𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆

❛trust me, i can't❜

》❈《

"𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐌𝐄, 𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀," Hoshi blinked once, then twice and immediately shot up from his bed as the words registered through his sleepy brain. He immediately cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his bed ridden hair.

"A-Adina," he cleared his throat again, making sure he didn't sound sleepy. "This is a surprise."

"I'm actually surprised," she let out a short laugh and the line fell silent, making Hoshi nervous.

"So, um, so do you want to talk about anything?" Hoshi asked. "We can talk about anything you want."

"Anything I want?" Adina asked and Hoshi nodded his head and cringed, realising she couldn't see him. "I want to talk about you then."

"Me?" Hoshi sputtered. "Why?"

"You said I could talk about anything," she reminded him. "I want to know things about you."

"Oh, okay," he sat up straighter and kicked off his duvet that was tangled around his feet "What do you want to know about me?"

"Everything and anything," she answered.

"I'm Hoshi Gogatsu, as you probably know," Hoshi began and Adina laughed which warmed his chest. "My mom is Vietnamese and my dad, Japanese. They both met at Yale university."

"Do you visit your parents' home town for the holidays?" She asked.

"Yeah, but my dad's parents recently moved to New York, so we mostly visit Vietnam during Christmas," Hoshi answered. "It's very beautiful and rich in culture. My mom's parents are very welcoming and one of the most open minded people."

"That sounds nice," Hoshi wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a crack in her voice. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, Hina, she's a few years younger than me and in middle school," he turned towards the window, staring at the half moon in the sky. "She's a firecracker, you'll love her."

Adina hummed.

"My favourite books are the Percy Jackson series," he continued. "The movies didn't really do the books justice in my opinion and it kind of ruined them for me. I've always been fascinated by Greek mythology, their myths are very interesting and have depth. There was this period of my life where I spent hours in the library scanning through books about Greek myths."

"What's your favourite Greek myth?" She asked.

"The story about Medusa," he laid down on his bed, the softness soaking into his skin and pressed his phone to his ears. "There are a lot of theories about how she got her snake hair and stuff, but I feel the most accurate would be this." He cleared his throat and dove into the story. "Medusa was a beautiful maiden and admired Athena, the goddess of wisdom and wanted to serve her in her temple. Poseidon, the god of the seas, took a liking to Medusa and was always hitting on her, but she refused. Poseidon, being the huge dick he is, raped Medusa in Athena's temple."

"Medusa told Athena what happened," Hoshi continued. "And thinking Athena would actually help her, she got angry instead and cursed Medusa, turning her hair into snake heads and turning anyone who stared into her eyes to stone."

"That's messed up," Adina breathed out and Hoshi heard her shuffling around.

"Yup,' Hoshi said. "There are other stories that say Athena didn't curse Medusa but gave her those powers to frighten any man who wanted to take advantage of her."

"I think turning someone's hair into a snake is more of a curse than a blessing," Adina muttered and Hoshi chuckled. "What else do you like?"

"I love comics," he grinned to himself. "I've been reading them for as long as I can remember. There's this comic book store I visit and I normally spend hours there. I haven't really been visiting since senior year started though. I can take you there if you want."

"Not really into comics, so I'll pass," she answered. "When's your birthday?"

"The first of January," he replied. "When we're preparing for the new year, we're also preparing for my birthday. It's always hectic but fun at the same time."

"That sounds cool," she whispered, more to herself than him. "What are your dreams?"

"My dreams?"

"Yeah."

"I want to be a gynaecologist," Hoshi's ears heated up in embarrassment remembering when he had told Milo about it and he just laughed in his face and made a crude joke about it.

"That's so cool," Adina sounded excited. "I mean, you're pretty smart and bright. I can actually picture you in a doctor's gown right now and in scrubs, you'd look super cool, Hoshi."

"You really think so?" Hoshi blushed, certainly not expecting that kind of reaction from her.

"Yeah," she answered. "You better go for it, Hoshi."

Hoshi breathed out a laugh. "Thanks, Adina. What about you? What are your dreams?"

Adina went silent and Hoshi felt his nervousness spike when she didn't reply.

"We're talking about you, Hoshi, not me," her voice sounded grave and emotionless. "It's getting late and this is a school night so I'm going to ask you one last question."

"Sure," Hoshi's shoulders sagged and he pressed his lips in a thin line.

"Why do you like me?" She fired and Hoshi felt the wind get knocked out of him as her question hit him.

Hoshi cleared his throat. "I guess I've always liked how outspoken you are, how you've always tried to be there for the people you care about, how passionate you are about the things you love. Most people might not have noticed this about you, but I've always seen how strong you try to be, how your eyes swim with different emotions and I just wanted to know what those emotions mean and what you're thinking."

"Your confidence, your passion, your strength, the hidden emotions in your eyes, they all drew and sucked me in," his grip on his phone tightened. "I know you told me to forget about you, but trust me, I can't."

There was a long silence that seemed to stretch on forever and Hoshi wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.

"That version of me," Adina finally spoke up, her voice getting thick with emotions. "That version of me that was confident, passionate and strong, is long gone Hoshi. Goodnight."

Before Hoshi could say anything, she hung up, leaving him with different questions swimming in his mind. He sighed and ran his palm across his face, his mind heavy with the never ending thought of her.