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T h e H o l l o w s   O f
H I R A E    T    H
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"Barbecue, yeah?" Carter double checks with me and I nod with a smile on my face. I was wandering around his room, looking at all his new stuff. The belongings he had acquired were making me feel a strong sense of nostalgia, and I next wondered if the theme for his room was melancholy.

The walls were cream; boring and suitable for both genders, like in any other room. I had seen Cassie's drab walls decorated with a thin strip of wallpaper and some posters. There is apparently a place in this academy where you can pick up such decorative items—it seems that the academy has some connection to the world in order to receive supplies. I'd have to ask Jameson about that later.

Carter didn't seem to have gotten the memo as his room seemed pretty boring to the eye. It almost gave me anxiety, the fact that Carter had yet to dress his room up. Back home, his personality was reflected in the theme of his room. There were many sporting trophies—and many shoe boxes—laying around and maybe the walls were just plain old blue, but at least it meant something to him. This room must be the supreme definition of depression.

Carter put the phone down after ordering the pizza I was sure to get had I stayed with the girls. But of course—I hadn't. Then, weirdly, I began thinking about Jameson; would he eat alone now that I had joined Carter for the last supper? Exaggeration. No, Sky, stop being self-centred; you're not the only person he knows.

"What are you thinking about?" Carter asked me as he plopped down on his bed, leaning on his elbow as he watched me move around his room. My body was angled away from him yet he had still been able to catch me in my moments of thoughts.

"Just how depressingly boring you're room is," I swivelled around to smile at him with a shrug, "But hey, at least it's original." I added and he rolled his eyes at me. I joined him on the bed, laying next to him and resting my head onto the pillow as I looked into his hazel eyes. I slapped away the voice that reminded me that Jameson's sapphire ones were much more captivating.

"So how's your leg?" I asked him, trying to spark up a conversation before a blanket of awkwardness settled. Carter smiled and reached out, his index finger twirling a lock of my hair.

"It's fine, do you want to check?" Between the husky tone and the flirtatious remark, I really don't know which made me grimace more. I somewhat tried to transform the grimace into a grin and in turn Carter laughed at me.

"Oh, Skyie." Carter commented as he wiped a fake tear away from his eye. I scowled and slapped his chest, pursing my lips at the nickname. I hadn't heard it in a while, but it seems that it would be making a reappearance. I could barely stand the thought of that.

"Okay," Carter calmed down after hysterically laughing and held out his pinky finger. "Pinky promise I won't call you Skyie anymore." He offered and I rolled my eyes before interlocking my pinky with his.

"Good making a deal with you, Skyie." Carter purposely lets the nickname roll off his tongue, and doesn't look phased by it as he displays a sly smirk.

"I hate you!" I screech before pushing him down on the bed and hitting him in the chest. Carter laughed at me and I grabbed a pillow, whacking him straight in the face. Good. Carter wriggled around, and, embarrassingly for me, it seemed as if the few training sessions he had attended were paying off. I learned this the hard way as Carter flipped us over—though not as graceful as Jameson would perform the move—snagged the pillow I was clutching and hit me in the face—hard.

Carter laughed as I slapped him but then pulled me up, then with me sitting between his legs, he pecked me on the lips.

"Sorry." He apologised sheepishly, though I couldn't help but notice the glint of amusement in his eyes.

I shook my head at him, a small smile on my face, "It's fine, I just don't want to hear that horrendous nickname anymore, okay?" I responded with and Carter smiled.

"Horrendous is a very strong word," Carter raised his eyebrow at me, though the smirk that was playing with his lips told me that he knew just how annoying he was being. I hit him once again in the chest and he chuckled.

"Fine, fine." He held his hands up in mock surrender as I started to pout, "I will never use the nickname again." He promised and I grinned up at him. Carter laughed before looking over at the digital clock on his dresser.

He sighed before getting up, "I should probably go and get the pizza," Then turning to face me he asked, "Do you want to come?" I pondered the thought for a while; could I really be bothered? Then there was another nagging voice in my head, coaxing me into going, screaming how that if I stayed here then I would probably get killed. Then again, Jameson's next door.

I quickly scolded myself before deciding that thinking about Jameson multiple times during this visit is punishable with a long walk to get pizza.

So I plastered my best smile to my face and looked up at Carter, "Sure." I agreed and he grinned in response, outstretching his arms and offering me his hands to help pull me up. I smiled gratefully at the help before latching my hands onto his, using his strong arms to pull me up.

When we got to the door, I soon realised that one of our hands was still interlocked. I didn't mind it of course, if it meant that it made Carter happy or that the holding of hands was the perfect gesture to display us as a deeply in love couple, then I could allow it to happen. This is good, I'm doing good.

During the walk, I let many thoughts cloud my mind, however, I shooed away any that mentioned Jameson's name. I was mostly wondering how on earth Carter knows where to pick the pizza up before I know.

"If you're thinking about what I think you're thinking about, then I know where to get the pizza because practically every guardian—or guardian to be," He corrected with a smile, and as a proud friend I quickly witnessed visions as him fighting, trying to defend a special one. They were good visions.

"Knows where this place is. It's like a shop, but the items range from pizza to toilet roll." Carter explained and the comment had me in fits of laughter. I controlled myself as we took a route I didn't often take—instead of walking through the lunch hall, I found that Carter was leading us up some more stairs. I initially thought we were going in the direction of the classes, a path that I had only been down several times.

However, just as my instincts led me to turn down that path, Carter lead us up more stairs. I nearly tripped at the sudden movement, but Carter, unsurprisingly, didn't notice. We walked towards a window and I slowed down to stare out of it in awe. You could see, for miles out, fields of crops and an array of flowers. Looking down, you could see the structures of the academy, small buildings dotted here and there, joined with more winding corridors. Then I spotted a gigantic gate in the distance; that must be the entrance—

I was dragged away from my thoughts just as I was dragged away from the window. I hadn't noticed it, obviously being too lost in observing the academy's structure and the landscape ahead from a different perspective. However, refocusing on the world inside the academy, I had spotted that Carter and I still had our fingers interlaced, meaning that when I had stopped, Carter kept walking and hence dragged me along.

Carter laughed at me and I smiled awkwardly up at him. We made our way down a short corridor, then turned a corner and were faced with a set of double doors. Carter opened the door and held it open for me, letting me walk through first, and behold; it was a massive shop with items ranging from pizza to toilet roll.

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Wow

Life changing

🍕 WHY ISN'T THERE A TOILET ROLL EMOJI

WHAT IS THIS SORCERY

join the campaign for a toilet roll emoji (idk where you sign the form but just miraculously make one up)

30% of people who own toilet roll ship #carty

So no one

We all just use Kleenex

BYE

-ME

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Next update: Sunday-Funday
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CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE SPOILER:

A trip leads to food.

Food leads to conversations.

Sometimes conversations can lead to something else.

But that something else doesn't always lead to a happy ending.

At least for someone.

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QUOTE OF THE CHAPTER:
(First lie I've ever told)

Same.

Scroll 😉

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