COLD, it's so cold in Aoine's room or was it just her that's cold?
"Shit!" Aoine chased for her phone when she absentmindedly dropped it.
"Are you seriously that flustered that you actually drop your phone?!" Struana yelled.
They're video calling each other as of now, her friends are already in their classroom while Aoine didn't attend school as an excuse of 'not feeling well'.
Her friends didn't believe her but they condoned her reasons, Aoine felt bad lying about her real situation but she needed to hide what's going on with her life or mishaps will arose.
"Bra!" she whined, "Is this why you're abandoning me?! Because of Selatan?!"
"Wow, I never thought she'll be this annoying," Minette whispered to Firence which the latter only laughed at.
"What happened anyway?" Sashea asked, "You keep rolling in your bed since you called for a video call."
"You have to tell us before class start, Ina!" Musika pleaded.
For the ninth time already, Aoine spun in her bed, thrilling noises filling each corners of her room and her friends yet again sighed at her frolics.
"Okay, we'll ask Selatan ourselves instead—"
That caused Aoine to stop and beg them, "No! You can't do that! You're just going to embarrass me!"
"Then tell us what happened, idiot!"
"Well. . . ." Aoine blushed and playfully tucked her hair behind her ear that made her friends irately curse her. "Wait! I'm going to be serious now, listen, listen." She heaved a deep breath.
"Tell us already and quit making interludes!"
"Okay! I'll talk! I'll talk! Harking back to it just makes me go in seventh heaven—"
"Stop giving us idiomatic expressions and tell us!"
Aoine gave them a moue with her lips. "So, I saw him sleeping in the clinic," she began.
It's literally a lie, she saw him at the rooftop not in the clinic but she needed to twist the story about her real whereabouts and reasons to not get them worried about her well-being.
"I spent the rest of the time in bed so nothing happened at first until the bell rang and because I'm a good person—which I'm truly is, I woke him up so he can go home already but he's too stubborn and I'm about to leave him but he dragged me! He dragged me on the bed with him!"
They all gasped at what they heard. "What the fuck?! Are you serious?!"
"Yeah, no shit at all! He even laid his head on my lap and told me 'give me five more minutes.'" Aoine go round and round in her bed again, ignoring her friends' follow-up questions, she continued, "He hummed! He fucking hummed and it was so hot I almost died!"
"That's insane! What happened next?" Struana anticipated.
"Bra, you need to finish this!" Firence urged her more.
"I will! I will!" She cackled in a strange manner. "He hugged me! He kissed me—"
"Where?!"
"On my forehead!" Aoine can feel her face screaming of heat right now. "I told him to stop skipping classes and he told me 'be my personal pillow and I'll stop skipping classes.' Bra! That shit feels tingly!" Her friends squealed with her. "Does that sound cringe?"
"Not at all!" Sashea answered.
"Bra, that's literally my dream." Musika pursed her lips.
"It's my dream too, that's really—ugh! I don't know how to explain it!" Aoine held her face only to screw up when the coldness of her palm burned her skin.
"Is that Aoine? Can I talk to her for a second?"
Aoine felt her heart threatening to burst forth from her ribcage upon hearing that familiar voice, she watched her friends stared at her from the phone screen in horror.
She signaled them to not give the phone but the phone ended up showing his face—his usual lazy, tired face that's always blank. "Aoine—"
"Nope, not today, not today." Aoine ended the call and laid on her stomach, she buried her face in the pillow and created a long, high-pitched screech.
It was so overwhelming that she wanted to cry—not sure if it's from the embarrassment or the sheer burst of palpitation of her core.
Not so long after that moment, her phone vibrated, Aoine already know who's disturbing her time worrying about her personal conflict but she still checked her phone and she's right, it's him.
Selatan:
I was just going to ask you why you're not here :((
Aoine:
Pls.
Not today, Satan.
Selatan:
SATAN?
Aoine:
NO.
WTF.
It's a mistake!
I forgot to type the 'el' on your name 😭
Selatan:
I'm hurt 😞
Now I'm gonna cry 😢
Aoine:
Wut 😃
I'm sorry hshshs.
Selatan:
It's our TLE now ☹️
And I'm sooo bored, I wanna nap.
Aoine:
Why are you using your phone 😟
Selatan:
Ma’am Salas is so boring.
I wish you're here so I can stare at your cute face 🥰
Aoine:
Wdym stare at my face? My seat is literally at the back during TLE time 🤨
Selatan:
Correction, cute face*
Damn it, Aoine, you're not paying attention to me 😭
My seat is right in front of you, dummy.
I'm really going to cry rn 😢
You're hurting my feelings 💔
Aoine:
LMAO SORRY.
Now stop using your phone or ma'am will snatch it!
