Mary POV:

Today is August 30th, and as expected, Summer is quickly blowing by. Normally for us we would have been in school already since we get out in early June and return in late August. But due to being at Cherryton, things are different. Like doing two weeks of school during summer break, but it is mandatory. At the moment, me, my cousins, Jacob, Jack and Legoshi were in a class together. Due to the lack of students being here at the moment, we were all together for all the classes. It was kinda empty, like about 15 students counting us were there.

We were in Sea Speech Class, and we're all in again alphabetical seating. This goes for all other classes that we were taking. I was writing some notes down when I got the feeling of someone watching me. Glancing back I caught Legoshi who quickly looked forward. I just smiled. To help myself with my thoughts I started to write in my notebook.

Recently Legoshi and I have been meeting up at the boy's fire escape. We meet every couple of days, one time we met three days in a row. I'm not complaining. I find it enjoyable to just have a one on one talk without the others. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy their company too, but since I know Legoshi's heart and mine too, I wanna see if things we have can progress. Like becoming a relationship. But I don't know... to those who are close to me can say, I am in love with a wolf.

Then I heard the teacher speak as I stopped writing to hear what Mrs. Gesshirui had to say.

"Alright class, we will finish our lesson next time. And as a reminder, we will be having a special visitor from the aquatic world coming here. Practice your Sea Speech."

Class was finally over. I looked over at Lucy who was down the row from Legoshi, she looked relieved that it was over.

Susan walks down from her seat, "You looked tired."

"I am... *Yawn*" Lucy stretches, "Normally I would be taking a nap now."

"You can do that after classes, you're still in summer you know." Susan raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah... but for one more month, then school starts up again." Lucy begins to pack her things away.

We all gathered our supplies and exited the lecture hall, I carried some of my books out.

"When do your roommates return?" Asked Jacob.

"I think in two weeks they'll wanna get started on summer courses." Replied Jack, "And also to spend the last summer together."

"That's nice." Replied Lucy.

"And to spend time with you four too." Jack smiled as he nudged Jacob, "You guys are fun."

I listened to the others talk but slowed down to look out the window.

Such a good day...

I then looked forward to continue walking but my path was blocked by Mazuchi and her friends.

"Hello freak."

I tried to walk past them, ignoring what she said but she just stepped in front of me.

"Mazuchi, if you're here to ask about your boyfriend or Haru, I'm not answering."

"That's not what I was gonna ask," she places her hands on her hips, "you stupid girl. I came because of a rumor spreading around the school. That you spent the night with a wolf."

Mazuchi's friends began to laugh and mock me.

"She is becoming a slut just like Haru!"

"As usual, your species is pathetic!"

"Gross!"

"Humans are the worst!"

I shook my head, "We didn't do anything that night, and you don't know what actually happened."

As I tried to walk past them, Mazuchi then sticks her leg out and purposely trips me. I stumble forward, and she slaps the books out of my hand. They fell to the ground as I leaned up against the wall to catch my balance. Then without warning, Mazuchi's friends pulled out a handful of dirt and threw it at my face. I closed my eyes as I felt bits of it beginning to sting before falling on my hands and knees.

"Look at that," chuckled Mazuchi, "dirt really suits you."

They all laughed before leaving me on the ground. I wiped my eyes to get the dirt out before sitting up.

How did they find out?

I couldn't think. After sitting there for a minute or two, I wiped my face, gathered my books, and headed towards the closest girls bathroom to wash my face. After turning off the water, I stared at myself in the mirror.

The only people who know that Legoshi and I stayed at a hotel are my dad and the others. No one else knows, but... I did go missing during preparations for the Meteor Festival. And Juno did announce that Legoshi did save me. But who knows, none of the Drama Club members asked me about it, probably they didn't know. For Juno, I knew she was eavesdropping on us while in the nurse's office.

I grabbed my books from the side of the sink before exiting the bathroom. The group is together near the cafeteria for lunch. But my head was still processing information.

