SOUR CANDY | P. MAXIMOFF [ DISCONTINUED ]

08 | SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE

08 | SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE

"So, the last owner of this house, which used to be my former guardians, left and the one who bought the house didn't move in? That's odd."

The lady turned around to face him and he felt a weird sensation in his stomach that made him jittery. But not in an anxious kind of way, but in a way that makes him want to scream and curl up in a fetal position. The feeling is similar to when his mother takes him to the park when he was still a child or buys him something he really wants, but makes it ten times more. It makes him feel as though he's up above the clouds which makes him think he's about to lose it. And that the only way to keep him from exploding is to curl up like a ball.

But when he looks into her eyes, her eyes as enchanting as the night skies filled with stars, everything feels serene. Her eyes are like the gentle waves hitting the shore. It is soothing enough to make him want to live on it. Her presence was like the first glimpse of the sun after a long winter but at the same time, it also felt like a storm about to ruin everything on its path. And Peter is sure of two things, that he never felt something like this before and that he will never feel something like these again. And he is terrified.

"Why are you making that face?"

He snaps back from his thoughts and focuses his attention on her, at the beautiful lady in front of him with a frown on her face. A boyish grin makes its way to his lips. "Making what face, babes?"

The frown on her face deepens. "Just...just fix your stupid face, Speedy."

"How about you do it instead?"

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell. Shock washed over her face and for a split second, his heart started beating erratically that Peter thought he was about to have a heart attack. But as soon as Cassie managed to recover from her shock, his heartbeat went back to normal.

Weird. He thought.

The frown resurfaced back at her face and she immediately turned her back at him. "Let's go check the rooms above. We might find something up there," she said before she promptly leaves him alone in the living room.

Still in utter state of confusion on what just happened, he caught up to her.

When they reached upstairs, none of them dared to speak. She wouldn't even look at him and also, she didn't acknowledge his presence. And whenever he catches her staring intently at his face, she would simply look away and pretend that nothing happened and continue doing what she's doing. The atmosphere around them quickly turned awkward, being one cricket away from becoming a boring movie.

It has been two years since the first time they had met after her seven years of absence and he just recently found out that she suffered a memory loss that caused her to forget most of her childhood — even him. And during one of their long conversations through the phone, she revealed to him that she just started to remember small fragments of her stolen memory two years ago. And she also told him that aside from her family, he's one of the first people she started to remember. That same time was the moment he felt like he just reached the skies.

That's also the reason they're in this house. Because Cassie wanted to talk to her former guardians but much to her dismay, they left years ago. But luckily for her, someone bought the house but never moved in. They managed to enter the place with her telekinetically unlocking the door.

Peter then busies himself with searching for stuff that might help her for whatever she's looking for. He never asked what it was. When she called and told him she's planning to search the entire house, he just said yes without even asking her why. Because saying no to her feels like falling from grace.

After pulling down a white cloth that covers the furniture, it reveals an old wardrobe. When he opened it, the inside was filled with cobwebs. But he didn't let it bother him. He continued searching until he found something. It was a yellowish white envelope. He sprints to where Cassie was.

"Cassie," he calls her name. The lady turns around and looks at him, her expression blank. Not a single sign of surprise is written on it. He showed her the envelope he found. "Found something."

She immediately stands up and walks towards his direction, making him feel the same jittery feeling he felt earlier but this time, it gave him the urge to flee. But he stops himself from doing so. Instead, he hands her the envelope and she takes it from him.

He watched as she carefully opened the envelope and read the content, her eyes scanning the letter. She stares at a particular place in the letter for a few seconds before she looks up, her eyes meeting him. For a moment, he saw the universe hidden behind it. Slowly, a smile makes its way to her face. He takes a deep breath, he could feel his heart constrict. She's so gorgeous that it actually hurts.

"Guess what, Speedy. We're going on a road trip."

God, do I have a crush on her?