#liz asher | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gard3nias · 2 months ago

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14| From five to ten

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wc: 11.44k

date: 21/09/2024

mdi // masterlist // playlist

—Now playing: Nobody by Jeon Soyeon, Winter, Liz (IVE) ✫

The air was fresh and the environment peaceful. The gym doors were slammed closed as they went to the gates that soon opened when the bell rang and pierced through the silence.

Since the weather was gradually getting chillier, hoodies became thicker. Daphne was wearing an oversized pebble-coloured one, dropping almost to mid-thigh and covering most of her hands. Her legs were clad in the jean material of her pants which got wider as they inched closer to her ankles. Her feet, in a pair of old sneakers and her hair, loosely flowing with the wind. She had something slightly more colourful underneath the hoodie but it was too fresh outside and, with it on, her outfit matched her mood so well.

The classes were officially over for the day and students were soon flocking around town going home or hanging out. Daphne and her friends didn’t stop at the terminal to wait for the bus nor was any of their parents there to pick them up. Their first stop was the nearby mall.

The day was very bright thanks to the reflection of the sun's rays through the white clouds. The five friends fully occupied the sidewalk as they approached their destination. Daphne and Cleo were walking right behind Asher with their arms linked and tailing them were Nick and James. Asher was leading the way. Cleo, Nick and James were playing around as usual, trying to include Daphne but she was rather silent, occasionally smiling very lightly. They noticed that but what could they really do?

Soon they were turning on their right to a wide opening where escalators were placed one next to the other. Some went upstairs, others went downstairs. Following Asher’s lead, they went downstairs to the supermarket. To follow through with the boy’s plan, they had to get themselves everything needed for a picnic for which he quickly created a list as they made their way there.

Unlike two months ago, when the sliding doors of the mall opened, the air inside wasn’t noticeably colder but rather the same. Ceiling lights reflected on the tiles and music played through speakers. The mall wasn’t too crowded so the teenagers soon moved to walking on the same line. James, next to Asher and Nick, next to Cleo. Daphne was in the middle subtly feeling out of place.

“Hey, do you think I’m missing anything?” Asher was speaking directly to James, placing his phone in his view. The first word on the list was ‘picnic blanket’. Then came all the ingredients needed to make sandwiches which Asher explained were better because they couldn’t buy hot food like pizza. The list went on with other things and James ended up not adding anything so Asher moved the question to the others.

“We’re going for a picnic?” Daphne’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. This wasn’t the hang-out she was convinced to have agreed to. She was expecting something more… lowkey.

“Do y’all want anything else?” Asher ignored her question and insisted. Cleo simply stated they’d eventually remember everything as they shopped.

As they did so, Daphne tried to wrap her head around how easily her friends were adjusting to Asher’s hang-out idea not knowing it was all a plan. Maybe she was just an overthinker but never in her life would she be able to organize a picnic for five in such a short time.

Her friends were going up and down the store with the little trolley picking food and other necessities, all unfazed so she decided to loosen up and go with the flow. The test didn’t go well for any of them so she couldn’t go on acting like she was the only one hurt—she could do that at home. Now, as they stated, the picnic is supposed to take her mind off it.

“I’m taking this Bluetooth speaker because, without it, it’d seem we’re at a funeral. Music is important, guys,” To Daphne’s surprise—mainly because she wasn’t focused for most of the time—her friends all had a trolley each that they were filling up so her head quickly spun around, hoping she’d just find an empty one abandoned in a corner.

“Y’all? What type of board games should I take?” James called, poking his head into the aisle his friends were in. “Impress me—”

“No, don’t. Just get some cards,” Asher immediately objected to Nick’s words and both the boys chuckled before moving on. Daphne obviously failed at finding an empty trolley so she had to share with Cleo who wasn’t bothered but rather excited. “I have this crazy idea. What if we bought the ingredients for sandwiches and then each of us prepared a customised one dedicated to the other? Creative, ain’t it?”

“Customised?” Cleo nodded, eyes glittering. Daphne just shrugged her shoulders, agreeing with her because she never would’ve come up with it anyway. And, why not?

“Okay then. You get the ingredients and I get the napkins and stuff.”