Does Legoshi know? If the rumor has spread already about us, does he know already?

"There you are." Lucy turned to me as I approached them, "Where did you go?"

"I-I had to use the restroom."

"Oh, okay. We were discussing having lunch outside."

"That sounds good." I nodded.

Lucy turns to Jack, "So what should we get?"

"We should get some sandwiches, water or green tea, and chips."

We all nodded before entering the cafeteria.

Jacob looks over at me and notices that I seemed off, "Are you alright?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Stressed?"

"Maybe..."

Susan looks over at me, "What's that on your head? Is that dirt?"

I reached up and touched my forehead. I felt a bit of dirt that I missed was still there.

"Yes." I quickly answered.

"How did dirt end up on your head?" Susan raises an eyebrow.

"I don't know actually." I shrugged, "Maybe I touched something."

Susan goes over to the napkin dispenser and grabs one, "Here."

She hands me a napkin, I wiped the bit of dirt off my head before we all entered the cafeteria store. We grabbed what we wanted to eat for lunch. Then I noticed that Legoshi wasn't with us.

"Hey Jack, where did Legoshi go?"

"Oh, he went to drop some stuff off at our dorm." Jack replied, "He'll meet us here."

After purchasing our food we exited the cafeteria and waited outside. It was still hot, or maybe more. We waited in the cafeteria building's shadow as we waited. After a few minutes, Legoshi appeared.

"Hey, Legoshi!" Jack waved at him.

He walked over to us.

"Alright, now that we're all here, where do you wanna sit for lunch?" Jack looked at us.

"Ummm... how about near our dorm, under the trees." Suggested Lucy.

We nodded in agreement.

"Perfect, let's go." Announced Jack.

We walked to our dorms and into the area of trees near the tennis court. A nice cold breeze started to blow through. It felt very nice.

"This is the spot." Jack stopped us in this small shaded clearing with the sunlight beaming down in the center. It kinda looked like a donut.

We sat down on the ground as Jack started passing our food out. Some of us had a salad, while the others had sandwiches. It was silent for a good portion of the time, the only sounds we heard was the rustling of the tree branches caused by the breeze.

"Hey Susan, do we have something coming up at home?" Asked Lucy.

"I think we do." She replied, "It's gonna be an important meeting for us."

"Meeting?" Asked Jack.

"For our next step into our roles in the royal family as adults." Susan wipes her mouth with a napkin before continuing, "As tradition in our family, when a member turns 18, they enter the age of adulthood. From which they move into adult royal duties. For us, we just started our royal duties when we became 16. Since next year we're gonna turn 18, we transition into our more adult role. And then finally at 21 is when we settle into our position. Some have standard roles, while others have more important tasks to do, or duties. Like Mary for example, she's the heir to the throne, so she's got a lot coming up for her. She will receive the title of crown princess."

"Ugh..." Lucy groans, "I am not ready to become an adult."

"That's just life." Replied Jacob.

"But I wanna stay a teenager." She looks over at him.

Jacob raises an eyebrow, "So immortal?"

"Yes."

"Like a vampire?"

"Nooo..." Lucy groans.

"I know how you're feeling." I looked over at her.

"You do?"

"Yeah... I just don't feel ready to take up more royal responsibilities." I rested my head against the tree I was sitting against.

Susan turns to me, "Look... I know that Lucy and I will probably never experience what you're feeling. Or have that stress of being the heir. But our family will help guide you. You're not alone."

"I know. It's just that I don't want to be an adult soon. I wanna enjoy being a kid for a bit longer."

"Well yeah... every kid has that same feeling." Susan gets up and sits next to me, "But we don't forget the experiences we have during the 18 years of being it." Susan then looks over at Jack, "Take Jack for example, I bet he feels the same way."

"Right." Jack nods.

"The point is that, only you can make that decision on how you wanna handle this faze."

We continue to enjoy lunch time, until Jack asked another question. "Will you and Lucy get a title when you turn 18?"

