Misstaken ✓ | #Wattys2019

11. h i m

I held my breath when I walked into the room.

After getting my hair done, squeezing into a fancy dress, and changing my character to a more refined one, I reappeared in front of Nick as Zara.

For a second, I wondered if he would realize I was Emma. Or at least hesitate for a moment..?

However, there wasn't any confusion when he saw me. He seemed to simply accept me as Zara, and saw me as her. For some reason, it made me disappointed.

I sat down as gracefully as I could onto the tatami mat. We were at an izakaya, in a private room this time.

"I'm surprised you actually agreed to this place. I thought you'd fret about sitting on the floor." He pointed out.

Ugh. I had enough of seeming suspicious to him all the time. Plus, I was already mad... not at him, but at myself. What was with all this weird thinking lately?

"I didn't expect it to be on the floor, literally."

Maybe that wasn't the best excuse. Zara Abigail, arguably the person with the most international experience, should obviously know what the place entailed. Even Emma knew what that was. Thankfully, Nick let me off this time.

"Had a bad day?"

Secretly, I wondered how Zara could ever be mean to him. Sure, this boy really knew how to bicker, but that was on the condition that none of us meant it. He was a really understanding person, and maybe I could see how Zara could have manipulated him.

I shook my head. "It's nothing." I took a sip of green tea, which was careless of me. The tea was piping hot and I stumbled, in a way that was extremely not becoming of upper class individuals.

I was just worried about telling him the truth at the end of the meal. I was anxious that he wouldn't take it well.

"So, where did you go today? Cleo told me you had something on before this." I said quickly to cover it up.

Nick was watching me curiously, but he answered anyway. "I went to a lab today. It's for my university exchange thing. And guess what? Apparently the girl I met was taking up a research project about... my condition."

I didn't know which was sadder — the look he had when he admitted to his prosopagnosia, or the possibility that he went out with me for lunch just because he knew I was the one in charge of the project, and maybe that was a reason to get to know me. It wasn't out of pure curiosity.

But I had absolutely no reason to care.

"And how was she like?" I asked, anticipating his answer. Gosh, it was driving me crazy...

His eyes lit up a little. "She's a great person. Genuine, kind, and..." He looked at his hand, and I could have sworn that was where I touched him from across the table when he opened up about his story.

Did he really remember the exact place I touched?

"I was thinking of asking her out, actually."

The teacup fell from my hands. Did he just say... he would ask Emma out? The real me, the boring and so-not-elite Emma?

He passed a napkin to me anxiously. "Sorry, was that weird of me to say in front of you?"

"No, not that. But why are you... interested in her?"

"What do you mean?"

Right. I was being stupid. "Nevermind, forget I asked. I get that you're probably going out with her just to screw around—"