By the time they were done and at the cashier, the hour hand was minutes away from pointing at three. Knowing that Asher would be the one paying, they didn’t go overboard and all kept a tight budget in mind hence the refusal to buy extra bags for them to carry their goods. As the cashier handed the products out, they replaced them in the trolley and once done paying, they moved aside to place them in their school bags. Cleo ended up putting her things in Daphne’s backpack so hers could contain what they bought and the boys had to squeeze in a few in theirs.

Eventually, Cleo had to give her bag to the guys despite how confident she was about being able to carry it. The walk to the train station wasn’t too long, as calculated by Asher, and it did well for Daphne. Ever since she moved here, she’d never heard of a train station, let alone of going to it.

Minutes in, they were already walking out of the noisy town centre along a peaceful wide road. It wasn’t too busy allowing their eardrums to relax and vibrate less. The road seemed to trail in between the hills. Greenland was everywhere around them but there were just fields. Barely any trees in view.

A few more minutes passed before a familiar sound caught Daphne’s attention. Her friends were too distracted chit-chatting and even if they weren’t, it wouldn’t have bothered them as much since it’s not their first time. Daphne has already travelled by train a few times. Was very familiar with subways but she believed she wouldn’t see a train again unless she went to the city.

A train had just left from its platform heading to its next stop. The sound rumbled through the air, fading the farther it went. The station didn’t look new or as modern as some in the city nor was it not taken care of. It was cute, she thought. As cute and cosy as a countryside train station could be. It didn’t have steam trains obviously—too old—but it also didn’t have bullet-like trains that move at high speeds. Also, it wasn’t too busy, almost silent. Seemed like there was never a moment in the day when it couldn’t be.

“How many stops exactly?” Cleo’s question called for Daphne’s attention, pausing her little sightseeing moment. The station barely had any shelter in the form of a room. Had many glass doors and windows. One of the many forms of shelters was the one above their heads as they went up to a machine and bought their tickets.

Platform number two. Since they couldn’t do much to have her talk and put an end to the nerve-wracking silent show she’s been putting up, her friends proceeded, leading the way as they had their little conversation. Daphne didn’t mind at all because it allowed her to resume her previous activity. There were a few people at other platforms waiting for their train. Some were sitting, others were standing. She checked and, for the time being, there was no incoming train. Quickly, she focused on what was ahead of her so she wouldn’t roll down the stairs, pushing her friends to the same fate. The path leading to their platform crossed the railing from under the ground so they were soon climbing up another set of stairs.

The floor followed a brick pattern and was decorated with various drawings in different colours—the classic warning yellow line, for example. The majority of the platform was sheltered, with pillars shattered here and there along with a few street lamps.

They didn’t notice but the noise running across the station at the moment was from them. Only outsiders could. Exactly, when their train arrived, they boarded and left, the environment fell back into its normal state of silence.

They succeeded and made it to a seat before the train started moving. Three of them sat together in a set of four seats, face-to-face. Daphne sat next to the window. Asher on her right. She didn’t want to be mean but she was happy that he was the one sitting next to her because she knew that her silence would’ve killed Cleo who would’ve done anything to get her to speak or just react. With Asher sitting next to her, having a completely different personality from her curly-headed friend, she could proceed and observe her surroundings without feeling obliged to engage in any conversation for the sake of making someone feel good.

Indeed though, the view outside was very pretty. Stunning for someone like Daphne. While Cleo could only see the good in people, Daphne could see the good in nature. Appreciates every little thing it had—except insects. From this part of town, the sky seemed to have taken a different shape. The clouds were more scattered and seemed to have a firmer structure, crunchy. Right underneath them were chains of mountains in the distance crowned at the bottom by rows of trees, starting by being dense only to thin out and barely be present in the wide field through which the train drove. The railing next to their train was empty as no other one was passing by yet.

They weren’t running at full speed and the noise coming from the vehicle wasn’t bothering Daphne. It was rather calming, the type she’d gladly read to or even sleep to if she was on a long journey. She wasn’t though. According to Asher, they had to ride three stops to their destination but it wasn’t just that. They had to trek up to the hill where the exact spot was.

