The Moon Hiding at Dawn

Chapter 25: Faking Chances

"Hey... I know I should not be saying this but... I'll love you no matter what you do from now on..."

Quite groggy from sleeping flat on the floor, I slowly opened my eyes from the words that are completely out of place. It sounded surreal but I could have sworn it was real. Was Riz murmuring that or am I dreaming? She's curled up at my side, seemingly in a deep sleep. That must mean I'm dreaming, right? I have no way to prove it nonetheless. I have zero recollection from what I could possibly be dreaming about.

I guess I might be hearing things again. Probably because of the empty space within me considering the subject matter of what I've heard... seemingly heard. It's still dark with only the light from the television, still hooked to the console, illuminating the what would have been dark room. Saturday, half past three. No classes and definitely not in the mood to do something else so I decided that I could, perhaps, sleep some more— not that we do something significant when we have classes anyway.

I laid my back and let the cold floor embrace and lull me to sleep once more.

The next thing I knew, I awoke to a certain brat comfortably playing some shooting game with speakers blasting at full volume. I reluctantly sat straight and glared at her with my probably groggy eyes.

"Oh, you're awake." she said, eyes still fixed at the screen.

I'm dumbfounded. The audacity to spit that remark as if anyone else would still be sleeping with noises that loud. It's more unsettling considering that this was supposed to be my place. Now I just feel evicted from my own domain as if another lord has taken over my own castle or something.

"Quit staring and eat something. You only had eggs so an omelet is all I could whip for breakfast" she scowled.

Okay, I take a part of it back. I guess she's still a human with a heart but that doesn't change the fact that she's acting like she owns the place. Doesn't matter, I guess. Probably my fault for telling her yesterday to use my house, even if it was as a half-joke.

Few moments later, I went back to see her dressed back into her uniform.

"It's Saturday. No classes, remember?" I told her.

She looked at me with a 'you stupid?' kind of face. "You want me to go home in an oversized shirt and shorts? I don't plan on having people needlessly staring."

Stupid me for not thinking about that.

"Well, I'm going... Oh and one thing" she paused by the door "thanks for last night but don't tell anyone I slept here... I don't want weird rumors flying around."

"Sure. Have a safe trip home" I replied, completely ignoring her awfully suggestive tone and wording before she could use it to tease me any further.

And with that, the eventful intrusion of sort faded to an uneventful weekend spent mostly playing games. I wouldn't really want to think about Kallen and Clyde at the moment so I poured my mind into playing. It's not like Riz would contact me either. Knowing her, she's probably busy reading.

Reading, huh. I guess I'm gonna give the book a try. I might not be an avid reader but leaving it alone would be like wasting money and I hate wasting money, especially if it's not from my own pocket.

I was absorbed. The story possessed me that my uneventful weekend would close with me reading until roughly half of the book. Still slow compared to hardcore readers, though. Another thing was that she's right again. The guy stays as a friend hoping for a promotion. Only thing different would be that I'm more active and malicious in getting answers. Or so it would seem. I haven't finished the story yet.