"I-I'll do anything to make this right, just please- don't ghost me like that." his voice pleaded, not looking at her in the eye. it felt like one of those unnatural moments to him, where it was alixis who had to apologize for his father's chaos.
tension rose up in the gap between rinae and alixis, with rinae turning away from alixis, her lips quivering.
she breathed in and out, slowly but surely calming her mind. she raised her head, staring into oblivion while choosing her next words carefully. it took her a good five minutes.
"I won't blame you. it's my fault for lashing out at you than at your dad." she settled, frustration and guilt laced in her soft voice.
A surprised look grazed his face as alixis felt the tension dying down in an instant. "she handles tension pretty well..." he thought for a second, smiling to himself unconsciously before suppressing it. He nodded without further reply and left the café, heading to school. rinae arranged her stuff and packed up afterwards, going ahead to school as well.
"Why was she working early in the café?" He thought, catching a taxi midway.
School already begun as he got down from the taxi, having to face punishment with a few other students for arriving late to school.
He went into the campus finally, feeling sore around his arms and legs, then keeping his stuff into his locker and saw an unbelievable sight.
"Have you ever thought of telling me that you're a student here as well?"
"I should ask you that, alixis." Rinae crossed her arms, trying not to look surprised as well.
"You stay hidden inside classes I believe?"
"No, I'm out of my class during breaks like everyone else."
"Then how come I never find you."
She paused in that sentence, "why do you want to–"
"Sorry, my intrusive thoughts." He raised a hand in an apologetic manner and ran upstairs realising he's more than late. Rinae watched him with a stunned look, at the same time amused and walked to class.
"miss ashenvale." the homeroom teacher snorted, "you're 10 minutes late to class. This isn't like you." she added, her hands crossed with the material in her hands.
Rinae lowered her head, "sorry, i'll be on proper time by tomorrow." she apologized, like the good student she was labelled as. The teacher didn't reply further and gestured to enter the class with her chin.
The class fell silent, the scratching of pencils on a few notebooks and the tapping of chalk on the board were the only sounds breaking the silence.
The teacher started asking questions to each student, collecting different but subtle answers from them. a few remained standing in their seats for wrong answers while the others continued writing.
School dismissed early, as everyone packed up and left the class in groups. Rinae left with her group of friends, who were talking with smiles on their faces.
She noticed this and asked out of curiosity, "what's with all the bright faces suddenly?"
"it's about sir eclipse, our usual tea" A girl named jaidyn answered.
rinae stood in confusion, "sir...what now? is that a real name?"
"no no- it's just a nickname for this unusually attractive guy at school."
"we don't know his name though- we just spot him everyday coming quite late from the school building." Elizabeth swooped into the conversation. "he's pretty like a girl― or should i say most of the girls. i almost thought he was into guys at first." she laughed, feeling sheepish herself.
"aside all that, you're all terrible at giving nicknames," she teased wholeheartedly. "tell me, how does he look like?"
jaidyn answered first, looking eager than feeling shy, "well uh- he's got dyed green hair with some turquoise at the top and blonde in the bottom-"
"huh?!"
she boasted out of nowhere, her voice that almost makes heads turn to her group.
"shhh- why did you pop all of the sudden?!"
elizabeth scolded lightly, feeling awkward.
rinae's voice downed to a murmur, stuttering from embarrasement after perking up so loud, "n-nevermind, i got sudden deja-vu..."
"that can't be alixis..."
"i would have given a better nickname if i have seen this guy, how come you girls find him but not me?" she pondered, hearing this nickname from her friends almost every few days.
lily, another of rinae's friends, shrugged at her, "maybe because you leave so early to the cafe everyday," she pointed out, "but it's a surprise today that you came with us, you finished your shift early?"
"not really," she paused, "i just reduced the workload this morning, stocking up items, cleaning the counters―"
"look, it's him!"
jaidyn sprang, pointing at the gate where the young man exits from, with his friends.
rinae turned and stood there in no surprise.
it was alixis after all. the hair description gave it away.
"how come i never knew such a fanbase even after meeting him?!" her mind rumbled, then blowing a deep sigh and turning towards the school gate.
***
"was he wearing the same high school uniform as me when we met?"
"no, i think he entered inside wearing a large hoodie"
"but, i should've noticed somehow-"
"sis?" ryxin flicked his fingers. "you've been ranting for about ten minutes since dinner."
rinae blinked twice, then glanced at the clock, "was i? i didn't know, sorry ryxin."
she paused for a second, "are you hungry? need something from the supermarket?"
ryxin nodded, looking satisfied for now. "guess i'll go to the supermarket then-"
"no no, don't worry, i'll go. walking might clear my thoughts for a while." she reasoned out, standing up from the sofa and heading towards the door.
"no arguing for my own good sanity" ryxin relented in his mind.
rinae stepped out of the house with a jacket and scarf on, her boots crunching on the snow-covered ground. Her breathing starts fogging from the cold temperature, then became less visible once she entered a local market near the residence.
The bell rung softly above the door inside the supermarket, closing behind as she moves to the racks, finding a few snacks and instant food items.
She grabbed two instant ramen packs and checked out at the front desk, the cashier then calling out to her after collecting the change.
"ma'am, take this."
The cashier handed out a small paper to her.
"what's this?" she questioned him.
"i was told to give this, by a man named Louiss winston."
she froze, glancing at the small paper then at the cashier, and moving out of the store in a rushed manner. her hands tightened, reiterating those words.
"louis winston? I've heard this name before."