The seats in front of them welcomed two giggling friends, Cleo and Nick who were trying to hold back from laughing loudly like trumpets. Facing them was James and the seat next to him was occupied by all their bags. Daphne didn’t know how long it would take them to reach the first stop nor did she think about it too much when she dozed off to sleep, head slumping onto her friend’s shoulder. He didn’t mind, earphones plugged in to live an experience similar to the peacefulness of sleep—but also to not hear his noisy friends in the front.

—Now playing: Acquamarina by Ana Mena, Guè ✫

The day was sending messages. Signs here and there. Daphne didn’t know how far away she was from home. It was just far. The sky was different. The clouds weren’t compact but rather thick and dispersed around. The sky was a blend of cerulean and sapphire. The mountains were accordingly arranged: brown or green peaks in the forefront and white peaks in the back. At their feet were green valleys embellished by trees. Leaves moved and danced to the rhythm of the breeze along with the teenagers' hair and clothes.

The train had left, presenting to them a beautiful valley of green life behind it. The students didn’t pay it much mind, at least not as much as Daphne. Asher was on his phone again since he was the leader in the journey. James and Nick ran up to him and soon Cleo joined. Daphne was still in a corner, printing the image before her eyes in her memory, too lazy to take her phone out at the moment.

Once Asher had understood the map, he gestured for them to follow him and they did. Heavy bags on their backs and excitement in their guts. It seemed like they had travelled to a neighbouring town. The train station was even emptier than the one they came from. There was no one but them. Silence was the only welcoming element. They didn’t go down or up any staircase since the exit was on the same floor.

Once out, they were walking along an empty and wide tarmac road that slid through grassland. As they progressed further, the silence started wavering. They were approaching farms. The green field on their right was momentarily interrupted by a long fence while their eardrums vibrated to the bell ringing on a sheep’s neck. Another long fence before they found wide farmland occupied by a handful of horses munching at the grass. Daphne’s eyes sparkled when she recognized a foal amongst them. This time, her laziness didn’t get in her way as she reached for her phone and started taking pics. No one bothered or was bothered by her since she was the last in line. On her left was a two-story rural home. Right next to it, a little workshop and a little tractor.

After taking the pictures, she ran to catch up with her friends and they went on for another few minutes before they had to turn left onto a little path running through the grass. According to Asher’s guidelines, their destination was on a hill so it didn’t surprise her when they changed direction. In fact, she was happy because she saw a few pretty flowers on her way and encapsulated them in a picture with her phone.

For the time being, that disgusting red number in the top corner of her test wasn’t in her mind but happily replaced by a very pretty Daphne Odora peeking from someone’s compound.

The path wasn’t anything official, just a place where people walk on a regular basis. On their right was a wood fence, colour washed out from the atmospheric agents, running through a short bush of overgrown grass farmers couldn’t trim out with tractors. On their left were other green bushes causing them to be extra careful of where they placed their feet. Thankfully, it’s been quite long since it last rained and, since the path wasn’t of stone or muddy, it wasn’t dangerous.

They weren’t talking as much. Still made jokes but weren’t as loud, the calm environment wearing off on them. Daphne was still the last in the line, one hand on the shoulder strap of her bag and the other holding her phone, ready to take pictures. The more they went up, the more it got windy. Her curtain bangs were soon flying out of her face exposing her forehead further.

“We’re almost there,” Asher notified his friends, encouraging them not to give up. Behind the wood fence on their right was a flock of sheep. The animals were scattered around the wide field at their disposal. Some were munching at the grass, others were walking around and only a few noticed their presence, heads turning.

Peeking out a little, Daphne watched ahead of herself and checked how far they still had to go. She happily found out that the top of the hill was closer and, therefore, they were minutes, if not seconds, away from their destination.

“It’s right here!” Asher was gesturing in front of himself with a hand securing the strap of his backpack. Nick and James leaned further to look at where their friend was pointing. Cleo soon did the same, turning around to see what Daphne was up to. “Nice, ain’t it?” she asked her friend. Her friends’s eager nods were more than enough to answer her question. She stopped in her tracks, waiting for Daphne to walk up to her and, once she linked arms with her, they proceeded together.

