My Romance Life System

Ms. Lail stood at the front of the room, a rare, genuine smile on her face.

"Alright, settle down, everyone."

The chatter subsided, but the excitement remained.

"As some of you may have heard through the grapevine," she started, picking up a stack of papers from her desk, "our annual school trip is coming up. It will be a week long excursion to the Lakeview Mountain Resort, starting next Friday."

A fresh wave of whispers erupted. Lakeview. It was the place everyone talked about, with hiking trails, a big lake you could boat on, and cabins that were way nicer than they had any right to be.

Ms. Lail held up a hand. "This trip is for all students from Grade 8 to Grade 11. It's a chance to relax, have some fun, and maybe even learn something outside of the classroom. These are your permission slips. You'll need a parent or guardian's signature and the trip fee by this Wednesday at the latest. All the details are on the form."

She began passing the slips down the rows. The classroom was a sea of excited faces, students already leaning over to make plans with their friends.

Kofi took the permission slip when it reached his desk. He glanced at it for a second, his eyes catching the trip fee listed at the bottom. It wasn't cheap. He folded the paper and put it in his bag without another thought for himself.

'A school trip.'

The idea was a good one. A great one, even. A week away from this town, away from that house. A chance to be in the mountains, to breathe clean air, to just… be a kid. It was exactly the kind of thing she probably needed, a small dose of normalcy in a life that was anything but.

But it was also an impossible dream.

'How could she go? She doesn't have the money. And who would sign the permission slip? The aunt who wishes she was dead? The doctor?'

The whole thing was a logistical nightmare, a cruel reminder of all the simple, normal things that were out of her reach. The excited chatter of his classmates suddenly felt loud and grating.

---

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period. Nina was at his desk in an instant.

"Lakeview!" she said, her eyes sparkling. "I haven't been there in years. We are so going. We can go kayaking. And I heard they have an all-you-can-eat barbecue on the second night."

"Yeah," Kofi said, his voice flat.

Nina's smile faded, her expression turning serious as she followed his gaze toward the empty corner of the room. She knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Thea," she said, her voice dropping.

He just nodded.

"She can't go, can she?" Her question was quiet, a sad acknowledgment of the obvious. "The money, the signature… it's too much."

"Probably not."

They walked out into the hallway, the usual noisy chaos of students moving between classes feeling distant.

"It's not fair," she said, her hands clenching at her sides. "She's the one who deserves a break the most, and she's the one who can't get one. This whole world is so messed up."

Kofi was about to agree when he felt a frantic tapping on his shoulder. He turned to find Jake standing there, looking like he'd just run a marathon fueled by pure anxiety.

"Kofi! Man! We gotta talk."

"Not now, Jake," he said, but Jake was already pulling him a few feet away from Nina, his voice a desperate whisper.

"It was a disaster! A complete catastrophe!"

"What was?"

"My talk with Ruby! The 'be a normal person' plan! I did it! I was normal! And it was terrible!"

He just looked at him, his brain struggling to switch from 'existential despair' mode to 'hopeless wingman' mode.

"What did you say to her?"

"Bread!" Jake whisper-shouted, his eyes wide with a horrified self-awareness. "I asked her if she liked bread! And then I tried to make a joke about a carbohydrate tier list! She looked at me like I was an alien and then ran away!"

Kofi just stared at him. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

'Bread. He asked her about bread. My life is a sitcom written by a madman.'

"Right," Kofi said, rubbing his temples. "Okay. New plan. Don't talk to her for a few days. Let the bread incident fade from her memory. Just give it some space."

"But what if she thinks I'm a weirdo forever?"

"She already thinks you're a weirdo, Jake. The goal now is to be a non-threatening weirdo." He gave Jake's shoulder a pat. "Just lay low. I'll see you later."

He walked back over to Nina, who was watching the exchange with an amused smirk.

"Boy trouble?"

"You have no idea."

They started walking again. "So what are we going to do?" she asked, her focus immediately shifting back to the real problem. "We can't just let her miss out on this."

"We can't force her to go, either," he countered. "It's her choice. But we can at least make it a real choice. We can give her the option."

"How? The money is the biggest problem."

