It's hot and sunny outside. Luckily, tomorrow it's supposed to rain. Not that I like rain, but the environment will appreciate it. I walk over to the bleachers and spot Urbosa coaching the track team. I don't want to interrupt their practice again, so I just stand by the bleachers and wave when she spots me. She starts walking right over to say hi to me.

"Little bird," Urbosa reflects my smile like a mirror. 

"Hey Urbosa."

"How did your talk with your father go?"

"It was okay, I guess. He didn't make me drop biology, but I'm double majoring in politics now."

"That's a lot. Are you handling it alright?"

No.

"Yes, I think I'll manage," I say instead.

"I hope he'll come around. Do you want me to have a word with him?"

"No, that's okay." I don't want her to be in the middle of this mess and risk her friendship with Father.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you'll do great. You always do."

If only she knew about the 100 points rule...

"Yes," I force another smile.

"I do have to get back to practice."

"Er, Urbosa?" I say when she turns around to leave. She stops to look at me.

"Yes?"

"Rev... er... Two guys got into a fight," I seize the locket of my necklace.

"When?" she seems alarmed.

"It happened on the weekend. Off-campus." She relaxes her shoulders and exhales. "I just... I don't know if I should say something to them. They shouldn't be fighting."

"Were you there when they were fighting?"

"No. Of course not." I don't hang out with boys, Urbosa knows that.

"Is it someone you care about?"

"What?" I shift uncomfortably.

"The guy. Are you worried that he'll get hurt again?"

"No, I just don't want him or the school to get in trouble."

"If it happened off-campus, the school isn't involved in the assault and he can't get expelled for it. But that's not what you're worried about, is it?"

I don't answer her question. I'm not really worried about him, I mean, obviously I don't want them to be injured, but I don't care about him. Either of them. What I do care about are my grades, and right now Revali and Link are distracting me from focusing on that.

"I saw his bruises," Urbosa says calmly, interrupting my thoughts. "He walked by the track just moments before you came. He looked even more reserved than usual."

"Revali? Reserved? Really?" I thought he was pretty extroverted.

"Wait, who is Revali?"

"The guy with the bruises. Who are you talking about?"

"Link, of course" she glimpses at the soccer field and back at me. "Isn't he bruised as well?"

"Yes. But when did he pass the track? We were in PE together only moments ago."

"Like I said, you just missed him."

So Link and Revali must have passed each other too. No wonder Revali was so grumpy.

"So you have three classes with Link now?"

"Yes," I sigh.

"Are you still irritated by him?"

"Don't you have to get back to practice?" I try to change the topic.

Urbosa laughs and rests her hand on her hip. "I do, I do. But I want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"To Link?"

"Yes, have you talked to him?"

"What would I talk to him about?"

"Everything. English, Biology, the fight? Knowing you, you've probably given him the cold shoulder instead of giving him a chance to explain himself. Perhaps it'll be good to talk to each other instead of keeping all your thoughts contained."

I suppose she's right. Partially. She's right about me not wanting to talk to Link and not giving him a chance to explain. I yelled at him and I didn't hear him out. Guilt creeps up on me but I remind myself of all the horrible things that happen to me every time I speak to Link.

"In a similar yet distinct way, Link has trouble expressing himself," Urbosa says before she gets back to her team, leaving me to ponder over her words.

Maybe he wouldn't be so troubled if he'd stop ignoring others. Today I talked to him and he basically ignored me. I can't force him to speak up.

I stay at the library for a couple of hours to get ahead in my classes and head home when my stomach begins to grumble. It's 9 PM by the time I've eaten and showered. I feel so motivated to prove Father wrong. I will pursue a biology career, whether he wants to or not. I'm determined! I will be home before 10 PM every day, I will get a 100 on every assignment and test, I will not lie, and I will not engage with boys. That reminds me... I walk over to my closet and grab Link's hoodie from the back. I almost forgot to pack it for tomorrow. Before I put it into my bag the scent of his deodorant fills my nose. I love how his hoodie smells so good.

While I'm trying to fall asleep I go over my schedule tomorrow. I have new classes, one of them being astronomy. I'm just glad that once I've returned Link's hoodie, I won't have to deal with him anymore. Maybe then Malice will leave me alone...