“Like… where are we exactly?” Daphne immediately verbalised her curiosity. Her head spun around, eyes moving in all directions trying to catch every little detail in her surroundings. Cleo casually explained that they were in a little neighbouring village composed mainly of farms, as they could see. It was the right place to find some peace and calm. As she answered, she noticed her friend’s face morph into a little smile with almost sparkling eyes.

“You like it?” she asked. In the meantime, they had made it to the top of the hill.

“Yeah.” Daphne’s voice was soft and gentle, almost as much as the feeling seething into her bones as the breeze blew through her hair and the leaves whistled to the wind.

The chosen spot was marvellous, she thought to herself. It gave them a very great view of the little village. They could see the flock of sheep they passed by minutes earlier, how the path they’d just walked on harmoniously swirled through the green land up to the road from where they entered, where the sky ended and the mountains began and how valleys decorated the neighbouring hills.

“This place is really nice. How did you discover it?” Her backpack was sitting on the grass, easing her shoulders of its weight. She wasn’t sitting yet because Nick and James were still spreading the picnic blanket. Her question was addressed to Asher who was busy rummaging through his bag. “I come here sometimes with my family. Yeah… it’s really nice.” He was glad that she appreciated it. Glad that her face showed a different emotion. Glad that she didn’t have a rainy cloud above her head anymore pouring down on her hair, soaking her hair, her clothes and her shoes making everything feel as soggy as her mood used to be.

Daphne was still nodding her head in agreement as she stretched her body to ease her muscles of the uncomfortable contracted feeling. The weather wasn’t as chilly here so when the zip of her hoodie slipped down on its own, she didn’t feel the need to pull it up enjoying the soft and almost inexistent feeling of the breeze hitting her skin.

James and Nick were soon done placing the little blanket properly, securing the corners with their bags. Once instructed to take their shoes off before going on the cloth, they finally settled down. Groans and sighs of exhaustion glided along with the breeze.

“Wow!” Cleo was laying flat on the blanket, head on James’s lap and feet squeezed under Daphne’s thigh. “Asher, how long have you been coming here?” she questioned. The respondent calmly explained that it was a spot he’d just recently discovered with his family but it was still enough for his friends to accuse him of gatekeeping beautiful things from them. He rolled his eyes. They laughed, Daphne included. “How many more things do you know you ain’t telling us?” Nick began, “No, I’m just asking ‘cause maybe the next thing we know is that you have a secret garden of sweets or a chocolate fountain in the backyard, I don’t know.” The teenagers laughed while Asher jokingly promised to tell them whenever that would happen.

—Now playing: Glue Song by Beabadoobee ✫

James’s rumbling stomach brought him back to reality as he called for them to bring out the food. “I’m famished, not gonna lie.” Cleo immediately sat up and she quickly proceeded to express the idea she’d shared with Daphne at the mall. In the meantime, the friend made herself comfortable, bringing her legs up against her chest, arms secured around them and her chin resting on her knees.

“Cool!” James applauded the idea. Nick was silent and focused on understanding. Asher already did and soon complied. “But hey! Before y’all do anything, better wash your dirty and filthy hands!” Cleo’s warning was clear but not the way of going about it.

“Ooh, yeah. You’re so right and correct,” Asher’s tone was sarcastic. Cleo knew this but she didn’t know why he was sarcastic to begin with. “What?” her question was answered with the same question. Asher was confused as to why she didn’t understand what he was referring to.

“What ‘what’?” she insisted, brows almost meeting in the centre of her glabella. He rolled his eyes and proceeded to explain: “You said ‘dirty’ and ‘filthy’ which mean the same thing as if you were saying ‘dirty and dirty hands’. You know what I mean—”

“No, Asher. What the fuck?” James and Daphne were laughing at Cleo’s expression of bewilderment because she obviously didn’t think anyone would’ve ever pointed out something like that. “Since you said that, I tried to make you understand your little mistake—”

“Asher!” Her friends were wholeheartedly laughing, finding them both hilarious. The guy for pointing out such a meaningless mistake—if one could even call it a mistake at all—and the girl for having such an iconic reaction—she looked like a mother in distress after a long day taking care of her naughty toddlers. “I’m too mentally exhausted for this shit, Asher.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just wanted to let you know—”

“I don’t care! Let me speak however I want. I could even speak gibberish for all I care. It’s called freewill Mr Know-It-All,” Asher couldn’t take his friend seriously since it wasn’t the first time he was teasing her like that by pointing out insignificant mistakes like this. All of them just like seeing her reactions.

