Army Of True Salvation

"I didn't know that you and Shannara knew each other," Veon said and it got Sheloah's attention. "It's sudden, right? Especially how the both of you told the story on how you met. Like what Shannara said, it's ironic how the zombie apocalypse brought you two together," he added and Sheloah nodded.

"A friend and a rival, too," Sheloah said in a whisper and Veon had not heard her clearly so he got curious.

"What?"

Sheloah shook her head, indicating Veon not to mind it. "It's nothing," she said and she asked a question to divert the topic. "How did you and Shannara meet?"

"Well…" Veon started to recall how he and Shannara met. "We were classmates when we were in sixth grade and she was my seatmate. We were kind of talkative before and we talk to each other a lot about stuff."

"That's it?" Sheloah was kind of expecting more, but she only heard a brief story from Veon.

"Yeah… most of our topics are out of this world, like how you and I talk, only there were no games and animes involved," Veon said and Sheloah hugged her pillow.

"Isn't it kinda boring? I mean, I'm not saying that your friendship with her is boring, but you two don't share much of an interest, right," she asked and Veon just shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I know, right? We don't have much of an interest, but we became close, anyway. It was a rare development of friendship, I guess."

When Sheloah heard this, her grip tightened on the pillow. She really felt how Veon was familiar with Shannara and it had made her jealous.

"It's a good thing we met. Both of you met again," Sheloah said, a little bit of sarcasm hidden in her voice.

"Yeah, I was quite surprised actually," Veon said as he held his chin. He looked like he was remembering something. "She actually became prettier," he added and this took Sheloah by surprise.

'Veon found her pretty?'

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, I know… she is indeed beautiful," Sheloah commented, a little jealous, but she did acknowledge Shannara's beauty.

Veon sensed that something was wrong so he squinted his eyes at her. "What's your problem?"

Sheloah just looked at him and she shook her head violently, making it more suspicious.

Veon scoffed and he looked at Sheloah seriously. "No, really… is there something wrong?"

Sheloah couldn't keep it in anymore as she avoided Veon's gaze, and had dared ask the question anyway.

"Is Shannara really beautiful to you?"

'How about me?'

This made Veon laugh out loud and it had annoyed Sheloah to the point of embarrassment.

"Crazy!" Veon held his stomach as he was laughing. "That's bothering you?" He continued laughing and it made Sheloah throw a pillow at him to make him stop.

"Why can't you just answer the damn question," Sheloah said as she pouted and this time, Veon stopped laughing and he looked at her.

"She is pretty," he answered directly then his eyes reflected sincerity. "You're pretty in my eyes, too."

This made Sheloah's heart skip a beat. She lay down beside her cousin then she covered herself up with the blanket. She turned her back against her cousin's back and had decided to already get some sleep. She did not know how to respond to what Veon had said.

"G-good night," Sheloah said, stuttering and Veon chuckled slightly. He lay down as well as he covered himself with his blanket.

After a few minutes, Sheloah was still wide awake, thinking of what Veon had said. After a few moments, her attention was called by the boy she fell in love with.

"Sheloah."

"Hmm?"

The boy did not reply for a while but he still spoke to her before he dozed off to sleep. What he said was enough for Sheloah to stay awake for the whole night. His words echoed in her mind for quite some time now and it had made her heart flutter like crazy!

'You're important to me, Sheloah.'

'You're important to me, Sheloah.'

'You're important to me, Sheloah.'

'You're important to me, Sheloah.'

'You're important to me, Sheloah.'