The Truth Is... (Savvy, Ava)

Her blush spread across her face as she nodded.
"Well, I'm not that great at cooking," she said with a nervous chuckle. "Yours looks really amazing though! Wow!"

Artemis looked down to his exquisite lunch, then back to Kiely's mediocre lunch, and sighed, taking out a few bits and pieces of things, then dropping them into Kiely's bento. "Here. You should have some. It's better like this, anyway, without you having just curry."

"Wait! I didn't mean for you to give me your food!" Kiely protested, feeling embarrassed once again. She always seemed to say the wrong thing around guys that she liked. She sighed. It did look good though. . .

Artemis smiled. "I won't take no for an answer. Please, have some. It would really be nice if you could." He gave a light degree of puppy eyes, slowly investing into it with each passing second.

Kiely's heart did a somersault in her chest, and she finally gave in to his ridiculously cute-sad eyes. How could he make that face, when it was such an unfair weapon? It did make her smile though, despite herself.

"Fine, fine. And thank you! Itadakimasu!" she said happily, as she began to eat. It really was delicious!
"Where did you learn to cook?" she asked in between mouth fulls.

Artemis smiled a little more. "My mother taught me. She learned from my father, though, so I suppose it's in the blood." He gave a light shrug before turning to his bento and stuffing his face happily. "Mother always told me that the most important ingredient in any meal is the amount of love that goes into it."

Kiely blushed, unsure what to make of his last comment. She took another bite of his - her - food, and smiled. It really was delicious.
"They both must have been very good," she said, referring to his parents. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened, though. He spoke fondly of his parents, and yet he lived alone. She sensed a story behind that, but she knew that now was not the time to bring it up.

Artemis was quiet as they ate, his eyes wandering across the air toward the door before he looked back down to his empty food tray, setting it aside. "...You're wondering why I live alone, right?"

Kiely winced. Could he read minds now? She couldn't lie to him though. Not to those far too engaging eyes. She simply nodded, not wanting to voice her shame. She set down her meal, ready to give him her full attention should he decide that he wanted to share his story with her.

Artemis sighed softly after a moment of hesitation. "...It was murder. On their way to work, about five years ago, they were caught in a back alley by some petty beggar. He wouldn't let them leave unless they gave him money or something...Father was a kind man. Generous, too. He gladly gave the guy a whole 500 bucks. But the man shot him anyway, with no reason to it at all. Then he silenced my mother as well. In broad daylight, at around 12:00 noon on a quiet December 13th, and a Friday, no less, my parents died...Needless to say, they easily caught the guy. He got a rather painful execution about three years ago...It's funny. At the funeral, I kept asking the priest why they were burying my parents, that they needed to go to work and publish more books for everyone. The priest didn't even say anything. Only when I heard about the murderer getting the death penalty did I realize that my parents were never coming back...It's odd. I was a 13 year old kid, and I inherited an entire fortune, plus the house my parents had built. They'd written a will immediately after my birth, leaving everything from the land to a single vase in my possession. And now they're gone. I know now that they're somewhere else, somewhere far greater than Heaven, where the clouds are made of cotton candy soft as pillows, trees bleed caramel-tasting sap, and the different blades of grass all sing when the soft wind blows through them...What's worst is that I never had a chance to say goodbye. The day they were killed, I was already off to school. I had to be there early to help some of my middle school teachers teach remedial classes, so I left without waking my parents. I'm sure they knew where I had gone, though...And I didn't even get to tell them "Goodbye! Have a nice day!" or anything...So now I wonder...Is it my fault they're dead?"

Kiely listened to the whole story, her heat growing heavier with each word. Who would have guessed that the cute and popular optimist that everybody loved would have such a dark past? And to live alone, after going through all that. . . it was a sad story.

"It's not your fault," she said quietly. "Things. . . happen. If you had have said goodbye, they would have still done the same things that day, right? And I know they wouldn't want you blaming yourself." She put her hand on his. "I'm sorry that I brought up something so painful."

Artemis shook his head. "No, it's fine...I feel like I can be myself around you." He gave her a gentle smile, before sitting back against the fence, humming a tune. "It seems so peaceful here, and I've only known you a day..."

Kiely mimicked Artemis, leaning against the fence. It was weird. She wasn't usually the type to make friends quickly. But then, this whole day had been different, starting with her night-long search for her necklace. She stroked the necklace without much thought. It was nice to have it back.

"It is nice. Do you usually eat up here?" Though she tried to hide it, what she was really asking was 'could I eat with you again sometime?'

Artemis turned his head to face Kiely, smiling. "All the time. It's quiet, and the wind makes a nice breeze...Reminds me of my childhood, sometimes."

Kiely nodded sleepily. The lazy spring breeze was beginning to get to her. If she wasn't careful, she would be too tired to pay attention during her afternoon classes. The peaceful silence stretched on, and Kiely began to feel uncomfortable. What should she say now? Conversing had never been one of her strong points, but surely she could think of at least one decent thing to say!

"It's too bad we don't have any classes together," she finally mumbled.

Artemis blinked and shook his head. "I suppose that's true. But it is nice that we get to see each other arou-" He blinked, standing once the bell rang. "We'd better go. Hope you stay safe, Kiely." He smiled brightly before waving and exiting back into the building.

Kiely looked up, shocked, as the bell rang. Was lunch time over already? She shook her head, and stood up. Artemis had already left the roof, so she went to follow him. As she went through the door however, a tall blonde stepped in her path.

"Getting an awfully swelled head, aren't you, pig?" she asked with an ugly sneer on her face.

Artemis stopped as he heard voices behind him. Turning around, he walked back to the roof, noticing Kiely and a strange blonde guy. He cleared his throat before proceeding. "Is something wrong here, Kiely?"

((Oppsie poopsie. The blonde is a girl.))

The blonde turned around, her hateful face magically transforming into a look of pure innocence.
"Oh, nothing's wrong here, Artemis-san! I was just saying hello to little Kiely." She smiled cutely, and ran off down the stairs.

Kiely simply shook her head. What had that been about, anyway?

(Oh, sorry. ._.)

Artemis was a bit confused, tilting his head to the side. "...What was that about?" He asked aloud, looking to Kiely as if she might know.

Kiely just shrugged. To be honest she had a bit of an idea, but she didn't want to share it. She didn't want Artemis to think he was causing her trouble. She would put up with crazy fan girls if it meant spending more time with her new friends.

Though still confused, Artemis shook his head. "Hm...We should eat up here again sometime. It's nice, and pleasantly quiet." He smiled a little, waved, and was gone, back down the stairs.

Kiely smiled in agreement, still relieved that he had come back to check on her. She followed him down the stairs, dreading the rest of her classes.

Artemis hummed as he reentered his class, sitting down and looking back to the board as the bell rang, beginning to copy down the notes as quickly as he could.

Kiely managed to sneak into her class just as the bell rang. Luckily, her teacher was also late, and didn't notice. She took out her notebook, and did her best to pay attention. Her lunch with Artemis had calmed her, and she was able to concentrate slightly better than she had in the morning.

After a surprisingly short time, the final bell rang to release the students from their daily torture.