“And anyways… One is just an exaggeration of the other,” she proudly returned to the topic, thinking of her statement as a great way to shut her friend up. “Still doesn’t make sense because it’d mean someone could say ‘bad‘ and ‘worst’ in the same sentence just because the latter is an exaggeration—”

“Okay, okay. Shut up. I get it. All I wanted to say was for y’all to wash your hands. Sorry if the message came across wrongly.” The words came out through gritted teeth to a giggling Asher. Daphne had just recently joined this preexistent group of friends and every living moment she spent with it brought her to discover new things about each of the components and she loved it. Loved how they made her catch up on all those years spent without a friend before Margot. All those years spent without a real friend. Within a month, she felt like she’d lived multiple lives, not just days. Not just simple and friendly hangouts but lifelong experiences and golden memories to secure in a box with a padlock and a key.

“How the fuck would we wash our hands?” James’s question came once he realized there was no fountain around them to supply them with natural water.

“I don’t know. We could use some out of the ones we bought.” Cleo’s suggestion made Nick’s eyes bulge out as he firmly stated he was so against the use of drinkable water in such way. Cleo just rolled her eyes, claiming it not to be a big deal—especially after her little teasing with Asher. Nick insisted they didn’t but Cleo didn’t want to eat with filthy hands so their banter went on till Daphne stepped in and suggested they wash their hands with the water in her personal bottle. The two friends quieted down thinking about the proposal. Nick wanted to object again because it was still drinkable water but once Daphne explained it was a bit old and she hadn’t drank even a drop of it that day, they both complied and they washed hands with the water.

“You see? I won,” Cleo boasted as she washed her hands. Asher held the bottle for her, chuckling. Could she ever lose? Nick squinted his eyes, annoyed. He had already washed his hands and while he was looking for a way to dry them off, a thought crossed his mind. He immediately acted to it and sprinkled water on Cleo’s proud face. She squealed, cussed him out and called him a sore loser while he just ran off, laughing.

They gave each other some time and started preparing the custom-made sandwiches as Cleo had proposed. They didn’t have a huge bank of ingredients to choose from but just a range going from cheese to ham. They bought two types of cheese: Alpine-style, the classic yellow cheese from ‘Tom and Jerry’, and creamy cheese. The ham, or better, the meat, was of various types—the only field where they went in large: baked and raw ham, sausage, salami and mortadella. The last range of ingredients was the veggies where one could find cucumbers, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes and onions. The ingredients were few so they didn’t have enough time to give each ingredient a hidden meaning behind it but it didn’t bother them, especially someone like Cleo who started shaping some in certain ways, almost to impersonate the person the sandwich is dedicated to.

Nick and James were the first to finish and soon Asher joined them. Daphne and Cleo, especially the latter, were getting creative with it. The first one was thinking about the hidden meanings while the second was manipulating the sandwiches. In the meantime, the three boys spent agonizing minutes looking at the preparation of their lunch but the more time passed, the more it seemed the sandwiches would never get in between their teeth.

Before any of them could complain, Daphne was done with her sandwiches and joined the train of people waiting for their lunch. Cleo looked up for a split second and chuckled seeing all of them look at her like she was withholding their freedom.

“Like… when do you intend to finish?” The first question was laid out by James. Asher joined right after promising she could get all creative at his place since they could recreate it with cookies. She agreed and wanted to get into details about what they could do if they actually baked cookies but her friends immediately interrupted her so she could quickly finish the sandwiches. Don’t play with hungry people, they say.

After more agonizing minutes of James and Nick praying for Cleo to wrap it up, Asher sighing in one corner and Daphne laughing in the other, Cleo was finally done, excited to explain the meanings to them.

