To Eternity and Back

Chapter 13

I turned in the composition the next day, but I'll have to wait until Ms. Armani grades it, and I'll admit, I'm anxious about it.

It's not because I think I did horrible, but that maybe Ms. Armani won't see it that way. She's one of the most strict teachers I've ever had and it's rare for her to give students good grades. She's really stubborn and harsh when it comes to music and she has a common habit to belittle me or any of us. I was used to comments like that, but I never liked that she did it to others; I never spoke up about it, however, because she's... aggressive when someone goes against her.

That's why I'm just silently waiting in the library, studying for another class even though I'm focusing on anything but the materials in front of me.

I read the same sentence of the book over and over, my foot tapping on the wooden floor repeatedly, my fingers brushing my hair strands back only for them to fall back down and obstruct my vision again.

I then silently sighed and rubbed my temples in circular motion.

Nothing good will come out of you worrying like this, I told myself and put my hands back down.

Just then, I heard a phone starting to ring. I wondered who didn't put their phone on silent while in the library, where hundreds of students are busy studying or doing schoolwork, when I realized I didn't put my phone on silent. The ringtone does sound familiar, now that I think about it.

People around me started to get agitated and when they realized it was coming from my direction, they glared at me with eyes that said you better turn the phone off if you know what's good for you.

It's understandable why they would look at me like that, but it still made me largely uncomfortable because more and more people were starting to look at me like that.

I immediately searched for my phone and turned on silent mode, making the ringtone disappear and the library became silent again. I breathed a sigh of relief when people started minding their own business again and stood up from my seat, walking to a far away spot where it was considerably empty and sat there before looking at who was calling me.

It wasn't actually a phone call, it was a video call... from Aurelio.

I still haven't forgotten when I disappeared on him a few days ago. I guess he was busy all this time and could only call me now. I can also guess that I'm in for a lecture.

I prepared myself for what's about to come and clicked on the green button. Aurelio's face immediately popped up and before he could say anything, I spoke up first.

"I'm in the library, so I can't speak that loud and neither can you, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"So why'd you video call at this hour? Shouldn't it be night over there?" I asked.

"It is," he replied, "but you know I can't sleep."

I saw Aurelio rub the side of his neck and look away, seemingly irritated. He always changes his mood when we talk about this, so I decided to stop probing and change the topic.

"I know. Are you going back to Dartmouth already?"

"That's right. I finally wrapped up the family business with my father, so I'll be heading back now. Oh, but that's not why I called."

"What did you call for then?"

"Don't play dumb. I called because you left Singapore without any notice or anything."

Damn, I hoped he forgot as we talked about something else.

"I freaked out when I found out you weren't at the hotel anymore," he continued. "I only calmed down when my grandfather told me that you already left for New York."

"Your grandfather did? He's also there with you?"

"Yeah, he was a bit of the middleman while I was arguing with my father, and don't think I don't see you trying to change the subject again."

I tensed up and giggled sheepishly. I didn't intentionally mean to, but I guess the skills my father taught me don't go away so easily.

"Okay, I left because I thought it was already time for me to go back since I was already away for so long," I told Aurelio, scratching my cheek as I locked eyes with his. "I didn't want to bother you with something so trivial."

Aurelio stayed quiet as he stared at me with his narrowed gray-white eyes and hummed in suspicion. Normally, a person would get uncomfortable under his gaze and eventually give in, but I was already used to it when I saw him do it on others. The thing that actually made me feel stiff was the silence.

"... You can stop staring at me like that," I said quietly, finally breaking it.

I heard Aurelio sigh deeply before talking again. "Alright, but you still haven't told me the real reason."

"But that is the real reason."

"Really? It's not because of that woman?"

"No," I replied immediately. "It's not because of her, so don't blame her for my mistake."

Aurelio raised his eyebrow and visibly cringed.

"Wow, you have it bad."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Did you do what I asked you to do then? About figuring out your feelings?"

No, I'm still not sure, is what I wanted to answer, but instead said, "Yes. Like I said, she's only a friend."

I saw Aurelio groan and facepalmed himself, having the phone camera tilt slightly upward before he fixed it.

"You know what? If that's what you think, sunshine." He turned away and heard him whisper something to himself.

"I'm sorry, what? You're talking too low." I heard figure out later but that's it.

"I didn't say anything."

No, I clearly heard something. I was about to argue back, but he spoke faster.

"Anyways, I'll be trying to go to sleep now. I'm leaving early in the morning and I should probably get some rest."

Now? But Aurelio never takes naps this late. Usually in the afternoon or early in the night.

"Are you sure? What about your–"

"It's fine. I have my CPAP here and decided to also take a sleeping pill earlier. I think it's finally kicking in."

I wanted to talk to him more, but I shouldn't keep him up. Like he said, he should get some rest for the flight, even though we both know he's going to take a nap for the whole flight.

"Alright then. Good night."

"Good night. Oh, and before I forget: you should call her because she might think you ghosted her. We need to work on those dating skills of yours. Bye now." Before I could say anything back, Aurelio ended the call and my phone screen turned black.

Ghosted?

He could be right.

I haven't called or texted Yuki in days and she doesn't even know I left Singapore either since I decided not to tell her. She probably does think I ghosted her since I'm nowhere to be found there.

... I'm so stupid.

Extremely dumb, dimwitted, ignorant, idiotic.

Why didn't I think ahead?

I unlocked my phone and searched for Yuki's contact until I finally found it. However, just as my finger was moving to press the call button, it froze midway.

What would I even say? Sorry for deliberately ignoring you and not telling you I left because I thought it was better that way?

I blankly gazed at the name and the phone number under it before I turned my phone off.

"Maybe tomorrow," I mumbled to myself as I put my arms on the table and sank my head on them.

Tomorrow, I'll definitely call.