Haunting Words - an unORDINARY Fanfic

3 - The Face Behind the Mask

< Arlo POV >
< East Courtyard >
< Friday April 23th 3:10pm >

I'd made it here 5 minutes early; the east courtyard. Until recently, this place had been pretty insignificant to me. I almost never walked by here, and it was completely out of sight of the roof. It made sense he chose this spot if he was hoping for neither me nor Seraphina to see. It may have backfired in the end as we had both seen the fight, but he did think about the location. When my mind ran out of things to observe about the courtyard it immediately went back to the conversation I'd had with Seraphina earlier today.

"Seraphina!" I called out as I spotted her unique magenta and lime hair. She was without the hair extensions she usually wore, but that wasn't what I cared about. I had been wondering how her ability had returned since I'd heard about it, however much to my dismay she was difficult to find when she wanted to be.

When she turned around, the first thing I noticed about her was the empty look in her eyes, and the hopeless expression she wore. "What is it Arlo?" She asked drily.

"We need to talk." I stated. She sighed before agreeing, and a few minutes later we were in an empty classroom. "I originally wanted to know what happened with your ability," I admitted, "but Seraphina, what's going on? You look really depressed." I asked.

As long as I'd known her, Seraphina was never one to show much emotion. The most I had ever seen from her was when she panicked when she realized she lost her ability. This wasn't like that at all. This was a lingering sadness too extreme for her to hide, even from me: someone rather out of touch with emotions, and that concerned me. while it was true I was very objective driven and rarely paid attention to how people around me felt, everything with John and now Isen had really opened my eyes. As frustrating as it was I wasn't always right and other people's emotions and opinions gave a much clearer picture of the situation than just my viewpoint.

"What do you expect?" She deadpanned in a sad tone. "I thought he was my best friend. It was like that for almost 2 years. When I find out that it was completely fabricated the entire time, why can't I be upset about that?"

Her question confused me. Sure, John was an idiot and a liar, but completely fabricated? The only times he had come to me for help was when Seraphina was in some sort of trouble. First to get Elaine to heal her, then when the school found out she lost her ability, and finally when she was kidnapped.

"What do you mean 'fabricated'?" I asked.

She sighed before answering. "We had another fight. In it, he told me I was an idiot for thinking he ever cared about me. He also said I was 'just a cripple' before you came in during our first fight."

I couldn't believe my ears. John had said that. "That doesn't even make sense." I stated, frustratedly voicing my thoughts out loud. "He's a complete idiot. I doubt he's even capable of doing something as large-scale as that."

"Don't underestimate him." she warned, surprising me. "He knows his way around people. He knows exactly what to do to get his desired reaction."

I stared at her disbelievingly. "You're kidding right? If he was this mastermind manipulator you think he is, why wouldn't he spit out hundreds of apologies and beg you to stay his friend? Instead he took the golden opportunity you gave him and threw it away in favor of revealing this stuff to you." I explained. "Believe me when I say this; he's the polar opposite of who you think. Instead of having a permanent poker face, he lets his emotions completely control him."

Seraphina was quiet for a minute or so before speaking again. "Be careful Arlo, there's a difference between us: you're using what he's let you see to come to a conclusion while I'm using what he's confirmed about himself." She explained. "Don't try to give me false hope."