EP4

~~

[Arin’s POV]

 

“You’ve got snot...” he began, breaking the silence.

 

“HUH?! Iie!!” I immediately wiped my nose. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

 

“I was going to ask you the same thing. But i fell asleep.” He answered, crossing his arms. “It took you quite a long time to calm down, so I decided to sit next to you while I waited for the timing to talk to you.”

 

What could he mean by that?

 

“So, what happened to you?” He asked. “I thought I was watching some sort of drama here. It looked like you broke up with someone.”

 

Ah, very funny. But those words sure do bring back horrible memories from high school! Ugh, this is so embarrassing!

 

“I’m not dating anyone, so why would there be anyone to break up with?” I snapped.

 

“You’re kind of rude right now. I was asking as a friend.” He pouted. How cute. “And I wasn’t assuming anything. I spoke of metaphor.”

 

“Sorry.” I sat back down next to him.

 

We were silent for a while. There was a gentle breeze passing by. It swayed the branches of the tree that was shading us from the sun. The rustling sound of leaves felt relaxing and gives the whole place a peaceful ambiance. But it was a storm inside me. There were a few leaves falling off the branches.

 

One leaf fell onto my palm. I looked at it. It was yellowish and dry and it had holes where the caterpillars have bitten off it. Still it looked pretty.

 

“I don’t know if It’s right for me to ask.” Alexus started talking again. “But I couldn’t help get curious about what happened to you.”

 

“Ah... Well...” I don’t know. I looked at his face sideways. He seemed serious. His eyes were looking at something distant. The kind of distant where it seemed like he was looking right into another dimension.

 

“If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay, you know.” He added.

 

I can trust him. Even though I’ve never really known what kind of person he could be once we start talking, I knew that I could trust him even with trivial things. Alexus was the kind of person who would listen to your rants. He was a good listener. He was always there to listen when Dani starts complaining. He would listen and give some advice. Unlike his best friend, Hyo would always pick a fight and piss Dani off.

 

I knew all that because I saw it. I mean we just don’t talk to each other, but we hang out a lot with the same group of friends. So I can see what kind of person he is.

 

I told him about Seth and me. When I finished, he whistled.

 

“You know,” he says, “I don’t think it would be appropriate to avoid him, but it sure is awkward.”

 

“Of course it is! I mean, I still need time to forget about it. I just can’t get over how embarrassed I was! A lot of people knew about it.”

 

“Do you still like that guy?” He asks.

 

“Like I told you, for the nth time, I don’t!” I snapped.

 

“Ah, well... there’s nothing I can help you with at the moment.” He got up. He brushed off some leaves and grass that stuck to his pants. “Wanna go somewhere to clear your mind?”

 

“Where to?” I asked.

 

“Hmm, I don’t know.” He shrugged.

 

“What, are you stupid or something?! You invite me to go somewhere and you can’t even decide where we are actually going?” I got up, brushing my jeans as I did.

 

“Don’t call me stupid, though. I was being nice here since it was annoying to see you cry.” He says. Since he was taller than me, he was looking down at me with a bored expression.

 

Is this another side of Alexus? I don’t know if he’s actually trying to be nice or if he’s really just pissed off because I disturbed his nap.

 

“Is there somewhere you want to actually go to?” I ask him.

 

“Nope. You?” He put his hands inside the pockets of his pants.

 

“Hmm... I’m hungry. I want to eat éclairs.” I say.

 

~~

“Are you in kindergarten?” He says. “Eclairs for dinner?”

 

It was dinner time when we arrived at Florian’s. But I really wanted Eclairs, so I will have éclairs. I ignored his question and started eating.

 

“Seriously.” He sighed.

 

“You’re one to talk.” I tell him. “You only bought one Monte Cristo Sandwich.”

 

“It’s enough for me to have for dinner.” He answers.

 

“I don’t think it will be for me.” I took another bite of éclair.

 

“Is that why you ordered a dozen of éclairs?” His voice sounded raspy.

 

“Yeah.” I say. “Hey, you sounded weird just now. Are you sick?”

 

“No, just bread stuck in my throat.” He coughed. He then took a sip of his cappuccino.

 

“Okaaay.” These éclairs taste heavenly!

 

We ate in silence for a few minutes. I was down to the last éclair when Alexus called my attention.

 

“Look here.” He says.

