The Game Called Love

Half of Me

Alice sat by the regular seat on the bus, watching Luca as he clambered up the steep stairs and fell into the seat beside her, panting. Alice smiled at him.

"Did you run all the way here?" She asked, motioning to the entrance of the school. Luca nodded, heaving and wheezing. "Was it because I told you to hurry up?" Alice inquired, looking straight at Luca for his answer. He nodded, breathing normally now and stared back at her, his gaze never wavering as the bus lurched to life, its engine breathing heavily.

She turned back to the window, trying to hide her embarrassment while in her peripheral vision, saw Luca faintly smiling as he scooted little by little towards her, before leaning on her shoulder. Alice smiled as she breathed in Luca's familiar and comforting scent of lemon and vanilla, leaning on his head. She hummed a little tune, making Luca laugh slightly as she jumped in shock of the speed bump that the bus just went on. Her ears were pointed straight and her tail hairs were frizzled from the surprise.

She frowned at the boy's enjoyment of her scared expression. "Luca, it wasn't that funny!" Alice scolded him, annoyed that he was still laughing. "B-but y-you s-should've seen t-t-the look on y-your face!" Luca managed to say, the rest of his words were all gibberish to Alice as she rolled her mismatched eyes.

"You don't have to laugh that hard." She said, annoyed with Luca as she hmpfed and looked away from him. Luca stopped laughing and smirked at Alice, putting his arm around her and tickling her in her sides. "L-Luc-Luca, s-st-sto-stop it!" She cried out as Luca attacked her with his quick hands.

He let out a maniacal laugh. "Say that you're not annoyed! Say it!" Luca demanded, continuing to tickle her sides. Alice kept laughing until there was tears in her eyes. "N-never!" She managed to say, still laughing.

"Then," Luca stopped tickling her and raised his hands once more, "You get divine punishment!"

Alice's eyes widened. "Noooo!" She dramatically said, "Not divine punishment!" Then they both broke out into laughter. "D-did you see the look on your face?" Luca asked her, "it looked super funny!"

"Noo, because my eyeballs can't see my face because they're inside my head!" Alice replied, making Luca laugh even more. They both smiled at each other afterwards, staring into each other's eyes until Luca looked away, squirming.

Alice looked at him, tilting her head towards him, "What's wrong, Luca?"

"Ummmm..... How should I say this? Um, are you free on Saturday night?" Luca inquired, his face full of hope. "Uh, yeah? I guess so, but on Saturday, I have to do laundry and help my siblings with their homework... So I guess I could do that during the day.." Alice replied, before saying, "Why is there something going on?"

"Yes," Luca said, smiling widely, "We're going on a date~!" Alice's cheeks reddened. "D-date?! I don't know if I have the clothes and where are we going? I think I might be embarrassing if I wear my shabby jeans to a restaurant and-"

Luca cut her off, cheekily smiling like a little kid. "It'll be a surprise where we're going. But you can wear something comfortable and easy to put on... Sooo, will you go with me?"

Alice smiled. "Yes, I will." She give him a kiss on the cheek as the bus stopped, signaling for her to leave. Alice stood up. "So, I'll see you on Saturday?" She asked, looking at Luca for confirmation. Luca smiled, "Yeah, Saturday!"

"Then it's a deal." Alice put her pinky finger up and Luca did the same and they interlock their fingers together, gazing at each other before Alice had to move. She waved good bye and Luca waved back until she disappeared onto the street and the bus took off, leaving Alice and other students behind.