Chapter-8

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Ryan Peterson

Amara left no stone unturned to annoy me. I swear, she mercilessly threw me to the peak of annoyance. However, she forgot that I always had an upper hand over whatever she did. She overlooked the fact that I always countered her every attack effortlessly.

I noticed her once cute nose flared as if a dragon preparing to put everything in front of it into flames. She eyed the cup in my hand before ruthlessly snatching it.

"Now I'll have yours." She snapped and a secret smile began to appear on my lips, imagining her upcoming reaction.

With her eyes fixed on me, she deliberately took a big sip to display her resentment towards me. As soon as her taste buds absorbed the flavor of the drink, her eyes first turned wide, then her forehead creased.

Frowning, she glanced at me in confusion. "Why does your drink taste like the one I wanted?" Her gaze went to the drink name mentioned on the cup. "It reads Mango Dragonfruit. You don't even like it then why'd you order it for yourself?"

I casually shrugged, masking my smile. "Wanted to give it a go for once."

Of course, the drink was for her. No matter how much she had infuriated me, I just had to bring it for her, as a sorry note for complaining about her to her mother. I shouldn't have done that but I wanted to get back at her for annoying me in class. I was sure her mother must have given her somewhat strict punishment. Besides, I wouldn't go against my mother.

"Well, now you wouldn't get to taste it." She arrogantly flipped her hair, possessively securing the cup in her hand. How cute!

The smile I had been holding back jumped off the boundary and stretched my lips.

She quickly came closer to me with her tilted head. "Why are you smiling? You tempered this drink, didn't you?" She accused.

I banged her forehead with my fingers, pushing her backward. "Don't overreact. Just drink it and if you don't want it I'd be more than happy to -" I tried to snatch the cup from her hand but she held it back.

"No, I'll have it."

My eyes caught the sight of the rose again. I still wondered whom did she buy it from in the middle of the road, where there was barely any person when she didn't even like the flower. Her favorite flowers were White Tulips. Her smile would know no bounds at the sight of them. Also, her umbrella was missing. Could she have lied to me? No. What reason could she have to lie to me?

I brushed off the unusual feeling that surged inside me and opened the car door that Mr. Finn had already kept unlocked. "C'mon, sit inside. It's burning out here."

She obeyed me without question, then I sat inside the car beside her and shut the door. I heard her sigh, taking in the tranquility provided by the car AC.

"This feels so relaxing." She leaned back and placed her head on the headrest of the seat.

I unlocked my phone to scroll through it to pass my time when she extended the cup for me. "You can have a taste of it if you want."

I moved my gaze from the cup to her face. I was surprised to see that she genuinely mean what she said. Her expressions were soft and there was no trace of wickedness.

I shook my head. "No thanks, I'm good."

"You know what, you don't seem to like my soft side. And then you grumble I annoy you. Fine, don't drink. I won't offer it to you again." She snapped, crossed her legs on the car seat, and took angry sips of the drink.

I shifted a little to face her. "You are no saint yourself. You always conclude on your own without knowing the actual matter. You always take me to be a cruel devil who hates the mere existence of humans."

"You described yourself quite well. Just a minute change; You hate the existence of only me, not all humans." She threw it back at me.

"Here you go again. Concluding things. You never admit your part of mistakes," I argued back.

She gaped at me. "Why do you throw everything back at me? I offered you a rose as a thank you but you denied it as well. How much better do you want me to be? Know what? I don't want to argue with you. Don't even try to talk to me."

She angrily threw the stalk of rose on the seat in between us and turned her head to the other side.

Huffing, I continued to scroll through the phone. Just then, my phone rang loudly in the car, making Amara jump in her seat.

It was Zoe's call. I received it.

"Hey, Ryan." Her soft voice came from the other end.

"Hey," I spoke gently, pressing my head back into the seat. My voice would always automatically turn soft for her because she had always been a gentle person who barely raised her voice at anyone.

"I talked to dad just now and got to know you aren't back yet." She uttered.

"Hmm, yeah, we are almost done actually. Just waiting outside in the car for my mom and Aunt Ariana to finish the work they have in the old age home." I said while casually tapping my fingers on my thigh.

