Amsyar

I would've kissed her back if we were alone. But we weren't, and I didn't.

If I did, Monique would know. Then Tori, her friends, and soon the whole high school.

I looked into her eyes. They were hopeful, scared, hesitant, as if she was still wondering why on Earth she made the first move.

She likes me. I thought, my stomach swarming with butterflies. She liked me, she liked me, she liked me-

Yet I couldn't do anything about it. Not when we've got a whole audience watching us, and certainly not when Aishya was around. She's the one single person who was completely against my affections towards her, and her's towards me.

Stay away from her. Aishya warned me earlier in the supermarket, her voice stern and serious. I could never forget the burning hatred blazing in her eyes, like a angry pit of lava that's been burning on for god knows how long. Being the coward I was, I didn't dare ask why she was so mad.

Natia must've seen the torn look in my eyes. She brought her gaze back to the musical, delving herself into the music and dancing once again, acting as if nothing just happened.

I couldn't bring myself to brush it aside. Something did happen. She kissed my cheek, and despite my aching yearn to kiss her properly, I rejected her.

"Natia." I said, my voice breaking from the lump in my throat. How was I going to fix this?

"Natia-" I stretched out my hands to touch her's on the wooden armrest. Right before I made contact, she moved her hand away abruptly, folding them on her lap. I sighed with defeat, pained by her sadness.

I slumped back into my own chair, watching the show as the hollow hole in my chest swallowed me whole.

~

Natia

I've misread the signs again. Shocker.

I wouldn't have done it if I knew he didn't feel the same way about me. Yet the sad truth was that I genuinely thought he was similarly interested in me as I was towards him.

His endless teasing everyday, the overprotective role he played back in Ronli's party, the supposedly date that he planned for us tonight - did I misread all these clues? Or perhaps I didn't, and he was just generally affectionate to all girls?

I was so sure about this one. And still - I freaking misread the signs.

He was calling my name. I looked straight ahead, eyes glued to the dancer right in front of me. There was no way I could look into those entrancing eyes without bursting into tears. He called my name again, and this time it was like nailing a pin into my already bleeding heart.

I instantly recoiled my hand the second I felt the heat of Amsyar above mine. One touch and I would succumb into his charm all over again. One glance and my heart will begin to overflow with irrational forgiveness.

I willed myself to concentrate on the show. Tilting my head high, I squared my shoulders and cleared my throat, accepting my rejection of Amsyar with a stirring anger towards no-one but myself.

~

"Guys, please be nice. He's not the sociable type." I said, sprawled on my bed. It was nine in the morning and Sean was coming over to study with us. I was ninety-nine percent sure he was bound to feel uncomfortable being the introvert he was.

Ruth nodded. "Yeah got it-"

" - and don't ask him to many questions! You'll scare him off." I continued, my heart pounding now.

Ting chuckled. "Of course."

"Also, try to fill in any awkward gaps because he'll begin to feel uneasy -"

ding!

I hopped off the bed immediately. "He's here!"

I swung open the door to find Noah standing right at the entry. The chubby boy was beside him, and Sean was last, looking at me with apologetic eyes.

"H-Hey!" I stammered, attempting to hide the panic bubbling in my chest. "Come on in!"

"Thanks." He said, slipping past me. The other boy was right behind his heels, scurrying into the room.

"You sure this is a good idea?" I stopped Sean right by the doorway.

He scratched the nape of his neck embarrassedly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm pretty sure he hates my guts." I whispered. Sean shrugged. I gave him a look.

"This is the part where you're supposed to tell me 'No, Natia, of course he doesn't want to murder you'. "

He considered it for a moment. "You'll be fine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, pulling on his arm as we walked into our dorm room.

The look on Ruth's face was priceless. It was a blend of shock, fury and disgust, all rolled up together into that pretty face of her's. Her sharp eyes met mine, and I knew exactly what she was thinking.

Why the hell is Noah here?

"Feel free to sit on the beds, we don't-" Ruth's eyes were digging into mine, and I turned my attention to their other cute little teammate instead.

"-I don't mind." I corrected. Ruth turned away with an exasperated sigh. "Feel free to sit on mine over here. Take off your shoes before you hop on though."

