𝐀𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐚

CHAPTER 2: A BLAND REALITY

"I'm not sure, dude...," I said

The greenish-blue house in front of me was giving me the creeps. Even with the sweet breeze and the chilly wind of Octobers' fall. Fall was by far my favorite season because of the chilly weather and the beautiful bronze tone all the plants had, it almost remembered me of easier times, where things weren't as complicated.

"You're never sure about anything, Sey," chuckled Mint. "And what did I say about the way you call me?"

I sighed and corrected myself:

"Sorry, babe,"

I and Mint have been "hanging out" for a month now, and we haven't made anything official by now, but he insisted on using nicknames and affectionate expressions. It made me a little uncomfortable at the beginning, but now I just say things wrong to annoy him, I think it's cute.

"But chill, she's not even home," he said. "And we've been dating for over a month. It's about time that you to came to my house,"

He had invited me over a week ago, but I was reluctant in doing so because of his mother, who did not know about me at all. I was afraid that our "preferences" would make a terrible situation just like it happened with me.

But I can't say that I didn't want to go. I was as excited as him to go to his house, and I just didn't invite him to mine earlier because 5 people were living there, and 4 of them would not leave us alone at any cost, so it wasn't the greatest idea.

Eventually, Mint got tired of my stalling and literally started pushing me inside the house. I tried to resist, but he was much stronger than me, (that was kinda hot, not gonna lie).

His home was very cozy. While the outside was very colorful and bright, the inside had a dark wood tone, making it a very beautiful place. The kitchen was open and we could see everything inside, with a little balcony separating it from the dining room. On the back of the space was a little living room with no TV.

The sunlight entered the place like it was there only to make it even more beautiful, making the rustic and cozy feel even more intense.

"Wow," was everything I could say.

Mint chuckled at my reaction and winked at me, making me flustered.

"You can put your coat over there," he said and pointed to the couch. "Don't worry about tidiness, mom's rarely home,"

I did as he said and kept looking at the house, thinking that, if I were to live more than five, now four, months that was the kind of house I'd want to live in. It was heartwarming and made me feel good.

"Do you want to marry the house?" he asked.

I chuckled and nudged him with the elbow.

"I'm just appreciating the view," I chuckled. "You have a nice house,"

"Looks nice, but I can't wait for the moment I'll leave," he said. "Or would leave, at least,"

I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but he always got gloomy when we talked about his family, so I always changed the subject to something else. He knew I did it because of him, and I think he likes that.

"Why don't we try making one of those recipes you put on your blog?" I asked. "Even if I'm going to ruin everything,"

As a touch of magic, his face went from serious to happy in less than a second, and the half-smile he gave me warmed my heart more than anything would in these times.

"You have miraculous hands, you can't ruin anything," he said. "But yeah, I should teach you the basics before we start anything,"

And then we started my first and only cooking class. He told me how to preheat the oven, how to cut vegetables, how to prepare the soy meat, and what gave me the creeps: how to crack an egg.