petrichor

Nice to Meet You

Lena

In the car, Lena tuned to the radio to her favorite station. She hummed to the song playing while doing a little dance. Though for Aris, the voices on the radio sounded gibberish, but he enjoyed the noise all the same. To annoy Lena, Aris sang a little tune, but loudly and off key.

He purposely made his voice louder every second so he could see Lena's disgusted face when he glanced at her. It worked pretty well, because her sister immediately reacted to it like she was being exorcised, making faces and squirming uncontrollably in her seat.

It was only a short ten minute drive from school to Claire's. Aris parked in front of the cafe and paid for the parking meter while Lena raced inside, going to grab a seat before it got crowded. Once inside, she was immediately greeted by the warm atmosphere and fragrant aroma of cakes and pastries. "Take the seat by the window." ordered Aris, he was already behind Lena.

They walked to the ordering table and ordered their food. Aris paid for Lena's hot chocolate and cheese croissant and his own sandwich and milkshake. Once they were seated, they sat in silence while enjoying their food. "Hey!" Aris exclaimed, Lena had unexpectedly took a slurp out of his drink, "I said not to take my food!" Lena stuck her tongue out. "I know, but you didn't say drink." Aris looked at her annoyed, Really? his face read.

BOOP! it was another message from Lena's phone, it was from Pandora.

😻 Pandora 😍: Hey Lena, where are you? Can I come to your place?

Lena: I'm at Claire's
Lena: sure :)

"Who's that you're talking to?" Aris asked, "a boy?" Lena shook her head. "Bold of you to assume I even talk to people." she replied. "It's a friend, she's asking me where I am." Aris nodded and took a bite of his food. "From school? You said you never talk to people." he said with his mouth full. "Yeah, but she's different. Not like the others." Lena denied, she saw Aris chewing with his mouth open. "Oh, ew! Close it!" she exclaimed grossly.

"Okay, so how did you guys met?" Aris asked curiously, like he was interviewing her. Lena wanted to reply with "Oh we met in the bus and said that I look lonely all the time so she wanted to accompany me so I won't be lonely all the time and then we became friends and then she invited to join her so called support group so that I'd have more friends and can finally stand up for myself."

But instead she just said, "Oh, in the school bus. And then we started talking and such." but she didn't. She didn't want her brother to know about herself getting bullied or about Rebecca. Lena never told a single soul regarding her daily life in school, she didn't want anybody to worry about her.

They both ate their food in silence. Lena savoured every bite of her croissant, unlike Aris who snarfed down his sandwich in five bites. The way the warm pastry felt in her mouth and the salty aftertaste that the cheese left made it even more delicious, and what's more, her brother was the one paying for it.

Ten minutes later, someone came up to their table and greeted them. "Hi, Lena!" the person said cheerfully—it was Pandora, looking pretty as ever with her hair in braids and her backpack slung over her shoulder.

Lena smiled back. "Hey, thought you'd never come." she replied. Suddenly, Aris stood up from his chair and offered Pandora a seat. "Hey, take a seat." he said nicely as he pulled a chair from the table near them. "Oh, yeah, sure." Pandora nodded.