~ Zarkon ~
(Gatrea is 15)

It was no secret that Gatrea loved practicing fighting techniques with her father and his pupils. However, as she started getting older, Gatrea realized that she had a crush on one of her father's pupils, a boy who was only two months older than she was; his name was Hepta and she fell in love with him because of his personality. She wasn't sure how her father would react to her having a crush on one of his pupils, but she knew that you wouldn't be against her liking Hepta. One day during lunch Zarkon went to go help you with the twins, Valeria and Sofia, while Sendak kept an eye on Zarkon's pupils. Sendak kind of knew about Gatrea's crush on Hepta, so he stayed out of it and minded his own business.

"Can I sit here?" Hepta queried when he walked over to Gatrea, gesturing to the empty spot next to her on the large, flat Rock.

"W-what? Oh, y-yeah! You can sit here!" Gatrea sputtered when Hepta asked her if he could sit next to her.

"Thanks!" Hepta responded happily, sitting next to her before opening his lunchbox.

Gatrea couldn't believe it; Hepta was actually sitting next to her. Hepta noticed a slight change in her behavior, but he decided not to say anything about it. Hepta had a slight crush on the oldest princess, but he didn't think that she could ever like him back since he wasn't royalty. His older sister, Ladnok, always told him that being royalty or not wouldn't matter. Gatrea wasn't sure what to say, but she knew that she needed to say something.

"Um… S-so, what kind of chips do you like?" Gatrea hesitantly asked Hepta, speaking about the first thing that popped into her mind; she felt stupid for asking her crush what his favorite kind of chips were.

"What are 'chips'?" Hepta questioned with confusion, tilting his head slightly to the right as he turned his attention to her.

"N-never mind… It's a kind of snack that comes from my mom's planet… J-just pretend that I didn't ask that question…" Gatrea responded awkwardly, feeling more embarrassed as she spoke.

"I wouldn't mind trying these 'chips' you speak of." Hepta told Gatrea, feeling intrigued by what chips were.

"You would? I can bring a bag tomorrow so that you can try them." Gatrea offered, suddenly feeling not so stupid.

"I can't wait to taste them." Hepta said with excitement, a smile appearing on his face; he couldn't wait to try the new snack and hang out with Gatrea the next day.

Gatrea could have sworn that she was blushing when Hepta smiled at her; he was just so cute. After a moment, she and Hepta started eating their lunches together so that it wouldn't look like they were flirting with each other, even though they weren't. Hepta glanced over at the other two pupils and Sendak, thankful that none of them were paying attention to him and Gatrea; he thought that they would tease him for having a crush on a princess. Even though she was a princess, Gatrea had proven herself to have the potential of being a great warrior, just like her father. Until Zarkon came back from his own lunch break, Gatrea enjoyed spending one on one time with Hepta and talking to him.

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~ Alfor ~
(Lotarius is 17)

Lotarius and Allura knew each other since they were babies and they got to see each other almost every day as they grew up, but at some point Lotarius realized that he had a crush on his childhood friend. Allura was the living, breathing embodiment of beauty and grace, not to mention that she was the nicest girl his age that he knew. He first realized that he had a crush on her when they were thirteen, but it wasn't until he was seventeen that Lotarius decided to make his crush on her known. Lotarius was a gentleman, so one day before school he picked a bouquet of juniberry flowers. During lunch was when he was going to give her the flowers.

"Hello, Allura." Lotarius said casually as he sat next to his crush during lunch, managing to hide the flowers.

"Oh, hello Lotarius." Allura greeted him with a warm smile when he sat next to her; Allura really liked the prince, but she wasn't sure if he liked her the same way or not.

Lotarius returned the smile before turning his attention to his lunch, trying to think of what to say when he gave her the flowers. Allura took her own lunch out of her lunchbox, hoping that her pink facial markings wouldn't start glowing; it was something that happened whenever she blushed. She really wanted to tell Lotarius that she liked him, but she was too shy to do so. Lotarius took a deep breath before finally getting up enough courage to give the flowers to Allura.

"Allura, I picked these for you this morning." Lotarius spoke up as he held the bouquet of flowers, no longer hiding them.

