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"N-Nemona could you–"
Shoot. Nemona was looking at her.
…which was the whole point, Penny reminded her stupid brain. She swallowed.
"-could you come with me for a sec?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, sure Penny! What’s up?"
Penny didn’t say anything, instead eyeing everyone all around them. Class had just let out, and the hallway was packed with students. Luckily, she didn’t see a familliar bouncing brown braid among them. "J-just come with me," she muttered, and she motioned Nemona to follow her.
As Penny stalked forward, Nemona followed, to her relief. However, she was well aware Nemona’s curiosity would kick in…
"Sooo, where are we going?"
…about now.
"Oh! Could it be–" Picking up speed, Nemona caught up to walk by Penny’s side, orange eyes alight with excitement. "Are you finally up for another battle with me?!"
"...no, nothing like that," Penny said almost absently. Her attention was more focused on the classrooms that flitted in and out of her field of vision. Let’s see, his would be…
Penny was so focused on her task that it took her a moment to notice Nemona’s uncharacteristic quiet.
"...Penny?" When Nemona finally spoke again, Penny was shocked by how oddly gentle her voice was. "Is everything okay?"
Penny stopped. "Uh…! What… w-what makes you say that?"
"It’s just, you know, usually when I ask you about battling me, you’ll make a face–" Nemona demonstrated "–and sigh and put your hand on your forehead and go Classic Nemona… but you didn’t do any of that." She frowned. "You seem kinda… serious."
Penny’s body went tense. "Guh…" Of all times, why did she have to pick now to suddenly get so perceptive?! "I-it’s…I guess sort of serious, but…" And then, among the crowds of students, Penny spotted it… cream-n-coffee-coloured hair. "Shoot…! L-look, I don’t have time to explain, just come with me… Arven!"
The boy looked up. "Hmm? Oh…" He folded his arms across his chest as he turned towards them. "The prez and the pipsqueak, huh?" In another time and place, the nicknames might have seemed condescending coming from him, but Arven’s slightly wry smile softened any edge his words might have had otherwise. "Don’t see you two hanging out around on your own too often… what’s up?"
Nemona laughed. "That’s kind of what I want to know, actually…"
"Ugh… I…"
The weight of their expectant eyes on Penny made her face go hot, and as the seconds ticked away her instincts started to scream at her about what a bad idea this was. Mere months ago she would have never dreamed that the student council president and one of the most famous truants in the academy would become her friends… the thought of possibly ruining her bonds with the two of them was enough to tempt her to tell them to just forget about the whole thing. Although she would have never admitted it outloud, every single one of her friendships was unfathomably precious to her…
…and that included her friendship with Juliana. Straightening up, Penny took a deep breath.
"...I sort of… needed to talk to you, Arven."
"Huh?" He blinked. "About what?"
Penny swallowed. No turning back now. It had to happen. This conversation was going to happen, here and now.
"...c-could we maybe go somewhere a little more private?"
-
A few minutes later, Arven, Nemona, and Penny were standing in the schoolyard. The weather was a little cloudy, but no rain was falling, so a few other students were using the battle grounds as usual. The three of them had instead found the most private area they could– the space behind the seemingly-unused groundskeeper’s shed. Arven leaned against the back wall, raising an eyebrow at Penny.
"So? What’s up?"
Penny winced. She had hoped the short trek here would give her enough time to get her thoughts in order, but, nope, she felt just as nervous as before. Her gaze darted around to find Nemona still oddly quiet, almost somber, her eyes still tinged with concern as they looked at her. The sight made Penny’s insides churn with embarrassment… but strangely, it also made a foreign spike of courage light up her blood.
"A-Arven," she finally sputtered. "I– you’ve been spending a lot of time with Juliana recently, right?"
Arven blinked, and Penny cringed. Of all the things she could have led with…! But at least they were finally getting somewhere. "Yeah," Arven said, straightening up and placing his hands in his pockets. "I guess I have." If Penny looked closely, she could make out a faint blush on his cheeks. But he kept his voice level and his gaze cool as he looked into Penny’s eyes. "What about it?"
"Y-yeah, you have," Penny forced out stupidly. "You’ve been hanging out together… alone a lot… going on picnics and stuff…"
"And? Something wrong with that?" Arven’s voice gained a tinge of defensiveness.