Lucy nodded, "Yes. We will become duchesses. Susan and I will still be princess but with duchess added. Like for Susan, she'll be known as the Duchess of Cambria. For myself, I'll be Duchess of Silurian."

"That sounds cool." Replied Jack as his tail started to wag which Lucy giggled.

Which made Jack wag his tail more as he and Lucy giggled.

I nodded. Susan has a point, it's up to me on how I handle this faze. Being a kid was fun, hanging out with friends, or going out to enjoy some fun activities. But there is that time where we must move on. Become an adult in society. We continued to eat until I felt my phone buzz. I pull it out and it's a message from Legoshi. I looked up to see him holding his phone, and understood why he sent a text message rather than saying it.

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Legoshi: What are you doing after classes? Wanna meet?

Mary: Sure, on the fire escape again.

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I look up and see Legoshi smile at my reply. He then places his phone down and notices that I'm looking at him. I smile back as he returns the gesture.

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Time Skip: 3:00 p.m.

After the last class finished, some of us were tired. Mostly Lucy.

"I'm gonna take a nap." Lucy yawns before standing up.

"You're always taking naps." Jacob walks up, "When are you not?"

Lucy smiles, "Never."

Susan finishes packing her bag up, "Anyways, I'm gonna relax on my bed."

I followed them out and back to the dorms. I stopped as I watched Susan and Lucy enter the girls dorm.

"Aren't you going in?" Jacob walks up next to me.

"I will, I gotta do something first."

"Alright, I'll see you at dinner time." He waves before going back to his room.

I followed Jacob to the boys dorm, and after he entered I walked around to the fire escape. I walked up until reaching the 7th level. Legoshi was waiting for me.

"Hey.

"Hey." I smiled.

Legoshi again walked over to the stairs and dusted a step off for me with his tail. I sit down as he stood in front of me.

"What do you wanna talk about?" He asked.

"I'm not sure."

I had that urge to tell Legoshi about the rumor, but I don't want him worrying about it. The truth is with us, and that if we show any signs of it affecting us, it will be controlling. So the best option is to ignore it. Besides, a rumor is just a rumor.

"What's that on your head?" Legoshi pointed towards my forehead.

I had the feeling that there was still dirt on my head. Before I could do anything, Legoshi crouches down in front of me, and hands me his blue rag. I used it to wipe off the dirt off my head before handing it back.

"Thank you."

"Are you nervous?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean like becoming an adult?" Legoshi tilts his head a bit.

"Y-Yeah." I admitted, "I am nervous."

Legoshi sits down in front of me.

"It's just that I like being a kid, and I understand that the duty of being heir is important. I just don't feel ready for this much pressure." I looked up at Legoshi, "Do you have any advice for me?"

He looks down for a bit until he responds, "You don't have to go at this alone."

"True."

"How do people in your society become adults?" Asked Legoshi.

"There's a lot of ways, but normally it starts when the person turns 18. By that point they already have a license to drive, about to graduate high school and enroll into college. It's also a time of self reliance where you must find yourself a job, earn a living, pay for food, home, car, and taxes."

Legoshi nodded as he listened.

I continued, "But for me, I'm completely different. I'm royal, we're heads of state, we do a lot. Ceremonies to do, traditions to keep up, being the leader that everyone will be looking up at as an example. A role model. Where that everyone will see as in times of trouble, we must lead. Like I am accustomed to my role as a princess and an heir. But I have a feeling... that I might not be a good queen one day."

My hands were together on my lap, then a memory entered my mind of when grandma was teaching me and my cousins on how to sit properly.

"Princesses never cross their legs. Tuck one ankle behind the other, and place your hands gracefully on your knees."

I kinda laugh at that memory since we were 6 years old and I think we were trying to do that, Lucy fell out of her chair in her attempt to follow grandma's example.

But then I'm pulled back into reality when I feel something touching my hands. I look down and see Legoshi's hands on mine. I looked up and our eyes met.

