Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

133. Don't Let it Slip Away, Please.

I sat there opposite of her, still mesmerized by how different our personalities were and yet how we attract to the other. I watched as she took a sip from the cup of hot chocolate that she ordered as she looked slightly to her left and out the window and at the city streets outside. The heavy rain continued to pour hard on the concrete metropolis outdoors with no signs of letting up, but the Palisians did not allow it to hinder their daily life, making do with the rain and continuing on without any disruptions.

A period of silence accompanied us as we sat there. I simply focused my sight on her, watching as she looked out the window. Despite this seemingly awkward silence, I was in no rush to progress the conversation since I wanted her to be comfortable and have control of the pacing. Therefore, I merely sat there attentively without saying anything as I simply waited for her to continue speaking.

"Alevian," she finally started speaking once again. "When we played Two Truths and One Lie, you said you've never had a girlfriend, right?"

I wasn't sure why she suddenly brought up that night we shared in the party following the school festival as well as this particular topic, but I answered truthfully as I found nothing in particular that I would want to hide. I've told her about it in the past, so it's not a big deal to me. Besides, just by looking at me and observing my character, anyone would guess that I've never been in a relationship before.

"Yeah," I responded.

"Really?" she smiled in an amused manner. "You're already seventeen and has never been in a relationship before?"

"Make fun of me all you want," I sighed.

"I'm not making fun of you," she quickly explained herself, waving her hands before her. "It's just that it's quite rare to find someone who has never been in a relationship at your age."

She's right. It is kinda weird, almost abnormal to be my age and never ever having been in a relationship. However, that is just how it is for me. Ever since I was young, even before everything fell apart, I was never the best at socializing with the kids my age. The only people that would talk with me is Loyd, and it's only someone of his caliber and charismatic level would dare to talk to me. It's also through him that I was able to interact with other kids since he acted like a bridge for me to the other kids so I did experienced a period of time where I was able to be like a regular child. However, that is only when Loyd is around. Whenever he's gone, everything would slowly slip back to normal and I would slowly be faded out from the scene.

I looked up at her, taking in that amused smile on her face. From this smile, I sensed no signs of malicious intent. Even though there were a limited scope of mockery, it was more in a playful manner and truly meant no harm. However, I felt as if it wasn't her, then I definitely would be extremely pissed off and annoyed by now.

"What about you?" I asked, trying to direct the attention away from me and onto her. "Have you been in relationships?"

"Of course," she responded casually. "Multiple ones in fact."

"M-multiple?"

"What?" she smiled in a mocking manner as she looked over at me in a playfully supercilious manner. "You seem quite surprised. Or is that some jealousy I'm sensing right now?"

"N-no," I responded, taking a sip from the cup of coffee before me. It was only when the hot liquid made contact with my tongue that I realized that I had not add in any creamer or sugar, thus making the coffee extremely bitter as the taste spread throughout my mouth.

"Is that so?" Her smiled disappeared and was replaced with a somewhat disappointed frown. However, that frown soon died as a smile replaced it once again. "I've had three boyfriends in the past," she started saying. "But not at once, of course."