"N-no, of course not…" Penny detested the anxiety that clawed at her throat… ugh… why couldn’t she have done this over text or something? "It’s just that…"
It was just that…
Penny thought back to that day, less than a week ago. She had been trudging through the long grass on the outskirts of Mezagoza (a rare occurrence for her) for an assignment from Mr. Jacq, when she had come across a picnic table.
If she hadn’t been surprised enough by that, she had been shocked to realize that the two people who had made camp were Arven and Juliana. She had made to call out to them, but all that physical activity had left her utterly exhausted… and it was that split second of trying to catch her breath that had led her to remain silent long enough to witness…
"I s-saw you–"
Oh, god.
"Huh?" Arven’s frown was growing deeper and deeper. "Saw us what?"
Penny’s face felt like it was on fire. The utter dread of having to say it, to ask his intentions, to face whatever consequences this confrontation would bring about, it was all almost too much… she felt like she was about to…
She bent almost in half to stare firmly at the grass. "The other day I saw you and Juliana out on a picnic, and I saw you tackle her to the ground."
And just like that, it was out in the open.
Penny nearly panted. Her face felt hotter than ever– she could feel actual beads of sweat under her bangs– and yet her body felt strangely light. Slowly, she straightened up, unsure of how Arven would react…
…only to find him staring at her with a faintly puzzled look on his face.
"Uh… yeah? So?"
Penny stared at him.
"…so… why… did you do that?"
"Why?" Arven frowned, scratching his head. "I don’t know. I just wanted to fool around a bit I guess?"
"FOOL AR-" Penny nearly choked. She chanced a glance to Nemona to see her reaction, and to her faint relief she saw that the other girl was also staring at Arven with wide eyes. This wasn’t what she had in mind for the trajectory of this conversation, but at least Nemona could assure her that she wasn’t crazy. She cleared her throat. "F-fool around? And… what do you mean by that?"
"Huh? Like… I dunno. Messing around? Playing?" The boy looked more and more baffled. "You know, like when you just mess around and wrestle a bit with a friend? Don’t you ever do that?"
Penny and Nemona stared silently at him.
"…no Arven, I don’t wrestle with my friends," Penny finally managed. "Do you?"
For the first time, Arven’s confusion gave way to something else– faint embarrassment. "What…" He looked away, scratching the side of his face as a light pink tinted his cheeks. "I-I mean… yeah… I play around with Mabosstiff like that all the time."
"I… okay…" Penny was taken completely aback. This was not where she thought this was going to go. "Arven… do you not think that maybe… playing with another person… the way you would with a Pokemon… might come off a little strange?"
"H-how would it be strange?" Arven’s voice was starting to sound defensive again.
"Arven, I just mean–" Penny cringed again, her body anticipating the embarrassment of her next words. "-can you not think how it might come off, bringing a girl to a place where you’d be alone, and then pushing her down, and pinning her on the ground?"
No one spoke for a moment. Arven stared wordlessly at Penny, his pupils like pinpricks.
"…wha–"
But before he could get anything else out, Nemona let out a nervous bark of laughter. "W-wait, that’s what you meant by messing around?" It was the first thing she had said in several minutes. "T-that’s kind of weird, Arven…"
The forced lightness of her words couldn’t conceal the unease on her face, and Arven clearly picked up on it as easily as Penny did. "Wh- no, no, how is it weird?!" His blush had grown darker, and it was impossible to tell it was born more from embarrassment or anger. "What are you two– you’re making it sound weird! T-that’s not–! I was just…"
Before Penny’s eyes, she could see realization take over Arven’s features… the understanding of what it had looked like to Penny… what it sounded like to Nemona…
"I… I…"
The understanding of what it had seemed like to Juliana.
"I… oh geez…"
And all at once, everything clicked into place.
To Penny’s shock, Arven actually staggered a bit, as if the realization had hit him with a physical blow. Instinctively she stepped forward to help him, but he ended up backing up until he hit the shed wall. He slid down to sit on the ground, his green eyes still wide.
His entire face was bright red.
