EP2

~~

[Alexus’ POV]

“Why were you hiding in there?” I ask her. She met my eyes once, and then continued to put ice cubes on my bruised knuckles.

 

“Why did you punch the trash bin? I thought I was going to die in there!” She snap.

 

“You shouldn’t have been in there in the first place!” I snapped back.

 

“Are?! Baaakaaaa!!” She pushed an ice cube onto my knuckles.

 

“OOOOYY!! That hurt! What’s your problem?!” It hurt so bad I partly rose from my seat.

 

Despite the noise, no one would hear us since the dining area is soundproof. I want back down then sighed angrily.

 

“What were you doing there? In the middle of the night...” I clicked my tongue. “Were you up to something shady?”

 

“Nani?! Watashi nai kichigai no desu. Bakarashii ne.” What is she saying?

 

Arianne Keets usually speaks her mother tongue when she’s flustered or embarrassed about something. I know that because Danielle told me one time. She hides in her Japanese when she doesn’t want anyone to find out what’s going on in her mind. To me, though, it’s no use. I will just keep bothering her.

 

“In English. What were you doing in there?” I ask again.

 

“Nani mo nai.” She answered.

 

I sighed. I watched her tend to my bruises. A lock of her hair fell in front of her face like a strip of silk. It was blocking her features. It was the first time I saw her so focused. To me she was always spacing out like an idiot. But she’s no idiot. She’s a smart girl. I think she’s just lazy. If her best friend Danielle has this addiction to Korean dramas, and her other best friend Chiaki has an addiction to anime, Arianne has this obsessive disorder when it comes to role-play video games.

 

She loves playing so much, just watching her makes me feel like I’m watching a normal girl reading a thick novel. I love video games too. I’ve always wanted to ask her about it. But she always leaves that impression on me that she doesn’t want to talk to me.

 

I leaned over the table and out of impulse; I pushed it back to the back of her earlobes.

 

She looked at me in surprise. I was surprised, too.

 

I leaned back against my chair and she continued to finish her work.

 

We were quiet for a while.

 

“You know, I think I have to learn Japanese just for you.” I say.

 

She smiled and tried to stop a laugh from escaping her lips.

 

“If you want to laugh, do so. It’s just me here.” I told her again. She looked into my eyes, smiling.

 

“What?”

 

“Nani mo nai.” And she went back to finish putting a bandage.

 

After a while she looked at me. “I’m sorry; I got caught up in the heat of the moment that I snapped at you.”

 

“Ahh... Then what were you doing there?”

 

And so, she started telling me about everything. So she knows now, huh? It’s bound to be found out by everyone anyway. I’m glad it’s over. We were going downhill anyway. Yes, it hurts because it was a long fight to prove myself. But it’s all over now.

 

“I’m sorry about that. Um, I just happened to be there, so...” she kept her head down. Then she slumped onto the table which gave me the jump.

 

“No, it’s fine. Everyone will find out anyway.” I say.

 

“But then...” she raised her head to look up at me. “How did your girl—I mean your ex got in the compound?”

 

“Ahh... She used the back gate.” I answered.

 

“I see.”

 

We were quiet for a while. Talking to her like this, I didn’t feel the slightest bit of discomfort. It feels natural. It was so comfortable.

 

“Go back up.” I told her.

 

“Good night.” She stood from her seat.

 

“Ah, Arin.” I stood from my seat.

 

“Hm?” She turned to look at me.

 

“About what you said earlier, about not hating me, what was it to you then?” I asked.

 

“Indifference. I was just indifferent towards you.” She answered.

 

“How is that not hate?”

 

She smiled sideways. “Well, both hate and love are on the same side since hating and loving someone means you’re wasting time thinking about them. But with being indifferent, it’s just simply not caring. You don’t mind their presence. It doesn’t excite you nor does it annoy you. You just don’t mind them. That’s just what it is.”

