✧ The Light Between Us ✧ ☆•° Chapter 2 °•☆ I felt my face grow red. "Please," I said, embarrassed. "I'm just Zelda. I- I'm not royalty when I'm here." Link slowly got to his feet, unsure of what to do. He fidgeted with hands. "So- um- if I'm allowed to ask-" he began. "Of course," I interrupted, speaking very quickly. "Ask me anything. You don't have to have my permission." "So-" Link ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "If you're the princess- and if your family has so much money and everything- why do you- um- have a job?" "Oh. Well," I replied, "I like to be normal sometimes. And having a job helps me feel normal. Even if I'm not. Plus," I added, "I'm friends with Purah, and I like to help her out with whatever mad-scientist thing she's cooking up." "That- kind of makes sense," Link said awkwardly. "I don't know how I feel about buying something from- a princess." "Please, Link," I sighed. "Forget I'm a princess or anything. Please. I'm just Zelda." Link blushed, and my face grew hot. That was the problem with being the daughter of King Rhoam of Hyrule. Everybody always played my status like a credit card or a VIP certificate. Most of my friends didn't even like me. They liked my title. That was why, even when I got a job, I applied for something anonymous. Restocking shelves- maybe not the best choice in hindsight, but at least I'd get some peace. I cleared my throat, trying to break the tension. "Do you- do you want me to show you how to use the upgraded Sheikah Slate?" I asked. Link nodded his head. I opened the box, pulled out a slate, and almost laughed at how light it was. "Your hypothesis from earlier was right," I grinned. "There's just a million Slates in here." I turned it on and went to the Camera Rune. "The interface is a bit different now," I explained. "You take a picture by using this button over here- and you adjust the zoom with this slider. And if you click this here, you can turn on face recognition." I went through all the new features (in a lot of detail). Link paid close attention, which I really appreciated. Whenever I started on one of my tech talks, most people would just zone out and ignore me. But Link was actually listening. That was pretty amazing for a boy his age. All of a sudden, on some crazy hormonal impulse, I held out the Slate at a distance. "Say cheese!" I yelled, scooting closer to Link. I snapped a picture. Link blinked in surprise and I immediately stepped back, afraid I had overstepped some sort of unspoken boundary. "Sorry," I said, my cheeks warming. "Uh- n-no, it's totally f-fine," Link stuttered. "I- how- so how does the face recognition feature- how does it work?" I breathed out in relief. "So- mind if I take another picture of us?" I said, cringing at my words. Why had I phrased it that way? Of "us"?! Thankfully, Link had regained his composure and seemed totally cool with whatever psycho mangled garbage I was spouting. "Sure," he said. This time, I didn't ram into him. I stayed a nice, modest distance away and took a tame picture of us grimacing from embarrassment. I tapped the pic and zoomed in on our faces. I realized that some of my makeup had gotten smudged and my skin looked patchy in that place. For some reason, this concerned me- and I hoped that Link wouldn't notice. "Just select the area you want to save, and the Slate will automatically resize it to fit the face shape- and..." I swiped to the previous picture and almost cried. In it, I was right up against Link, hugging him. The poor guy was clearly confused- and probably scared- and I looked like some sort of lynel bent on devouring him. I swallowed my pride and double-tapped the pic. "Here- in the options, you can select to search for a resemblance to previously saved pictures." "Thanks," Link said quickly. "How much does it cost? I- I'll buy it." "500 rupees," I replied. "Let's complete the transaction at the counter." I rubbed my eyes as I walked over to the check-out. I had made a fool of myself before, but this was the worst time yet. School was starting again in a week or so, and I fervently hoped he wasn't attending the same high school as me. Considering my luck, we probably shared every class possible. Link handed me a credit card and I swiped it. The screen beeped happily and a little smiley face announced that it had been processed and congratulated the new owner of an Ancient Tech device. I packed the Slate safely into a padded case and handed it to him. "Thank you," he said and smiled again. He had a really nice smile. Another insane idea popped into my head, and as a final blow to my dignity, I hurriedly scribbled down my number on a random piece of paper and stuffed it into his sweater pocket. "What's that-" he started. Before he could finish, I buried my face in my hands and ran away, shameful tears streaking my mascara. What was wrong with me?! ☆•° Chapter 1 °•☆ ☆•° Chapter 3 °•☆
