Swift Greetings

This back and forth happened multiple times. August would try to greet her, but she would always swiftly get away. This never happened before he regressed.

“Excuse me, Marquess Vin Gardner. Can you please move out of my way?”

Heilke stood in front of the doorway that August was blocking.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Please.”

“Heilke, what are doing?”

A petite lady bounced up to her, eyes only on Heilke at first. Then she faced August with a smile that had already been established.

“Oh. Hey August V.”

A little surprised that someone greeted him so energetically, August returned the greeting.

“Hello, Lady Renée.”

She turned back to Heilke.

“What are you doing here? Let’s go,” she said, physically turning Heilke’s shoulders away. “See you, Vin Gardner.”

Renée waved haphazardly at August, her dimple still showing.

August’s eyes still followed them, observing Heilke’s gradual expression change. From the stoic expression she had when interacting with him, to a soft smile and eventually a giggle.

*

“Hey, Francis?”

“Yes, August?”

“Do you know if I offended Lady Heilke in any way?”

August stared at his tea, mindlessly stirring the liquid with his teaspoon.

“Not that I know of. You haven’t particularly offended any of the students in the academy, but you were never that respectful to anyone either. I think Lady Crowell would have paid you no mind.”

“Are you sure?” August said while slurring his words.

“Sure.”

The two sat in a comfortable silence. Typically, it would be hard to believe that a friendship this close could be formed within a month, though it may have happened as it had already been previously established on August’s side.

Sometimes August would wonder why he was the only one that had a change in personality. Everyone else seemed to not have changed and only the relationships between him have. He still had a large friend group, just with the people he avoided interaction with previously. People still praised his swordsmanship, but not as much as before, due to this August often skipping training.

The one exception to the personality change appeared to be Heilke, though it did not seem to have changed when she spoke with other people.

“You look infatuated with her,” Francis stated.

August spat out his tea.

“Infatuated? What? No, I’m just curious.”

“You should try courting her.”

“Courting? No, I could never. Besides, I have to focus on…”

August trailed off. What did he have to focus on? This August missed the enlistment date and would have to wait a year before being able to enlist again. Besides, August nearly found the source of the monsters. If he simply removed it, he would not have to worry about the safety of the kingdom for the next five years. The time spent on defending the country would turn into free time.

Maybe now he could fulfil what he could not last time.

“Focus on what?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Don’t miss out on your chance, August. Date her while you can.”

Even hidden behind the glasses, the bittersweet gaze Francis had shone through. . It reminded August of his father, always telling him to treat everyone as if they will leave and never come back.

“Who knew my Francis would have such mature advice? Are you hiding anything from me?” August said teasingly.

“Oh stop it.”

“Tell me when you’re ready, alright?”

“And you tell me when you two start dating,” Francis said with a smirk.

August replied feebly. “Deal.”

*

August made up his mind to have as much contact with Heilke as possible. Everyday, he would greet her, only to be met with a curtsy that grew colder, and speedier, than all previous ones.

For class, August would arrive later than he normally would, just to choose a spot near her. Originally, he would always arrive earlier out of habit. However, that resulted in her sitting at the furthest spot from him, all the way across the classroom.

He would never choose a spot right next to her, or right behind her, as that would classify as creepy behaviour. Arguably, what August had been doing was barely towing the line between creepy and normal. Usually he would sit at her front left, or behind her two spots to her right, just enough so she could see him out of the corner of her eyes, and that he could talk to her.

She had an occasional rushed flicking of the pages. August would notice it, whether from hearing it or seeing it. It was then that he would turn to her and say the correct page number and immediately turn back to the board. Following that, he would hear a hesitant ‘thank you’, being the only interaction between the two until the class was over.

Once the class was over, August would have had his items already packed away so he could rush to talk to Heilke face to face.

This daily occurrence had become such a fiasco, that all the people who shared the same class would watch them like a TV show. The end-of-classtime show, ‘Who would win?’, August Vin Gardner’s stubbornness, or Heilke Crowell’s extreme curtsies? So far, it had been a winning streak for Heilke, as she always got away before he could hold a conversation.

“Okay Lady Crowell. This time, you won’t be able to curtsy any faster.”

Heilke glanced at August without moving her head, as if to ask if he was challenging her. Sure enough, she did a most sophisticated yet swift curtsy, almost not visible to the eye, and left.

The whole class roared, with some students running up to him and consoled him lightheartedly.

As she turned, Heilke smirked delicately.

“Hey Heilke, do you still hate August?”

This time, Heilke did not feel like interacting with August during class. She came at the very last minute, the time Renée usually went to class. The only seats left were not across the room from him, although it was far enough that August would not be able to tell her a page number without disrupting the whole class.

“I do dislike him.”

“Why? What has he done? Is it his rude attitude? I feel like recently he’s been much better.”

“He hasn’t done anything yet. I just have a prejudice for his future self.”

“Uh ok…” Renée said. She brushed off Heilke’s peculiar statement and continued. “So are you just going to avoid him?”

“As much as possible.”

Renée shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself.”

Even if August was a little further away from her, his gaze kept going back to Heilke. What was she talking about that got her so frustrated? Now amused? Could he ever be the person that made her laugh like that? He hoped that he could.