I moved my notes and laptop to Ting's bed and took a seat. Sean and the other boy took off their sneakers and sat off the edge of the bed. Noah hopped on the bed without a second thought, his intact sneakers leaving a dirty mark on the pearl white bedsheets. He smiled at me when he caught me staring, proceeding to sit cross legged.

I returned him with a grim smile. "So genius Sean, give us some tips here. How do we ace the exam?"

"You don't. Only Sean does." Noah said, his smile dripping with mockery.

"Okay." I said, swallowing my pride. "How do we do better at our test?"

Noah opened his mouth to say something again, but Sean was quicker. I silently thanked him.

"Go with your gut instincts. Most people get the wrong answer because they second guess themselves."

"Take notes Ruth." I smirked.

"On it." She said, saluting.

Sean continued. "Take this for an example. Who are the two parties involved in a social contract theory in the age of enlightenment?"

I thought about it for a second. "Wait but do you mean-"

"Just answer the question."

"The government and the people...?"

"Correct. You were about to ask whether I was referring to Thomas Hobbes vs Rosseau, or the government and the people, yes?"

I was astounded to say the least. "Yes."

"Sometimes the more you know, the more you complicate things." Sean said, lacing his fingers together.

"Wise words." I smiled.

"Thanks." He smiled back.

"Well sometimes the deeper you know about something, the more you come to understand it." Noah said, looking at Sean.

"You don't just know something for a few days and call that legitimate, you know."

Sean scowled. "No. I happen to think that sometimes knowing something for a few days can be far more legitimate than a wronged understanding for ten years."

"You sure about that?" Noah asked, his eyes squinting.

"A hundred percent." Sean didn't back down.

"Social studies!" I said, and they both looked at me with their hostile eyes.

"I'm crap at social studies, lets do that."

"We should." Sean said, walking from his seat beside Noah to my side.

"Can I take a look at that?" He asked, gesturing to my computer.

I was partially frozen by Noah's drilling glare. "Uh- yeah, sure!"

His fingers grazed mine as he retrieved the computer from my arms. He sat down beside me, our thighs touching.

"These are your notes?" He asked, turning his head to look at me. I only noticed now that the room was dead silent.

"Yeah." I found the need to whisper in the eerie, still air.

Noah stood up then, as abruptly as he had came. He harshly shoveled everything into his arms and stormed out of the room, only leaving a bitter, uncomfortable atmosphere behind.

"What the hell just happened?" Ruth asked, eyes wide.

"Oh my god." Ting gasped.

"He's always like this." The chubby boy said, shaking his head. He looked at Ting. "Don't worry."

"Do you wanna continue....?" I pointed at my notes in his lap. Sean nodded, his lips pulled into a grim line.

Ruth crawled over to where we were sitting too and we began reviewing the column of social studies notes.

"Hey." Ruth whispered to me as I was asking Sean a question. Sean and I both turned to her, confused as to why she was speaking low all of a sudden.

"Look." She jutted her chin to our opposite bed. We both turned and looked. The chubby boy and Ting were sitting side by side on the bed, an awkwardly adorable gap between the two as Ting admired the boy's sketchbook.

"Cute." I murmured back, a smile on my face. I turned to see Sean smiling ear to ear too.

"My little boy is finally growing up." Sean said, jokingly wiping a tear away. I giggled.

At the sound of my laughter, both Ting and the boy's head snapped up immediately, their cheeks as red as plums. The three of us erupted in laughter, humored by their embarrassment.

"You know what, I'm done with studying. Someone once told me the more you know the more you'll complicate things. So screw it."

Sean smiled. "Well whoever said that is an absolute genius. I wonder who-"

I slapped his arm and laughed, and I felt Ruth chuckling beside me too. My heart grew warm at Ruth's approval of Sean. It was immensely rare for Ruth to agree with anyone at all, let alone laughing along with a total stranger she met a few days ago.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask something?" I asked, closing my laptop. I scooted back into the bed so Ruth, Sean and I formed a little discussion triangle.

"Go ahead."

"What's your deal with Freddie?" I asked, thinking back to the conversation between Freddie and Sean outside of the examination hall.

His face darkened. "What about it?"

"Like that day-"

Ruth interrupted, her voice surprising light. "She's just still fretting over the day she got you in trouble."

I furrowed my brows. What?

Ruth gave me a pointed look and shifted her attention to Sean with pleading eyes. "Sean, can you please assure her one last time that it's not that big of a deal?"

