The Devil Calls Me Sweetheart

6

     Same thing happened. Ethan dropped me in front of my house and I waved him off. Except this time, when I opened the door, Astel wasn't there to greet me with a glare or a frown. He just wasn't there, final.

"Astel?" I expected a reply, for him to appear from thin air, or even a scare again. I just stood there for a minute, in the middle of the living room before going up the stairs. I peeked inside his room, and yes I did say his room. It was clean, not that it was messy in the first place. But he made it his, and not my parent's. The empty closet that was previously filled with only 4 outfits, two were my dad's and two my mom's, it was now filled with Astel's clothing.

I looked around for signs of his presence but didn't feel or see him.

I went to my room, worried. I called him. Went to voicemail. I texted him. No message.

Fine. It's okay, doesn't matter. It's like everything went back to normal, I just needed to throw away his clothes since their owner didn't take them with him. I sighed, laid myself on my bed. I rolled over to grab my laptop to pass time.

In the middle of a video, I paused. I closed my eyes, shutting down my sight. In return, my other senses enhanced, specifically my hearing. Something like a thump was heard, alerting me.

Astel.

I scurried down the stairs, feeling anxious, worried and just a whole bunch of emotions overall. Finally, my steps came to a halt, and the person in front of me froze as well. He had just placed down a bag of grocery on the counter. Looking at me confused.

"Where were you?" I gulped back down a yell that threatened its way up. Close enough to him, I gave him a light slap to the chest before sitting down.

He relaxed his stiffness, then taking out the item from the plastic bag. "I bought more cereal."

"Cereal?" I gave him a questioning gaze.

He nodded, putting it away in the pantry. "A delight that cannot be measured."

"The devil likes cereal, noted." My eyes followed him. Astel took out a cup and poured himself apple juice.

"The devil likes a lot of things." His gaze lingered on me a little too long, as he gulped down the whole glass. Was he expecting me to say something?

"How was the evening with blondie?" He said, casually.

I straightened my back. "It was-"

"Did Olivia get a new car? It's- who's that?" A female voice boomed, startling both Astel and I. If the cup Astel was holding were any higher, it would've shattered everywhere, adding to the atmosphere. It didn't, but I was still left with my mouth hanging.

I looked at Astel for help, but he was staring back at me.

"Alice," I drawled, "you didn't tell me you'd come."

My sister unzipped her jacket, throwing it on the couch. She walked back over, her hands on her hips. She looked at me flatly. "I didn't."

I blinked. You got this. "Alice, this is Astel my friend."

"Boyfriend?" She tilted her head.

I don't got this. She just had to come now, didn't she? "No no, just a friend."

"A guy, on the weekend, at night?" She looked at Astel.

Astel who wasn't talking all this time, kept his face neutral. I knew he was anxious from the way he slightly jumped earlier. Seeing him now, I was doubting if he was nervous, because he surely didn't look like it.