Chapter 25 - Cafeteria Incident
Sleep had become a luxury.
For the second night in a row, Lyra woke before dawn.
The nightmare had returned.
Fire.
Screams.
Loss.
A hand reaching through flames.
Then darkness.
Same one which is always haunting her.
When morning finally arrived, she already felt exhausted.
She still tried her best to attend the classes
But Mrs. Bradmore noticed immediately.
"Miss Ashbourne."
Lyra looked up.
The lesson had apparently stopped.
Several students were staring at her.
Wonderful.
Mrs. Bradmore regarded her calmly.
"You seem distracted."
A fair observation.
After class, Lyra was stopped before she could escape.
For several moments, Mrs. Bradmore simply walked beside her.
Then—
"You haven't been sleeping."
Not a question.
Lyra remained silent.
Mrs. Bradmore sighed.
"I won't ask what is troubling you."
That surprised her.
"But I will remind you that carrying everything alone rarely solves anything."
The words lingered long after the conversation ended.
Lunch arrived.
The cafeteria was crowded.
Noisy.
Comfortably normal.
Amy sat across from Lyra.
A typical day.
Or at least—
It started that way.
Then the whispers began.
Not loud.
Not obvious.
Just enough to be noticed.
Amy frowned.
Several students nearby stopped talking.
More heads turned.
More students looked toward the entrance.
And suddenly—
The cafeteria became quieter.
Lyra didn't notice.
She was too busy staring at her food.
Thinking.
Overthinking.
Which Amy had repeatedly informed her was a problem.
"Lyra."
No response.
"Lyra."
Still nothing.
Amy finally kicked her beneath the table.
Hard.
"Ouch."
"Look up."
Lyra looked up.
She wished she hadn't.
Erix stood nearby.
The entire cafeteria watched.
Every.
Single.
Person.
Silence spread across the room.
Not complete silence.
But close enough.
Several students looked ready to witness some historic moment.
Lyra considered climbing out a window.
But none were close enough.
"Lyra."
"No."
The response came instantly.
Several nearby students leaned forward.
Amy buried her face in her hands.
Erix looked entirely unimpressed.
"We need to talk."
"No."
"Lyra."
"No."
"Lyra."
"No."
The conversation continued exactly as badly as everyone expected.
Then Lyra stood.
Grabbed her tray.
And fled.
The cafeteria exploded.
Immediately.
"She's running."
"Did they argue again?"
"Wasn't that obvious?"
"I heard she rejected him."
"You heard wrong."
"I heard she slapped him because he confessed."
"What?"
"What?"
"What?"
The rumors somehow became worse.
Meanwhile—
Lyra reached the washing area behind the cafeteria.
Peace.
Silence.
Finally.
She washed her hands.
Took a deep breath.
Prepared herself.
Then heard a familiar voice.
"Lyra."
She nearly walked directly into the wall.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
She turned around.
Erix stood there.
Again.
Of course he did.
For several moments neither spoke.
Then Lyra immediately blurted out—
"If this is about the slap—"
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Wonderful.
A fantastic beginning.
"It wasn't because of you."
Erix remained silent.
"It wasn't."
Still silent.
"I wasn't thinking properly."
Nothing.
"It wasn't your fault."
Finally—
"I know."
Lyra blinked.
"What?"
"I know."
That immediately ruined her prepared speech.
Unfortunately, she had not prepared a backup speech.
Outside—
Students had gathered near the cafeteria windows.
Surely for entertainment purposes.
Obviously.
Amy discovered them first.
"What are you doing?"
"Research."
"That's not research."
"It absolutely is."
"It absolutely isn't."
Despite saying that—
Amy also looked.
Purely to ensure nobody was causing problems.
Obviously.
Inside—
The conversation continued.
Though from outside—
Nobody could hear anything.
Which turned out to be a problem.
Because everyone immediately started inventing their own dialogue.
"He's apologizing."
"No, she's apologizing."
"They're both apologizing."
"Why would they both apologize?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe they're dating."
"What?"
"No way"
The rumors evolved further.
Inside—
Lyra lowered her gaze.
"I don't really understand what happened."
The admission was quiet.
Honest.
Painfully honest.
For a moment—
The exhausted mask slipped.
Erix noticed.
The dark circles beneath her eyes.
The tension in her shoulders.
The way she looked utterly exhausted.
"You haven't been sleeping."
The statement froze her.
Not because he was wrong.
Because he was right.
Again.
Erix sighed quietly.
"You don't have to explain."
The words caught her off guard.
"What?"
"You don't have to explain."
Silence followed.
For several seconds, Lyra simply stared at him.
Then Erix continued.
"We'll change the training."
Now she was confused.
"What?"
"No synchronization."
Immediate relief appeared on her face.
A reaction Erix definitely noticed.
"We'll use another method."
A pause.
"Starting tomorrow."
For the first time in days—
The knot in her chest loosened slightly.
Then Erix glanced toward the windows.
Toward the growing crowd.
Toward the students pretending not to watch.
His gaze shifted back to Lyra.
"Your hood."
Lyra blinked.
"What?"
"It's down."
Silence.
Then realization struck.
Immediately.
She pulled it back up.
Far too late.
Because half the academy had already seen.
That evening—
The rumors reached levels previously thought impossible.
According to various sources:
Lyra and Erix were secretly dating.
Lyra and Erix had recently broken up.
Erix had proposed.
Lyra had rejected him.
Lyra had accepted.
They had reconciled.
They had argued.
They had confessed.
Nobody knew anything.
Yet everyone somehow knew everything.
Or so they claimed.
Across the academy—
The story spread.
Growing larger with every retelling.
Meanwhile—
Lyra remained completely unaware.
Then Amy informed her who came out after her last class.
"Oh God. At this rate they'll have us married by next week."
Amy nodded thoughtfully.
"Next week?"
"Amy."
"They'll probably have you married by tomorrow."
Moment of silence for Lyra.
She survived monsters.
She survived synchronization.
She survived Erix.
But surviving academy rumors?
That might be the real challenge.