"Oh, so, umm..." She paused in the middle, making me confused. She continued almost instantly. "Did Amara join you as well?"

My head turned to Amara who still refused to look at me. I spoke while looking at her. "Yes, Amara did."

At the mention of her name, her head instantly snapped in my direction. I turned my head to look out of the window, leaving her curious.

"Means she's with you in the car?" She questioned hesitantly.

"Yeah. She's sitting by me." I answered and felt Amara's curious, steady gaze burning the back of my head. Ah, curious cat.

Stifling my laughter, I too refused to look at her.

"Oh, okay. Umm, she has kept a distance from you, right? Uh, sorry, I mean, she didn't fight with you today, did she?" Zoe uttered.

That actually got me quite perplexed. Lately, she had been asking about Amara a lot.

"No, we are fine actually. We are sitting in the car alone without yanking our hair off." I replied. I didn't want to dictate everything to her or anyone. As a matter of fact, things happening between Amara and me when we were alone remained secured amongst us from my end. I couldn't say anything about Amara.

"Oh, okay. Umm, I gotta go. Do tell me when you're free to help me with the assignment. Bye." With that, she hung the call, making me look at the phone screen in bewilderment, wondering what had happened to her.

While my eyes were on my phone, I felt continuous pokes on my shoulder. I raised my head to her.

"Who was it?" She questioned.

"I thought you didn't want me to talk to you?" I questioned back with my eyebrows raised teasingly.

"Just answer me or I'll go crazy, Ryan." She whined.

"Why do you care?" I asked calmly, sliding my phone back into my pocket. Her eyes trailed my every move.

"Well, you mentioned my name to whoever was on the call. So, I have every right to know who were you discussing me with."

I let out a sharp breath. She wouldn't leave me until I had told her what she wanted to hear.

"It was Zoe."

"Zo...e." Her tone lowered and she became uneasy. "What, what was she saying?" She asked after clearing her throat.

"Nothing important." I casually dismissed her question.

Instead of going back to her usual silent state, she continued, "What plans did you have with her that you had to cancel just because you were to join us today?"

"Had to help her with assignments."

"Oh, okay. She must be upset then." She muttered, lowering her gaze, taking a sip of the drink she hadn't finished yet because instead of drinking she had been playing with the cup.

"I don't think so. She's understanding." I replied, studying her facial features intently. She had acquired quite good features from her mother; for instance, her eyes. They were the deepest brown, almost black color. Mesmerizing. Her lips weren't plump but they were fine enough to make her smile the most captivating ones. Her dense, short hair enhanced her beauty.

I blinked when I heard her let out a soft sigh. "Yes, she is. Plus she's a friend to you that I can never be, right? I'm a bad person, ain't I?"

She muttered almost inaudibly as if didn't want it to be heard by me. Regardless, I did. And I did not like her thinking low of herself. And most importantly, she must not compare herself with Zoe or any other, it was completely wrong because she had a precious place in my heart that could never be replaced by anyone.

I wouldn't voice it out to her, though.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards me, making her squeal in surprise. I kept a notable distance between us, though.

"You are not to compare yourself with others, Amara. They can't be you and you can't be them." I said softly, making sure she understood every word politely.

Her soft lips parted to speak, but they shut as quickly as they parted. Her bewildered gaze proved that she was surprised by what I had said.

"What happened, Amara?" I smiled a little, looking at her in amusement.

"Uh," She blinked and withdrew her wrist from my soft grip. "I know I am the special one. You don't have to remind me about that. Plus whenever you smile at me why do I always see wickedness in it? Moreover, didn't I tell you not to talk to me?"

She turned her head to the other side and I did not disturb her, instead, I too turned my head and smiled ear to ear. She had always complained to me to be nice to her but whenever I acted nice, she wouldn't notice it.

No matter how much I schooled her for behaving like a kid, yet, I couldn't deny the fact that I adored her childishness. It made Amara stand out from the crowd.

We remained seated in comfortable silence, without disturbing each other until our moms' arrived.