 

Wow, Arin is a deep thinker than I actually thought. I was underestimating her all this time. She really is smart. She’s just lazy to speak out her mind.

 

“Ah... is that bad? To be indifferent towards someone...” I ask.

 

“Ah, no! It’s more like a neutral zone. But, we’re friends, right?” The way she said that made me feel conscious of the fact that it’s just the two of us in this room.

 

“Ahh... hehehe...”

 

She said goodnight once more. She was about to push the door open when I noticed she was walking barefoot.

 

“Did you go out without shoes?” I asked after her.

 

“Huh?! Yappari! Ja ne!” She bolted out of the dining room. I shook my head. Why was she barefoot?

 

I looked out the window that displays the maze garden. Just then, I saw the back door swing open. Did we wake someone?

 

To my surprise, someone in a familiar white parka burst out the door and picked up a pair of bedroom slippers from the bottom of the stairs. So she left them there when she went out for a walk.

 

What kind of idiot is she to leave slippers on the stairs and then walk barefoot into the garden?

 

I watched her bounce back inside, closing the door behind her.

 

She didn’t have time to pick up her slippers since I dragged her back inside. The moment her head popped out of the trash bin, my heart raced. I felt embarrassed of some sort. I just couldn’t explain it. I pulled her out of her hiding place and dragged her by the wrist into the kitchen.

 

Ahh, this day is so eventful.

 

[switch]

YES! It has finally arrived!

 

I look ridiculous, though. Do you see the picture of me? Yes, really weird. It’s hot out here, but we have to do our best to attract some customers.

 

“Welcome to the College of Engineering! Souvenirs and refreshments to your right, and the game corner is to your left! Enjoy!” I handed flyers at the entrance.

 

The good thing about this is that the hard work is paying off. A lot of people wanted to try out the game corner. In some cases, most of them just wanted to see Alexus.

 

Alexus isn’t very athletic, nor is he the heartthrob type. But his charismatic smile and friendliness makes him quite popular. His best friend Hyo, though, is the popular one. He’s got the looks and he is talented, too. Plus, he’s really smart.

 

Those two are the receptionists for the game corner. I watched the girls pore over Alexus for more rounds at the number game. He is really as approachable as he always had been.

 

But that night at the dining room, he seemed like he wasn’t the Alexus I have always known. Maybe, I was seeing sides of him that he hasn’t shown to the group before.

 

When our eyes met, there was a pause. I immediately looked away.

 

So embarrassing, he caught me!

 

The day dragged on like that. The booth manager called it a day for me by the time it was four thirty in the afternoon.

 

It was so exhausting, standing on a pair of three-inch heels for most of the day. My jaw felt numb from smiling too much. Still, it paid-off since we made a lot of funds from today’s shift!

 

Anyway, that aside, the booth’s about to close. So, I went to the back of the tent to change into a more comfortable pair of footwear. I unbuckled the many buckles of my heels and tossed them into the box beside where I was sitting.

 

I put on a nice pair of slippers. It looked weird with my stockings on. But, I’m too tired to take them off. I took off my lapel set (which are those pair of nekomimi headband) then put it neatly inside the box with all the other lapel sets.

 

I went home to the Engineering residence to change my clothes and get ready for the opening ceremony fireworks. It’s such a pain to get up and get dressed again.

 

I just threw myself onto the mattress the moment I arrived and I only have thirty minutes to take a nap.

 

Well, what is thirty minutes? It’s gone now. So I have to get up and get dressed again.

 

~~

I arrived at the open field where the booths and stores were set up. It was like a Natsu Matsuri in Japan. Only that we’re not in Japan and this is a University Week.

 

The Mass demo was about to start. Most of my friends are there. I went to the group of people who were wearing orange shirts. Obviously, orange is the color of our college. I squeezed through the crowd to get to the best spot. But they’re all too big for me!

 

I wonder if I can find an opening...

 

“Oy.”

 

The familiar voice startled me. I spun around to see Alexus and Hyo, holding some toffee apples.

