My Romance Life System
Chapter 30: New Mission

Chapter 30: New Mission

The next morning, for the first time in what felt like a year, I didn’t wake up with a feeling of dread. The first thing I thought wasn’t about the walk to school, or the stares, or the potential for some new disaster.

The first thing I thought was, ’I wonder if she’ll be at the corner.’

The thought didn’t make me anxious. It just was a simple, hopeful question.

I got ready, my movements less clumsy than the day before. My ribs were slowly but clearly healing. As I was heading for the door, I paused. My crutches were still leaning against the wall where I’d left them. I looked at them for a second, then left them there. I didn’t need them today.

The walk was easy. The morning air was cool, and my limp was barely noticeable. As I approached the corner, my stomach was a weird mix of nerves and excitement.

And there she was.

She was leaning against the same wall, scrolling on her phone. She looked up as I got closer, and a smile spread across her face. It was a real smile, bright and easy.

"Morning," she said, slipping her phone into her pocket.

"Morning," I replied, a grin already forming on my own face. "You know, if you keep this up, people are going to think you’re my bodyguard."

She laughed, a light, happy sound. "Someone’s got to protect you from psycho ex-boyfriends. Besides, I’m your pillar, remember? Pillars have to be punctual."

We fell into step together, walking side-by-side toward school.

"So," she started, glancing over at me. "Did you actually sleep last night? Or were you up all night thinking about how to get revenge on Tyler?"

"Nah," I said with a shrug. "I was too busy reading about a guy who got turned into a sword. It’s surprisingly deep."

"You’re never going to let that go, are you?"

"Nope. It’s required reading for being my friend. There’s a quiz next week."

She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. "Fine. But only if you listen to a whole Lumineers album without calling it ’mom music’."

"Deal."

It was just like that. Easy. We talked about nothing and everything. She complained about her homework, and I ended up explaining the entire Peloponnesian War in a way that somehow involved comparing the Athenians to over-leveled RPG players who forgot to grind for resources. She called me a massive nerd, and I said she was one to talk, reading about fantasy assassins. It felt so normal it was almost unreal.

As we got closer to the school gates, I saw them. The small groups of students, the way their conversations would stop as we approached. The whispers, the stares.

My stomach gave a familiar little lurch. The old instinct, the desire to look down and pull into myself, was still there. It felt like a reflex.

’Just ignore it,’ a part of my brain said. ’Don’t look at her. Don’t make it worse.’

But then I remembered her promise. ’I won’t disappear.’

I took a breath and looked over at Nina. She was looking straight ahead, but she must have felt my gaze because she glanced at me, a question in her eyes. I just gave her a small, tight smile. A ’we’re good’ kind of smile.

Her answering smile was instant and bright. She bumped her shoulder against mine, a light, reassuring touch. ’We’re good,’ it said back.

And just like that, the fear was gone. The whispers faded into meaningless background noise. Let them stare. They didn’t matter. She was right.

---

We were still laughing about some stupid joke I’d made about Spartan politics when we walked through the classroom doors.

The room went dead silent.

It was like someone had flipped a switch. Every conversation stopped mid-sentence. Every head turned in our direction. I saw Jake’s jaw literally drop open. I saw Selma and Becky looking from me to Nina and back again, their faces full of pure confusion. And from the corner of my eye, I saw Ronnie. His face was a thundercloud, so full of rage it was almost comical.

A week ago, this would have been my worst nightmare. This exact scene. The focused, silent attention of twenty different people. I would have frozen, shut down, and probably run for the door.

But I wasn’t alone this time.

Nina didn’t even seem to notice them. She was still chuckling. "No, seriously," she said, her voice carrying easily in the silent room. "If they had just built a few more farms instead of all those statues, the whole war could have been avoided."

"I’m telling you," I said, a wide grin on my face. "It’s a classic resource management problem."

We walked through the silent classroom, caught in our own little bubble. It was the most powerful I’d ever felt. We got to my desk, and I stopped, turning to her.

"I’ll see you at lunch?" I asked.

"Definitely," she said, her eyes sparkling. "Try not to get punched again before then."

"I’ll do my best."

She winked, then turned and walked over to her own desk, leaving the entire class staring in stunned silence. I sat down, pulled out my textbook, and started reading.

The silence in the class was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. For a few glorious minutes after Nina had walked away, nobody moved. I just sat there, basking in it.

’So this is what it feels like,’ I thought, a slow, genuine smile spreading across my face. ’To not give a shit.’

It was a good feeling. A really, really good feeling. I was just about to lose myself in the simple pleasure of reading my textbook when a familiar shadow fell over my desk.

"Dude."

I let out a slow, quiet sigh. My five minutes of peace were officially over.

Jake slid into the seat next to mine, his eyes wide and practically vibrating with nosy energy. "Dude," he whispered again, leaning in so close I could smell the gum he was chewing. "What. The. Hell. Was. That?"

My first reaction wasn’t panic or anxiety. It was annoyance. A deep, profound annoyance at having this perfect, quiet moment of triumph interrupted by the class gossip columnist.

’Can’t I just have a minute?’ I thought. ’We aren’t even friends. Why is he always here?’

"What was what?" I asked, not looking up from my book.

"Don’t play dumb. You and Nina! You walked in like you owned the place. She was laughing. You were laughing. Then she winks at you? A wink! What’s the tea, man? Did you finally do it? Did you steal her from Tyler?"

I closed my eyes for a second. This was exhausting. "There’s no tea, Jake. We’re just friends."

"Friends? Friends?!" he squawked, then lowered his voice again when a few people looked over. "Friends don’t look at each other like that. And they definitely don’t cause the entire school social structure to have a meltdown just by walking into a room together."

He had a point, but I wasn’t going to admit it. I finally closed my book and looked at him. "What do you want, Jake?

[New Mission Available]

[Objective: Operation Wingman - Help Jake overcome his fear and successfully ask Ruby out.]

[Time Limit: 2 Months]

[Reward: 10,000 NAD]

’This can’t be real, I must be dreaming, yeah, that makes more sense.’