A thought, a simple and obvious one, clicked into place in Kofi's head.

'The quests.'

"I'll handle the money," he said, his voice firm with a newfound confidence.

She looked at him, surprised. "How? Are you going to sell one of your rare manga? Or challenge Tyler to a duel for his lunch money?"

"Something like that." He didn't elaborate. "And for the signature… I think the doctor might do it. He's the one who put her in my care. He's already broken a dozen rules. What's one more?"

Nina was quiet for a second, just looking at him. "You've really thought about this."

"I'm trying."

"Okay," she said, a small, proud smile on her face. "So that's the plan. We get the money, we get the signature, and we give her the choice. I like it. It's a good plan."

---

After school, Kofi's first stop was his own desk. He picked up the permission slip he'd left there, and then walked over to the empty one in the corner, taking Thea's as well. He now held two pieces of paper, two tickets to a world of normal teenage fun.

One felt easy. The other felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

He was about to leave when the system window flashed in front of him, a familiar, welcome sight.

[New Quest Available!]

[Objective: Deliver a package from the downtown tailor shop to the law firm on 5th avenue.]

[Reward: 20,000 NAD.]

'Perfect.'

The walk downtown was quick. The tailor shop was a small, old-fashioned place that smelled of wool and chalk. The tailor, a small man with a neat white mustache, handed him a flat, rectangular box tied with string.

"You're the young man for the delivery? This is for Mr. Abernathy at the law firm. It's very important. He needs it before five."

"I'll get it there."

The law firm was on the other side of downtown, a tall, glass building that reflected the sky. The delivery took him less than thirty minutes. The reward was deposited into his account before he even left the building's marble lobby.

He checked his bank balance on his phone. With the quest reward and the money from yesterday, he had more than enough to cover the trip fees for both him and Thea, with plenty left over for whatever else she might need.

The money problem was solved. Now for the hard part.

He walked home, the two permission slips feeling heavy in his bag. The apartment was quiet when he walked in. Thea's door was closed. He knocked gently.

A moment later, it opened a crack. She peered out at him, her expression guarded.

"Hey," he said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She hesitated, then opened the door wider and stepped aside, letting him in. Her room was impossibly neat. The bed was made, the new clothes were folded on the desk chair, and the sketchbook he'd bought her was sitting on the desk, still unopened.

"I, uh, went to school today," he started, feeling incredibly awkward.

"I know."

"Right. Of course you do." He took a breath. "They announced the school trip."

She didn't say anything. Her expression just… closed.

"It's to Lakeview Mountain Resort. For seven days." He pulled the two permission slips out of his bag. "It's for everyone in our year. And yours."

He held one of the slips out to her. She didn't take it. She just looked at it like it was a snake.

"I can't go," she said, her voice flat.

"Why not?"

"It costs money. I don't have money."

"I do," he said simply. "My parents… they sent extra this month. For the trip. They sent enough for both of us."

It was a clumsy lie, but it was the kindest one he could think of.

She just shook her head, her eyes dropping to the floor. "And the signature. I don't have anyone to sign."

"The doctor will do it," he said. "I already asked him. He said since he's overseeing your case, he can sign off on it." Another lie, but a necessary one.

He saw the conflict on her face. A flicker of something that looked like hope, warring with a lifetime of disappointment.

"I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not a bother, Thea." He took a step closer. "This isn't a charity case. This is… an opportunity. To get out of here for a few days. To see the mountains. To just… not have to think about any of the other crap for a little while."

He looked at her, at the girl who had been through so much, who deserved a single moment of peace more than anyone he knew.

"I think you should go," he said, his voice quiet. "I think it would be good for you."

She was quiet for a long time. The only sound in the room was the quiet ticking of a clock he hadn't noticed before.

"I… I'll think about it," she whispered finally.

He nodded. That was more than he had expected. He placed her permission slip on her desk, next to the untouched sketchbook.

"It's your choice," he said. "No pressure. But you have to decide by Wednesday."

He turned and walked out of her room, leaving her alone with the piece of paper that represented an impossible choice. He had given her the option. Now, he just had to wait and see if she was brave enough to take it.