At school, Averie wished she was back at yesterday’s society meeting. She much preferred the bullies there to the ones in her class. As soon as the bell rang, she hastily shoved her belongings into her bag; it was best to leave quickly to avoid encounters with her classmates. “Only one more year,” the girl recited her mantra. It was her final year and Averie could hardly wait for Ryvan to marry her and take her away from this cursed place. 

“Look at that, the little princess is trying to run away.” 

Averie hadn’t even gotten up when a  group of girls assembled in front of her desk. In between them, Averie could see her lifeline, the teacher, leaving the classroom. 

She sighed; did these girls not have anything better to do than bother her? “I’m not running,” Averie replied, pursing her lips, and exhaling noisily. She didn’t know what frustrated her more, these girls or her parents who had dumped her in a public high school. As the daughter of a wealthy family of famous politicians, of course, she stood out and attracted the envy of her middle-class peers.

“You forgot something,” one of her classmates said in a fake sweet tone. Another girl brought a cup of water. “It’s important to stay hydrated.” She slowly tilted the cup until the water spilled into Averie’s bag that stood on the floor. 

The blonde clenched her teeth so much that she felt pain in her jaw. It was a challenge to suppress the urge to grab the cup and smash it into the girl's face—or at least spill the water over her. But Averie forced herself to stay calm. There was nothing she could do, except for enduring. 

At first, she had revolted, with words and with actions but every time, the bullies would make themselves seem like the victim and both the school and her parents would side with them. Now, Averie had surrendered, silently waiting for her final year at school to pass. “Thanks,” she said as politely as she could manage, mechanically grabbed her drenched bag, and made her way to the exit.

Outside the school’s premises, her heart leapt when she saw a car parked by the roadside that stood out from the others. ‘Ryvan,’ she thought, smiling. She could only shake her head; her fiancé must have chosen the car because he thought it wouldn’t attract attention—and failed miserably. “When I said an Audi is fine, I didn’t mean the luxury model,” she greeted him. Averie wasn’t upset though, it was cute how hard her fiance always tried to fit in.

The frown on his face and his flushed cheeks made Ryvan’s disappointment obvious. “I even got a green one.” His attention to detail was cute too; green was the blonde’s favourite colour. 

“Never mind,” Averie replied. Everyone in the school already knew her fiancé was rich. She could feel the girls from her class standing some distance behind her, pretending to wave at her in an attempt to draw Ryvan’s attention.

“You’re as popular as always,” he commented as they were in the car. It still had the persistent new-car smell despite the vanilla air freshener that hung from the rear-view mirror. “By the way, why is your bag wet?” 

“Oh, I just spilled some water,” Averie replied quickly. Luckily, Ryvan wasn’t bothered that the water dripped onto the shiny new pearl-coloured leather seats. 

Their destination was a small cafe in Fairlight Town. It was an old-fashioned establishment; a bell chimed when they entered and the wooden floor squeaked under their steps. Averie didn’t like the cafe because it served tiny portions on finely decorated porcelain plates. How much would it cost if she broke one of them? And would she ever be able to leave without feeling even more hungry than when she entered? 

As their afternoon tea was served—with, as Averie had predicted, far too few biscuits, Ryvan started talking. “I met someone.” 

Averie stirred her tea. She listened to the clinking sound of metal against the porcelain; it provided a distraction while she digested her fiancé’s words that were much harder to swallow than the dry pastries. 

“Someone?” Averie finally repeated. She knew Ryvan didn’t reciprocate her feelings and was fully unaware of how she felt. And it wasn’t his fault; after all, the engagement had been their parents’ decision, not his. Still, in her fantasy world, their wedding was the start of her happily ever after. But Averie also knew how to face reality. It was her fault that her fiancé didn’t love her. Every time Ryvan had extended his hand, she had withdrawn hers. Ignoring the tightness in her stomach and the desire to cry, she forced a smile. “Who is it? Do you like her?”

“He’s in my course,” Ryvan nodded cautiously. “It’s not like he likes me back though.”

For a moment, Averie didn’t know what to say. The heavy feeling in her stomach completely spoiled her appetite. She had known Ryvan since they were children and always assumed that he was straight by default, despite Eric being gay. “He’s a guy? You never told me you were into guys?”

“I’m not.” Ryvan was quick to reply. “I like him as a person. If he was a girl, I’d still like him. I never understood why gender matters so much anyway.”

This guy! Sometimes, her fiancé’s lack of clarity frustrated her. “Then why do you like him?”

There was silence as Ryvan stared at his earl grey tea as if he expected the beverage to reply in his stead.

Averie focused her gaze on the high street outside the window. People passed by with colourful paper shopping bags and the girl wished she could trade places with any one of them. 

“I know it’s a weird comparison but he’s like an onion,” Ryvan said finally. “I want to peel off the layers to see what he’s like inside. That’s not all, he’s also like me in that he’s trying to change but he doesn’t depend on anyone like me. He’s strong and cool and knows what he’s doing; and he’s honest, he doesn’t pretend to be someone he isn’t—”

The flurry of disordered words was unusual for Ryvan, and each of his words bore a hole into Averie’s heart to the point where she couldn’t listen to it any longer. “Okay, okay, I get the point.”  

“Sorry.” Her fiancé took a deep breath. “It’s not like it’s going anywhere, he made it pretty clear that gender matters to him. And he has a girlfriend.” 

Ryvan was kind, smart, well-mannered, and cute in his failing attempts to be ordinary. Anyone should be grateful for a chance to be with him, even if it meant dumping other people. Ryvan’s normally immaculate posture was slouched and his bitter smile hit Averie much more than the insults of her classmates. “What an idiot that guy is! Let’s show him what he’s missing out on.”

“I’m not sure that’s—”

“Well, you’ll show him! I’ll make him like you— and don’t worry about the whole engagement thing.” 

“Thanks, Averie. You’re my best friend.”

Even though she wanted nothing more than for Ryvan to be happy, it was hard to hold back her tears. “I- I have to go somewhere,” she quickly excused herself, in search of a quiet place to cry. 

As Averie left, she could hear Ryvan behind her asking the waiter to pack the biscuits for her. His thoughtfulness didn’t make it any easier…