It was already late and there were much fewer cars on the street now. Taylor decided that she can’t just casually ride public vehicles because of the wound on her waist. She will just cause panic if she’ll do so. She observed the surroundings and spotted a man peeing on the sidewalk. She then walked towards the man who just finished zipping his zipper. Upon turning around, a goddess was standing in front of him and he can’t help but stare and remain still for a while. He was so focused on her face and didn’t notice the crisscrossed blades on her back and the slow dripping of blood on her waist. Thinking that this lady might be hitting on him, he smiled and acted cool only to feel a sudden force on the back of his head. Taylor’s fist landed there, and the man fell, not dead but unconscious. She then searched for the key around his body and when she found it, she drove out of the place immediately.
It took Taylor a couple of minutes before she was finally near their dorm. Thinking that the owner might track the motorcycle she “borrowed” from him, she abandoned it in a nearby gas station. She then walked despite the pain that her wound is giving off. It was almost midnight so she expected that the three might be sleeping now. She turned the doorknob to check if it’s locked or not and to her surprise, it’s not. She then raised her guard and slowly opened the door and grabbed Phoenix using her free hand just in case a surprise attack might greet her. But instead, what greeted her was a lady sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees. Since everything seems fine, she pointed Phoenix down and a droplet of Lalaine’s blood dropped. She unconsciously made a little sound when she forgot about her wound and pressed there. The lady on the sofa immediately turned her head around after hearing the sound and rushed towards Taylor to check.
“Ate* Venice! What happened? What’s with this blood? Are you injured?” She started asking multiple questions in a row. Taylor just rolled her eyes and turned to her.
“What did you just call me?!” she asked, her eyes giving off a sharp look. If looks can kill, then everyone shall be lighting candles for Nathanya right now.
“A...ate Venice,” Nathanya responded despite the fear and the tears that started to grow inside her. On the other hand, Taylor doesn’t even know why she was mad after being called using her second name. But upon thinking that it’s a little bit immature to be mad without valid reasons, she just left the matter aside. She just pretended that she didn’t hear the questions of Nathanya and proceeded to sit on the sofa, not even minding to clean her wound first. Noticing that she doesn’t have any intention to apply care on her wound, Nathanya casually went over her things and produced a first aid kit, and sat beside Taylor.
“What’s that?” Taylor asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
“First aid kit,” Nathanya answered with a smile.
“Are you a girl scout or what?” Taylor asked and stared at this, elegant beauty in front of her. She just realized now that this newbie was beautiful. Long eyelashes and a pair of light-colored eyes, her nose was just average, complementing her small mouth and natural eyebrows. Taylor was just taken back to the world by the sudden sting she felt. Without her noticing since she’s focused on describing Nathanya, the latter was already cleaning her wound. She flinched and Nathanya raised her head to look at her. Taylor felt extremely uncomfortable with her stare and she can even hear her heart beating like crazy. Startled by the sudden surge of emotions in her, though nothing could be seen in her straight face, she grabbed the cotton out of Nathanya’s hands and said she can do it on her own, and started wiping the blood away. But she had put so much pressure on the wound that instead of making the blood stop, she made it flow again.
“You can’t even do it right. How will you do it on your own? Give it to me if you don’t want to die due to blood loss.” Nathanya said and grabbed the cotton back. She disposed it off and grabbed a new one and passionately cleaned Taylor’s wound. After a while, she finished applying ointment to it and covered it with a bandage. She looked at her work and it seemed to her that something was missing. She then rummaged on her pouch and produced a marker then went back on the dressed wound and drew a smiley on the bandage. Taylor was dumbfounded and couldn't react. She’s been injured multiple times and the academy nurse had dressed her wounds multiple times but she didn’t draw any emoticons on her bandages before. But upon seeing that Nathanya was finally pleased with her work, she suddenly didn’t have the heart to complain.
“Why are you still awake?” Taylor asked after Nathanya had disposed off all the bloody pieces of cotton they had used.
“I am waiting for you. It’s already late and you’re not still here. I was just worried.” the latter answered casually and Taylor can’t help but smile. It’s been years since someone said they’re worried about her when she’s not yet home.
“Did you just smile? You smiled?” Nathanya snapped and touched Taylor’s face to check. Taylor was caught off guard. It was the first time someone had touched her face, beside her mother, and she can’t explain what she feels right now. She just remained like that and stared at Nathanya’s eyes and can’t help but be drowned there. Before she could finally react, someone had pulled Nathanya’s hands away from her face.
“Goodness, my dear. Do you wanna die here?” Briana asked as she tugged Nathanya’s hands away.
“Why? Why will I die? I just wanna see her smile. She smiled.”Nathanya answered that shook Briana’s wit. Smiled? This statue smiled? How come? What made her do so?
“Aiiyah, you must have seen it wrong. Come on, it’s already late. Let’s sleep now shall we?” Briana suggested and pulled Nathanya away. But the latter turned her head back and called out to Taylor who was still spacing out, trying to grasp the entire situation.
“I left some food for you on the table. If you haven't eaten yet, help yourself. Good night.” Nathanya said before she finally let Briana tug her away. Taylor thinks she’s dreaming. She’s confused. She’s lost. How can those words affect her? She then rubbed her chest and muttered, “Damn this youngster.” Before she got up and went to the kitchen.