in her grasp.
She smiled before extending her arm out to the pinkette, “here you go, Ms. Forger, was it?”
Anya’s eyes twinkled in astonishment at seeing her favorite snack, forgetting the carrots on her platter. “Thank you kind lady!” She chirped as she took the peanuts in her hands, she glanced at Becky to show off her food and the server merely chuckled at the two young students.
Stupid peanuts.
The pink-haired girl whipped her head towards the dining tables upon hearing a familiar voice in her mind. Her gaze fell on Sy-on boy who was very much sneering at her and throwing every possible insult in her way. Scary. Sy-on boy is scary. Not wanting to deal with him, she gulped and slowly averted her eyes back to her best friend while she thanked the nice server and proceeded to walk to their usual lunch table.
Becky Blackbell laid her tray of food purposely loud on the table to get her friend’s attention. The brunette wanted answers and she was going to interrogate the pinkette about everything that had happened that morning until she was satisfied. She wondered if their time last Saturday had something to do with Anya’s weird antics today and if it did, then she should take responsibility for not clarifying things back then. Becky looked at Anya, “I heard from the other students that it wasn’t just Eugene you tried asking out, Anya.”
“Oh! Anya didn’t know his name was Eugene,” the esper placed a silver spoon in her mouth and left it there momentarily. I thought it was Kevin. She tilted her head to the side with her eyes closed, thinking deeply. “Mwaybe hwe rwejected Anywa bwecause shwe dwidn’t know hwis nwame,” she said, the spoon still in her mouth.
Concerned that the pink-haired idiot might just choke on the spoon, Becky pulled it out of her friend’s mouth. Her face turning into one of disgust when she saw Anya’s drool string on it. “I don’t think that is it,” she deadpanned. Oh what am I gonna do with you, Anya? She thought as she reached out for a napkin to wipe off the drool on the spoon, “did you ask two other boys in school for a play date before Eugene?”
“Three other boys, yes yes,” Anya sang while nodding, a smug grin plastered on her face. The girl felt proud and acted like it was an accomplishment.
Becky gave her an unimpressed look, “and they all rejected you?”
“Yup.”
The brunette shrugged, “maybe I should have Martha lecture you on proper etiquette when it comes to asking people out. You were too straight forward when you asked Eugene! You should’ve seduced them first with your cute charms!”
“E- ettikwet?”
“Etiquette,” she shook her head side to side before continuing, “can you tell me why you’re suddenly looking for a date?”
Anya closed her eyes, cupping her chin with her thumb and pointing finger before grinning from ear to ear, “for world peace.” She said as though she was actually saving the world by dating boys. When she opened her eyes, she saw Becky glaring fiercely at her, wanting a different answer. Anya sighed before coming up with a better and much more reasonable response, “Anya thought that maybe if she had a boyfriend, she could do well in school and earn seven more Stellas to become an Imperial Scholar and make papa proud.”
If only it was that easy, Anya. But that does sound very romantic!
“Her boyfriend could help motivate her to study. We could stay in the library after school and Anya could just watch him read his books when she gets bored of learning.”
Becky nodded, prompting her friend to continue.
“He could even help Anya avoid getting any more Tonitrus Bolts and he could scold her when she starts to do dumb things.”
Becky continued bob her head, she suddenly stopped when a certain scion’s face flashed in her mind. Wait. Doesn’t a specific brat already do those things for her?
“And maybe if Anya gets a boyfriend of high status, maybe he could put in a good word for her and she could get away with a lot of things.”
“Anya, that isn’t ethical.”
“Okay fine,” she grinned sheepishly before continuing, “he could even cover for Anya when we’re doing our class dodge ball so she wouldn’t get hurt. And and! He could save her sweets from the cafeteria whenever the best chef in Ostania comes to the academy for a visit!” Anya’s face seemed to start becoming red as she went on, “oh! And if he has a dog then I can introduce Bond and we could go to the park and play with our pets. Bond is starting to feel a bit lonely at home and it would be a fun double date with our dogs!”
Damian Desmond has a dog.
Anya Forger continued to list reasons as to how a significant partner could benefit her. As the list became longer, her reasons became less about school, plus her father’s Plan A on Mission Strix, and more about having fun. Her cheeks slowly turning red at the ideas she began spewing.
Becky began to become more and more convinced that her friend was referring to someone like Damian. She had enough, “ever thought about asking your Sy-on boy instead of random students?” She grinned at her oblivious friend, nudging her arm in encouragement. She may despise Damian Desmond for being a childish bully and for being a smug idiot in general, but at the moment, she couldn’t help but hint Anya to ask him out. Becky knew that Damian was never going to act on his feelings for her and would continue to hurt her friend and also himself in the process. It was only a matter of time until they all graduate in Eden Academy and part ways. She only wanted them to spend their years left without leaving any regrets.
Plus, helping the two fools would serve as great entertainment for Becky Blackbell. Lately, she was beginning to lose interest in Berlint in Love. It was only natural since the show had been going for 7 years now.
“No, Anya doesn’t like Sy-on boy. He’s too mean, nice sometimes but still,” Anya added, “he’s scary.”
“He’s not that scary. He is pretty ill-tempered though.”
“Yup, that’s why Anya won’t ever ask him out,” she giggled before adding, “Damian makes Anya really confused.”
The brunette frowned upon hearing her words. You’re sort of right, Damian becomes quite terrifying when he sees other boys breathe in the same air as you so I doubt any other boy would accept your date offer. Becky sighed, instantly giving up on making her friend ask out the scion and instead hoped that Damian Desmond would finally confess to Anya out of jealousy and possessiveness. It was a possibility. But considering that none of the other boys was brave enough to defy the second son of Donovan Desmond and go out with Anya, she had pious hope.
That was until Becky saw a certain Cecile Hall student outcast walk pass their dining table with a usual brooding look on his face.