It was Sean's turn to furrow his brows. He turned to me slowly, concern written all across his face. "Natia, stop worrying. I can never blame you for that."

I opened my mouth to speak, but he was quicker. His eyes softened. "And if it wasn't for that then we wouldn't have been picked out by the stupidly annoying teacher-" I smiled, he did too. "-and I wouldn't have met you."

I immediately forgot what I was going to insist on earlier. My heart melted in a helpless pool of gooey chocolate. There was something about male friends being genuine and true that just strikes right through a girl's heart clean and through.

Why couldn't Amsyar be this endearing?

I didn't say much afterwards, but our conversation faded into a comfortable silence and he left along with his other teammate. They left behind a happy, heartwarming feeling in the hair as Ruth, Ting and I huddled around my bed.

"So what's the deal with the chubby boy?" I asked, smiling at the giddy look on Ting's face.

"He's called Rio and he's so talented." She sighed, cooling her tinted cheeks with her palms. "If you could've seen his drawings, Natia-"

We giggled at her excitement. "No! Its really amazing. Ruth, you would've loved it too. He paints scenery too." I could see Ruth's eyes sparkle at the mention of her photography.

"Well, I'm snatching little Rio away now, sorry Ting." Ruth joked. Ting was smiling sheepishly now, recoiling at our teasing.

"Oh, and thank me for the save later, Natia." Ruth said, smiling.

It took me a moment to grasp that she was referring to what she said earlier on about me worrying. "Yeah, why did you say that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Anyone looking would've noticed how uncomfortable he was. Wasn't you the one who told me to watch it with the questions?"

"Yeah, well I didn't think Freddie was such a big deal-"

"Well sometimes you just have to be more observing, Natia."

There was that cold, steel-like emotion in her eyes again, hardening like a sheet of ice. To my surprise it melted away just as quickly it came, and she was back to normal again. As if trying to shake away the feeling, she shook her head lightly, mumbling "nevermind" before hopping off the bed.

"Ting?" I asked, looking at the girl who seemed as if she was about to puke and explode with fury at the same time.

She managed a tight smile. "Don't mind her. I'll go talk to her."

Nodding my head with spinning confusion, I watched Ting follow Ruth into the bathroom. I laid down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Sometimes, even I don't understand girls.

I thought about the wonderful morning training session we had with Sean's team, and savored how naturally our conversations flowed. We talked like long lost friends, reuniting for the first time with no awkwardness between us whatsoever.

I imagined him and I going back to Hong Kong. Perhaps our teams would meet up and grab lunch together in my favorite restaurant. Or maybe we could go watch Avengers : The Infinity War after school, hanging out like good old friends. Or perhaps we'll go to the new trampoline park in Central and have the best time. The point is, we would definitely see each other again in the future, and I was grateful for that.

My mind suddenly flew to Amsyar. Even though I just saw him yesterday, I already missed him. I missed his jet black hair, curling at the nape of his neck. I missed his laughter - the genuine, real one that he would only show when we were alone. I missed his presence, when he would be beside me like a towering skyscraper, drowning me in his cool, minty shadow.

I reminded myself that it was him who rejected me when I kissed his cheek. Now that the thought sinked in, I could feel my fury subsiding, quickly replaced by a dull sense of disappointment. I was the one misreading all the signs, it was my fault, and now we'll never talk because I made it awkward.

And in a week's time, I'll never see him ever again.

The realization struck me hard. He would hop on a different plane, go to a different school, live in a different country all together. In other words, he would vanish from my life once and for all.

And in the memory that he takes with him to the future, all I would be is the girl that he rejected.

I jumped off my bed. Sprinting across the room, I grabbed my room card, phone and wallet and slipped on my jacket quickly. It was only eleven thirty in the morning. He must be in his room. He looked like the type to sleep in.

"Ruth, Ting! I need to go, I'll be back right away!" I dashed out and slammed the door behind me, only hearing a muffled "kay!" behind the closed doors as I ran.

I knew that if I didn't do this now, I would definitely regret this for the rest of my life.

~*~

Author's notes: FINALLY a new chapter, sorry for the long wait! For my readers who read up to this far, I am forever grateful for your support, and I'm so genuinely happy that you guys are enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Remember to give it a vote, or comment your lovely opinions because I read everyone one of them and it absolutely makes my day! xx

-Jaeanne