Traces of You

Chapter 6

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It was only after class when he saw Nina again. She never came back to the classroom after being taken by Terra. It left him with the task of bringing her things that were left in the classroom back to her. Only, he didn't know where she disappeared to.

Since she didn't come to the cafeteria, he spent his lunch walking around trying to find her.  Where would she go? He didn't have a clue as to where a normal spot for her could be. Besides what her name was and her family situation, he actually didn't know that much about her. Finding her was proving to be difficult.

Fortunately, the search came to a stop when he came to the outside courtyard. The relief washed through his shoulders. It wasn't a rare place for students to sit in, but he had never been there.

Funnily, being in the courtyard suited her more than a cafeteria, especially since she came across as a more isolated person.

"Hey," he said, walking to her with a tired breath.

His shadow overcasted her sitting body and It immediately got her full attention. "Oh, Miles. What are you doing here?" she said in slight surprise.

He lifted up her bag. "You forgot this."

She blinked before taking her belongings and knitted brows. "Sorry, I didn't mean to have you run around trying to find me."

"It's fine. I was just lucky to have found you so quickly," he reassured.

"You could have just left it there," she said slowly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why would I leave it? I am perfectly capable of giving my friends their stuff back."

"Right, sorry," she said with a small smile.

Seeing her on the bench by herself made him wonder why she was there in the first place. Looking at her, she looked like she had cried. Her cheeks were red and her nose was red. It definitely wasn't the cold. It was almost summer.

He quickly sat down next to her and settled his bag near his feet. As he got comfortable, she gave him a weird stare.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Why are you sitting here?"

"It's a public bench. I'm allowed to sit here," he teased jokingly.

She made a look of dissatisfaction. "You can go back to the cafeteria, you know?"

"It's too far of a walk. And it's almost the end of lunch anyways," he retorted calmly.

"Sorry, you could have had lunch with the others by now," she said worriedly.

"I'm not here to guilt trip you. Besides, I've already ate lunch and they can spend a lunch without me for once. I think I would do Colton a favour anyway," he answered with his eyes closed.

When he heard nothing in reply, he opened one eye and found her staring at him with a conflicted look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Thank you," she said sincerely.

He gave a smile back and leant back onto the bench. He started looking up into the sky. It was a bright day. The clouds were scarce, but with the ones that did exist, they floated up there like little pictures.

"This is a nice spot to just take a nap," he commented offhandedly.

"I come here just to take a rest because it's nice to watch the clouds," she said, looking up as well.

"How often do you come here?" he asked.

"Maybe once or twice a week," she murmured. Her eyes were glued to the sky now. She seemed to be in a daze because her answers turned into soft replies that flowed from her lips.

"Do you come here when you need to cry?" he asked, feeling a little courageous.

"Sometimes," she instinctively answered. Of course, as soon as she said that, she snapped out of her daze and turned to him with her forehead creased. "Wait, no—I didn't mean that," she quickly rebutted.

"It's okay," he said with a calm smile. "Everyone's allowed to cry."

Her body tensed up and she looked quite conflicted with herself.

His gaze softened. "I won't pry. Just letting you know you can cry with me whenever you want and I won't judge."

She didn't reply.

He sort of hoped that he was somewhat comforting. He honestly hadn't met such an aloof person before so he wasn't the best at making them feel comfortable. He'd only hope that he at least didn't make her feel bad.

"So. . .," he started off softly. "What did Terra want to talk to you about?"

"Huh?" she asked, not listening.

"Terra? Yesterday?" he repeated.

Her half-lidded eyes turned wide in realisation. "Oh. Yeah. She wanted to talk about a plan."

"What kind of plan?"

"An anniversary plan. She wants to surprise Rhys with a party for their first anniversary," she explained vaguely.

He angled his jaw upwards with a befuddled look. "Rhys?"

"Her boyfriend," she mumbled softly.

"So she had a boyfriend," Miles mumbled to the new found knowledge. He blew into the air and laid his weight on his hands. "How long have they been dating?"

"A year or so," she answered indifferently.

He was both surprised and not surprised. "Wonder how they met," he murmured to himself.

"She asked me to set them up," Nina said with a troubled look.

Seeing her talk about it, he started to feel a little suspicious of her reactions. Did she actually have an unrequited love?

"Yikes," he said. He paid close attention to her next expression. "Was it hard?"

Nina chuckled. "It wasn't so bad. They got together pretty quickly in the end."

Never mind. She wouldn't laugh so brightly if her love was unrequited.

"Bringing two friends together— you're like cupid," he teased.

A line appeared across her forehead. "We aren't really friends so to speak."

"Then what are you?" he asked.

"He's my step brother."

His form flunked but his ears suddenly perked up. "I didn't know Terra and your step brother were dating."

Her shoulder lifted into a small shrug. Her expression was composed. It seemed it didn't phase her, but it didn't look like she harboured good feelings about it either.

"What's his name again?" he asked inquisitively.

"Rhys." She lifted her knees and rested her chin on it.