✤ ✤ ✤

When I enter the lecture hall for my English class, I take a look around to see where Link is sitting. The sooner I give him his hoodie, the quicker this whole thing will be over. No more threats from Malice, no more fear of Father misinterpreting things. Link doesn't seem to be here yet, so I take my usual seat in the front. I hope he doesn't plan on sitting next to me again.

Class begins and there is still no sign of Link. I look around the room but he isn't sitting in the back either. Maybe he overslept. I try to focus on the professor's lecture but when class is almost over I begin to think that Link is skipping. I didn't expect him to be very good at school, but I didn't think he was the type that skips class. 

I pass the cafeteria on my way to biology and remember that Impa wanted to get lunch with me today. I totally forgot about that and text her to see if she's still planning on it.

"Hey girl," Impa says to me the second I send her the text. I was too distarcted to notice her approach me. She has a fruit cake in one hand and her phone in the other. As she reads my text I can see a smile sneaking onto her face.

"Of course we're eating lunch together," she says excited.

"Can we eat here today?" I ask, pointing at an empty table.

"Nope," she giggles and leads the way.

I thought she was going to show me a new spot, but we end up backstage again. Once we are crouching on the elevated catwalk next to the dusty floodlights again, Impa hands me the piece of cake and a plastic fork, and we begin to eat.

"I thought you wanted to show me other cool spots on campus?" I say, cherishing the flavors of chocolate and strawberry on my tongue.

"Some of them are outside and it's raining today, so I figured we'd just come here again. Don't worry, we have four years to eat lunch at cool spots."

"That's true," I giggle quietly. The theater kids are all pumped up, warming up for their rehearsal. All but three students leave the stage.

"Last week we finished reading the script and started to rehearse act one," the professor says with a stentorian voice, sitting in the audience. She's a very skinny and tall professor, whose strong voice appears unfitting. "Marin, where did we leave off?"

"Scene 5," a beautiful ginger answers.

"I was looking forward to this scene," the tall guy next to her says, only now catching my attention. Is that who I think it is?

"Go ahead, Pik," the professor says to him and my jaw drops.

I knew his voice sounded familiar when he approached me at the library! Last week, when Impa and I snuck in here, Pik was rehearsing his part as Romeo. I should have thought of this when he said he was studying the arts.

Romeo, I mean Pik, begins his charming act, and while Impa has to suppress her laughter, I for one am impressed by his acting skills. I have never performed in front of people, not like this, not voluntarily, and I can't imagine having to memorize half a book, especially with lines written in Early Modern English. When Pik suddenly takes Marin's hand, I look away unintendedly. I'm not a Shakespeare fanatic, but I do remember that Romeo and Juliet is a story of forbidden love, so it feels like I'm spying on them even though 20 pairs of eyes are focused on them. My eyes glimpse back down at Pik and Marin. He seems to enjoy the attention of his classmates.

"Oh then, dear saint," Pik moves closer to the girl and looks up at the ceiling as if addressing the gods, and before he looks back down at her, his eyes stumble upon Impa and me. I stare in shock, as does he, but he recovers quickly and sends up a smile. "Let lips do what hands do; they pray, grant thou lest faith turn to despair," he continues lightly.

"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake," the girl replies. She has a very pleasant and modulated voice.

"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take," Pik says and suddenly his lips are pressed against Marin's. I gasp and nearly drop my fork onto the stage below us. Marin jumps back and rubs her lips dry.

"A little warning next time!" She cries.

"It's in the script," he shrugs and the class begins to laugh.

"No one said we were rehearsing the kiss today!" Marin says, swinging her arms at the professor, meanwhile Pik looks up at me in secret and winks. He's a dork; irritating and persistent. But his smile could melt an iceberg.

The professor rubs her temples. "Pik, don't kiss your co-stars without notice."

"I'm sorry," he has both hands in the air and shares his ravishing smile with the class.

"It's okay," the girl says in a whisper.

"It was a nice kiss," he whispers back.

Both are smiling, but her smile is brighter, for it is standing in the spotlights of her glowing cheeks.