Alliria: Fulfillment of Dreams

PACE THREE: Ash-blonde Hair

Reaching the Cafeteria, we instantly stand in line among the students in the service counter.

While in there, I saw the girl again with the striking hair color... It’s too unusual that my eyes always spot her from the crowd whenever she’s around...

I wonder if it’s her natural hair color...

I also spotted the other girl next to her who has dark long hair braided in two; I’m sure it’s the same girl she’s always with.

“Alexis.” I called him, turning to my side and nudging him a bit.

“What is it?”

I moved my face closer to his ear and whispered, “Do you know who that girl with the shoulder-length ash-blonde hair is?”

My question made him look at the girl, too.

“Why? You interested in her?” he plainly asked.

“What?! No! I’m just curious about her unusual hair color...”

He smirked at that, “Hm, from what I heard, she’s a junior and that she’s quite an introvert. That information alone held me back from hitting on her. I think their lunch hour is the same with ours, because I see her often here when we’re at break.”

“Is that so...?”

“Do you want to try asking her out?”

My eyebrows furrowed when I heard that and I looked at him with full of disagreement in my eyes.

I’m curious at her, but hitting on her is not one of my plans, okay?

“Alright, I’ll take that as a ‘no’, then.” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Alexis often gets excited when the topic is about girls...

When he comes across one that he’s interested in, I’ll find him hitting on her later on, but despite that, he never courted anyone, so he’s never been in a relationship ever since he became one of my classmates, back in Grade ten.

I think I kind of know why...

After buying our food at the counter, we both went straight to our usual place---the back of the High School building of the Academy where a big tree is situated---bearing our plate of lunch with us. It’s somewhat hidden, so no one often comes here anymore besides us.

Next to the tree, there’s an average size table with two long benches. The breeze here and the shade of the tree made this a nice place for us to eat and hang out.

We both sat in the same bench and started to eat...

Swallowing my second spoonful of curry, Alexis suddenly complained, “When are Sheya and Xannia going to show up? I think they’re taking quite some time now, aren’t they?”

“You always want to see Sheya, huh?” I asked, smirking at him a little.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You don’t admit it, but I could sense it, Alexis...” I trailed off, but he just looked and raised an eyebrow at me a little, so I continued on. “You like Sheya, right? You see her way different from other girls... Am I right?”

He chuckled, turning his eyes away from me, “You sure got me, bro.” he admitted. “Hitting on other girls is like a disguise to hide my true feelings. When we were little, I had a crush on her and as time passed by, that feeling of crush grown into love.”

“Why are you hiding it? Aren’t you planning to tell or show your feelings for her?”

“I tried showing it to her before when we were in Grade nine; hoping that she’d feel my love and intentions, but it’s like she’s too naive about it or she’s just playing dense... I was afraid of losing our friendship, so I couldn’t find the courage to tell it to her directly. And so, I decided to hide it...”

“Oh... I’m sorry for---”

“Hi, guys!” a familiar voice called out, stopping me from saying another word. “We’re finally here.” Sheya said while Xannia’s walking behind her.

Soon, they sat on the bench at the other side of the table, facing us. Sheya sat opposites to me and Xannia to Alexis.

I glanced at him and saw how his lips curved into a smile while looking at Sheya.

I kind of want to help him make some development in his relationship with her, but I think meddling with his decisions could make things worse...

“So what did the two of you talked about?” Alexis asked at Sheya after a moment of silence, having somewhat a playful smile.

“I already stated it earlier, right? What we spoke about is something you two shouldn’t concern yourselves with.” she replied to him with a bit of irritated tone.

“I wasn’t asking for it...” I said, trying to defend myself. “He’s the only one who’s curious about it.”

“Hey, are you sure you’re not curious at all, Winter?” he retorted.

“Well, a little, but if it’s their secret, I’ll respect that and won’t ask more.”

“Mm, you should learn from Winter, Alexis...” Sheya said, tilting her head a bit.

“One of these days, there is a possibility that I will tell it to you...” I heard Xannia whispered while Alexis complained about what Sheya just said to him.

I don’t know if I was suppose to hear that or if those words were meant for me, but when I looked at Xannia, I caught her staring at me...

She instantly turned away the moment our eyes met...

Um, I’m not sure I understood that...

~***~

Later that day, I decided to attend our club meeting, so as soon as our last class ended, I split up from my three friends. I’m a member of the Drawing Club that meets every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays...

It’s a bit late when I finished my exercise drawing for today, so only a few students were still inside the campus...

While walking along the path leading to the parking space for bicycles, I suddenly heard a loud thud sound somewhere that made me stop from moving.

What was that and where exactly did it came from?

Focusing my extraordinary hearing ability around the campus, I heard a girl’s laughter at the back of the High School building. I think it’s close to our usual place...

Curious of what’s happening, I ran to go there...

~~~~~~~~~~