 

“What are you doing?” Hyo asks.

 

“I want to get a good view.” I say.

 

“Well, you can’t get past that crowd though.” Alexus says. “Here.” He handed me his toffee apple.

 

“No thanks.” I told him.

 

“No, I mean, hold this for me.” He says. His eyebrows met.

 

“Why?” I say. “Hyo’s other hand is empty.”

 

“I’m going to tie my shoelaces. Just do it.” And he made me hold his toffee apple by force.

 

What was that about?

 

He bent down on one knee and then tied his shoelaces. Afterwards he took the apple and thanked me.

 

“Wanna go with us? We can find a great spot to view the mass demo.” Hyo says.

 

“Sure.”

 

The three of us went to the part where the crowd wasn’t so thick. There were a lot of girls there wearing green shirts. They’re probably from the College of Agriculture. I wanted to join that college and be a botanist. But it was just a passing whim. I still love building robots.

 

I still can’t see anything because these girls move too much, it made me dizzy!

 

The Mass Demo has started already. At first I thought I would just accept it that I won’t be able to see them from here. I just can’t see the performances properly because of the shifting movements of these girls!

 

But as their entry number came to a close, I felt more nervous!

 

I glanced at the two who were laughing at the performances. They must’ve spotted someone who is out of sync during the dance. Lucky them, they’re tall. I can’t see anything worth it at all!

 

Alexus, who was standing to my left elbowed me. “Bwahahaha! Did you see that? The wrap around his waist just fell off! Hahahaha!”

 

I don’t think I’m supposed to laugh at the poor performer’s misfortune. I managed a ‘hehe’ sound to convince him I somewhat knew what he was getting at.

 

“Hey, you’re pouting.” He elbows me again.

 

“Iie.” I say.

 

“You’re hiding behind your language again.” He says. His mouth was so close to my ear that I felt his breath on my earlobes and I smelled the toffee and apple from his breath.

 

I jumped sideways away from him. “Yah! Yamete!!” [Hey! Stop!]

 

He straightened up. I averted my eyes and just looked at the weird view before me.

 

All of a sudden, he grabbed me by the elbow. “Stand here.” He says. I was dragged to the spot next to Hyo. Hyo doesn’t seem to notice what’s going on since he was busy watching the performance of the College of Business.

 

All of a sudden, I felt my feet leave the ground. The sudden change made me panic.

 

“Ora!! Nani suru Jinyu!?” I grabbed his hair for balance. Too high! Too high! Too high!

 

“Oww! Don’t grab my hair! It hurts!” He raised his face to look up at me. I was sitting on his shoulders while he held my legs in place to avoid me from falling backwards.

 

“I don’t feel comfortable with this! This is so beyond my comfort zone!” I say, partly curling up and holding the sides of his face.

 

“Can’t you just enjoy the view?” He says. “Just watch the performance and you’ll be fine. Trust me, you won’t fall off.”

 

“I’m heavy.” I say. I placed my hands onto his head.

 

“Psh. Says who? You’re surprisingly light.” He says.

 

“Wah!” Hyo cut through the noise. “What is this?! When did you two this close?!”

 

“We’re not close.” I say. “He’s just giving me a lift.”

 

“Waahh... I thought you both hate each other. And now you both start talking like you’ve been buddies since childhood.” Hyo says.

 

“Just shut up and watch. It’s our college now.” Alexus snaps at his best friend.

 

After their performance, there was a short message from the SSC President. Then, the fireworks filled up the sky.

 

I hopped off Alexus’ shoulder. He stretched his arms as he watched the fireworks.

 

“I told you I was heavy.” I whispered in his ear. It was quite the effort because I had to stand on tiptoe to do so.

 

He ruffled my hair. “No, you’re not. My shoulders just went numb because I was carrying you too long.” He whispered back.

 

The sound of the fireworks blared around us along with the shouts of the students.

 

This is going to be a great start for my first University Week.

 

[snip]