Puppet in Love - HIATUS

just to clarify things

It was Dominic.

He was smiling at me, his hand inside a pocket. He chuckled, "You look... displeased, for lack of a better word," he teased.

I was tempted to keep feeling annoyed, but with Dominic smiling at me and looking like he was ready to tease me, I just couldn't. And plus, I also missed him. It's not everyday you get to see this important person around.

"I'm glad it's you," I tell him and smile back.

Dominic looked towards the bathroom doors and had an eyebrow up to which I shook my head and laughed it out.

"Are you okay or do I need to step in?" he asks, this time, he sounds more serious. He was always way too defensive when it came to me.

Well, we were like that towards each other. Ever since we were children, we always protected each other.

"Don't mind it, I can handle myself this much, but when did you get back again?" I asked to divert the conversation away from Nancy.

We conversed as we walked towards our table, the stares and whispers were still there and evident, but with Dominic by my side, I felt much better.

He was telling me about his recent assignment that he left for yesterday, but turns out that he wasn't needed anymore so he was able to return home.

Finally, we sat at our table, Cara was still nowhere to be seen.

"I didn't want to come to the academy today, but when I saw the news, I figured you'd face some trouble. Aren't I such a good friend?" he says, looking like a puppy that needed to be praised for doing well.

For the first time today, I laughed honestly.

"My hero, indeed." I said. "I was also surprised about it, but there's nothing I can do. I don't call the shots."

"Not yet, anyway," he answered and I shake my head at his answer.

As we continued talking, finally, Cara came around. She looked stressed and seemed like she had an internal conflict but when I asked her about it, she simply shook her head and said that it was nothing.

I didn't press because she looked like she didn't want to talk about it and I didn't really want to pry while other people were around.

Although in the end, the three of us did not end up staying long in the cafeteria. Dominic found the eyes to be too unnerving and if I hadn't removed him from there he would have already started a scene.

Instead, we decided to go to Dominic's private study. There were only fifteen students allowed to have a private study and he was one of them.

"This hardly looks like a study room," I comment as I look around the room that seemed more like a game room or entertainment room.

There was a big flat screen TV on one side with many game consoles arranged at the bottom. There was a pool table and other arcade games scattered around. In fact, the only part indicating that the room might be a study is the swivel chair and big mahogany table that was in every private study room.

Dominic laughed and sat down on his chair.

"It's not that it doesn't look like a study room, it's just that your study room looks too much like a study room. I can redesign if you want," I immediately shook my head at his offer.

I sat down on the couch and Cara was starting to play around with the shooting game.

"No thank you, I like my study room the way it is."

Dominic laughed as he shook his head and walked over to the refrigerator. He took out three flavoured drinks and gave me one.

He looked over to Cara and when he saw that she was too immersed in her game, he decided to leave her drink on the table. Instead, he turned to me.