Chapter 4: Confidence, Chaos, and Confused Crushes
(In which Evan learns Asterion has opinions, Mara gets swept off her feet—literally—and Toby discovers jealousy is a real and present emotion.)
To say Evan was reeling inside his own brain was putting it lightly. Watching Asterion pilot his body like it was a finely tuned sports car while Evan himself was trapped in the backseat with no steering wheel was… a lot.
And just when he thought Asterion couldn't surprise him more—after flipping linebackers and verbally vaporizing Sofia—he dropped this little bomb:
"There's something else I'm going to do. You might like it. Mostly not. You'll definitely be annoyed."
"...Why do those sound like famous last words?" Evan muttered mentally.
"Because they usually are," Asterion replied with a grin only Evan could feel. "Anyway, if I didn't step in, you were on track to end up with Mara."
Evan blinked. His entire internal dialogue came to a screeching halt like a record scratch in an awkward sitcom moment.
"Wait—what?!"
"Yeah, that goth girl who stares at you like you stole her eyeliner but also buys you tofu dogs for lunch. That one."
"You know about the red string of fate?" Evan asked, equal parts horrified and fascinated.
"Of course I do," Asterion replied. "And yours isn't particularly subtle. Though you desperately need to learn how to read a room, because if I leave things up to you, you're going to miss every single social cue until you're eighty and alone, wondering why every girl you liked married someone else."
Before Evan could throw out a spirited defense (he had some awareness, didn't he?), Asterion, still walking in his body like he owned the school, was interrupted.
"That was so awesome!" a voice shouted.
Asterion turned his head just as Mara charged up beside him, her boots stomping the pavement like she was on a mission. Her black lipstick was flawless as usual, but the spark in her dark eyes was something new—something fiery and very confused.
Asterion flashed her a grin.
"And here comes Exhibit A," he whispered mentally to Evan.
Mara didn't notice the inner monologue, but she did notice the look. Her brain short-circuited just a bit when he gave her that confident smirk instead of the usual sheepish smile and fumbling apology.
"Yeah, dude," Toby piped in, panting slightly as he jogged up behind them. "That was insane! I mean, you threw Kyle. And you dodged like—you've been watching anime with me again, haven't you? This is like season three level glow-up!"
Asterion chuckled lightly, offering an easy, "Glad you liked the show. But this? This was just the trailer."
Evan groaned in his head. "Why do you sound like an action hero? You're going to break my social life."
"You say that like it's not already duct-taped together with awkward silence and half-eaten sandwiches."
Asterion turned to Toby, suddenly serious, which caught the poor tech-geek so off guard he tripped over his own feet.
"Toby. Come to my house later. There's something we need to talk about. Important stuff."
Toby froze mid-step. Evan never sounded like that. Evan said things like "maybe if you want to, no pressure" and "hey, sorry to bother you, but—" not "There's something we need to talk about. Come over."
"Y-Yeah," Toby stammered. "Sure, man. I'll be there."
Asterion gave a small, approving nod before Mara crossed her arms with a huff.
"And what about me? Am I invisible now? I was literally here first, thank you."
He turned to her with a glint of amusement, that trademark grin growing even sharper.
"How could I forget you?" he said smoothly.
Then, before either of them could question it, he slid his arm around her waist. Just like that. Like it was totally normal. Like they hadn't spent most of their friendship awkwardly not addressing the weird tension between them.
Evan practically exploded from inside his brain.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Mara stiffened, her cheeks flaring crimson. "W-What are you doing?" she repeated aloud, her voice pitching just a bit too high to sound truly calm.
"Walking you to class," Asterion replied innocently. "Unless you'd rather I carried you? I mean, we could really make a scene."
Mara sputtered. She absolutely did not want to enjoy this. And yet... her brain had decided to go on vacation, leaving her stomach to do somersaults.
Meanwhile, Toby just… stared. His eyes bounced between Mara and Evan—er, Asterion in Evan's body—his mouth opening and closing like a confused goldfish.
When Asterion glanced back and called, "Later, Toby," it took Toby a full three seconds to process what had just happened.
He watched the two walk off—Mara still stiff as a board, but not pulling away—and the air seemed to shift. Students were staring. Whispers started. Someone even dropped their juice box in disbelief.
Toby finally found his voice.
"I am not jealous," he said to absolutely no one.
Pause.
"Not even a little bit."
Another pause.
"…Okay, maybe a little."
As he sulked away, still muttering, Evan—still floating in Asterion's mental sidecar—sighed loudly.
"This is going to be a disaster."
"Yup."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Oh, absolutely."
Evan:
Let me set the scene for you.
The air was crisp, the kind that makes your lungs go "ahh" and your brain go "why am I outside again?" The sky was painted with that late-afternoon glow that makes everything feel either romantic or like you're about to get abducted by aliens—depending on your mood.
I was on the school rooftop—yeah, that rooftop. The one that's always mysteriously unlocked in movies, but in real life, is usually protected by a lock forged by the gods of the maintenance staff.
And that's where this all went off the rails.
Now, if you're wondering how I ended up on the roof with Mara, holding hands, radiating the kind of confidence I only dream about when I'm asleep and in another dimension—well, you can thank one Asterion Ardyn.
Yeah. Him.
