"...Teaching you."
Caelum's voice came out muffled from the desk.
The classroom remained mostly quiet after that, aside from a few whispers drifting through the air.
Thankfully, the rest of the lesson passed without any new disasters.
Amoriel stayed silent.
Mostly.
Caelum didn't dare look at anyone around him.
He simply waited.
Patiently.
Desperately.
Then—
RINGGGG
The bell finally echoed through the classroom.
For a brief moment, Caelum felt something close to relief.
Freedom.
Survival.
The teacher capped his marker and gathered his papers.
"Alright. We'll continue tomorrow."
No one even waited for him to leave.
The moment the classroom door slid shut—
The entire class stood up at once.
Chairs scraped against the floor.
Footsteps rushed forward.
And within seconds—
Caelum and Amoriel were surrounded.
"Explain!"
"Since when do you know her?!"
"Are you actually dating?!"
"Did she seriously ask you to be her boyfriend?!"
Caelum froze.
So did his soul.
Students leaned on desks.
Some crouched beside them.
Someone from the back even climbed halfway over another desk just to get closer.
Amoriel looked around calmly at the crowd surrounding them.
"There are many questions," she observed.
"Don't answer them!" Caelum whispered urgently.
A boy pointed at him.
"You didn't deny it!"
"I did!"
"Not convincingly!"
Another girl leaned toward Amoriel.
"Is he really your boyfriend?"
Amoriel opened her mouth.
Caelum immediately stood up.
"NOPE."
Before she could say a single word, he grabbed her wrist.
"We're leaving."
"What?"
He didn't explain.
He just pulled her toward the classroom door while students shouted behind them.
"HEY!"
"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!"
"CAELUM COME BACK!"
The door slid open.
Then shut behind them.
The noise from the classroom became muffled instantly.
Caelum kept walking down the hallway, still holding Amoriel's wrist.
Students passing by glanced at them curiously.
Amoriel didn't resist.
She simply followed.
Although she did look slightly puzzled.
After a few more steps, they reached the stairwell area where the hallway was quieter.
Caelum finally stopped.
He released her wrist and took a deep breath.
Then another.
Then one more.
Amoriel watched him calmly.
"You appear distressed again."
"That's because I am."
She tilted her head.
"Did we escape danger?"
"We escaped questions."
"Is that different?"
"Very."
He rubbed his forehead.
Then looked at her seriously.
"If you want me to teach you about love—or anything else you're curious about—please don't talk about it in front of everyone."
She blinked.
"Why?"
"Because people will think we're weird!"
Amoriel seemed confused.
"What part was strange?"
Caelum stared at her.
"Everything."
She waited.
He pointed toward the classroom behind them.
"You asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend in the middle of math class."
"That seemed like a logical step."
"And then you kept asking questions about love like we were in a science lab!"
"I was learning."
"Yes, but not like that!"
She thought about it for a moment.
Then asked again,
"So discussing love publicly causes humans to behave strangely."
Caelum groaned softly.
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
He exhaled slowly, trying to stay calm.
"The point is that if you keep saying things like that in front of people, they're going to look at us weird."
Amoriel glanced around the hallway.
Several students walking past immediately looked away when she noticed them staring.
"...I see," she said quietly.
Caelum nodded.
"Good."
A short silence followed.
Then Amoriel spoke again.
"So we should discuss love privately."
"Yes."
"And perform any experiments away from public attention."
Caelum paused.
"...Please don't call it experiments."
"But that is what they are."
He rubbed his face.
"I am going to pretend you didn't say that."
Amoriel nodded calmly.
"Understood."
Caelum sighed and rubbed his face in exhaustion.
"Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"The cafeteria."
"What is a Cafetaria"
"It's where humans eat food during lunch."
Her eyes brightened slightly.
"So this is another part of human life."
"Yes."
She opened her mouth again.
Caelum raised a finger immediately.
"Don't."
She paused.
"...Don't what?"
"Don't start asking questions about love again."
Amoriel blinked once.
Then nodded obediently.
"I will remain silent."
"Thank you."
And so they walked down the hallway together toward the cafeteria.
Amoriel followed quietly beside him.
For once.
Which was honestly a little suspicious.
But Caelum decided not to question it.
He had already survived enough chaos for one morning.