Stellar Tomorrow

Fairview Academy in Illinois, was actually a public school named that way in hopes to make people believe it was a good school. But really, was it a good school? With the threat of suing from Ciaran’s mother, a known rich woman, they allowed Vale and Ciaran to come back to school, taking the suspension of their records, and expelled Travis. It helped their case that their witness has been there for a little bit before they had screamed, and the security cameras were always backed up.

And so things were back to normal for the members of Stellar Tomorrow that attend the academy.

Except, of course, they weren’t.

The first thing Ezzy noticed was that Ciaran and Vale would, more often than not, come out of the same house before school, and, even if the group wasn’t hanging out, they would usually go to either Vale or Ciaran’s house together. Ezzy presumed it was just guy things, and that it wasn’t that big of a deal if one of them stayed over at the other’s house overnight because they were literally neighbors, the same reason that Ezzy stayed over at Vale’s too.

But, that too was different now. Vale wouldn’t offer to let Ezzy to stay over anymore, but he would let Ciaran stay over. Ezzy didn’t mind of course, but it sort of stung. When she let Ciaran join the group, she wasn’t expecting him to overthrow her as Vale’s best friend.

The second thing Ezzy noticed was that Vale was displaying more emotion with Ciaran than he ever had with her. Vale had always been sort of a blank slate when it came to expressing his feelings, but during their free period, she’d catch him smiling at Ciaran or laughing a little bit. Sometimes, the two would go into a practice room together and Vale would come out a little happier.

Had she been doing something wrong as his best friend? She’d only been noticing these things for a week, starting after Thyme joined the guild, so it had to happen during their suspension.

“You okay Ezzy?” Thyme poked her in the shoulder. She had opted to eat in the lunchroom today since she thought better with noise in the background.

“Do you think I’m a bad friend?” she asked with a sigh, barely touching the food she had gone as far as to save so she could eat in the lunchroom.

Thyme shook her head, “Why would Vale still be around you if you were a bad friend?”

The blonde sighed once more and locked her green eyes with Thyme’s darker ones. “After you joined, Vale’s been a lot closer to Ciaran than me. He seems happier without me.”

Thyme tapped her hands on her knees as she tilted her head and spoke. “But that doesn’t mean you’re a bad friend, I don’t think. I like Ciaran, and I think I’m better with him. Maybe he has that kind of effect on people.”

“But they knew each other before that! It was only after you joined, so it had to be during their suspension!” Ezzy groaned. “I mean, Ciaran was by his side when Vale was freaked out by the Nether Monster. That must have something to do with it.”

“Just ask him!” Thyme told her with her mouth full of food. “Maybe being forward is the best option.’

“....Okay,” Ezzy said, frowning. “If that won’t work, I don’t know what I’m going to do.

- - - - - -

“Hey V?,” Ezzy began. The blue haired male turned around. “....Y’know you can tell me any secrets, right? I’m your best friend. So, if you have anything to tell me, go ahead.” She was trying to be subtle, yet sort of forward.

“I don’t really have to tell you everything,” Vale said, before turning around and continuing to watch whatever was on Ciaran’s phone. They were sharing earbuds! That’s our thing! Ezzy bitterly thought. She was getting agitated. She just wanted to know if she wasn’t good enough.

“Why are you acting so weird? You’re always with Ciaran lately, and I really don’t care that much, but it does sting and I would like to at least have a reason!” She shouted.

“Calm down, Ezzy. We’re not doing anything bad,” Ciaran said, “I’m not trying to take your place.”

“Ezzy, I don’t need to tell you everything about my life. There’s a lot of things I haven’t told you.” Vale folded his arms. 

“Ezzy, can’t you just be happy that Vale’s opening up?” Alicia asked, “It doesn't necessarily mean he’s replacing you. And, just because you are his best friend, doesn’t mean that you have to tell each other everything.”

“I AM HAPPY FOR HIM!” She shouted, and Alicia stepped back. “But maybe if he likes Ciaran so much, HE should be the Deputy Leader of Stellar Tomorrow and I should be a single!”

“Okay, Esmerelda.” Vale shrugged. “I’ll go to Tuphere right now and have Elwin change it.”

“Hey, hey, calm down.” Ciaran told Vale, “Don’t do anything stupid.” He ran a hand through Vale’s hair and whispered something that Ezzy couldn’t understand. This made her even more angry.

“Not if I quit myself, Vale Pierce Cristalle!” Ezzy grabbed her Amphone and pressed the Tuphere button, teleporting away to Tuphere.

“Uh oh,” Ciaran muttered. “Do you think she knows?”

“I mean, Thyme and I guessed.” Alicia said. “But Ezzy tends to overthink things when she’s upset, so she probably hasn’t noticed. Let’s just go home.”

A few moments later, Vale’s Amphone beeped, signifying that Ezzy had actually left the guild. He let out a sigh, but said nothing, only grabbing the Amphone and looking at the screen that asked him to select another Deputy Leader. Her quickly hit the one with Ciaran’s name on it, and the raven’s Amphone beeped as well. He quickly hit a button to accept.

And just like that, the guild that had recently gained one member had lost another.