"I can’t-" Voice weirdly toneless, Arven lifted his hands to clutch at the sides of his head. "I… she… oh my god… I’ve done that so many times with her, and I never thought…"
"H-hey…" Penny stuttered lamely. "It’s… it’s alright Arven–"
"No it is not alright!" he snapped. "Are you kidding me?! How can it be alright?! Juliana… she…" His anger collapsed almost instantly into something only just short of devastation. "She must think I’m a complete creep…"
Penny winced. "Y-you don’t know that for sure…"
Arven scoffed. "Right, and that’s why you had to ask me about it. Because she might be freaked out."
Watching as he covered his face with his hands, Penny couldn’t think of anything to say in response. The only silver lining on this was that it was extremely hard to imagine that Arven was lying about not having any bad intentions towards Juliana… seeing him like this, almost crumpled under his own shame, any suspicions she might have had about him putting on an act practically withered away in her head. Penny had witnessed this boy learn that his mother had been killed years ago, and he hadn’t looked as anguished as he did now. Not for the first time, Penny thought about how Arven often came off as older than he actually was due to basically growing up without parents, and yet his true age shone through clear as day at times like this.
After being so afraid that he had been taking advantage of Juliana, or bullying her, or some other awful thing she was too frightened to entertain, all Penny could do was stare at the boy in front of her and think about how very young he seemed.
To Penny’s shock, it was Nemona who spoke up first. "Hey… it’s okay, Arven." Her voice was uncharacteristically gentle as she crouched next to the boy. "You didn’t realize how it might have seemed, right?"
"N-no!" He blurted, still hidden behind his fingers. "Of course I didn’t! You… you guys believe me, right?"
Penny flushed, pushing her previous thoughts out of her head. "O-of course we do, Arven, y-you just have to understand how it came off–"
"And I bet you do, now," Nemona cut in. "And I’m sure you feel crappy about it, because I know you… I know you’re not that kind of guy. I know that even as grumpy as you are, you care a lot about the people around you. And that goes double for Juliana. I know you would never, ever want to hurt her."
Arven finally lifted his head, his face still stained with a lingering blush. Though his eyes were thankfully dry, he sniffed a bit.
"Still, I’m sure Juliana was probably freaked out by that…" Penny could practically see the gears turning in her head as she realized the bluntness of her word choice. "S-so, you probably should talk to her about it… just, y’know, just tell her what you told us, that you were only trying to play around with her, that you didn’t get how it might have seemed to her, and that you’re sorry if you scared her."
Penny stared at Nemona in disbelief. Where the heck was the "Classic Nemona" she had grown to know? Could this be her "Student Council President Mode"?
"Sometimes…" Nemona looked down briefly. "Sometimes you don’t realize how you come off to other people. You can just be acting like what you think is normal, and then later you learn that they thought you were being… weird, or intense, or something… and hearing other people say that can be hard, and it can be frustrating. And maybe it’s not always fair…" She sighed. "But whatever the case… you can’t just ignore it. At the very least, you have to talk it out with them, so you can figure out how you both can be happy…" She smiled faintly. "You know?"
Arven stared at her quietly for a second.
"…geez," he muttered, looking away. "It’s kind of scary hearing you talk all mature like that."
Penny had to give Nemona props for not reacting negatively to that. Instead, she grinned sincerely, if a bit aggressively. "Haha! Didn’t I tell you? I’m full of surprises!"
"Yeah… yeah, you are. Both of you," and Arven looked at Penny with oddly soft eyes. "…thanks," he said, his voice low. "Thanks for explaining stuff to me… and not judging me. I mean it."
"O-of course Arven," Penny said. "I think… some things we think are obvious aren’t always obvious to other people. B-but there’s nothing wrong with that. You just…" She sputtered as both Nemona and Arven turned their attention to her. "You just… have another point of view… and we have to figure out how to get out points of views in sync with other people… o-or something."
"Heck yeah!" Nemona pumped her fist in the air. "Nicely said, Penny!"
Her sincere praise only made Penny feel more embarrassed.
Arven didn’t respond for a moment, simply staring at the grass. "Do… do you think she’ll believe me? Or… no, that’s not what’s important." He looked up at the two of them, his eyes still unusually vulnerable. "Do you think she’ll still want to hang out with me? Do you think… even if she forgives me, she might be too creeped out to be around me? Do you think she might… hate me?"
Penny felt a spark of fondness in her chest. Judging by the look on Nemona’s face, she felt the same way.
