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Pergrina walked down the empty halls of Kal Asterock, a school where just a couple of weeks ago she had commanded fear and respect, but now she was nothing more than a footnote, if even that.
She turned to her side and attempted to punch the wall, only to stumble backwards, hurting her hand trying to make a dent.
"Ow ow ow ooowha," she attempted to whisper, when suddenly she felt she had bumped into someone smaller than she felt at that very moment.
It was that weird Tama-absorbing book girl that played for her worst enemies.
"Watch where you're going, knight!" She basically spat out that last part.
The book girl didn't do or say anything.
"Did ya hear me? I said watch where you're going!"
Nothing again.
"Ugh, whatever, loser." Just then, When Pergrina turned around to leave she felt someone grip her wrist very tightly, "What are y- let go of me, creep!" Pergrina tried and failed to get the hand off her wrist. Great, I've lost to one of these losers twice and it wasn't even on the field this time. she thought to herself,
Since it seemed there was no getting out of whatever this was, Pergrina figured she might as well ask about what the other girl wanted,
"What the HECK do you want, Dunkle?!" she shouted. The girl leaned in closer and finally opened her mouth to speak.
"I... want know why you like this."
Pergrina paused for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
"HAHAhahahaaahha, is that how you actually talk? Ahahaha, are you a baby?"
The sacrelette immediately puffed up her cheeks and yelled, "I not baby, you baby!"
Pergrina stopped laughing and looked the other girl in the eyes.
"What did you just call me?" she said in a less mean tone than she had used previously.
The girl with glasses squeezed the mean girl's wrist before finally letting it go.
"I sorry, I just... want know things," she said as she hung her head low, "didn't mean to hurt," her lip trembled.
Peregrina was not usually one for empathy, especially for those on the opposing teams, but for some reason she couldn't help but feel for this pathetic weakling.
She stuck her hand out to the girl, "Here, take me wherever you want, but don't think I'm gonna—whoa!"
Suddenly she was dragged across the hall and taken out of the school and then to a small section of the courtyard, then to a clubhouse.
"What the—is this, like, your clubhouse?" Peregrina asked, a bit dazed.
The other girl nodded and pointed to a fort made entirely of books, pillows, and blankets.
"Did you make that?" she asked, trying not to sound impressed.
The girl nodded again. "Well, it's... not bad."
The other girl smiled brightly and dragged the mean one inside her fort and sat criss-cross applesauce in front of her guest,
and pulled out a book titled Questions to Ask When You Want to Make Friends.
"Wait, are you trying to make friends with me?" the mean girl asked, taken aback with feelings of comfort and warmth of which she hadn't felt in a long time.
The Book girl nodded yet again, but this time it was accompanied by her voice.
"Since game with you, I want know you better."
Pregrina stood still for a moment, thinking over everything she had done up until this moment.
Her first year, the day she got on the Shadows when Goyen Sanga gave her the diadem, the first game she'd ever won, getting on the All-Stars only to have some random blonde take her place, losing her game with the Knights to Goyen Sanga, robbing her of being captain.
She realized that the one thing all those events had in common was that she was alone.
Even when she was with others (who were only there because they had to be), she was alone.
She hadn't made any real friends, and people didn't normally want to be friends with her.
Whether it was because of the diadem, her ego, or the fact that she was a nobody, she'd never know; but what she did know was she was destined to be alone.
Or at least that's what she'd always thought it was until now.
Here she was in a warm blanket fort with one of her worst enemies, who had just shown her more kindness than anyone at this school had since she arrived.
Her lip began to tremble and her eyes started to water. She started sniffling and hugging herself
when suddenly she felt the girl's hand on her shoulder.
"Need hug?" the other girl asked softly.
Pergrina nodded, and the book girl hugged her tighter than anyone ever had before.
"W-why are you being so nice to me?" the ghost girl shivered.
"I don't even know your name."
"I'm nice because everyone deserve nice," the book girl said before pulling out of the hug and handing the other girl a library card
with her name on it.
"Y-your name is Ameline?" Ameline nodded and continued her hug from earlier and this time Peregrina returned it.
"Your name is the prettiest name I've ever heard," Pergrina mumbled into Ameline's shoulder.
Ameline nuzzled her in return.
They stayed like that for a long while.
When their hug ended, they decided to open up that book and ask each other some of the questions inside.
Ameline flipped to a random page in the middle and pointed to the first question she saw.
"How good are you at running?" Pregrina read aloud from the book.
"I not good," Ameline said, disappointed in herself.
"Don't worry about it, honey; I'm not that good either," Pregrina said casually.
"My name not Honey?" Ameline said, confused.
Pregrina covered her mouth and turned as red as the dragon's banner.
"F-forget I said that; let's move on to the next one," she said as she scanned the page for a different question.
"Aha, here's a good one: What is your favorite book?" Pregrina read from the page.
"Book!" Ameline exclaimed excitedly.
"Well, mine's Scary Stories Vol. 13."
They went on like that for a while, asking each other questions and generally having a good time until...
"Do your friends trust you?" Pregrina read aloud.
This question made Ameline sad for a reason Pregrina would soon find out.
"Hehe, bold of this book to assume I have friends, hahahaha... hmm."
Pregrina turned to Ameline, hoping she would lighten the mood.
"I thought friends trust me, but now I not sure; friends say they trust but... but... but..."
Ameline began to cry sniffily and she could barely even choke out her words.
"I-I not believe when friends say they trust. No matter how much I want believe, I can't,"
she sobbed.
Ameline retreated into herself as she continued to get wet with her own tears.
All of a sudden, she felt Pregrina's hand on hers.
"Need a hug?" Pregrina asked softly.
Ameline nodded aggressively and Peregrina wrapped her hands around Ameline gently and began to stroke her back.
Ameline returned the hug and bawled into Peregrina's chest.
"Don't worry about it, Ams. I don't know your friends super well, but I'm pretty sure they're the goodiest of goody two-shoes, so you probably don't have anything to worry about."
Ameline's crying slowed and she started to relax more. She pulled back from the embrace and looked at Pregrina.
"You not so bad, Ghost Queen."
"You think I'm a queen?"
Ameline nodded, and Peregrina blushed.
Suddenly Ameline yawned and she seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes open
"Aww, You tired, Ami?" Peregrina asked sweetly.
Ameline nodded sleepily and fell backward.
Pregrina caught her by the waist and set her down on a pillow and covered her with a blanket.
"Sleep tight, sweetheart," Pregrina said gently before kissing her on the forehead and getting under the covers herself.
And they stayed like that for a while... until,
"...Rina?" Ameline asked sleepily.
"What is it, sweetie?" Pregrina asked, slightly annoyed she had to wake up.
"Do I creep you?" Ameline asked sadly.
"No, you don't; and besides, it's my job to creep people out, not yours," Pregrina said as she placed a hand on Ameline's shoulder.
"Okay," Ameline said, still unsure of her friend's trust.
Pregrina noticed this and brought Ameline into her embrace once again and nuzzled her.
Ameline returned it and peppered Pregrina's face with kisses, and Pregrina did the same.
When they finally stopped kissing each other, Ameline put her head under Pregrina's, and Pregrina stroked her hand through Ameline's hair.
And they both stayed like that for the rest of the night.