TIME: Mark Tuan edition

Chapter 8

A car's alarm had brought me out of my daze as I shook my head and shivered from the cold air. Every part of me was freezing. My teeth chattered as I quickly jogged into my room. I shut the balcony doors and locked them. I heard chatter outside and found my door open. I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it over my head and around my body. I knew I had to walk out but I was scared to face everyone. I tip-toed down the hallway and peeked into the room. Lucky for me Jen was the one who saw me first.

"I have to use the restroom, excuse me." She excuses herself from the group and nobody thinks more of it. She stands and I hide behind the corner waiting for her to come. Once she's by me I grab her hand and lead her into the bathroom and she locks the door behind her. "Okay, spill."

I don't talk at first as I still shiver from the cold. She turns on the bathroom heater and rubs my arms to help me warm up.

"Did you stand outside all this time?" She asks and I nod as much as I could. "Aww my poor baby!"

"L-let's sit." I close the toilet lid and she sits on that as I sit on the edge of the tub. We stay seated quietly until I stop shivering. I pull down the blanket to my shoulders and pull it tightly around my body.

"So did he actually kiss you?" She asks me. I nod.

"Yeah. But it wasn't even for a second," I tell her.

"Did you want it to last longer?" She asks me but I quickly shake my head. "Why?"

"It was weird. I mean my best friend just kissed me! How am I suppose to recover from that? I can't face him, not after that," I tell her. I bite my lip as I think about it.

"He seemed quite happy when he came back. He didn't say much but told us that you guys kissed. He's acting pretty normal out there," she tells me. "If your wondering about him, he was being protective and is kind of on him for kissing you."

I nod and smile at her as she knows exactly what's on my mind. I guess there's a few who know me better than I do.

"Are you okay? Honestly?" She puts a comforting hand on my shoulder, waiting for me to respond.

"I guess. Can I sit by you and the girls when we go out?" I ask her and she quickly agrees. She smiles at me before flushing the toilet and washing her hands. She takes my hand and opens the door. I shut the light and the heater off and follow her.

"Look who I found!" She announces as we walk in. Greetings were made but I didn't look up. I quickly walked by her and we sat down. She was on my right and Cassidy was on my left. Lara was on the other side of Cassidy.

I could feel many pairs of eyes on me but I continued to look down at my hands as I fiddled with the tag on the blanket.

"Can we have food? We're all hungry. We haven't eaten since the pizza we had earlier." I hear Jackson ask.

"I can make something," I say with a small voice. I drop the blanket and walk towards the kitchen not looking up at them once. I pull out tofu and vegetables and turn on the stove. I put a little bit of butter and pour the vegetables into the pan after it heats up. I pour a little bit of tofu and wait for it to start browning. I take a spoon and start to stir the food. I lower the fire and take out some soy sauce. I pour a little onto the spoon and spread it around the dish. I stir a bit more and pour a bit more. Once everything is nicely seasoned I take it off the stove and put it into a big black square bowl. I then place the pan back into the stove and put some rice onto it. With the left over sauce and added sauce, I make fried rice. I sprinkle garlic salt and then stir. I turn off the stove and pour the rice into another big black square bowl. I put the pan into the sink and take out a bag from the fridge. I open the bag and take out a big white square bowl. I pour the greens into the bowl and take out some croutons and sprinkle it on top. I pull out some chicken breast and chop it up on a cutting board and put it in the bowl. I take out the balsamic dressing and drizzle it on top before placing it on the dinning table between the other two dishes. I go back to the kitchen to take out seven black and seven white plates. I place them around the table making as much room as possible. I go into the outside closet and pull out some folding chairs and place it in between the dark wood chairs that match the table. I still needed some chairs so I took four of the plates and brought it to the breakfast bar where there were stools.