Chapter 12

Finally, Wednesday arrived, the opening day of the festival. The morning passed very slowly for Wyatt and Emma. The sounds of the festival could be heard from the school, and plenty of the other students also shared in the excitement. Eventually, lunch time began. After everyone gathers on the roof, Aeris says "It's been so noisy all day. I wonder if most of the other students are even going today".

"Emma and Wyatt are still going, aren't you guys?" Jessica asks.

"Y-Yeah" Emma says. "It seems so lively, and I don't know if I can handle it".

"G-guess we'll have to just go and see what it's like" Wyatt says, laughing nervously.

Although, Wyatt and Emma didn't know what the other had intended, the rest of The Rejects could see it clearly. "Right..." Jackson says. "Anyways, good luck, I guess?".

"Don't forget to let me know how it goes" Jessica says.

"A-Alright" Emma says nervously.

"Can't they just admit it?" Aeris whispers to Jackson. "Do they really need to go this far?".

"Let them do what they want" Jackson whispers back. "They're both a lost cause anyways".

"But is Emma going to be okay?" Aeris whispers. "She still hasn't told Wyatt yet... don't you think she's gonna... you know... have to tell Wyatt about it eventually?".

"The longer they take" Jackson whispers, "the worse off they'll be. That's why I'm saying they're both a lost cause".

"I'm really looking forward to the festival" Wyatt says, "but I can't help feeling nervous about it".

"Yeah, we know" Jessica says.

"We can tell you're not very good with this kind of stuff" Aeris says.

Meanwhile, in the teacher's lounge, Refus sat alone today. After letting out a deep sigh, he says to himself "They're way too energetic for me to keep up with. The festival really has them on edge".

"Almost feels like you're treading on thin ice, doesn't it?" Another teacher says as she enters the lounge. She had long red hair, blue eyes and looked to be about 30 years old. "You're that new teacher, Refus, right?". The way she spoke seemed disappointed and unenthusiastic, much like someone who often doesn't get very much sleep.

Refus stretches his arms as he says "What's the big deal about the festival anyways?".

"People like excuses to relieve themselves of responsibility" the teacher says as she sits down. "You probably don't know, but I've been working here the longest amongst all the other teachers. I've been at Harrison for almost as long as Ryan Schafold. The name is Rose Weber, one of the senior staff here".

"Nice to meet you" Refus says as he holds out his hand for a handshake. "Refus Maloney".

Rose stares at Refus's hand, but refuses to shake his hand. "Right..." she says. "Look, I know it's probably none of my business, but don't allow the festival to give the other staff a reason to complain about you. It's not that I like you... because I don't... I am, however, pretty close friends to Ryan. I know how he's betting his hand on you, so to speak. If you let him down, I'll make sure that's the last thing you do as a teacher".

"So hostile..." Refus says.

"Don't get me wrong" Rose says. "It's not because you're that laibah teacher everyone is up in arms about. It's because Ryan is involved. He's the best man I've worked with, and almost like a grandfather to me. Don't ruin his good image".

"R-right" Refus says. "I'll take that into account".

After school, Wyatt and Emma head back to the dorms together. "I-I need to change before we go to the festival" Emma says suddenly. Emma reaches under her blanket and pulls out her dress. Before Wyatt could see it, she wrapped it under her arms and ran into the bathroom.

"Guess this gives me a chance to change too" Wyatt says. "I didn't know she already had something too. I was going to offer to take her to Savvy Threads, if she had wanted to get something else to wear".

Wyatt and Emma change in separate rooms. Wyatt changes in the dorm room, as Emma changes in their bathroom. After a couple minutes, Emma opens the door to the bathroom, dressed in the dress she had made. The dress was purple, and not very long. The dress went just past her knees, but it looked as if it fit her perfectly. The curves of her body shown perfectly, and the color of the dress matched the purple color of her eyes. Wyatt had his new suit on, but was having troubles putting the tie on. When Emma exited the bathroom, Wyatt forgot what he was doing as he stared at Emma. He was wearing black pants, a black blazer, white button up suit, and couldn't quite get the black tie to sit at the correct length. Emma slowly walked up to Wyatt and helped tighten his tie. "How does it look?" Emma asks. Wyatt was too distracted to answer her question. "The dress, I mean. How do I look?" Emma asks. Wyatt still didn't answer, as he stared off in space. "Wyatt?".

"S-Sorry!" Wyatt says. "You look beau- I mean... you look... it's great on- I mean... you look nice!" then Wyatt starts laughing nervously. Emma smiles, then begins to laugh with Wyatt.

The two of them walk their way to The Autumn Festival together. When they get there, the festival looked more like an amusement park than a festival. There was a big crowd, and everyone was very loud. However, it didn't bother them, as they walked in together. They showed their passes at the entrance, and entered the festival, staring in awe at all the things around them. There were rides, mini-games, concession stands, and a lot of stuff neither of them had experienced before. "S-Should we try one of the rides?" Emma asks.

