I couldn’t remember what happened yesterday.When I woke up, the first thing that registered to me was pain. Excruciating pain in my head that has been throbbing until now.Then enters nausea, the worst kind. How do I describe it? I feel like bile is stuck in my throat but it isn’t actually there. But at the same time, I feel my stomach grumbling, reminding me to eat. Wait, have I eaten anything yesterday?Now I feel really thirsty. I groan as I slowly get up from my bed, the bright light illuminates the sky which is a rare sight especially during autumn, so I cover my eyes with my hand. Slowly, I get out of my bed, trying to find my phone on my bed. Then when I look at my own clothes which were from last night's clothes, my eyes widen.Wait, why haven’t I changed clothes last night? I always make sure to wear my pajamas before going to bed.“Ugh,” I groan again as I massage my temples. I think I need some water, first. And hopefully, something to eat. I thought to myse
Once I am completely feeling better after one or two smoothies, Luca explains to me the events that happened last night. After everything finally sinks in, I try to cover my face behind the loveseat cushions, realizing that all the things I said and had done were unforgivable and that he has every right to throw me in the sea of sharks.“What are you talking about? You seriously thought that I could kill someone, huh?” his voice doesn’t sound forced or even with any intentions of coercion. In fact, I just realize that I’m now talking to Luca who is finally released from the burden of his own pride.“A-at first, yeah.”“Well, if throwing you to the sea of sharks will make you happy, I could arrange that.” If it weren’t for the glint of amusement showing in his face, I would have thought that he was serious.“No, thank you. I’d rather write 5,000-word essays instead,” I quickly answer. I value my life, after all.“Then, brace yourself, because I’m going to tutor in my free tim
Honestly, yesterday I regretted it.It was a spur of the moment, really. When I decided to tease her after she made a friendly innocent proposal yesterday, a part of me was thinking, I wanted to see a different reaction from her.And I achieved it. When she suddenly became riled up, I couldn’t help but to laugh at my little success.Then I slipped out the words that had been in my mind.“Sure, I would love to date you.”At that moment, I immediately knew that messed up. I hastily added that it was a joke while I tried my best to find an excuse to end the call without making it more suspicious.Nina may not have realized it but she is very perceptive.So, I made a stupid act and hang up. After ending the call, I slumped down on my chair as I banged my head on the table.That was another stupid move of mine as the impact inflicted another sting of pain from my broken nose.“Ah, shit…” I groaned.Thankfully, Mrs. Cathillin was out to buy us some dinner, a generous gesture
“And just like that, you are now buddies with Luca?” Gene, who has been silent when I explained all the details to him, says with his usual monotonous voice.“Yeah, it all takes one alcohol.” I laugh, sheepishly.“One? You mentioned that there were more than five mugs of beer.”“Ah, r-right.”“That’s good, I mean with you and Luca. I’m glad that you patched things up.” Gene doesn’t sound enthusiastic or dumbfounded, in fact, his voice especially if I couldn’t see him is quite a challenge for me. Sometimes, I wish Gene couldn’t be so cryptic.“Now, you don’t need to worry anymore, Nina. You can finally graduate your final school year in peace.”“Y-yeah about that…” I sigh. “I got a zero and Luca insisted that he would be my tutor starting this weekend.”And by the weekend, I meant tomorrow. I don’t know what kind of a teacher Luca is but since this is one of our “bondings”, he has to do it.“Well, my offer is still open if you’re in--”“N-no offense, Gene. But I think yo
If I would tell myself that I had finally forgotten who she was: her face, her voice, and her mannerisms, I would be lying straight to myself. After all, I pride myself on self-awareness and I don’t want to be blinded by my own feelings.Not anymore.It has been three years since then. I tried to forget. She used to be a beacon of my light, whom I thought would help me guide the right path of becoming a better person.She made me later appreciate what life was without money. She was the only one who had been a positive influence on me.Anastasia.I met her when I witnessed her being thrown on the streets. Her own drunk father kicked her out and a lot of people watched her banging the door, begging to be inside.Some looked at her with sympathy, others just went minding their own business.Yet, none are willing to help her as she slumped down on the floor while her shoulders trembled.I didn’t know what got into me, but I approached her, decided to offer a bit of kin
“Yo!” Her face turns in my direction and then she instantly frowns at my own stare. I guess she doesn’t feel scared or even surprised about the proximity we have anymore. It’s a pity, I even made sure that I leaned closer, too close for her personal bubble as I greeted her. Seeing that she was so immersed with her phone earlier, I thought I could give her a scare. “Hello, Clarence,” she greets nonchalantly. And at that, I frown. “Ah, that’s it? No more blushes, shyness, or…” I pause a bit to add a dramatic tone. “Maybe fear?” “No,” is her immediate reply as she asks me to sit across from her. Well, seeing that she chose a table with two diner double booth seats, my, this table is too big for just the both of us. So, I sat next to her instead. Her eyes widen and somehow the pinkish tint is visibly shown on her cheeks. That’s the reaction I like to see. She immediately scoots away from me but the diner booths are good for two people, after all, so she has to
Clarence is acting strange. Well, he is always strange and I thought that this has been the usual but this time he has been kind enough to clean his own mess.Each moment, I’ve continued to eye on his changes of behavior. And yet again, he has been strangely well-behaved.Like a normal student should do.“So, it’s official: since neither of us is going to do some shitty skit, or we couldn’t write mushy poetry, we can make a diorama,” he says as he tucks the papers of our ideas. “We are going to use materials to create a unique concept that could blow McLaren’s brains out.” He chuckles then he takes out a paper and taps on the encircled part we wrote earlier. “I like your idea of a caste system, parvenu. I didn’t expect this to interest you more for the so-called ideal civilization.”“N-no, rather than implementing it, I want it to be different.”“Oh, like what?”I pause for a while, trying to think of a reason. “I just want a system like those online games. You keep lev
“Are we going there yet?” Clarence, who was so excited to go not too long ago, is now looking impatiently. He has been walking in circles as I, the center of his circling steps, is trying to tap the send button on my phone.But I couldn’t.S-Should I, shouldn’t I? This is the very first text message to Luca’s number. And I don’t get why I am hesitating till now. We patched things up, right? We have already settled our differences.So, why can’t I click it?Not to mention that in his contact list, I wrote “The Bringer of Misfortunes” and I tried to remember why. It was definitely out of impulse during our first meeting.So I check my own text message for the fiftieth time as I gulp, wondering if this is good enough to convince Luca.‘Hi, Luca. This is Nina. My project partner and I are heading there since we decided to make a diorama if you don’t mind. And I promise to clean everything afterward!’A hand grabs her phone as Clarence sends the message when I hear the click