"Thanks Legoshi." I smiled.

His tail began to wag a bit, "Don't be hard on yourself."

"I won't. What else do you wanna talk about?"

"Umm... I don't know." Legoshi's ears kinda went limp a bit.

"Do you wanna know who's going to be joining us at the beginning of the year?"

"S-sure." His ears went up.

"Perfect. So there will be six more people joining us. Bianca, Mason, Sarah, Hector, Maddie, and Hannah."

"Oh." Legoshi is surprised.

"They're all excited to come, and experience. But I am planning on telling them about... us."

I noticed Legoshi looked a bit nervous.

"Don't worry." I put my hand on his, "It'll be alright, they'll like you. Hey, how about I tell you more about my mom."

Legoshi nods.

"So my mom is from a family named the Uptons, Diana Upton was her full name. She was one of twelve siblings. Ten girls, two boys."

I looked at Legoshi, he looked surprised.

"Sounds crazy, but it's family. She was actually a twin to my uncle. They were the 3rd and 4th child of the family. But sadly I've never met my uncle."

"Why?"

"I don't know, he went off to do his own thing after I was born. That's what my grandparents told me."

We both sat there in silence for a bit, until Legoshi spoke up.

"You sure have a big family."

"I do." I chuckled, "What about you, do you have a large family? You mentioned to me that you had a grandfather."

He froze, like if I said something wrong. He tensed up a bit.

"You alright?"

"Yeah... I only have my grandfather."

"Oh." I was surprised and the feeling of bad settling in, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that-"

"It's fine, it was just me and him for a while, ever since my mom died."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I took his hands in mine.

My mind started to put a connection together between us. I don't know why but I stared into his eyes for a while. Almost like if I looked away, he would just disappear. But then again, I felt myself start leaning forward, so did he. He raised his right hand up and moved a strand of hair off my face. But we slowly continued forward, close enough that I felt his breath hitting me.

But then my phone buzzed which broke the trance. I pulled it out and looked. It was from Jacob.

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Jacob: Hey Mary, we're gonna go get dinner early. And then Jack said we can play cards in his dorm room. Wanna join?

Mary: Sure.

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"Hey Legoshi, Jacob says they're gonna get dinner and play cards in your room. Wanna join us?"

He swallowed and quickly composed himself as again we failed a potential kiss.

"Y-yeah."

"Great. Let's head to the cafeteria then." I stood up and began to head down the fire escape, "I had a good talk."

Legoshi was still crouched where he was, then he quickly stood up and followed me down.

"Same."

"I learned something about you."

"You did?"

I stopped as I reached the bottom to look up at him, "Mmhmm. Also, a quick question. Do you like pears?"

"Pears?"

"I saw some in the cafeteria store and thought of my grandparents' farm."

"Oh."

I pulled my backpack up, "Race you to the cafeteria." Turning around quickly before running away.

"Wha- Hey!" Legoshi quickly ran after me as I giggled.

I learned more about him.

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And done! Sorry it took so long. I was a bit sick last week, so I had to rest. Plus also to get school done. Anyways I enjoyed writing this. You get to learn more. Also had a flashback on Easter, it was a year ago when Chapter 14 from the first book was released. Sounds crazy that time flies. Also happy late birthday Legoshi! Also fun fact, during when I was sick I decided to count up all the words from the first book. Excluding the prologue since it was just the description. From 1-40, I typed 176,997 words. That's a lot. That is as much as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince book, I call that an accomplishment to myself. Also I wanna ask for you, the readers for some ideas. I'm again having problems of writing a chapter with few ideas to put it, like stuff that would happen. So I need some filler ideas for future chapter, like the chapter is the story but with a few progressive stuff that happens in between that helps the story forward. Like them playing games, chatting about something, going somewhere, experiencing, anything. I'll accept anything. And again for ideas of clothing and food is also great. Anyways I hope you all are in good health, and I'll see you in Chapter 4!😁💙💛

(Word Count: 3044)