"You mean, like the roller coaster?" Wyatt asks.

"I don't think I could withstand riding a roller coaster" Emma says, "but we can try something more... gentle?".

"How about that one?" Wyatt asks as he points at a Ferris wheel. The two of them wait to get on the Ferris wheel. Eventually, they got on together, and rode gently high into the air. After their car nearly reached the top of the ride, the Ferris wheel stopped moving. They could see the horizon clearly, as the sun sets and stars begin to push in. The stars shone barely, as if to show that darkness is necessary for something else beautiful to shine. As if to say "No matter what came before or what comes after, you can shine too".

"It's beautiful..." Emma says as she stares off to the sunset, then looking the other way at the stars that slowly come out.

Wyatt was standing up with her, and staring off to the horizons. "I've never gotten to see the sky from a view like this before". Wyatt looks at Emma with a smile. When Emma looks back at Wyatt, he says "I'm glad I got the chance to see this with you".

The two of them spent time trying things together. They went on a couple more rides, and even played some games together. There was one game they played, where to goal was to throw a ring on a peg, with the prize being tickets that one could trade in for a prize of their choosing. Wyatt went first, and spent nearly a whole minute trying to align his shot. When he finally tossed the ring, it bounced off of the top of the peg and missed. Emma went next, and only took a few seconds to aim. She threw the ring gently, and made it on the first try. When Emma received her tickets, there were a couple children walking past her and Wyatt. One of them was crying because they had left some of their tickets somewhere and lost it. Emma ended up giving them her tickets instead, since there wasn't any prizes she could think of that she would've wanted.

Slowly, the sun's brilliance shone less, as the stars began to take the spotlight. Wyatt and Emma took some time to rest at an area that wasn't very crowded. They found what looked like a small wooden hut, near the outside of the festival grounds. Not many people were around, and it was quiet, so the two of them decided to rest there. "It's been a really fun day" Emma says as she looks at Wyatt. "I had fun today, thanks".

Wyatt laughs and says "I had a lot of fun too!".

"It's crazy..." Emma says as she looks down at her feet, "when I think about what life was like a year ago... it's hard to believe that something like this would've ever happened".

"Yeah, I know what you mean" Wyatt says. "I never thought I'd ever get to experience something like this before... but here we are!... Thanks for coming to the festival with me, Emma".

Emma shakes her head and says "I should be thanking you. If it weren't for you, I'd still be on the streets". There was a few minutes of silence before both Emma and Wyatt spoke up at the same time. "Hey, I've gotta tell you something" they both say at the same time.

"Uh, you first?" Wyatt asks.

"N-no, I'm sorry for interrupting" Emma says.

"I just wanted to say..." Wyatt says as he scratches the back of his neck, trying to think of the right words. "It really means a lot to me, to have you here".

"I wanted to say the same thing" Emma says.

Wyatt laughs and says "But you already said 'thank you' earlier".

"Y-Yeah" Emma says, "but what I mean is... there isn't anyone else I could imagine would be better to go with. You're the one I like spending time with the most".

Wyatt laughs and says "That's my line! I don't have the words to tell you how I feel... you're the most beautiful person I've met, not just with looks... I mean- you have... um- what I mean is... you're just...".

"Wyatt?" Emma asks, as she looks up at Wyatt.

"What I mean to say" Wyatt says as he stares at Emma's eyes, "is I love you".

"I..." Emma says, trying to hold in her excitement, "I love you too!". Emma and Wyatt share a kiss, luckily for Emma, both of their eyes were closed. As they kissed, Emma lost control of her shapeshift ability for a second and her fox ears popped out again. By the time each of them opened their eyes, Emma's ears were gone. The two of them sat together for a while, as they forgot about the festival. They spent another hour just sitting in silence together. Eventually, they decided to head back to the dorms together, as the night was growing late.

The two of them sleep for school the next day, and woke up in the morning, feeling as if a weight was lifted off of each of their shoulders. When everyone got to class, before the class began, Jessica sits down and asks "So how was it?".

"The festival was pretty fun" Emma says. "I've never been in a Ferris wheel before, but the view is amazing!".

"You guys are still clueless..." Jessica says as she laughs. "I mean, we all know why you guys were going together... so? Spill it! What did you guys do?".

"W-w-What do you mean?" Emma asks.

"I think she wants to know if you guys finally started going out..." Jackson says.

"Have you guys been spying on us?" Emma asks.

"No, you're just clueless" Jackson says.

"You still need to work on talking nicely" Aeris says as she marks down another tally.

"W-well, I don't know about dating" Emma says, "b-b-but if Wyatt wants to, then...".