“Oh, shit. You’ve got! To be kidding me! We also have to explain the meaning?” Nick was on the brink of tears. “Yeah. Why do you think they’re custom-made?” James was baffled, Daphne was laughing and Asher seemed out of it. Nick was still on the brink of tears.

“I’ll start!” Asher raised his hand and brought his creations forward, four distinct sandwiches. “Make it quick.”

“This one is for Daphne. Tomatoes, Alpine-style cheese, lettuce, mortadella and cucumbers. Nothing too extra or complicated because I think you’re a simple person with simple needs. I don’t mean it in any bad way. I just think you’re simple with a lot to offer just like the taste of this awesome sandwich.” He explained, smiling and winking. Daphne mirrored his expression, accepting the sandwich in her hands and thanking him.

“This one is for Mr Bigback. The ingredients are self-explanatory.” The sandwich he handed to Nick was on the brink of collapsing as it was stuffed with every single ingredient they’d bought. Nick didn’t complain but rather joyfully welcomed the food in his hands, pupils expanding and stomach rumbling in preparation. “One bite from this and I’ll see heaven. When can we start eating—”

“When we all have our food. Don’t you know the etiquette?”

“Cleo, I’m so sorry. I must have missed where it said that one has to make customised sandwiches for her friends and watch them die of hunger!” Cleo laughed and playfully hit his shoulder but he didn’t budge neither did his eyes from the sandwich.

“This one is for James. A regular fat sandwich with fewer ingredients than Nick’s but the spreadable cheese is important because while you seem like a normal extroverted kid, there’s a little shiness to you that one can’t notice unless they look a bit more carefully just like the barely noticeable cheese on the bread.” James was confused. Was smiling still but was confused nonetheless. Even in ten years to come, sick or with Alzhemeir, he would never define himself as shy even in the slightest. He didn’t question it though, assuming it was just Asher being Asher. Daphne, on the other end, understood where the reasoning came from.

“And, purposely kept for last…”

“Oh, fuck you—”

“Cuss me out and you ain’t eating.” He warned, Cleo’s eyes rolling to the sky as a response. “I put only warm-coloured ingredients because it’s the tone of colours that suit you, look and personality-wise.” Cleo smiled, cheeks swelling as she took the sandwich and placed it on her plate.

The next person up, voluntarily offering himself since his friends were feeling shy and ignorant that his stomach was brewing gastric juices waiting to consume his food but was now consuming his insides, was Nick. His explanations were quick: he dedicated to Daphne a sandwich made with avocado, lettuce, Alpine-style cheese and baked ham believing that, judging by the cover, avocado and lettuce aren’t a great choice and so was Daphne's apparent boring lifestyle but, just like the avocado enriches one’s body, so does Daphne’s love for reading and studying enrich her and the people around her. Cleo’s sandwich was similar to Asher’s but he made a happy face with the cheese, the tomatoes and the lettuce inspired by the friend’s constant smile. His sandwich for Asher was filled with onions and avocado and very little meat mirroring how annoying Asher could get sometimes. It dragged a laugh out of everyone. James’s sandwich was filled with meat and very little spreadable cheese which didn’t hold the same meaning Asher had conveyed into it with his but still spiked James’s curiosity.

Cleo’s customised sandwiches were self-explanatory since she didn’t opt for hidden meanings behind the ingredients but let her creativity run free as she forged a little thing with the food. In fact, she made a little daisy with lettuce and the alpine-style cheese.

James’s sandwiches were the laziest-looking ones. He barely put any thought behind them because he was starving and wanted to get it over it. He filled up Nick’s sandwich because he had to. It’s Nick’s. Cleo’s sandwich was his favourite sandwich recipe: tomatoes, spreadable cheese, baked ham and lettuce. He believed those ingredients together merged and created a very delicious taste he equated to Cleo’s lovely and bubbly personality. They didn’t know but Asher and Daphne shared a few glances recalling the conversation they had at Cleo’s place. He too gave great importance to onions when making Asher’s sandwich: almost as if he wanted to get back at it for something, he filled the sandwich with onions and cucumbers and just a thin slice of Alpine-style cheese to show his love for his friend. Asher simply shrugged, claiming he was just eating healthy.

