Chapter 8. Stay Away. (I)

The next day, Loy headed to the school on foot. Although there was a shuttle to it, he was used to walking.

Unlike the other days, the look on his face was different. Curious. Excited.

Although Lin's house wasn't on the fastest route to the school, he decided to enter her street. Walking slowly, he pretended to not look at her house. Even though it was late, he heard loud crashing noises coming off of it.

Suddenly, he saw Lin running out of it like the eye of the storm. Messy and in a hurry, the belongings she was carrying were almost falling out of her hands. She was about to break into a run when suddenly, she noticed him.

"Loy!" Lin exclaimed in surprise with a smile on her face. "Lin!" Loy called back happily. "You are okay?" he asked gracefully.

"Ah… yes!" she answered quickly. "I was worried I'd be late for the shuttle! I realized there's only one from here to Nash!" she replied worriedly. "I woke up late." she admitted a little disappointed.

"The shuttle left 10 minutes ago." Loy said. "Huh?! really?!" Lin resented. "So, what are you doing here?" she wondered in confusion. "Going to school," replied Loy, "for some reason I thought it was pretty obvious." he laughed.

"Is it possible to get there on foot as well?" she asked. "Yes. It's a 15-minute walk, but the advantage is that there are no traffic jams." Loy joked. "Can I join you?" she leaned forward with her shiny eyes. "You didn't have to ask." Loy answered nicely. They started their walk out of Gillua.

"Didn't you sleep well?" Loy asked on their way. "Not so much..." Lin whispered as she looked at the floor. Loy hid the very fact that he too. Lin's head was occupied with many thoughts last night. It was amusing to her.

In the past, she would fall asleep at the click of a button. But, a lot has changed since then. Events that caused her to lose sleep every night.

"Do you always walk to school?" Lin asked Loy. "Yeah..." he answered. "Why don't you get on the bus?" she asked, "What about your other friends, don't they care?" she wondered in surprise. Loy scratched his head.

"Friends? What friends?" he thought to himself. "No.." he answered with a smile. "I'm pretty sure they don't care…" he smiled awkwardly.

"Ah! You're ridiculous!" Another voice suddenly appeared, a voice that only Loy could hear. Loy's eyes opened wide. "Technically, it's not a lie. What do you expect me to say?" Loy asked him defensively.

"Something happened?" Lin asked curiously. "Huh?" Loy replied, suddenly realizing his attention had gone elsewhere.

"Oh! No! Nothing!" he laughed aloud. "I just realized that I never got to go to school with anyone else. Not even my little sister." he confessed.

"Really? Why? Does she also go to our school?" Lin asked. "Yes... It's the school closest to us. All Gillua's students are automatically assigned to "Kras". Wasn't that explained to you when you got here?" Loy asked.

"No... I mean, I was assigned there directly... but I assumed that it was the only school in such a small town." Lin replied. "There are no schools in Gillua itself, that's why all the students' study in Nash. There are other schools in the area, but it was decided that the students should go to school with the other children in their area of ​​residence." he replied.

Soon, Loy and Lin arrived at the Gillua town gates.

"Huh? Are there guards in the morning too?" Lin asked.

"Of course... why does it surprise you?".

"To say the truth... I don't know... I imagined the spirits would want to come at night... when it's harder to see them... But like this, in the morning? in daylight?" she wondered.

"I don't know if they even realize it. Or they don't care about it." he replied back.

When Loy and Lin moved through the gates out of Gillua. The town guards looked at them with a confused look.

Loy was already used to the stares. But it took Lin a moment to notice. Until she comprehended it, she already had her back to them.

She glanced back at them, and their gaze back at her remained serious and concerned. A look that called her to "watch out".