Serene’s POV

It was an amethyst-colored hairpin with a winged design as if representing my wings. The stones were exactly the same colour as my wings, they glistened as the light reflected from them. The sight of it made me smile but I knew I couldn’t accept it.

"Arlo, this is so beautiful. But I can’t take it." I finally mustered up the courage to peer into his eyes. They held hurt and pain from my words.

"I accepted your gift, remember? It’s just a pin. Why can’t you accept it? Or has he forbidden you from doing that?" I could see a hint of anger replacing the beautiful smile he held a few seconds ago.

"He did no such thing. But it would be unfair." I spoke rather mildly staring into his bloodshot eyes.

"I thought we were friends, Serene. Please accept it as my friend. You have no clue how much courage I had to muster just to offer it to you. Don’t refuse me. Just keep it with you." He almost begged me and my heart began to crush under the weight of his words. Why he had to put me in a tight spot?

"Arlo..." my words got choked by emotions and I couldn’t speak. This boy had done so much for me and I always end up hurting him. Accepting it would mean I was leading him on. I didn’t want him to keep that kind of hope alive in his heart.

"Please! Serene. It’s not like I ask you for something, every day." Thousands of emotions unraveled in his eyes, directed just at me.

I sighed, I had no strength to break his heart again. So I extended my hand and took the pin from his hand. He smiled, he had such a unique smile. It brightened up his handsome face. How I wished he would smile more.

"Thank you, Arlo. I will keep it with me, forever." I held the pin tightly in my hand. He extended his hand and lightly touched my cheek, with his index finger before saying:

"I know," we held each other’s gaze for a second before I lowered mine and said:

"We should go." He nodded and we began to walk toward the Dining hall. I placed the pin carefully in my backpack. Arlo left me at the door of the hall and went in the opposite direction. His hands were in his pockets, and there was a small smile on his face when he left.

I entered the hall and went up to our usual table. Zeph, Ralph, Alvene, and Ayrden were there.

"Hey! Guys," I greeted everyone and they waved.

I settled down in a seat beside Zeph, he gave me a puzzled look and asked: "Was everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine." I glanced into his eyes and was instantly reminded of last night, which made me smile at him, I bit my lip seductively at him. This made him blush and he averted his gaze, this made me laugh.

"I missed you last night," I whispered in his ear.

"Me too, you were sleeping so peacefully I didn’t want to leave you. But Shumal Sensei had arrived so I had to." He picked up a stray lock from my face and intertwined it with his index finger. I was resting my elbow on the table and my hand supported my face. My whole attention was on him.

He placed a plate of sandwiches in front of me and instructed: "Eat, you must be hungry." I grabbed a sandwich from the plate and began eating. He let go of my hair and tucked it behind my ear.

We discussed the party and The Contest in detail. Zeph’s song was the highlight of the day and he became the epitome of what girls wanted in their boyfriends. Even in the hall, everyone seemed to be giving us the looks. Girls offered him smiles while he avoided them like a plague. This made me chuckle.

Ralph and Alvene were having a private moment, and Ayrden had left to find Canios.

Other Institutes had returned to their respective Realms, and it reminded me that I had to talk to Kilamin about Druine.

"Zeph, can you come with me? I need to talk to Kilamin." I said as I finished my sandwich.

"Yes, let’s go." He took my hand in his as we made our way to the training ground. That’s where Kilamin mostly was.

Sitting under a tree, he was meditating, his eyes closed. I waited for him to finish but he instantly opened his eyes as we drew near.

"Serene, what is it? You alright?" He stood up, his expression wasn’t that blank today.

"Yes, I just had a request from someone for you. I hope you can consider it." I replied.

"I am listening," he dusted his clothes to remove any traces of dirt.

"Druine was rather smitten by you, he wanted you to consider him for Fae Force."

"He is already on my list of potential candidates, his powers are unique, and he will be an asset to us. Plus his head is not swollen with pride like most of the Fae his age." He replied with a bit of disdain and I knew he was referring to Layla and Trikile.

"Well, I hope you can be a Sensei at Fairy Enchantment Institute for some time. I am sure they will learn a great deal from your expertise in this particular field." I tried to stifle laughter, Zeph was doing the same and looked the other way.

"I swear the population of that Institute will be reduced to one-third within a month. I would expel most of them." He had a meh expression on his face now, and we burst out laughing. He smiled too.

It felt good to have a normal conversation with him.

"I know it’s your free day but do you want to get some training done?" He inquired.

"I have a better idea, why don’t three of us duel together? Me and Zeph vs you." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Sounds good to me." He smirked.