See, turns out he hijacked my body for a bit. Long story short: ghost problems, interdimensional warrior, and apparently, matchmaking instincts so strong they make Cupid look like an amateur with a broken slingshot.
Anyway, there we were. Asterion—still wearing my face—had led Mara to the rooftop like some kind of suave anime protagonist, all calm and cool. He let go of her hand with this perfect timing, like he'd rehearsed it a thousand times.
Mara took a deep breath, her eyes scanning "me" like she was trying to solve a mystery. "When did you pick up such criminal skills?" she asked, nodding toward the picked rooftop door.
Asterion—er, I—grinned like this was totally normal behavior and said, "Every skill has its use. I've been gathering them for my future goals."
Okay, pause. That sounds like something I would say if I'd gone full villain. Or if I were in an Ocean's Eleven sequel. Which, given my life, doesn't seem that far-fetched at this point.
Mara raised an eyebrow. "Hopefully that doesn't mean becoming a thief."
Asterion smirked. "That could be fun under certain circumstances. Imagine playing with the police, stealing priceless artifacts, and sending them back just for kicks."
She rolled her eyes, but I caught that half-smile she was trying to hide. Trust me, I've seen it enough times to recognize the "you're lucky you're cute" expression.
"You've been watching too much anime," she muttered. "It's clearly going to your head."
Asterion stepped closer—still rocking my face and body, mind you—and said, "I like it best when you smile, so don't lose that fire. Don't go meek on me."
Then he reached out and brushed her cheek.
He touched her cheek.
My cheek-touching game is, like, Level Zero, and this guy just straight-up went for it.
Mara looked like she had been struck by lightning and not in the usual ghost-hunting way. She gulped, and for a second, I was terrified she might vaporize him—or me. Honestly, who knew anymore?
"Hmph," she said, in her classic I'm pretending I'm fine but I'm absolutely not voice. "I don't know what you mean."
"Is that so?" Asterion replied, tapping his chin like some romantic drama lead. Then—this guy, I swear—he pulled her close, hands on her waist, eyes locked onto hers like she was the last donut in the universe.
"Tell me what you're hiding in your heart," he said. "I'm ready for it."
Okay, look, even I nearly fell for that line. It was smooth.
And then…
"I… I like you," Mara whispered, voice all soft and sincere. "Very, very much. Let's journey together toward a bright future, Evan."
My brain?
Total static.
So, quick update: I was me again.
Asterion, after pulling a bold, emotionally charged, literally life-altering rooftop confession using my voice and my crush, just… dipped. Like, "Okay, I've done enough free labor, time to clock out."
Classic mysterious ancient soul move, really.
"You're up, kid," he said in my head, voice fading like a mentor in a dream. "Your life, your choice. I just gave you the nudge."
Gee, thanks, Asterion. Can't wait to deal with the emotional aftermath of your romantic boldness. But okay, deep breaths. I was standing on a rooftop, Mara was staring at me, waiting—waiting—for me to say something after she just confessed her feelings.
No pressure, right?
My heart was doing parkour in my chest. I mean, don't get me wrong, I liked Mara. A lot. Probably more than I realized until about thirty seconds ago. But I also maybe-kinda-sorta liked Sofia too. And figuring out what "like" even meant? That was a whole other science experiment I hadn't studied for.
But Mara was looking at me with those intense green eyes, and this wasn't the time to stall.
"I like you too," I said, finally. Truthfully. Honestly.
There it was.
Simple.
Raw.
Terrifying.
She smiled—but it was a searching smile, like she was trying to solve a riddle made out of me. "You're different," she said quietly. "Not just today. You've been changing lately. It's like… you woke up with a fire under you. What happened, Evan?"
Welp.
Here we go.
Asterion's voice echoed in my head one last time like a whisper through the static:
"Stick to the script. Don't mention me. Let her believe in you, not me."
So I did what any overwhelmed teenage half-ghost would do—I told a well-crafted, dramatic, semi-true lie.
"I've changed because I want to be a hero," I began, hoping I sounded less like a comic book reject and more like someone with a spine. "I want to make this world better. To protect it. To save it from falling into darkness."
I paused, channeling every ounce of seriousness Asterion had dumped into my emotional reservoir.
"I had this dream—no, a nightmare. The world was falling apart. People were suffering, scared, and I was just… watching it all happen. Useless. Since that day, I swore to change. The stuff happening here at school? It's small potatoes compared to what's really coming."
Okay, was it over the top? Maybe. But judging by Mara's expression, I wasn't completely failing.
She looked like her brain had run off with a thesaurus and was throwing words like "destiny," "revelation," and "existential meltdown" at her. But underneath that, she believed me.
"What do I do?" she asked.
Not "are you crazy?"
Not "what the heck are you talking about?"
Just… "What do I do?"
I took a step closer. "Are you willing to leave behind your peaceful life? Step into the chaos? Because this path isn't easy, Mara. There's danger ahead. Real danger. Despair, maybe even death. But if you walk it with me… we can make a difference."
Silence.
Then her eyes narrowed, and her lips curled into a fierce, determined smile—the kind that could punch fate in the face and not apologize.
"I never back down from a challenge."
I don't know if it was the wind or the moment, but something in the air shifted.
She was in.
She was with me.
And for the first time in a long while, I wasn't scared of the path ahead. I was terrified, sure, but not alone.