"Y-Yeah" Wyatt says. "We're dating".

"Ooh, gossip material" Jessica says.

"Please... don't" Jackson says. "I get enough of their awkwardness during school. The last thing I need is to hear about it constantly".

"Come on!" Jessica says, "school is so boring, and there's not much to do between classes! Just let me have this!".

After the next couple classes, lunch began. The Rejects gather on the roof, like usual and Emma and Wyatt sat next to each other like usual. "They're still acting awkward..." Jackson says. "They're even dating now and still don't seem to even know how to show affection... I swear, hanging around these two would make any normal person feel awkward".

"What do you mean?" Wyatt asks. "We're fine. We don't have to show you guys, do we?".

"I think Jackson is just confused" Jessica says. "He probably has no idea how relationships work either".

"H-how do they work then?" Emma asks.

"Some couples like showing affection for each other in public" Jessica says, "and Jackson is lonely, so he's probably frustrated".

"Hey!" Jackson says, "it's not my fault these two don't-". Suddenly, Emma sets her tray of food down, stands up, then sits in Wyatt's lap. Aeris, Jessica and Jackson stared at the two of them.

"Uh, Emma?" Wyatt asks. Emma picks her tray of food back up and goes back to eating. "This is awkward..." Wyatt thinks to himself. "But at the same time... she does smell good... no wait, get your head on straight!".

"Yep" Jackson says, "I was wrong. This is much more awkward". Jackson starts moving away from Wyatt and Emma.

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Aeris says with a short laugh.

"What? No!" Jackson says.

"Oh come on, Jack" Jessica says, "you're surrounded by girls. There's got to be at least one person you're interested in".

"Yeah, I'm surrounded by four females, and all of you are nuts" Jackson says.

"Four?" Jessica asks.

"If you count Wyatt" Jackson says. Emma stares at Jackson, squinting her eyes at him. Jackson starts getting a little nervous as he asks "A-are you gonna tally that one, Aeris?".

"I'm not sure if I need to" Aeris says. "Because I'm sure Emma will beat your ass for that one...".

"Wait!" Jackson says as he moves further away from Emma, "I-I'll take that tally".

"You messed up now!" Jessica says with a laugh.

"Alright" Aeris says as she marks down a tally in her notebook. "I wrote down the tally. NOW you can beat his ass, Emma".

"Hold on!" Jackson shouts, "you can't write down a strike AND hit me! Isn't there like a rule against that or something?".

"Nope" Aeris says.

"Back onto the last topic" Jessica says, "don't you like someone, Jackson?".

"I don't focus on those things" Jackson says.

"You could at least try asking Aeris out or something" Jessica says.

"No way!" Jackson complains, "if we went on a date, she'd just beat me!".

"Are you sure you wouldn't try it?" Aeris teases.

Jackson gets a little angry and embarrassed at the same time. "Come on, just try asking her out, and you'll feel better" Jessica says.

"Why are you being so weird, Jess!?" Jackson complains.

"Because, you seem like you were being jealous" Jessica says.

"Fine, you know what?" Jackson says. "I'll ask, and once I get rejected, then that will be the end of this conversation. Deal?".

"Deal" Jessica says.

Jackson stands up and says, in an unenthusiastic tone, "Aeris, will you go out with me, or whatever?".

"Sure, why not?" Aeris says.

"Wait! Hold up!" Jackson panics, "h-h-Hold the phone!".

"I thought you didn't have a phone" Jessica says with a laugh.

"You!" Jackson says as he points at Jessica. Jackson then points at Aeris as well and says "Why are the two of you so hellbent on making things worse?".

"Is it worse?" Aeris asks. "I thought we might be able to have some fun, once you learn to stop being mean to people".

Jackson sighs and says, "Fine... I guess I asked for it. Screw it, let's see if this date fails, I guess".

"Alright" Aeris says. "And if it doesn't fail?".

"... Whatever the case" Jackson says as he calms down finally, "I'll just roll with it".

Aeris giggles and says "Alright, but don't try to force a relationship to move".

"Yeah, thanks" Jackson says sarcastically, "like I didn't already figure that much...".

"And no tongue" Aeris says.

Jackson's face suddenly grows red as he yells "You! I can't even- why do you- you guys... ARGH! You always find a way to make everything harder than it needs to be!".

Wyatt laughs and says "Good luck on your date then".

"Look!" Jackson says as he looks at Wyatt, "I don't need more input! Can we drop it!?".

"Aw, he's embarrassed" Jessica says. "That's so cute!". Jackson gets angry, and his brown fox ears pop out for a second. "Calm down, I get it. I'll drop it" Jessica says.

"Thank you" Jackson says.

"... so that's what your half form looks like" Jessica says with a giggle.

"DROP IT!" Jackson yells.