CRUEL

CRUEL|FOURTY-EIGHT

 CHAPTER FOURTY-EIGHT

CRUEL

[SEASON THREE]

Arezou didn't come to school on the next day. Even when her brother told her to move her ass, Arezou stayed in her bed, not giving him any reason for her absence. "Doesn't she feel well?" Shelly asked with concern as Dom leaned against the locker. The boy shrugged his shoulders, unsure. "Don't know. She's acting weird. She was arguing with her bastard father..." he sighed. "She told me about it..." Shelly said before smiling and standing next to the male. "Here! Let's take a selfie to cheer you up!" she said happily.

"What does taking a selfie have to do with being depressed?"

"I should at least take many pictures to remember my memories with you guys," she said, smiling for the picture. "Hey, you make it sound like you're going to leave now." The boy said. Shelly didn't show how true his words were, that she really was going to leave the day after the race. She told no one, not even Arezou, not Tea.

Tea watched her taking pictures with Dom, sensing that she was hiding something.

And Jay looked sadly at the empty table behind him. He stood up from his place as he walked out of the room, hoping to find the girl he wanted to talk to. He didn't know what he wanted to say, but anything to wipe away the hurtful expression on her face.

Knowing he caused it made it even worse.

"Uhm...hello, Jay."

Looking up from the floor, he saw Aria standing a meter away from him. The girl approached him and handed him the box with wasabi snacks. "What is this?" he asked, confused. The girl smiled at him, a light blush visible on his face. "Oh...it's a new snack that came out recently. It's got a unique flavor, so I brought one for you. I promised I'd bring you a snack as a gift that time, so..."

"A gift..." The boy looked thoughtful, his gaze dropping to the box, reminding him of the words Minu and Arezou had said.

("If it is hard to express, give her a special gift or something."

"But it's always me who talked, gave, and waited."—)

Noticing his thoughtful expression, Aria smiled quickly. "Let me know how you like it, hehe. Then bye!" But the boy stopped her before she could go. "Uhm...what kind of gifts do girls like?" Jay asked nervously, thinking about everything Arezou did and never got back. Maybe giving her something would make her happy, like the necklace did. (He like it when she plays with it—) 

"Huh? A gift...for a girl?"

"Yeah...Arezou is...angry at me, and I want to get her a gift, but I don't know what she'll like..." Aria's eyes widened as she realized what he meant. Remembering Vero's words, how Jay would lose his chance and Arezou would go away. (Was Vero right? Did he lose his chance, and would Arezou go away—?) She smiled softly at him, hoping to help him. "You just need to show her how special she is to you. As long as she gets that message, she'll be happy with anything! Uhm...When you buy a gift, can you show it to me? I'll tell you what I think!"

"Oh...Are you okay with that?"

"Of course! Arezou sunbae should see how much you love her!"

And hopefully, it would remind her not to stay too long in England.

CRUEL

"You're going to fight Owen tomorrow, aren't you?" She asked him. Jay looked up from his bike towards her. He didn't have a clue why she called him late at night, telling him to meet her in the skatepark. But he was curious why. Because she seemed so serious while talking. Both were standing on the ramp; he had never been on a ramp, but he knew for sure that she always was.