The Academy of Magical Arts 2: A New Life

Chapter 2: Gathering My Thoughts

  ~Noelina~
  Ever since Raynor said that to me, I've been flustered almost all week. Just walking past each other in the hallway would lead to both of us having red faces and looking away from each other. We didn't talk much, especially when there were people around. I didn't know if anyone noticed our behaviours around each other.

  I stood on the balcony in my room. The cool wind brought me to peace. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself down.

  Much better. I sighed.

  I took a folding fan and headed up to the roof.

  ~Raynor~
  Noelle and I have avoided each other in the past week, and I haven't talked to her that much. Did I say it too early? Was the kiss on her hand too much? Well, her face was almost as red as a tomato so, probably. It's been a while since we've actually had a full on conversation.

I woke up on Saturday morning to do some early training, and headed for the roof, hearing footsteps as I headed up the stairs. Were they cleaning today? No, they don't start until nine thirty, and the roof was usually the last. So, why would there be someone up here? My question was answered as I opened the door and found Noelle.

She held a closed fan in her hand, and walked a few steps forward. She opened the fan and twirled it on her finger, taking a few steps back, while adding a hop in her step. While she danced, she sang a song, quietly but gracefully. I recognized the dance almost immediately.

"That dance," I said. "it's the traditional dance of the Province of Light."

Surprised, she jumped, dropping her fan on the floor. She picked it up, her face turning pink. The sight of her blushing probably made my face go pink too.

"Y-Yeah, it is." She said.

"So I see you're still into dancing." I said. "But just saying, singing and dancing at the same time can be really hard."

"I know." She said. "The dance is easy, so singing isn't so difficult."

"But why did you choose this dance?" I asked.

"I wanted to know more about this place, after all, I'm gonna live here for two years." She said. "The history of this place is really interesting, so after that I started with traditions and rituals. And then I found this dance."

"Wait, so all those times you walked down the hall, you were going to the library?"

"Y-Yeah."

I was surprised. I probably never even read those books. And now, Noelle probably knows more about my own home than I do.

  "The dance was the first tradition I found. I tried learning it, and singing the song." She said. "It really calms you down."

  "Well, I won't interrupt you." I said. "I'll just go practice somewhere else."

  "No! You're not interrupting." She said. "You can still practice here if you want."

  And so I walked to the other side of the roof. I tried not to get distracted by Noelle's dancing, but that clearly didn't happen. She did it almost perfectly, and the fact that she was singing along too distracted me sometimes.