"There's someone...". I blurted out.

"I mean, two someones...hehe...". I laughed nervously and corrected myself immediately.

Minuet tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner, his black curls gently brushing his shoulders.

"There's a girl, who's like my childhood best friend...she's smart but also weird at the same time. We only have each other as friends, but because of all these...I doubt she'd miss me, but I still wanna be there for her". When I remembered Julius, I still felt bad for how I reacted to her...but now isn't the time for tearing up, is it?

"And there's a boy...". I said, almost in a whisper.

My cheeks started doing the tingling thing again, and before I knew it my cheeks were getting all red over again.

I cleared my throat and smiled. "He's like the sun...".

Silence.

"And?". Minuet asked, folding his arms across his chest with a grin. The fact that he seemed interested in the topic made me kinda embarrassed.

"Hmm? Sorry, my mind kind of zones out when I mention him". A nervous laugh escaped my lips at once.

"That's very impressive? You sure he didn't use some kind of spell on you?". Beneath his innocent words laid a tease.

"Pfft of course not...I mean, everyone thinks he's hot and all that...". I chuckled and explained.

"His hair...his face...his lips....everything about him just radiates like the sunshine when he moves...it's like he's literally a beam of sunshine in my world of emptiness and darkness".

Minuet kept nodding like he understood every bit of the words I said. Clearly, he was engrossed in the books clutched in his arms. I'm sure he didn't hear a thing I said.

"Humans...their love lives....how boring". He yawned, not sparing me a look from the book, flipping through few more pages.

I wanted to be mad at him and scold him for good, but the way he sounded and behaved was like that of a child. I couldn't help but quirk a smile at the corner of my lips.

"What are you so engrossed in, Minuet?". I asked, mentioning his name for the first time without feeling cringy.

"Something that definitely doesn't involve your trashy romance life?". He taunted, lifting his eyes to meet mine with a raised eyebrow.

"Excuse me?!". I pretended not to hear what he said and let it slide off. After all, he's my guardian and I need his help urgently. "You talk like you know anything about me-". I mumbled.

"I'm not in for your silly games now". He said, looking at me from the corner of his glistening eyes before shutting the book with a thud. "If you want him here, just tell me-".

"What do you-". But before I could protest, he had moved towards the direction of the seeping moonlight and began chanting some funny words in a low whisper. At first I was confused - was he trying to avoid me or trying to talk his heart out?

I confirmed those words to be a summoning spell when I felt the seeping of an unknown presence within our midst.

The atmosphere started getting foggy and enchanting as Minuet kept on conjuring some mysterious and funny-looking motions.

I sighed in defeat and watched the whole transforming thing again but stopped, when I recognised the arms that were protruding. And before I knew it-

Xander was right in front of me, all glowing and charming as usual! He was so charming that he took my breath away.

Okay Isabelle, take a deep breath...this is just an illusion, not Xander this time....

Ahhh....

"I thought you weren't interested in anything that has to do with me!". I snapped and turned at the breathtaking-so good to be true- view of my idol. "Reverse the spell at once!".

The fake figure of Xander just smiled at me in a wicked flirty way and tapped his chin as he approached me.

"You're blushing already, that was fast". He chuckled with a smug. "Now I know the kind of effect he has on you".

"W-what did you do to him Minuet!". One thing I'm sure of is that, Xander can be very flirty, but with me, he's not. I'm one-hundred percent sure that Minuet had tampered with this illusion's personality.

I pursed my lips when I caught a glimpse of Minuet laughing behind the ancient book he was reading. I knew he did something!

The innocent expression on the assumed illusion's face was enough to make me squirm.

"S-stop it". I cautioned, creating a space between our tensed bodies. "You're not real".

"Hm, if I wasn't...would I-". He shrugged and grabbed my left arm, pulling my nervous body to his in a swift gentle movement.

"And the trash goes on". Minuet blurted out, crossing his legs in a lazy manner, as if he was savoring the couch's comfort.

Though this was just an illusion, a phoney, a fake-whatever that goes with the adjective unreal, I couldn't still help but feel attracted to him. Minuet only made this worse by punishing me this way. I tried to tell myself that everything, including the guy in my front, is just a sweet imagination, but the look in this guy's eyes made me lose my efforts on doing so.

I felt my heels tilting upwards and my arms trailing to his face. I know it's indeed weird doing this as it's almost the same thing as me swooning over a mannequin but the Xander has already made some tempting moves as well.

"How pathetic". Minuet scoffed. "I've seen enough of th-". His statement was cut off by the dull ringing of a cellphone in the room.

We all exchanged looks and tried to find where the sound was coming from, only for Minuet to give me a narrowed look. It was when I felt a weird vibration in my pocket I understood clearly. Furiously swiping through my screen, I entered the necessary security codings and peeked at the dialer.

I let out a squeal at the name that came up in the screen. "Xander! How did he-".

I turned at Minuet's direction but he had turned away from me completely, I'm guessing he's trying to avoid me.

"You can do this Isabelle, you can do this". I kept repeating to myself. "You can answer the darn phone without messing up".

Few minutes past and my freaking fingers couldn't answer the phone. Just when I had the courage to do it, the line dropped.

With a disappointed sigh, I stared at the screen, hoping he'd call back, but he didn't. Maybe just a text won't hurt? I swiped the missed call notifications and entered the message box hesitantly.

I felt guilty for not answering his calls, did he want to tell me something important? I began to type, but each time I did, I deleted it and started all over again.

My eyes shifted swiftly to something moving on his conversation line. He was online and not only that! He was typing!

"Hey, I wanted to ask a few things, but it seems like you're not answering. I'm guessing you're busy, call me back when you're free...kay?".

My face went red when my phone read out the message loud and clear. I'm guessing I didn't remove it from that feature the last time I was playing some pranks on Julius, what an embarrassment!

Minuet tilted his head at me, giving me the "Oh?" look, and I knew what the little brat was getting at immediately.

"W-what? D--don't look at me like that! It's not like that at all...he just left me a message!". I felt the last word go into a squeaky tone because of how awkward it was now telling him while the other Xander was still before me, I mean...crazy right?

When he was silent, I sighed relief that he actually got the message into his head or, I thought so?

"Pfft, you humans aren't good at hiding your sexual urges a bit". He rolled his eyes, yawning dramatically at the end of his words.

"Sexual what?!...who said anything about that Minuet!? We're not like that at all!". I glanced around for any nearby cushion to knock some sense into him, but at the same time, I only felt embarrassed and all abashed at the naughty pictures that filled my mind freely. "We're not even close friends you pervert!".

"Really? But your drooling". A cunning smirk appeared at the edge of his lips, he's using Xander's voice and behaviours against me!

"Minuet!"