Harper Harmony

Since the Harvest month began, Alex and Cristina almost made a routine: every day to walk home together. Cristina's piano lesson was about to end, and Alex was waiting for her. He was coughing a lot, but he paid it no mind.

"You're coughing a lot, don't you think?" A feminine voice startled Alex. It was Circe, looking at her classmate with a certain concern.

"It's nothing," he replied, trying not to cough anymore. Rummaging through her bag, Circe took out a vial and drank a little. This made Alex uncomfortable.

“I know that cancer can come back," Circe said seriously. "Your worries might be real."

"How do you…?" Alex tried to ask, but at that moment, Cristina walked out of the classroom, saying goodbye to her teacher.

She greeted Circe with surprise; the witch only said goodbye. She looked at Alex with worries. Alex coughed a little, only praying she won’t ask anything.
"Shall we go?" he said to Cristina while taking her hand.

That night when he got home, Alex greet his parents. His father was smoking, the house smelled heavily of cigarettes. His mother was shouting while giving orders to her employees on the phone. Upon seeing her son, she hung up the phone.

"You know, Alex," during dinner, his mother decided to comment on her son's appearance, "I'm glad you've lost weight; I hope you keep the habits."

After dinner, and hoping his parents won’t notice, Alex found the phone number of the private hospital of Espliego. It was a lame the doctor he treated was in another city, so it was difficult for him to know which area or doctor would call for an appointment.

How did Circe know about it? She hadn't even been living in Espliego when it happened, and he had never mentioned to anyone. Finally an appointment had been made for the following shivadin (the second day of the week). He was nervous but he wanted to confirm it. When the day of the appointment arrived, and without telling his parents, he went to meet the doctor.

While Alex was at the hospital trying to get answers, Caleb was nervous. He had skipped school to finish cleaning the house. Hilda watched him while sipping cranberry juice on the couch. She was already fed up with seeing him pace back and forth across the living room.

"Calm down already, would you?" Hilda remarked as she watched her friend actitude. Caleb didn't hear her; he simply walked all over the place looking if there was anything to clean.

Cristina tried calling Alex several times. She was nervous; she knew he was going to the doctor behind his parents' back. To distract herself, she tried studying some solfège. She had a hard time memorizing notes written in the F clef. She arrived at Delta and waited for the elevator ignoring that there was a couple waiting there too.

"What are you studying?" the woman asked her curiously.

Cristina turned to look at her. She was a tall woman with a slight overweight build, though it wasn't noticeable thanks to her choice of clothing and style. She wore her hair down with a few gold hairpins. On her hand, she wore a ring with a red stone; she was holding a small suitcase. Cristina felt somewhat intimidated by her elegance of that woman. She felt small. Her partner just looked at Cristina and smiled timidly upon seeing her. He was a bit shorter, but that was due to her heels.

“The piano" Cristina answered with surprise; she hadn't expected this elegant woman to approach her and talk to her. The two women continued chatting for a bit until the doors opened.

"Are you here to visit someone?" the man asked. He had a deep but kind voice. He was curious about the fact that she was getting off on the same floor as them.

"I... I live here," Cristina answered somewhat nervously. The couple was surprised by the answer.

Upon reaching an apartment door, the man rang the doorbell, and Caleb opened it, welcoming his parents. Cristina was even more confused now upon seeing the situation. Caleb hugged his parents, and both stepped inside. Seeing Dolores and Javier inside, she timidly stepped in as well.

"Cristina...! you're here,!" Caleb remarked, inviting his friend to sit down.

"Won't you introduce us to your friend, Caleb?" the woman asked, sitting down and setting her suitcase and case beside the couch.

Somewhat embarrassed, Caleb introduced his parents to Cristina. Dolores mentioned that since the summer, she adopted her due to certain circumstances that had surprised even her.

"She's a very nice girl," Alisha commented; Caleb smiled. He still remembered the call with his mother that day when she bad things about his friend. “We met her in the elevator. We didn't expect her to be the girl you adopted recently."

"A few details came up with my father," Dolores replied. Hilda watched the conversation somewhat annoyed. She hadn't expected to be included as a daughter to that woman. She didn't like it but surprisingly, she remained calm.

