StarLight

Chapter 37: Not Enough Answers

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Arya
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Today was the school assembly for the drawings of the nominated kings and queens of the spring ball.
Skylar sat of to the side rolling her eyes as I took my seat next to her.
"I hate this time of year." She murmured.
"Oh, but love is in the air." I joked, causing her to groan.
"We can probably get out of here now, if we're quiet. We can head to Trollmarket after getting slushies." I suggested softly.
She perked up at that, nodding quickly.
We glanced around before standing.
"Not so fast. Sit." Coach Lawrence ordered, causing us doing so.
The band then began to play, our mascot dancing to the beat.
"Give me an A!" Coach Lawrence shouted.
"A!" The students shouted back, Skylar rolling her eyes as I sighed at the volume.
"Give me an R!"
"R!" 
"Give me a C!" 
"C!"
"I hate these things." Skylar muttered.
"This is taking too long. Give me an ADIA!" Coach Lawrence then shouted, causing the enthusiasm to be replaced with confused chatter, as Skylar gave a loud sigh.
"What does that spell?" Coach Lawrence asked, scoffing when he got no response.
"Arcadia!" 
The mascot then danced in front of the coach, causing everyone to cheer again.
"Now he's going to begin announcing the nominees this year." Skylar muttered, her eyes glazing over with boredom.
And she was right. 
For the girls it was, Shannon, Darci, and Mary.
For the boys it was, Steve, Eli, and Alden Creeke.
"Wait, there's been a mistake. Mary, you were a runner up." Coach Lawrence stated, squinting at the paper in his hand.
"What?" She asked, stopping her cheering.
"Skylar Lake." Coach Lawrence then stated, causing Skylar to snap out of her daze.
"What?" She asked, obviously looking to me to tell her it was a joke.
"My life is over." She then stated dramatically.
"It isn't that bad." I said back as the other peers continued cheering.
I then nudged her, making her stand up as she made her way to where Mary was originally standing.
She looked as though she was ready to kill someone, lips moving slightly due to her muttering.
My gaze narrowed when she met Alden's eyes, who was already smiling at her and giving her a 'discreet' thumbs up.
Something wasn't right with it.
Skylar only rolled her eyes at him, causing me to smirk.
I watched his reaction, but he only looked confused, slightly furrowing his brows before looking back at the crowd.
Seemed normal enough.
But there was always the chance that it was an act.
Right?