Lastly, came Daphne. “This one is for Cleo. I put lots of tomatoes because they’re fruits which grow during summer—”

“Tomatoes are fruits?” James’s whisper interrupted her and she rolled her eyes when Asher smacked his friend to shut up. “They grow during summer and I think you shine as bright as the sun in that season but, other than that, I think tomatoes have a sweet undertone that we don’t necessarily notice unless we’re specifically eating small tomatoes and that goes to symbolise how you notice the good where common people can’t. It’s a peculiarity that makes you stand out. That’s what I believe.” As her sentence inched closer to its end so did the volume of her voice because she grew shy at the utter silence surrounding her. They were all looking at her, listening to every word slipping out of her mouth. She could feel her cheeks gaining a temperature of their own, higher than her body’s but she couldn’t see if they were also getting redder. She hoped they didn’t and pushed through.

Her voice was still tender and low when she began describing the next sandwich. “The next sandwich is Asher’s. I know. At first, it looks plain and it’s not a way to get back at you for the one you made for me. I’m not even offended in the slightest nor was it even made to make me feel like that. I just think that you're strict and follow the rules, word for word so this sandwich is what came to my mind: lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and baked ham. A traditional sandwich recipe, a classic. Almost a rule everyone follows. The first sandwich that pops in your head, y’know.” Silence was still sitting there with them. Maybe leaning its head on Nick’s or James’s shoulder. They didn’t know. They couldn’t see it, just hear it.

“This one is for Nick. I think you have a very common personality and I’m trying to shame you because of that. I believe, though, that there’s a little twist to you for which the onions stand in contrast to the classic ingredients of a sandwich. You’re very outgoing and extroverted and that is what makes you ‘common’ but, just like in Cleo’s case, one thing does make you stand out, a little light that doesn’t shine too bright so it’s hard to notice it. It’s there, just a little hidden.” Daphne was looking at the sandwich before her as she described it so she couldn’t see how shy Nick got to her words. She couldn’t see that he’d just proven her words right. She, as well, was too shy but that everybody could see.

“I didn’t leave you for last for any evil reason. I ain’t like Asher,” she joked to ease the mood and have them make even the littlest noise so she wouldn’t start burning up wholly in timidity. “James, this one is yours. I think you’re the craziest out of us all hence the choice of ingredients. Onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce,” she checked the sandwich as she listed the ingredients, “Avocado, cheese and salami sound crazy at first, especially considered as a whole and that is where your craziness lies. But, despite all that, once you’re done exploring and coming out of your comfort zone, you still seek a form of familiarity, something that will allow you to step back into yourself, not fully but rather as a new version of yourself and that is why I added the salami. Can never go wrong with that, can you?” she softly chuckled at the rhetorical question unaware that James had mentally answered her question, agreeing.

“And that’s all.” She concluded and finally mustered up enough courage to look at her friends. Awkwardly laughing, she brought them out of their apparent trance and thanks to James’s cries for food, they gave in and ate.

—Now playing: Void by The Neighbourhood ✫

They didn’t check the time either when they arrived or when they started eating. The day had slowly changed and resembled a summer afternoon. Temperatures surprisingly went up allowing them to take off a few layers and stay in their short-sleeved shirts.

Her pebble-coloured hoodie was set aside on the blanket while Daphne lied down on it, writing in her journal. Not being a big fan of high-waisted pants, she was wearing a pair of mid-rise jeans and a moss baby tee with pine-coloured sleeves. Her movement was limited because Cleo rested her head on the back of her thigh, peacefully relaxing and feeling her lungs with the fresh and natural air of the environment. Her sweater sat next to Daphne’s and only a brown tank top and a pair of high-waisted black jeans dressed her. Toes clad in the soft cloth of her socks. Right beside them was Asher’s sleeping figure. It wasn’t a deep sleep, just a quick power nap. Away from them, with a hand in their pockets, were Nick and James having their break in a different: while Cleo filled her lungs with good air, they were polluting theirs with cigarettes. All this happened to the soft rhythm of a song playing from their Bluetooth speaker.

