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“What are you looking at, Cheria?”
Cheria flushed pink, shoving the magazine she’d been staring at back on the rack. “Nothing, Sophie!”
Sophie, undeterred, picked up the magazine herself, and the rest of the party gathered around her, a flustered Cheria trying to yank the magazine away from Sophie. She needn’t have bothered; Sophie’s grip was firm, and everyone had already seen. The cover was of an attractive young man, posing suggestively, winking out at them.
“Oh, a celebrity crush, is it?” Richard teased.
Cheria pursed her lips. “It’s not a big deal, he’s just some idol!”
Malik laughed, standing up straight and backing away from the others leaning over the magazine in Sophie's hands. “No need to get so embarrassed. I remember there was this singer when I was your age. I was obsessed with her.”
Hubert raised his eyebrows. “Really.”
“Hey, don’t be so quick to judge, Little Bro!” Pascal nudged him in the ribs, causing him to make a surprised whimpering sound. “Weren’t you telling me just the other day how Ranger White is so cute?”
Hubert whipped around, stammering madly. “Hey! That’s completely unrelated!”
His embarrassment only encouraged the giggles beginning to spread through the group. Asbel shot Hubert a mischievous grin. “I think she has you there, Hubert.”
Hubert scowled at his brother’s amusement. “Fine! What about you, then, Asbel?” He stared Asbel down, eager to get the attention off of himself.
“Oh, boy…” Malik gave a long-suffering sigh, but he was clearly entertained.
Asbel didn’t answer at first. “Well, I mean, I guess… I don’t know if that counts as a celebrity, though…”
“C’mon, just spit it out already!” Pascal bounced up and down on her tiptoes, full of energy as always.
Asbel scratched his head, quickly turning as red as any of the others. “Well… I guess you could say I have a bit of a crush on the Mask of Barona.” He laughed awkwardly, hoping that was the end of it, but for some reason everyone else had gone dead silent. Richard in particular looked utterly dumbstruck. “What, is that weird?” He asked, out of defensiveness more than anything else. “I mean, I know he’s weird, but he’s really elegant and cool, too.” Still, no one responded. They didn’t seem to know where to look, casting glances at each other.
Asbel, trying to understand what they were so shocked about, suddenly felt his heart sink. “Wait, is this because he’s a guy?” At this, the others quickly looked back to him, rushing to clarify.
“N-no, nothing like that,” Malik said quickly.
Cheria spoke at the same time: “No, Asbel! It’s not that at all! We just, um…”
There was another awkward pause, and Hubert came to their rescue. “You’ve never even seen his face!” The embarrassed red in Hubert's face could almost be mistaken for his usual brand of indignation at his brother's antics.
“That’s true,” Asbel said. “But… he danced with me and Sophie that one time, and his eyes were…” He trailed off, too embarrassed to continue. “Anyway, he was also really nice to us, remember?” He looked to Sophie for help, and she nodded solemnly.
“Y-yeah,” Cheria said, eyes fluttering from left to right, as if she wasn’t sure what she should be focusing on. “Right. Um.”
Asbel frowned again, taking in everyone’s expressions. Pascal looked like she was about to burst out in joyous laughter. Malik wore a sly smirk. Hubert was incredibly disconcerted, his arms crossed, and Cheria still looked unsure, refusing to meet Asbel’s eye. Richard’s hair had fallen over his face, making it impossible to determine his expression. Only Sophie seemed as confused as Asbel by their reactions. “Are you sure you guys are okay? You’re all acting really odd!”
“Why is Richard so red?” Sophie asked suddenly, with not one iota of subtlety. Panicked, Richard looked up, and Asbel saw that Richard was indeed the reddest of any of them, and he still looked too shocked even to speak.
“Sophie!” Cheria scolded, hushing her.
Asbel looked to Hubert for help, but his head was bowed, his fingers furiously massaging his temples. “How are you so...?” Pascal giggled, patting him on the back in what might have been her way of comforting.
Asbel sighed. “What’s up with everyone today?” He shook his head, clueless as ever.
Malik raised an eyebrow, glancing at Richard. “Well, now that you mention it, I wouldn’t be too surprised if we saw the Mask of Barona again very soon, don’t you think, Your Majesty?”
Richard choked.