Warming a Frozen Heart

Arrestation

CHAPTER 21

Arrestation

-Luke-

"Hey, Luke, have you been noticing your girlfriend's behavior lately?" JC asked, nudging me carefully with her soft fingers. "She's becoming closer to Kyousuke by the minute."

I pondered on her weird question and stole a glance at Erin, who was out looking for a picnic spot in her yellow summer dress and straw hat. By the way, we're out to have a picnic here at the local park, and Erin was assigned to look for the perfect area. Kyousuke was out for drinks. Me and JC were assigned to make food, and I finished that even before JC could start speaking about making omelettes with me. "I can't read you and your mind right now. Is your mind clouded? Are you bothered? Or you're just feeling possessive of Kyou now?" I teased, poking her cheek. Instead of brushing my finger away, she just glued her eyes on Erin.

"No. I'm not jealous," she answered seriously. She wasn't lying at all. "My perception is just getting the best of me."

I switched my attention from Erin to JC. "You're scaring me."

"I'm scaring myself, too, Luke." She blinked once. "I'm afraid of how sharp my perception is getting. It's like it can easily detect the truth around me, and that's quite terrifying."

There was something odd about JC these past few weeks, as if she isn't snappy or grumpy anymore. Instead, she acted like a tiger, watching her prey intently before pouncing on it out of the blue. She rarely talked, and she was just observing. I noticed her lack of interest in studying for the finals, and even sweets can't lure her out of her thoughts. "That's impossible," I said, a quiver in my voice. "Surely Erin's not planning to cheat on me then dump me first thing."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked gravely, pointing at Erin's direction. Kyousuke was already there, and she put her hat on his head affectionately. "Come to think of it, in our two years of being together, she was really expressive of her feelings. But right after the prom, her morning calls, her usual greetings and her affectionate touches were gone."

JC hardly flinched when she heard that.

My mind lay back and reminisced about the time lapse between prom night and today, as if it was looking for sturdy evidence. As the past days played back in my head, JC's idea was further emphasized. One, right after spending time with her on the cruise ship, she began begging me to go to the deck for Kyousuke. She never mentioned JC, just my best friend's name. Two, when we arrived, she practically ignored me. Three, I didn't recieve calls or messages from her anymore. Four, she distanced a little and focused on Kyousuke. Lastly, she asked Kyousuke to help her study for the finals. Being the weak student that she is, she always asks me to help her out. But now, she turned to him.

"Luke."

My head jerked to JC's direction frantically, realizing her point. "Y-yes?" It was rare of me to stutter, but things like this made me do so. Her eyes pierced through me, as if she was paging through my thoughts. "Luke," she repeated, more tentatively this time. For some reason, something stirs in me each time she says my name like that. "Do you think...?" she trails off, her face drowning with anxiety. "Tell me, do you think that Erin... that Erin likes... K-kyou... Kyousuke?"

All sorts of thoughts flooded into my brain at the mention of this. "That's impossible," I assured her, but it sounded more like I was assuring myself. JC noticed this, too, but she didn't say a word. "That's impossible, JC. We're in a relationship, so Erin can't cheat on me."

"Like I said, how can you be so sure?"

My mouth clamped shut at her question. Erin couldn't do that to me. I haven't done anything against her, anyway! "I don't know."