 

I looked up to his face. “huh?”

 

He suddenly reached for a napkin on the table, leaned forward, then wiped something off the sides of my mouth.

 

“Chotto, yamete!!” I froze in my seat.

 

“There was icing.” He says. “You eat like a child.” He put an elbow on the table and let his chin rest on his hand. He looked at me in a really creepy way.

 

“Err, are you sick? You’re acting weird.” I tell him.

 

He suddenly frowned. “I think I really need to study Japanese just for you.” He says. ‘It’s hard to keep up with what you’re saying because I have to search everything in this Japanese dictionary. I can’t even identify if the syllables you form are words or phrases.”

 

“This is what I’m used to.” I say smugly.

 

He smiled again, looking at me in the same creepy way. Then he says, “But I like that. You sound very cute with that accent.”

 

The hairs on my arms stood on end. Normally, that would’ve sounded flattering. But this is the first time a boy of my age tells me something like that and it’s so creepy! Plus, the way he’s looking at me is also creepy! Is this really Alexus? Or does he have some kind of split personality disorder?

 

I was about to ask him what he was up to when someone calls his name.

 

“Ah, Xu! I fooound yoouu!” It was a petite girl. She seemed to be someone who has a light personality and smiles a lot.

 

“Hello.” Alexus greets her.

 

“This is interesting, is this a date?” she asks. Woah, how blunt she is!

 

“N—“ Alexus didn’t let me finish. He smiled at the girl then says, “What do you think?”

 

What sorcery is this? I feel like I just became involved in something that I shouldn’t have been involved into.

 

The girl seemed taken aback. “Ah, so that’s how it goes. Then it’s probably true that when a guy has moved on, he becomes interested in another girl. That was fast, Xu.”

 

“Well, maybe. But this is just a start for us.” Alexus looked at me, still smiling.

 

“Ah, look at you.” She says. “You look gross when you’re in love!” she laughed.

 

“Very funny. Why don’t you grab a date so we’ll know who looked worse.” Alexus smirked.

 

“Hahaha, Xu! As usual, you’re so witty! Ah, I’m Johani, nice to meet you.” She now addressed me.

 

“I’m Arianne, nice to meet you too.” I say less lively than I intended to.

 

“I have to go now!” she says. “Ah, Xu.”

 

“Hm?”

 

She looked at him in silence. Then she says, “Oh, never mind. Bye!” and she left.

 

“What were you up to?” I tell him. “She was right though about how you looked. But to me it was creepy.”

 

“Sorry about that.” He sighed. “She was already here, watching. So, I pretended to be on a date.”

 

“Why would she be watching you?” I ask.

 

He looked at me in silence. Then he answered, “That girl is my ex-girlfriend’s best friend.”

 

“Umm, you guys broke up, why would she be spying?” I couldn’t help it. I’m curious.

 

“Even though it was just more than a week, I think that girl was regretting the break up.” He answered. “I bet, I will receive texts from my ex again.”

 

“Did you... regret it?” I ask.

 

“The what?”

 

“The break up.”

 

Without hesitation, he answered “No. I never regret it.”

 

Woah. He was decided on it. I wanted to ask him how he managed to move on. But he suddenly saw something outside the window and started telling me about it.

 

I didn’t remember anything of that conversation. The moment we left our table and paid the bill, I already forgot what it was.

 

“Want to walk back together?” He asked.

 

“Sure.” And so we walked back to the residence.

 

When we arrived, the place was almost empty. That’s because most of the residents are out.

 

“I’ll see you at the booth tomorrow.” I say as I took a step on the stairs that lead to the girls’ side of the residence.

 

“Sure.” He started to climb the stairs that lead to the boys’ side.

 

I then went up to mine and Dani’s room.

 

When I entered the room, Dani was still out. It means I’ll be here by myself for some time. Dani and Chiaki went food tripping again—without me! Just really unfair!

 

Ah, right. There was a concert going on. Who was the celebrity again? I forgot. I think there were three of them that came. Most of everyone is at the grandstand.

 

I dropped onto the mattress. The sheets smell of detergent.

 

After a few minutes, I got up and changed into my pajamas. Then, I went downstairs to the dining area. As I was descending the stairs, I saw Alexus. He changed his clothes. He just got off the stairs and before I could call him, he already went out.

 

Where is he headed off at this hour?

[snip]