"I think the taxi is on its way..." I say hearing the taxi from a distance.

"Well spotted, Ashy, I only just heard it as well." Dawn chuckles.

A small wave of pride washes over me. To have noticed something at the same time as Dawn must mean that I've become more aware of my surroundings.

Once the taxi stops where we're standing, the driver rolls down a window and leans over. After confirming that, yes, Dawn is the same Dawn that booked the trip, we sort out her luggage.

The driver opens the trunk of the taxi and takes Dawn's suitcase, with Dawn climbing into the back seat as he loads it into the trunk and slams it shut.

After getting back into his seat and shutting the doors, he waits for us to say our farewells.

"Have a safe trip, Dawn" Serena says to her bestfriend.

"Take care!" I say to her.

"Of course I will! I'll be back before long, don't worry. there will still be another people here for you too, won't be there, Ash?" Dawn says.

"You bet" I give her the thumbs up.

I turn and smile to Serena, putting my hand on her shoulder.

She only manages to keep eye contact with me for a couple of seconds, her cheeks red all the while, before turning back to Dawn

"See ya, Dawn!" 

"G-good bye!" Serena breaks out of her shell and brightly says it.

Dawn gives her farewells to the both os us with a fair measure of reluctance. Without further ado, the driver starts the engine once more and they begin the journey down the hill, and towards the airport.

The two of us stand at the gates for a long time even after they've disappeared from sight, not really knowing what to do.

"So, what do you want to do?" I ask Serena.

"I...don't know." She replies.

The bus stop, standing by the school gates like a mute sentinel, puts a strange idea in my mind.

"Let's go into town and look for a bookshop or something?" I suggest.

"Okay." She smiles brightly.

I was actually expecting her to reject and call it a day, but to my surprise, she wants to.

"Really?" I say

"R-really. Let's go." She nods.

I can't work out why Serena has decided to agree with me, but I'm not about to ask her to change her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After making it into the town we walk spontaneously, I decide to ask her where we should go.

"There should be a bookshop just up ahead, do you want to check it out?" I ask her.

"S-Sure" She nods.

The crowds start to build as we head towards the bookshop along the raised walkways. Serena latches her other arm onto me as well, making our progress a little slower.

As we walk, the sound of the traffic makes me think of a possible distraction for her.

"I was wondering, Sere...have you thought yet about when you're going to learn to drive?" I question her.

"D-driving?" She says.

"Yeah. you're kind of lucky, in a way; there aren't a whole lot of students here that are allowed to drive." I smile at her.

"I-I don't know? I-I'll think about it" She says.

Before long we are before one of the bookshops Dawn and I passed by during our search.

"What kind of self-respecting bookshop closes on Saturdays?!" I fold my arms in disappointment.

"Well...um..bookshops don't make much money any more, because of the internet. Maybe they just had to close over weekends?" Serena says.

She seems pretty knowledgeable about technology. I guess it's a pursuit that would lend itself well to someone who enjoys solitude.

"I guess that makes sense...anything else you'd like to do?" I put my hands in my pockets.

"I-if it's not...not a bother... could you show me where you bought my present?" She smiles at me.

"Sure! It's not far from here." I fist pump.

I head off in the direction of the store, only half-sure of its exact location. I don't want a repeat of the last time; spending half the day walking around aimlessly.

"Here we are! Othello's Antiques." I stop outside the store.

"I-it's small...." Serena looks at the shop.

"Well, yeah. It took Dawn and me some time to find it." 

"Can we go in?" She asks me.

"I don't see why not; it's open." I look at the clear 'open' sign on the door.

Serena pushes through the door and enters before me. Once again, the store is empty save for the store owner.

His face drops a little when he sees me.

"Oh, you're not here for a return are you? Wait, that's not the girl you had with you last time..." He says.

"Nah, we're just looking around" I smile at him.

"Might this be the friend you bought gifts for?" He asks.

"That's right." 

The store owner turns to Serena, who freezes on the spot like a deer caught in the headlights.

He moves to address her, but stops before doing so, looking a little taken aback.

He catches himself staring and looks to the side, addressing us indirectly. His expression is awkward and tense, as is his entire body.

I want to be mad at him, but I know full well that I had the same instinctive reaction when i first saw her. First surprise, then curiosity, then an awkward look away as I dealt with what I'd seen.

Serena looks less panicked than before... but I think the feeling she's giving off now is worse. It's not anger, nor annoyance. If anything, it's one of apology.

"You're lucky there, young lady. To have a boyfriend that cares about you as much as they do." The shopkeeper says.

Both of our faces shoot up bright red, but to my surprise she didn't explain it to him she just said a simple 'Thank you...'

Serena strikes out into the store, gazing in wonder at the various items on display. She finds the ribbon section, and spends lingering minutes studying each and every one.

I'm surprised that she's looking at ribbons; she doesn't wear them.

She picks up the same blue one as I saw last time I was here.

"Y'know, Ash...this is a nice shop." I hear her say.

"Yeah, it is. Do you want to buy something?" I ask.

"I-I didn't bring any money." She shrugs.

"Well, we can always come again." I smile at her.

She takes one last look at the ribbon before placing it back on the shelf.

"W-we can?" She turns to me with a slight blush.

"You bet! We can come here as often as you'd like." I smile at her while lifting my shoulders up too.

"Thank you." She places her hands on her chest.

"C-can we go back to school now?" She smiles at me.

"Sure." I nod at her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well then, goodbye." She turns to me while outside the girl's dorms.

"U-uh do you want to have some tea or something? How about a game?" I don't want her to leave.

She shakes her head embarrassedly.

"I...I'm tired. Maybe later? I've got homework.." She says.

"Alright then....see you, Serena." I wave at her.

"See you, Ash" She blushes 

I look at the door, she disappears through for a bit, before going off towards my own dorms.

Today was a tiring day.

NOWWWW! Act 4! - Scars :D, I'll update one more time today then that's it until next weekend :)