As soon as my mother opened the car door, she frowned at us. "Why do you two seem like you argued again?"

Uh, our turned heads in opposite directions and a mile distance between us must have urged her to feel that. Well, we did argue.

"Is everything alright, Amara, Ryan?" Aunt Ariana asked sweetly.

"Everything's fine, mamma," Amara replied with what seemed like a forced smile.

I nodded my head in my response. Mom and Aunt clearly weren't convinced, yet, they decided to leave it to us. Then we drove off for home.

As the car crossed the street, my eyes caught the sight of Amara's umbrella which was now with a girl. I was sure the umbrella was Amara's because she had it since grade school and it was very close to her heart. Uncle Xavier, her father, had it color customized for her. It was so dear to her that she would not let anybody touch it.

When the car moved forward, only then did I see a young girl holding the umbrella in one hand and roses in the other. She was selling the roses. It means Amara had bought the rose from her and gave that girl her precious umbrella to help her keep herself from heat.

To be honest, I wasn't surprised. Amara had always been a generous person. She never hesitated to help someone in need.

It was one of the magical qualities of hers that pulled me towards her; that kept me connected with her.

I glanced at her through my peripheral vision and saw her looking out of the window with her head pressed against the glass of the window, lost in her thoughts. My gaze traveled down from her face to the rose that lay abandoned between us on the seat.

She was hell-bent to annoy yet she was polite enough to thank me by giving me the flower since she didn't have anything else on her, which I denied accepting. I would have eagerly accepted the flower if I wasn't about to prank her for playing wicked games with me all day.

I quickly averted my gaze from her when she turned her head to me; she might have felt me watching her.

Amara and I were silent, we absentmindedly sat there in the car listening to whatever our mother talked about since they were loud enough to be heard by all.

Soon, Mr. Finn stopped the car in front of my home. Before stepping out I tapped on Amara's shoulder who still had her face turned to the other side. She glanced at me but not without a scowl. She's one stubborn girl.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I slid my hand on the car seat until it reached the rose. I picked it up and muttered,

"I'm taking this. Thank you."

She placed her right leg over the left, crossed her arms, looked away, and scoffed. "Throw it for all I care."

Uh oh, seemed like I had hurt her. Never mind, she'd be back on mercilessly annoying me in no time. I laughed inaudibly and stepped out of the car without a word.

I bid goodbye to Aunt Ariana and Mr. Finn and headed inside with mom walking beside me.

"You know I get overjoyed whenever I visit the old age home. I love spending time with all the young oldies." Mom laughed to herself.

"Yeah," I muttered absentmindedly, staring at the rose in my hand.

"Whoa, a rose!" She suddenly snatched it from my hand. "Who gave it to you and when?"

I tried to snatch it back from her but she stepped away. "Nope, first tell who gave it to you. A secret admirer perhaps?" She grinned evilly.

"It's nothing like that. Just give it back to me." I managed to take it back from her. "I bought it to plant the cutting."

I heard her sigh in disbelief. "God, when will I see you getting flowers from a girl? You're so boring, buddy."

She threw her hands in the air exasperatedly, she went inside the house. I trailed behind her.
Once inside, we found dad sitting in the living room with his laptop. He saw mom's sour expression and stood up.

"Hey, what happened?" He approached and cupped her face. Worry could be seen on his face.

"Ask your son!" With that, she stomped away, leaving me under the scrutiny of dad.

Bewildered, dad gaped at her, then raised his eyebrows in question at me.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "She wants me to have a girlfriend."

He laughed. "Don't you want to have one?"

"Not you, Dad," I groaned and made my way to my room. Upon reaching my room, I quickly locked the door before mom could come again to lecture me for being boring.

I wasn't boring by any means, or was I? No, I wouldn't call myself boring; I had all the fun with my friends the boys of my age had, excluding a few fun items they considered cool like drugs, alcohol, fights, and especially girls.

Dismissing the thought, I walked up to my study desk and placed the stalk of rose in the vase filled with water. In a day or two, I'd plant the cutting in the pot in the hope to keep it alive forever. After all, it was special to me.

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