"Nah. No way. How could anyone hate you?"
-
It was starting to grow dark by the time Arven walked off. He still seemed weirdly subdued, but had promised he would clear things up with Juliana as soon as he could, and that he wouldn’t hang out with her alone before he talked with her seriously. He aimed a parting wave at Nemona and Penny as he left, and Nemona waved back.
"Phew… haha…" The laugh was both one of exhaustion and relief. "That was not how I thought this was gonna go… but I’m glad we could talk with him about…"
Nemona trailed off as she glanced back at Penny, who was currently leaning her forehead against the shed wall.
"…Penny? You good?"
"…oh my god…" Penny let out the sigh that felt like it had been building in her chest for a week. "I feel like I’m gonna puke…"
She heard Nemona step closer. "Do you need me to bring you to the nurse’s office?"
"No… no, I’ll be okay… I just…" Flipping to rest her back against the wall, Penny slid down to settle into the grass, an almost perfect mirror to Arven’s pose from before. "I’m just so relieved that wasn’t a complete disaster…"
"…you were really worried about all this, weren’t you?" Nemona crouched by her side.
"Of course I was worried!" she said, trying her best not to snap at Nemona. "Didn’t you see what a mess I was? I felt like I was gonna faint from the effort of talking about it! Guh… I hate confronting people like this…"
"But you did."
"I did," she sighed, "because I was worried he was harassing Juliana." She had done her best to avoid saying it outright to Arven, but it was the truth. She was pretty sure he had gotten the hint anyways. "I didn’t want to think he was that kind of person, but I knew I couldn’t pretend that my friend wasn’t capable of that if… if it meant ignoring what my other friend might be going through… that’d make me no better than…"
Rubbing her face under her glasses, Penny sighed.
"…this was just all such a big mess… I was worried about Juliana being in danger, but I was also worried about accusing Arven unfairly, and worried I was being too controlling of my friends again, or maybe too paranoid… I keep thinking about how I could have handled things better. Maybe I should have asked Juliana about it first… ugh…" Her eyes slid shut. "Whatever. I did what I did, and it’s done. All that’s left is to see how Juliana and Arven’s chat goes."
Penny stayed like that for a moment or so… before she felt a hand gently rest on the top of her head.
"Woah–?!" Eyes flying open, Penny jerked her head towards Nemona. "W-what the heck?!"
Seemingly unperturbed by Penny’s shocked reaction, Nemona smiled gently at Penny as she rubbed her head.
"You’re a really good girl, aren’t you, Penny?"
"G-G-G…?" Penny felt herself go bright red. "Wha… Q-quit it!" She batted Nemona’s hand away as she bolted up. "That’s so cringe!"
"What’s cringe about it?" Nemona laughed, apparently unoffended. "I mean it. You’re a lot like Arven, actually…" Her soft eyes were giving Penny heart palpitations. "You care a lot about your friends."
"Urgh…" Still flushed, Penny grabbed at her other arm and looked away. "I just… I just wanted to do the right thing, is all."
"Well, I think you did!" Standing up, Nemona gently patted the other girl on the shoulder. "I have a feeling you really helped the two of them out."
"I hope so…" Penny sighed. "At the very least, I’ll count it as a win if I don’t ruin their friendship."
-
"So, uh… yeah."
Three weeks later, Penny stared slack-jawed as a blushing Arven awkwardly wrapped his arm around an equally pink-faced and sheepish Juliana.
"Yeah…" Juliana echoed, nodding. "We wanted to let you guys be the first to know. Considering… you know. You kind of helped it happen."
"Yeah…" Despite how embarrassed he looked, Arven also seemed to be just a tiny bit proud. "So, you know, thanks."
Before Penny could formulate any response to that, Arven released Juliana, turning away and stretching his arms above his head. "Haaah… well, anyways, that picnic isn’t going to prepare itself."
"Oh, uh, let me help you, Arven!" Juliana followed her boyfriend.
As the two of them walked side-by-side to the picnic table, Penny finally managed to move, turning her head just enough to look at Nemona. The other girl wore an expression that was equal parts surprise, glee, and the look of someone holding back laughter.
Nemona flashed Penny a thumbs-up. It’s a win! She mouthed.
Penny facepalmed.