Dolores vaguely explained what happened after Alfredo's death, but she was interrupted by Elías, who was already hungry. The group sat down to dinner while chatting about different topics, from school to the couple's tour. Even 

Hilda relaxed and also chat, sharing about some plans she had for the future
The evening was a success, and a couple of hours later, the Redberry Fablet family retired to rest.

"I think I'll sleep quite well tonight," Alisha commented as she entered her room, leaving Caleb and his father alone. Both were tidying up a bit before retiring to rest.

"That girl has a nervous personality," Elías remarked while finishing washing the dishes. "But I can tell she's been well-raised."

"Yeah..." Caleb say, while he look at the table he was cleaning. His father noticed.

"You like her, don't you?"

Nervous but clearly blushing, Caleb started denying it and saying some phrases his father didn’t understand. His father just chuckled a little at the reaction.

"Don't make the same mistakes I did," was what Elías said. "If you don't make your move, someone else is going to beat you to it."

"I'm trying, but..." Caleb said to his father. He told him about the concert and the festival incident.

“Well… eh… you could invite her out to eat somewhere," his father commented, finishing putting the dishes away on the shelf. "Or you can go to the movies. Look for what you have in common. For example, did you know she's learning piano, right?"

Caleb didn't speak. His father said nothing more after seeing how uncomfortable his son was with the conversation. They both finished cleaning and retired to sleep. In his room, thanks to his father's words, he had decided to take the risk.

The next day, Caleb decided to accompany Cristina to school. He had practiced what to say to her. Just as he was about to start speaking, he noticed his neighbor looked strange and worried.

"Is something wrong?" Caleb asked, seeing his friend's concern.

"Since yesterday afternoon, Alex hasn't answered my messages," Cristina replied.

"Maybe he ran out of batery," Caleb suggested. "Or his parents confiscated his phone as a punishment."

Cristina sighed and put her phone away. She knew grades weren't the problem. In fact, he was the one who helped her study. She didn't want to mention his doctor's visit. Alex missed school.

"Do you know anything about Alex?" Professor Maldonado asked her when she arrived at drawing class.|

Cristina told him the situation, how he wasn't answering calls or messages, and that she hadn't known where he was since yesterday after piano class—only that he was going to the doctor for his strange cough. When class ended, she was surprised to see Circe waiting for her.

"Circe..." Cristina said unenthusiastically. She dragged her feet and looked sad.
"I had to retake some exams," the witch admitted without caring much about her friend's attitude.

Cristina didn't comment anything; the silence was bothering the witch. Circe stopped, and Cristina, seeing her friend wasn't following, turned back to look at her. She was annoyed and walked over to her side.
"Sorry, it's just that..."

"It's about Alex, right?" Circe confronted her friend.

It was clear Cristina wanted to cry. Circe sighed and began to walk; Cristina followed her wondering if she would ever share her mind-reading potion to know what she was thinking.

"I understand," Circe began to say. "He's your friend, I understand you're worried. But..." The witch stopped, and Cristina just looked at her. She didn't need a potion to know that her friend knew something and didn't want to tell her.

"It's not my place to tell you. It's Alex who has to confront his situation and decide what he wants."

Cristina began to feel some anxiety. What were they hiding from her? A doctor’s appointment is not that common

"Alex likes you," Circe said changing the theme. Cristina was taken by surprise and blushed. "And you are reciprocate."

Circe took her friend's hands, celebrating the matter. Cristina was surprised and shocked; was she really in love with Alex?

The friends arrived at Delta and decided to spend the afternoon at Circe's house simply talking, listening to the radio, and doing homework. A couple of hours later, they said goodbye, and Cristina went home. She felt better, more relaxed.

Circe's mother, a slender woman named Eliana with curly black hair decorated with a headband and freckles on her face, watched Cristina from the entrance of her house.

"She's an interesting," she told her daughter. "She has an interesting aura. I felt something special in her."

"She's just a Magic-less person who believes in Helios," Circe told her mother. "But you're right. She has something... I believe she’s a magic user, but she's not a stellar one.”