I held on to the hem of my jacket and hugged myself as I felt the cold wind brushing against my covered skin.
It was already 9 pm and I should be sound asleep but my head was busy turning from side to side, searching Auton's built on one of the benches.
Earlier, he called me. Telling me that he needs help...or maybe an accompaniment. He sounded so vulnerable, making me rush on one of my drawers and search for a thick cloth and then find him.
He just told me that he was in the ice cream parlor that we visited last time. I even got a bit annoyed, why did he go there, anyway?
It was so far from my unit and I need to spend a lot just to be with him, but something about his shaking voice told me that I at least need to attend to his plea.
"Auton!" My lips quivered when I raised my hand.
He was leaning against the trunk of his car, his arms were placed across his chest and his eyes on the dark sky.
"Why did you go here and then ask me to be with you?" I irritatingly said as I march towards him.
He didn't speak, but he handed me a melted ice cream on the cup without even shifting his gaze on me.
I scoffed. "How would I eat that if it already melt?"
His eyes then drifted towards the ice cream, snatching it away from my hand and throwing it to the nearest trash bin.
"Hey! Why'd you–"
He didn't let me finish my word and walk towards the parlor, and then minutes after, he came back with an ice cream cone in his hand. He handed it to me, then went back to his position earlier.
The eerie silence made me want to just go back to my place, regretting how I decided to go here just because of his call.
"You won't even speak, why ask for accompaniment?" I rolled my eyes.
He pulled something behind his pocket and gave me a pink satin scrunchie.
"Put it on your hair, " he said. Ignoring my question earlier which made me more frustrated.
But I chose to just glance at his side profile while licking the ice cream. He is on his usual man bun, his prominent jaw showing and his dark eyes glued on the dark blue sky. It was being hit by the street light just in front of us.
I sighed.
"You told me you will go to your parents. Why did you suddenly call?" I tried so hard to be polite, but my normal speaking voice was not so calm that I shook my head slightly and added more.
"You don't need to answer, I can just..." my eyes dropped at my beige doll shoes. "Stay here, I guess?"
I know he had been going through something which he couldn't voice out. We might not know each other that much but this was the same thing I do every time I am holding something inside me.
To stay mute.
"But if you wanted to talk to someone, I can listen...well."
Because I know how it feels to bottle up everything. It was suffocating. Though I am still not sure about it, I know he isn't alright.
He shook his head and facepalmed. He turned his head on me and snatched the ice cream away from my hand and licked it, making me furrow my brows.
"What the hell? That was mine!"
"But I am the one who paid for this and the one holding it. Who's ice cream is this, then?" The mockery in his face came back, far from the unreadable face he had earlier.
The same thing he said when we first came here. I sighed.
"You know what, you're weird." My lips twitched.
"Can we go home now?" I rolled my eyes and turned to the passenger door and opened it. He finished the ice cream and entered the car, cleaned his hand with tissue, and turned the engine on.
The next day, I saw him again waiting outside my door. On usual days, I would lash at him and try to escape but being reminded with his face last night made me sigh and decided to just give him this day.
"I didn't eat, you opened your door late." He disappointingly shook his head and glared at me.
"I didn't tell you to come here and skip breakfast."
"I skipped breakfast just this morning since I woke up late."
"Then was it my problem?" I retorted and glanced at him with my sharp, annoyed eyes.
Alright, I can't be nice even for a minute. I said to myself.
The ride towards the drive-thru and to the University was noisy. He kept on talking to me, but what he looked like last night bothered me.
What was it?
Why did he not brought it up?
School hours walked slowly. It was boring as hell, but I got no choice but to answer and write things that the professor was saying so the sound of the bell made me sigh in relief. Finally, I will go home!
I opened my phone and was about to check the time when a message from Auton popped in.
Auton Smith:
Done? I still have to finish something. Can you wait for me
in front of your building?
To hell with this man to think I would wait for him. Am I his girlfriend? Of course not.
Tayla:
Why would I?
Seconds after, he replied but I chose to ignore it. I was busy fixing my things when someone behind me picked my bag and put it on top of my desk.
"Because I'll drive you home?" Auton, in his same playful aura, said.
"I don't want to wait, I need to go home early." I shook my head.
"Ah..." he nodded his head and helped me with my things.
"I will just call someone, then I'll drive you home."
What he said made my forehead crease.
"But you told me you need to do something. I can go home alone." He snatched the bag away from me and started walking, putting his phone in front of his ear.
"But I don't want you to go home alone, " he uttered.
The same, loud heartbeats came again. My normal beats per minute have been doubled, and my feet felt so cold that I couldn't move.
"What? Are you a tree or something?" He mocked when I still didn't move even an inch.
It was weird, because his words kept on playing in my mind.
He indirectly told me that he likes me, and I know for sure that I don't like him. I don't know who he is.
I shoved the thought away and followed him. He derived me home and gave me my back when we are in front of my door.
I was about to close the door when he called my name and held my wrist, tilting his head as he smiled at me.
"Do you have something to do on Friday? Let's do our second date."