It was such a massive relief for Garreth that Azura was so open to the idea of applying for college so early just to see if he had the mental acuity to put together an essay that would impress the admittance personnel. Azura never ceased to amaze him with how understanding she could be. It was like she could read his mind! Come to think of it, maybe that's exactly what she was up to.. Nah, she wouldn't. Would she? ... Nah. She was just nice.

"I sure hope so. I haven't heard back from any of them yet, but they won't start sending out replies before the start of next month, so it's fine. I'm sure they'll have some way to find out my actual identity. I just hope they look over my essay first.." the nervous boy spoke slowly and deliberately, as if choosing his words carefully. He didn't want to come across like he was pulling some kind of prank, or tricking someone. He just wanted to see if he was good enough. Smart enough.

Of course, she still wanted the name. There was no way to get away with it now, so he figured he may as well spit it out. "Geobald Kitridge." he grumbled. "That's the name I put on the essay, okay? Don't laugh at me, please..." he closed his eyes. He didn't want to see the look on Azura's face as she discovered how pathetic he could be. In all fairness, he had put some thought into the name. Being slightly paranoid, he'd chosen a pseudonym so no one would be able to track the letter back to him in case he'd broken some rule he didn't know about by applying despite his young age, but he'd chosen a name that shared his exact initials. The resemblance to the school's librarian was entirely coincidental... Yeah, definitely. Coincidence, that's it. No connection. Ahem.

But Garreth wouldn't be focusing on his silly little venture with his college applications for much longer. Goodness gracious, Azura was crying! "Oh my gosh, Azura!" he exclaimed at her story. "That's horrible, wha- how- I mean.." the boy stumbled over his words in the confusion and uncertainty. He didn't know what to do, or what to say. Maybe he really wasn't good at making people feel better. Maybe he'd just gotten really lucky up until now? I mean- I- H- How could he not like you back?" he blurted out, genuinely confused. How could someone not like Azura? "It must have been the potion still affecting him somehow." he tried to come up with a plausible explanation.

No way there was someone out there who didn't think Azura was one of the nicest, prettiest, most intelligent, most understanding people to be around in the whole school. No way.