Among the Stars [BxB]

xiii

[Lucian]

"I like Reynold Grey."

There it was again. That odd smirk of hers.

Her eyes seemed different somehow. 

Darker. 

I tried very hard to ignore the growing aching in my heart, focusing on Vivian who was watching my every move closely like a hawk.

It was like a predator toying with its prey. It felt exactly like that. 

But I knew Vivian wasn't like that. She's a nice girl.

I can't be mad at her for having feelings for Reynold. He wasn't mine. And he would never be. 

"I-Is that so?" was all I could muster up.

She replied with a short 'yup', popping the 'p'. She continued digging into her bowl of ice cream. I could feel her watchful eyes on me again, but I tried to ignore it and focused on eating my own ice cream. It made me feel frightened to have her watch me like that...

 We went through our time eating our portions of ice cream, the silence eating away at me from within like a parasite. 

She had finally finished her bowl, and I was a few scoops from finishing mine. At this point, she was just observing me closely with her fingers intertwined resting on the table. I felt extremely uncomfortable. I mean who wouldn't! Imagine some new girl just watching you finish your ice cream...

I don't know how the atmosphere had shifted from cheery to this awkward tension between us.

Vivian's face had morphed into a darker one as well. It just seemed too weird for me. I wasn't exactly the best at socialising but I know for sure I didn't do anything to make her upset.

"Do you think you could help me, Lucian?" Vivian asked as she handed me a tissue to wipe my mouth.

Thanking her, I hastily wiped my mouth of any remnants of chocolate ice cream. "With what exactly?"

Vivian seemed to ponder over it for a few seconds before her eyes lit up. She was clapping her hands excitedly. There was the usually chipper Vivian. 

"Help me to get together with Reynold Grey!" She asked in a hyper tone. 

I didn't know how to react except to choke slightly on the cup of plain water I was drinking from. I had to help her get together with Rey?!

I was basically staring at her with widened eyes that looked like they would jump out of my eye sockets any moment.

She smiled at me, waiting for an answer. 

★・・・・・・★

The next day, I was having lunch at the rooftop with Bolt and Rose. I wanted to invite Vivian and Violet but Vivian was caught up with a teacher and Violet didn't seem all too interested. Despite that, Bolt, Rose, and I bought our food and brought it packed to the rooftop. 

We sat down by the tall metal fences that surrounded the rooftop. The wind embraced us gently as we stretched our legs out. Dead leaves swirled around us, carried by the rhythm of the wind. 

It was peaceful being up here. And with the right company? Even better than it already is. 

As we opened our packaged food, I began filling them in on what happened on my day out with Vivian as Rose had asked where I went after school yesterday.

After going over the more important details like Vivian's feelings and request from me, Bolt and Rose were just staring at me. They had completely stopped in their movements like malfunctioning robots with their jaws dropped so low it looked like it would drop to the ground any second.