Later, Skylar was in the void as I sharpened my daggers.
Draal was pacing back and forth, trying (and failing) to distract himself from the fact that Skylar was talking to his father.
"Draal." I spoke up, catching his attention.
I gestured for him to come over and he looked around at the others before doing so.
I continued to sharpen my daggers, waiting for the blue troll to draw close enough for what I had to say without the risk of anyone overhearing.
"Is something... wrong?" He asked unsurely.
"Why would you think something is wrong?" I asked lowly, raising my blade into the light so I could see just how sharp it was.
He stayed silent, so I continued.
"So, you like Skylar?" I then asked, looking at him from the corner of my eye to see his reaction.
He tensed up, eyes widening slightly as he appeared to stop breathing for a moment.
He then cleared his throat, looking away.
"She's a great warrior and a good trollhunter." He replied.
"And nightwatcher." I stated, causing him to nod.
"Yes." He replied.
I nodded, moving on to my other dagger.
"You didn't actually answer my question." I then stated.
He was silent again, opening and closing his mouth before keeping it shut, shoulders slumping.
"I don't know." He muttered softly, looking down at the ground.
He looked so defeated.
"Alright, how would you feel if she liked you?" I then asked.
He looked at me, a confused yet hopeful look in his eyes.
"I'm not saying she is, but if she did." I reiterated, holding the dagger to the light, twisting it slightly to catch the light.
"I-" He was cut off by the bright flash surrounding Skylar as she came back from the void.
She did not look happy.
Not to mention she already had bruises forming, one on her right cheek.
"Everything okay?" I asked slowly, everyone watching her.
She took in a deep breath, forcing her fists open.
"Fine." She stated in a calmer tone than I expected.
Don't get me wrong, you could still hear the anger straining against it.
"Did you see my father?" Draal asked, that look of hope crossing his eyes again.
"I did." Skylar replied, her fist clenching briefly.
"What happened?" Jim asked.
"I beat the shit out of him. Multiple times." She replied.
I gave her a look.
"In my head." She added before letting out a giant huff of air and running her hand through her hair, closing her eyes.
"And what really happened?" I asked, raising a brow.
"We fought, he was a jerk, they don't believe in me, blah blah blah, still need to defeat Gunmar, you're not good enough despite your training, you're a human, you're not going to win, you're weak. And; What do you know?! Honestly, I have never believed that much toxicity could come from such a small group. I mean, they're ghosts, classic ghost behavior in a dumb tv show. Yay for cliche's, am I right?" She spoke, laughing slightly at the end before groaning.
"This is emotionally taxing and apparently I have to compete in stupid contests." She said, her armor deactivating as she calmed down.
"You could lose on purpose." Jim suggested.
Skylar glared.
"I would if I could! I get way too competitive, and it means something if I know that! Given it was said, multiple times, by multiple people." She went on.
"You're stressed." Jim then stated.
"Wow, a genius." Skylar muttered sarcastically before shaking herself out.
"No time for stress. I have things to do. Save a few kids, compete for a stupid title, fight Gunmar. Much to do and little time. Let's try not to add to that list for a while." She stated, returning to her normal state.
Arrrgh then ran in, causing us to look at him.
"What happened?" Skylar asked, shoulders slumping.
"Blinky." Arrrgh stated.
Skylar sighed, following Arrrgh out as she reactivated her armor by groaning out the incantation.
I looked over at Jim, crossing my arms before gesturing to her.
"Oh, it's totally normal. She gets mad at someone, ends up stressing herself out until she explodes then ends up forgiving the person she's mad at moves on. She's on day three. And in this case she isn't just mad at me, she's mad at multiple people." Jim stated, using hand gestures before pointing after her at the end.
"Alright, how do we get this cycle of hers to skip the stressing her out and exploding?" I asked, Draal snorting from beside me.
"You know, as her twin you'd think I would know this, but that's something I've never figured out." He stated, causing me to sigh heavily and shake my head.
"We can't have her do either of those things." I stated as Jim quickly walked to catch up to them.
I walked steadily behind him as Draal followed behind us.
"Well, on rare occasions she doesn't explode." Jim spoke thoughtfully.
"Why is she mad at you?" Draal suddenly asked.
"Our views on Strickler. What she refuses to understand is that I know Strickler is a good guy." He muttered.
"How so?" I asked, raising a brow.
"He-" Jim cut himself off from continuing.
"In the future he is?" I offered in a soft whisper so Draal wouldn't hear.
Jim tensed.
"He's not a bad guy." Jim offered weakly in response.
"Jim. He worked with Gunmar and Bular. Maybe he is a good guy in the future, but that doesn't change the side that he is on now." I pointed out, causing him to frown.
He then muttered something under his breath before he sighed, nodding.
"I know. I just, I want him to be the good guy. Skylar never liked him since day one of meeting him, before she knew any of this was real. I never understood why until he was revealed as a changeling. I always thought that she always saw through the acts no matter how good they were because she had a special talent for it. But... Maybe I was just blind to the signs." He spoke softly, eyes downcast.
I opened my mouth to speak before I frowned.
She always disliked him?
Why?
What reason did she have if she didn't know the truth? 
His act was good, almost undeniable to truth.
After the museum tour she said offhandedly that Nomura made her a bit uneasy, but she later said that it must have been the headache she got during the conversation.
Skylar then said she got bad vibes from Alden. 
Could she possibly be able to see through their disguises in a slight way?
Almost like I can see magic signatures?
My frown deepened as I turned my gaze forward.
I'll keep this to myself for now, it could just be a coincidence.
Or she was just very good at reading body language subconsciously.
Either way, it'll be found out.