PSEUMINO | VENTO AUREO

37 | narancia.

═ ☆. YOU WERE JOLTED OUT OF your sleep by the sound of your phone vibrating. You rubbed your eyes, chasing away the remnants of a dream. Your dorm room was washed grey by the dim, predawn light. The sun probably wasn't even up yet.

You reached for your phone, then squinted at the caller ID.

You would call him back later, when you weren't half-conscious. You declined the call, groaning when you saw what time it was. Barely five in the morning.

You replaced your phone on the nightstand and settled back into your covers.

Your phone vibrated again. Maybe it was your imagination, but the buzzing seemed more insistent this time. It was definitely more irritating.

When your phone continued to vibrate a third time, you ceded defeat. The insufferable buzzing had already pulled you completely awake.

You flicked a finger at the screen.

"What?" you said in lieu of a greeting. You couldn't be bothered to say more than that.

"Morning, sunshine," Narancia sang, sounding as bright as the sun itself.

"Do you know what time it is? You had better be dying."

"I am—dying to see you."

You closed your eyes. It was too early for this.

"Seriously, what's wrong? Are you on something?"

"Nothing at all. I just wanted to tell you to meet me outside the dorms in, oh, I dunno, fifteen minutes."

The slightly devious uplift in Narancia's tone made you suspicious. You sat up, frowning even though Narancia couldn't see you.

"Why? What did you do?"

"I'll make it worth your precious beauty sleep, I promise. Can I count on you to be outside? It's kind of cold out here, not gonna lie. That's probably on me, though."

"You're already outside?" You swung your legs out of bed. You went over to your window, edging the blinds open to see if you could spot Narancia's cheeky grin.

"Just hurry up. I don't want you to miss it."

Narancia ended the call. You were curious, even if you were a little grumpy for being so suddenly awakened. As quickly as you could, you washed your face and changed into your clothes. The elevator seemed to take forever to reach the ground floor, and when the doors opened, you rushed out, half-expecting to find streamers and balloons celebrating your discharge from the hospital.

Nothing. The foyer was quiet and empty.

You tightened your jacket around yourself. You stepped out to the parking lot, looking around for Narancia or anything else that might be out of the ordinary. The sky was just beginning to let go of its darkness, bathing the outside in cool, almost blue, light. You spun in a slow circle, taking the student cars and faint bird song. Why nothing was happening? Narancia had made it seem like he was waiting right here. Where was he?

You were about to take out your phone to call him when your ears caught a low whine. Something whizzing through the air. When you looked up, the bright red fuselage of Aerosmith soared over your head, making a loop. Narancia was still nowhere to be seen.

"What did you call me out here for?" you called to Aerosmith. You weren't sure if Narancia could even hear you through his Stand.

For a second, it seemed like he couldn't, and you would just have to wait out here in the early morning chill watching Aerosmith fly loop-the-loops. But then the little fighter jet swooped down so low that you had to duck to avoid having a chunk of your scalp taken off.