"Oh, Lotarius, they're beautiful! Thank you!" Allura gasped in surprise, a happy smile spreading across her face when she took the flowers and smelled them.

"I'm glad that you like them." Lotarius spoke softly, only feeling a little awkward; he was thankful that everyone else was too busy to notice what he and Allura were doing.

"What's the special occasion?" Allura questioned in a curious tone, her ears twitching as her eyes met Lotarius'.

"There's no occasion, I just wanted to bring you flowers." Lotarius replied smoothly, a kind smile on his face; he  (really)  wanted to tell Allura how he felt, but during lunch wasn't the time.

"That's very kind of you." Allura said quietly, her markings glowing a little as she lightly blushed.

Lotarius felt his face heat up, so he turned his attention back to his lunch while thinking Allura's little quirk where her markings glowed a little was cute. Allura knew that she was blushing; she placed the bouquet of flowers on the table as she grabbed a piece of fruit from her lunchbox. It was really nice of Lotarius to randomly give her a bouquet of juniberry flowers and it made her wonder if he liked her. Lotarius knew that he needed to tell Allura how he felt about her, especially since they would soon be graduating from school. He had a plan, and thankfully that plan would work and they would end up together.

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~ Blaytz ~
(Iris is 14)

Ever since Iris hit puberty, she often wondered if and when she was going to get a crush on someone. All of the boys in her class were gentlemen and were obviously very good looking, but she never liked any of them in a sexual or romantic way. For a while she thought that she was acesexual, but then over the next few months she realized that she found one of her best friends, Dasla, very attractive. Up until that point, Iris didn't even know she was attracted to girls. Obviously same gender couples were normal on Nalquod, but for some reason she was still afraid that you and her father wouldn't love her anymore if the two of you found out.

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" Sarli, one of Iris'  other friends, queried while they were in the school library together.

"Huh? O-oh, yeah. I'm okay." Iris answered nervously, feeling embarrassed for spacing out while standing with her friend in front of a bookshelf.

"Okay…" Sarli responded as a slight smirk made its way onto her face, knowing that her friend had a crush on someone.

Iris went back to looking for the book she and Sarli needed since they were doing research for one of their classes. Sarli, who already had a boyfriend, knew the look someone had when they had a crush on someone else. She didn't know who the lucky person was, but she was determined to find out. Iris' feelers were down in front of her face as she looked along the bookshelf, feeling a little sad as she thought about Dasla; she really wanted to tell her how she felt.

"Sarli, where's the best place to tell your crush that you like them?' Iris queried after a few moments, feeling nervous as she spoke quietly.

"It really depends. Where does your crush like to hang out? If they like going to the park or something, take them there one evening during sunset. Or better yet, the palace garden." Sarli answered, giving her friend some of her best advice.

"I- I guess I could try. If you think it'll work, then I'll try it. Thank you." Iris replied, thanking her friend and feeling a little less nervous after receiving the advice.

"Trust me, it will. Oh, and you might want to set a romantic mood by laying a blanket on the ground and have a bowl of chopped fruit for the two of you to share." Sarli suggested, happy that she could give Iris the advice she desperately needed.

Iris nodded her head and her feelers perked up a little while a mental image of her confessing her feelings to Dasla ran through her mind, causing a light blush to appear on her face. Sarli smiled, knowing that it wouldn't be long before Iris had a significant other. As they went back to looking for the book they needed, it wasn't long before Sarli finally found it. Iris knew that she still needed to come out to you and her father, but just thinking about coming out made her stomach churn with pure terror. She decided to attempt to confess her feelings to Dasla first, having the feeling that it would turn out alright.

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~ Gyrgan ~
(Adu is 16)

When a student exchange program started with Altea, Adu really wanted to try it since he thought it would be interesting to try. You and Gyrgan were hesitant at first since the two of you would really miss his and your oldest son while he was away, but both of you finally agreed since Adu really wanted to do it. At some point after moving in with his host family, Adu met a boy named Bandor at his new school and instantly had a crush on said Altean boy. Adu always thought that he was pansexual, but meeting and getting to know Bandor made him realize that he was actually gay. Bandor was just so cute and he was very loyal too, not to mention he laughed at Adu's cute jokes.

