The Sun and The Moon (SatoGou)

Chapter 6

My head pounds when I wake up the next morning. It's a good job we're on Christmas break, because there's no chance I'd be going to school. I groan as I sit up, rubbing my head and reaching for my phone. It's almost ten in the morning, so I force myself up and head to the bathroom for a shower. Both of my parents are at work, and luckily seemed to be asleep when I got back last night, so neither of them heard me.

The shower clears my head enough to remember that I'm supposed to tutor Ash again later today. Even though we're on break, he asked me if I'd mind doing it once or twice. Seeing how serious he is about the whole thing, how could I say no? When I think about heading over to his house, though, I feel insanely nervous, but I don't know why. I've been going for over a month and a half at this point, so why am I nervous?

Do you still want me to come over later? I text Ash. All of our texts so far have been about our tutoring.

His reply comes surprisingly quick. Maybe another day?

For some reason, I'm overwhelmed with disappointment. Figuring it's because I don't want to waste away in my room all day, I figure I'll just ask Chloe to hang out instead. He's probably just too hungover to focus. After the incident with Gary, I didn't speak to him again, and I still have no idea why he was leading me into that room. I did see him right before I left, though, with Dawn. He looked wasted.

No problem, I text back simply. Christmas is next week, so I'm not sure when we'll actually get around to doing any studying, but that's okay. He's doing okay on his own for the most part now. I'm starting to wonder if he even still needs my tutoring in most subjects.

— — — —

I don't hear from him for the rest of the week, and then Christmas is here. My grandma comes over, and I spend the day with my family, then see Chloe in the evening, giving her the gifts I bought for her, and then we curl up in her living room with her parents, watching cheesy Christmas movies. The next day, I keep opening my phone, debating texting Ash. There's only a week and a bit until we're back at school, but I'm wondering why he hasn't asked me to tutor him when it was his idea in the first place. Not wanting to be the first one to ask, I keep typing out messages and deleting them. I'm not even sure why I care.

On the Friday before we're due to go back, it's New Year's Eve. I spend it with my mum and dad, remembering last year. Last year, I had only been with Tokio for a little while, but I met up with him before midnight, and we kissed as the new year came in. This year, I'm all on my own again, but I try not to let that get me down. In the evening, my dad takes my mum out to dinner, leaving me alone in the house. I'm sitting in my bedroom, one earphone in, when I hear a knock at the door downstairs.

I glance out the window, but it's too dark and too bad an angle to see anything, and there's a thick blanket of snow coming down, covering everything outside in a layer of white. Tossing my phone and earphones down on my bed, I race down the stairs, yawning as I approach the door, half-expecting it to be Chloe.

I pull open the door, and it's Ash.

I freeze, my whole body going still. There's a scarf tied tightly around his neck, and his skin is all flushed from the cold. Snowflakes sit in his hair and on the end of his nose, and I can't stop staring until he speaks. "Hi," he says awkwardly. "Um... Sorry. I didn't know where else to go."

It takes a second for me to collect myself, and, stunned, I step aside silently, gesturing for him to come in. He steps past me, shaking off the snow, and I close the door behind him, feeling acutely nervous. "Is everything okay?" I ask, confused as to why he's here when we haven't spoken in a week, and it's New Year's Eve. Surely he doesn't want me to tutor him at eight in the evening tonight?