“Elise?” Arthur frowned. “… Now that I think about it. I do recall someone with that name.”
“It’s me!” Elise smiled widely when she noticed that Arthur was starting to recall who she was. She was a little worried that Arthur might not recognize her since it had been such a long time and so many things changed after so many years.
“But… That Elise was a timid girl with glasses, wasn’t she?” Arthur tapped his chin. The image of the girl in his head was that of a very shy, plain girl who was as much of a loner as he was. She wore big glasses and kept to herself the entire time.
That was why perhaps the two got along without ever talking. They just shared the one single hobby they had, reading books. Arthur liked reading fantasy books as a kid. He loved traveling through those magnificent worlds, imagining himself being the adventurer discovering all of that.
It also gave him an escape from the real, boring, and brutal world. He couldn’t count the times he wished he would wake up one day and find himself in one of these beautiful, magical worlds… As far away from where he was as possible.
He recalled the two spending that time after school, just reading their books and sharing the room silently. They didn’t talk, barely even introducing themselves to each other or having any long conversations. Just two people enjoying their time away from everyone else.
For a second, Elise pursed her lips as if she was a little embarrassed. Then, she nodded her head. “Yes, that girl with glasses… It was me.” She said.
“What? What are you even talking about, guys?”
Her friends listened to the conversation without any context and couldn’t even understand what was happening.
“…” Arthur’s eyes widened slightly. “That’s you?!”
‘This is the same girl? What? Am I hallucinating?’
Looking at the current Elise and the one from memory made Arthur’s brain almost halt thinking. The difference was simply tremendous. From a shy and timid girl with average looks to a stunning, outgoing beauty with positive energy.
“Yes! I’m glad you recognized me!” Elise smiled brightly. “It has been such a long time, Arthur! I can’t believe you’re also here in the academy!”
‘… Talk about a glow-up. She really changed completely.’ Arthur didn’t know how to react to this sudden truth. However, he still smiled slightly.
“Yeah, it had been a long time. And yes, I was able to join the academy.” He replied.
“Elise, you have a looot to explain, girl!” Her friends glared daggers at her as if she had done something horrible.
“… S-Sorry, I will tell you everything later.”
Then, Elise turned to face Arthur. “You have really changed a lot too. I couldn’t recognize you quickly. Wow, you’re really dashing!”
‘Ayyy, is this what I think it is? Did a girl find me attractive?!’ Arthur thought to himself as he tried to keep a calm expression. However, deep down, this compliment from Elise hit Arthur where he least expected. After all, this was the very first time someone from the opposite sex had given him a compliment for his looks. Arthur almost wanted to cry.
“Thank you, thank you. I tried to work on myself and here we are.” Arthur replied in a not-so-humble humble manner.
“Hehe, but you’re still the same person I remember.” She tapped his shoulder casually.
“Arthur?”
At that moment, the group heard someone calling for Arthur behind them. Turning around, they were all stunned to see a familiar face.
“Hm? Isla?”
“…” Isla stared at Arthur then at the girl tapping his shoulder and her eyes squinted a little.
“M-Miss Isla!” The girls immediately flinched in surprise. “W-We’re huge fans!”
“…” Isla stared at the two excited girls staring at her and nodded. “Thank you.” Then, she turned to Arthur. “We were missing you at the table. Aren’t you coming?”
“Oh, I will be there in a second. I was talking to Elise here so I lost sense of time.” He said with a shrug.
“…” Weirdly enough, Arthur noticed that Isla didn’t seem that pleased as she nodded her head and turned around to leave. “I will be waiting.”
Then, she walked away without looking back. Arthur didn’t know why she was colder than usual, but he didn’t think much of it as it was still Isla.
“Wow, Arthur, I didn’t know you were friends with Miss Isla!” Elise’s eyes shone with a bright light. “That is really amazing! I have always been a huge fan of her!”
“Haha, yeah, I don’t know how that happened either. In any case, as you heard, I should be leaving now. I have to eat lunch.”
“Oh, of course. But, I still want to talk to you. Can you give me your contact information?”
“… Yeah, sure. Hold on a second.”
‘Wow, this is really going so quick! What the hell is going on? Calm down, Arthur. You shouldn’t panic and keep it together.’ He breathed out faintly as he fought the outrage in his head.
Pulling his device out, Arthur exchanged contact information with Elise and added her as a friend to his shortlist.
“Great! I will send you a message later! We should go out sometimes and have a chat!” She said with a wide smile.
“Mm, I would love to do that.” He nodded.
“Ok, I won’t waste any more of your time now. Have a nice day, Arthur! It’s really nice to see you again!”
With that, the girl bid him farewell with a smile and walked away with her friends. The boy waved at her slightly with a complicated expression. He really didn’t know how to deal with this sudden development.
‘Someone I barely knew from primary school met me again and now she’s a beautiful, extroverted girl, and even more than that, she still remembers me somehow. Talk about a cliche storyline.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Well, it’s not like we are going to date or anything.’
The idea itself sounded silly in Arthur’s head so he just erased it completely and then turned around. “Let’s just focus on the most important thing… Food!”
With that, he continued picking up his dishes and then headed to the table where his friends sat. Upon reaching them, they all stared at him silently.
“Sorry for making you wait, guys. I met someone I knew and had to chat to them for a while.” He said.
“Who is she?” Emmy asked with a mischievous smile. “I saw laughing while talking to her.”
“Hey, don’t even think about it. I barely even know her. We used to read books together back in primary school and that’s it. I don’t even know how she remembers me.”
“Hahaha! My boy Arthur is really popular with girls! Good on you, man!” Herculia laughed as he tapped his shoulder roughly.
Meanwhile, Isla was silently eating food as if she didn’t want any part of the conversation.
“So, what did you guys do?” Emmy asked.
“Nothing, really. She wanted my contact information, I gave it to her and I guess she wants to invite me out for a meal to catch up.”
*Cling*
At that moment, Isla’s spoon made a slightly loud noise as if she dropped it.
“My apologies.”
“…”
A//N: How many super gifts for a jealous Isla? :3 LOL