"Bandor … Psst, Bandor!" Adu whispered during their study group, glancing at the teacher just to make sure that she was busy.

"What's so important? Do you  (want)  to get us caught?" Bandor responded in a barely audible voice, not wanting to get caught talking in class.

"Can we meet up in the park later? There's something I really need to talk to you about." Adu replied as he felt his heart thumping in his chest; he had known Bandor for five phoebs and he really wanted to confess his feelings to the Altean boy.

"Yes, we can, but right now we need to focus on class." Bandor reminded Adu, a light blush appearing on his face.

Adu smiled before focusing on what their teacher was saying, a blush dusting his cheeks as he glanced at Bandor. He couldn't wait for school to be done so that they could go to the park, but in a way he didn't want class to end since he and Bandor had separate classes after their study group in the library. However, they would get a lunch break before they went their separate ways. After the study group was done, the whole class went to the cafeteria for lunch.

"What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Bandor queried with curiosity while looking at Adu; they were eating lunch together, which meant that they could speak freely.

"I- I can't tell you here…" Adu bashfully stuttered, averting his gaze a little as a blush appeared on his face; he felt as though he had butterflies in his stomach as Bandor looked at him.

Bandor was a little confused about Adu's strange behavior, but he still wanted to know what his friend wanted to tell him. He really liked Adu as more than a friend, but he wasn't sure if the Rygnirathian prince liked him the same way or not. As they began eating their lunches together, they kept glancing at each other when they thought that the other wasn't looking. Adu knew that he would have to eventually come out to you and his father, but it made him nervous as he wondered what your reactions would be. For the time being though, he was just happy spending time with Bandor.

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~ Trigel ~
(Astrid is 15)

Astrid really liked Aekil, a boy who was in her class, but she was nervous whenever she was around him and she could never talk right when he talked to her. At some point, she convinced herself that Aekil didn't like her because she couldn't talk right around him. Astrid tried her best to avoid Aekil as much as possible, but her friends shipped them together. One day when Astrid was a little late getting to her next class since she was helping one of her other teachers with something, she wasn't looking where she was going and accidentally bumped into Aekil. Aekil wasn't upset since he thought Astrid was cute, but he thought that they were only meant to be friends since she was royalty and he wasn't.

"Oh, I'm sorry Princess Astrid. Are you okay?" Aekil asked her with concern, thankful that neither of them fell down.

"Wh-what? O-oh y-yeah… You're fine… I mean I'm fine! Uh… I have to go!" Astrid sputtered in embarrassment before quickly walking to her next class.

Aekil was always confused about why Astrid couldn't talk straight whenever she was around him; he thought that she might have had a speech disability or something. No matter what was going on with her, he still liked her and thought that she was cute. Meanwhile, Astrid was completely embarrassed as she made it to class and sat down next to Balzih, one of her best friends.

"What happened to you?" Balzih asked Astrid with curiosity, smiling as she placed a hand on her friend's right shoulder.

"I ran into Aekil." Astrid mumbled as she hid her blush covered face with her hands, thankful that the teacher was running a little late, too.

"What was that? It sounded like you just said that you ran into Aekil." Balzih questioned in a teasing tone, grinning as she looked at Astrid.

"Yes, and I embarrassed myself again!" Astrid answered, moving her hands away from her face, only to see her friend grinning at her.

"I had a feeling that you did. Girl, you need to make a move before someone else steals him from you." Balzih stated, knowing that some other girl might try wooing Aekil.

"I know, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I really like him, but I don't think that he could ever like me." Astrid responded in a sad tone, suddenly feeling sad about thinking of losing Aekil.

"If you need help, we'll help you out in any way we can." Balzih assured Astrid, her grin turning into a kind smile.

Astrid smiled and thanked her friend, knowing that all of her friends would help her and Aekil somehow get together. When the teacher entered the room, everyone stopped talking and got their books and pencils out of their desks. Astrid was worried that she might actually lose her chance to date her long-term crush, but she had faith that a miracle would happen. After school, Balzih told the rest of her and Astrid's friends about getting Astrid and Aekil together and they agreed to come up with a foolproof plan. To Astrid's surprise, it ended up working and she finally got over embarrassing herself in front of her crush.