If Only You Can Stay (BL/BXB)

III

"Too bad you weren't able to meet our son." The lady with a bright smile brought up as we enjoyed our meal together. The dinner was absolutely amazing. A small welcome party with my aunties friends from somewhere.

It was the first time I had seen the couple. They were the first citizens from this country. They wore they smiles and how welcoming they were with just looking at their faces. Their voices showed how warm they were with me.

"I heard from your aunt that you have good grades and that she did not have a hard time putting you in a good school. Bennett High is good school." The lady spoke. She clasped her hands in front of her and leaned forward to tell me about what she found out.

"I have heard about that on the internet, Ma'am." I timidly replied. My voice turned more like a gasp rather than a whisper.

"He is indeed good. His sister told me all of his achievements. He was a campus journalism representative of the school. He won several medals on quiz bees." Aunt butted in. I was looking at my fingers, playing with each other as she spoke the compliments to them. She was the one replying to her queries.

"My son needs to befriend you. To influence your studying habits."

"I am still learning, Ma'am." I replied, trying to downplay everything.

They continued to do more talks, and once they moved to the living room then they settled themselves on the sofa. I stood up from my seat and then collected the dishes. I placed one plate on top of the other and took them to the kitchen near the sink. Once done with the plates, I did the same with the glasses and put the untouched slices of cake inside the fridge.

I thought for myself to help doing the chores inside the house since I would be living here for quite a while during the entirety of my exchange student program period. My aunt had enrolled me in a six-month long program and would be leaving the country afterward.

I started doing the dishes, and once done, I saw them walking towards me with an empty cup. I took those cups from them, and they just happily gave them to me. I took them to the sink and washed them thoroughly.

I followed behind Aunt's back as we walked our way out of the house. We sent them off and called it a day.

"I have a gift for you." Aunt told me.

"Oh." I wondered what it would be. It had been quite a while since I received something from someone. She had been doing all of this for me, and I knew I found it a little bit too much for me to handle. I knew I was not that kind of expressive person, I controlled the words that would be spewed out firm my mouth so that no one would be hurt just with my mere talks but with that, I also find it hard to express other emotions through words that I just remained silent.

"Here." She walked behind the sofa. There was a gap between the walls, and it that it was easy to sneak something in it. She took out a quite large paperbag and another with a smaller one.

"This one is a few clothes for this winter." She handed me the smaller one. "And this one would be your laptop for the semester."

"That's too much, Auntie." I tried not to accept the laptop as it was too hefty of a price to take.

"No. You'll be needing it for your school. Use this for the meantime." She handed me the paperbag. It was quite heavy that I did not even anticipate how it actually weighed, so I nearly dropped it.

"Plus, here." She took out an envelope and gave it to me.

"I can't accept this aunt. This is too much." I told her, stopping her from giving me the money.

"Don't worry about it. It's for your education while you're here. Tomorrow, I won't be around due to work. You have your phone. Explore the city. Find a bookstore and buy all the things you need."

I was about to utter a word. I was about to tell her that I still had a few spare changes for me to use, but she was so kind enough that she did not want to hear about it and just went upstairs.

"Don't worry about it. Enjoy your stay here."

"Thank you so much, aunt."

"For now, take a rest." She ruffled my hair and tapped my shoulders.

"I will. You too." I replied and smiled at her.

I went to my room and put the box on the edge of the bed. I stared at it for quite a while before deciding to take it out from the paperbag. It was quite heavy and it was sealed.

"I'm sorry Aunt. I have caused you so much trouble."

I spent the entire night figuring out the entirety of the laptop. I was thinking of buying it a case or something just so I could keep it away from dust. I was also planning on buying a wireless mouse. Since I don't know if this was just me, will my body still be aware of what's like on the other side of this country?

I searched for my phone and opened up the maps app for me to look around the place. It really helped me to have this kind of app as I ventured my way out here.

"Okay. The nearest bookstore is somewhere around the corner." I whispered to myself as I zoomed in my location.

I stood up. I got on the coat that Aunt gave me at the airport. I hadn't slept the entire night and I know it would take a toll on me later. But I think I could probably sleep later in the afternoon.

When I stepped out of the room, Aunt was already in the kitchen. I could hear the clattering of the dishes inside as she prepared for her work. I did not know that she was waking up this early in the morning just to get some preparation for her work.

"You're up already."

"I am going to the bookstore."

"It's too early for that."

"I think I would be looking around or something."

***

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