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For once Sammi wasn't so eager to see Aaron. See, she had developed a bit of a crush since she'd seen him last at the Halloween party. And as children tended to do when they had a crush, she had really hoped to be avoiding him until the feeling of butterflies in her stomach went away.

"Just because you have a crush on Aaron doesn't mean we can ignore the summons," Reiya said, taking her sister's hand. They were close to the cave, but Sammi seemed reluctant to go inside. "Anyway, maybe seeing him will cure you of it. I don't see what you see in him, anyway. He might look the same age as we do, but if he's old enough to be Jaella's dad, he's old enough to be ours, too. Gross!" Reiya rolled her eyes at her sibling, but fell silent as they walked into the cave.

Sammi could only hope that Aaron hadn't heard.

Sammi forced a smile in Darcy's direction. She knew her mother didn't like this girl, and trusted her judgement. And so, Sammi didn't think much of her either. "Thank you for inviting us," she said politely. She was using the same act Darcy was. She glanced at Aaron and blushed, looking down at her feet. Well, at least now the smile was genuine. "I'd like some stew, thank you," she mumbled. No 'Hi Aaron!' or bounce in her skip. The outgoing pigtailed child was acting strangely shy.

Reiya greeted Darcy with a smile, before going over to Aaron. She leaned forward, grinning. "Sammi likes you," she whispered with a giggle. "She hasn't stopped talking about you since the Halloween party. I bet she'd like to go on a date with you, too." Always one to tease her sister, yep. That was Reiya. She looked to Darcy, and smiled again. "Sammi's a little shy today," she said aloud.

Sammi blushed, realizing Reiya must have told Aaron something. She looked to Darcy, obviously thinking the older girl was serious. "You mean it?" She asked, looking up at her. Her face was still a bright red. "You approve? Do you mean I can date him?" A look of hope came into her eyes--she had never thought of just asking Darcy. Maybe Mom was wrong. Maybe Darcy was nice, after all.

Reiya covered her giggle with a hand. She took the bowl of stew from Aaron, and started to eat, apparently forgetting that it was meant for Sammi. Not that she cared, Sammi didn't look like she was too hungry anymore anyway.

Sammi blinked, having never received a compliment from Darcy. It was always her sister who'd been close to Darcy, not the other way around. She silently wondered if this was a trap or not. Uncle Zee and her mother had always warned her of tricks and traps; their being elves helped with their paranoia. "Thank you..." She said with a blush, before smiling at the older girl. "Though, Aaron doesn't seem to happy." She looked towards her life long friend, frowning slightly. "You okay, Aaron? You don't have to go on a date with me if you don't want to."

Reiya looked at Darcy in curiousity. Until now, Darcy hadn't paid any especial attention to Sammi. Now all of a sudden Sammi was strong and smart? In Reiya's opinion, this was a lie. Of course, she thought that about Josh and Vinny to.

Sammi didn't seem to pay Darcy's words any attention; she clearly was worried. Had she upset Aaron? Why wasn't he saying anything? She walked over to him, and poured herself some stew. "Thank you," she said with a smile and a polite nod. "You seem nervous, Aaron. I've never seen you act like this." She looked him over, concern filling her brown eyes. "It's okay if you don't want to," she said with a smile. "I won't mind. It'd be cool if you did though--we could go to a movie or something."

Reiya blinked at the question. "They're okay," she said, frowning slightly. "Sammi's always been better at it than I've been though. I still can't control them like she can... Mostly they happen when I'm angry." Well at least she was being honest. "Or if I want to do this," she closed her fist, before opening it again. In her hand was a fluffy white cloud.

Sammi frowned slightly, but other than that she seemed fine. After a moment, she forced a smile. "I'm glad we're friends, Aaron," she said, offering him one of her brightest smiles. "I'm sure I could figure out a movie we could go to before the next time we see each other." She took a bite of her stew, a smaller, more geniune one replaced the false smile. "This is really good!" She said, looking up at him.

Reiya gave an uncomfortable look at her sister, before looking at her friend. "I don't know. I'd really like to be equal in power with my sister... Can you help me do that?" She asked, curious. She leaned in to whisper, 'Now I feel bad for teasing Sammi. I didn't think he'd say no. I thought they'd make a cute couple."

Sammi? Mature? What a laugh. The only reason she hadn't started crying was that she wanted to make a good impression on Aaron. She couldn't remember ever crying in front of him, and she wasn't about to change that. Whatever emotions she was feeling, they could wait until they got home. They would wait. "Maybe sometime, you can tell it to me," Sammi said with another one of her bright smiles. "Unless it's a secret, of course." She paused, and took another bite of the stew. Putting on a mask like this felt like lying.

Reiya frowned slightly. She had never realized how cold Darcy could be, until now. "We're talking about my sister," she muttered. "It's not funny anymore. She's hurting." Her mother had always warned her of bad influences, was Darcy one of them? No, she couldn't be. She'd always been so nice... Why didn't she like Sammi?