Selatan:
Aww, you do care for me 😩💖
Aoine:
Dumbass!
I just don't want you getting caught coz I need to get the twins' fighting video from you so I can blackmail them with it.
Plus, you probably have the entire scandals that circulated in the school this whole year.
I need to hear the stories.
Pls 💕
Selatan:
Wow.
That's all you want from me?
WOW you just wounded me.
I hate you ☹️
Aoine:
Bruh—
Selatan just seen her last message and tucked himself on his desk, he made a strong mental note to swing to her house after his volleyball practice, all he just need to do was sleep the entire periods so the time will run fast.
Meanwhile in Aoine's situation, she planned to sleep that afternoon if Ailbhe just didn't knocked on her door and made her look out for their store.
"But ma said I need to rest my body—"
"Ma didn't say that, Ina," Ailbhe cut her, "She also told you to watch the store the moment I leave this house."
"Darn it!"
"Get your ass out here! I need to leave for work!"
"Alright! Coming!" Aoine pushed herself to get up even if the bed was calling for her to get back.
Aoine spent her time facing random customers that stumbled in front of their store, she knew to herself that there's particular people—which mainly some of their neighbors—that she left bad impressions to.
She couldn't help it, they’re treating her badly and it's hard to act nice in front of them when it's clear that they don't like her too.
However, Selatan was aware of this, he witnessed it partly whenever he skates in front of Aoine's house.
Now, was it okay to say that Selatan know the way to Aoine's house without her knowledge?
He definitely didn't ask any of her cousins—especially the twins that's too good at babying Aoine. Neither of her friends too.
It was during their seventh grade and it just happened that he saw Aoine going off the trike, heading straight in their house with her obnoxious mouth yelling at her friends over nonsense things like 'watch your steps, if you trip, I'll laugh' and some sarky things that Selatan found amusing.
Ever since then, he started to notice her existence—he already knew her from the beginning since he's close to Azelarius who don't know how to shut his mouth about her.
They're not classmates in seventh grade and they only became one this year, it even became a news in the school about her dating the tenth grader Zesiro and voila! Aoine fully earned Selatan's attention.
"Mum! I'll just skate outside!" Selatan sat down on the floor close to the shoe rack to slip in his shoes.
"It's already quarter to eight, Atan." He felt his mother's footsteps behind him.
He turned around to face his mother Namy. "I'll be back before nine."
He kissed her cheek then he grabbed the nose of his skateboard with the wheels facing upward, turning the board at one hundred eighty degrees. He bounced the board up then started rolling. Not giving Namy a chance to oppose him and just glided out.
The wind embraced him the moment he started moving, it's just an ordinary night, not an ordinary time either, it just felt normal to him.
Nothing special.
Selatan stopped riding his skateboard when he reached their store. As expected, he saw Aoine sitting inside with her eyes glued on her phone.
Selatan approached the screen of the store that's separating him from Aoine, she seemed to be aware of his presence when she made small movements in her chair.
Aoine was used to him staying there for some time—not that she knew it's him. She still doesn't know it's Selatan, she thinks it's just some random guy that's loafing around.
She's not the type to look at the customers, Selatan already knew this since he heard this from Azelarius about her not being comfortable with eye contacts that's why her eyes are trailing down when she's the seller of their store.
For Selatan, it's not just because she hates eye contact.
He learned this from witnessing that one time when a drunkard shamelessly invaded her personal space and violated her.
Selatan knew she has a strong mentality but Aoine who never experience being treated wrongly in their household, the most spoiled and babied cousin in their circle never knew what to react when she faced those type of situation.
That time when it happened, she saved herself by just running away, leaving the door of the store open with the drunkard screaming at her, slurring.
He was too surprised from what he witnessed, he didn't react on it immediately and only got back from his shock when the bastard walk away.
He gave it minutes, waiting for a person who might buy there so he can see how Aoine was holding up but no one came, maybe because it’s too late that night and the neighborhood are already asleep.
So he goes there in front, the door was still open and he acted like a buyer.
Aoine came out from the door, she looked okay, she looked like nothing happened at all, that's what his eyes can tell.
Until he saw her hand, trembling.
Aoine handed him jelly fruit sticks that he bought from her, how he wished he can envelope his hands around her to help her feel okay again but he knew he'll only make her feel worse if he suddenly did that.
After all, Aoine didn’t know it's him.
Starting that incident, Selatan made sure to visit her every night if ever she encountered that situation again, he promised to himself he'll stand up for her.
Even if she still doesn't know it's him yet.
Aoine handed him five jelly fruit sticks, he still hoped to this day that Aoine will notice him but she's still hanging her head low, she wouldn't meet his gaze.
"Thank you. . . ."