“So far so good, huh?” James spoke softly before drawing toxic air from the cigarette. At first, Nick was confused but he soon got the cue and agreed, nodding his head. Their position was strategic in order for the breeze to not blow the smell of cigarettes upon their resting friends a few feet away.

“I feel like she’s good. She’s journaling. The sandwich idea of Cleo went well. Yeah… I believe she’s feeling better.” They remained in silence for a bit, eyes unconsciously closing to the comfortable feeling the environment placed into them.

“Man, I felt so bad when she took that paper. If I remember clearly, I think she literally paled up a bit—”

“Yeah and when she asked to go to the bathroom, her voice sounded almost robotic. Only God knows what happened in the bathroom. I hope she just cried and didn’t have… like… I don’t know… a panic attack or maybe threw up.” James was being sincere with his words. He, just like the rest of them, saw how dedicated Daphne was to her studies. It literally explained why Cleo kept telling them she was very smart when she newly came. He admired her and her discipline, wishing to be similar even just a bit. He’s self-diagnosed himself with ADHD because of his lack of focus but it was a wrong diagnosis because he wasn’t fidgety or restless. He just looked having fun and had a very low attention span. But he also diagnosed Daphne with slight OCD when it came to school. Yeah, his type of fun was observing people whenever he wasn’t busy playing or going crazy and connecting their main personality features to a psychological diagnosis.

He strongly believed that with a determination like Daphne’s one could never fail. He didn’t perform well academically. Scratch that! He sucked at school and he was fully aware. The fault was fully on him and his lack of self-discipline and concentration but he couldn’t help it. He’d be lying if he said Daphne wasn’t washing off on him bit by bit just as Asher had claimed before.

He’d seen it happen to Cleo, the person around her the most. Having Daphne being so studious and always busy educating herself made the friend want to do the same. At first, he believed it was something entirely depending on Cleo and her need to always have something in common with her friends but when it started happening to him, especially after the school project they worked on together, he realised it was all Daphne.

So when he saw her face that morning as she collected that cursed piece of paper from Mr Keeley, his guts dropped to his feet too. Firstly, if the best person in class fails the test, a lacklustre student like him is doomed. Secondly, because of all the effort he saw Daphne put into her studies in order to achieve a good mark, such a result cleared everyone off their feet. He’d heard how well she was repeating the topic to Asher and he was a hundred per cent convinced she would’ve aced the test. He literally was waiting for the entrance of someone who’d clear Asher off his self-made throne but that didn’t happen and he wanted to know why. More specifically, he wanted to know how come. What happened?

For those questions to have their corresponding answers, he’d have to speak with Daphne but he’d rather see her happy and peaceful right now than dead-looking like in the morning.

“I don’t think so. At least, that’s what I believe but let’s just forget about it right now.” Nick was calm. Had finished smoking his cigarette—James, right after—and felt in need to drink some water. As they approached the blanket, the music got louder. Daphne was still journaling, Cleo lying with her eyes closed and Asher was asleep.

“Y’all finally done?” Cleo spoke without opening her eyes. Nick answered with a rhetorical question once he was done drinking and purposely sprinkled water on her face when she cussed him out for his sarcasm.

“Guys, come on,” Daphne whined, checking if water drops had stained her journal. On the other side, James was explaining that the sole culprit was Nick so there was no need for plurals.

“Cleo, let’s get revenge.” Asher was still lying on the blanket but his sleep was disturbed because of Nick’s unfunny prank. Without needing to be told twice, Cleo got up and started wearing her shoes. “Guys! I said that the sole fucking culprit is dickhead-Nick—”

“Hey, who the fuck are you calling a dickhead—”

“Shut the fuck up. Cleo’s crazy and even crazier when there’s Asher. Hey, brother,” he referred to Asher, “I love you.”

“Oh, my God. Are you coming out to us, James? That’s so lovely—”

“Daph shut the fuck up!” the girl was laughing at her friend’s frustration, finding it hilarious how scared he seemed. The relationship between her friends exceeded a normal friendship. They behaved like siblings. “Asher, we’ve been friends for…” he tried recalling the years and failed, “...ages. You know I would never do shit like this—”

“Oh, my God. It’s just water—”

“Daphne!” he screamed before continuing. Daphne laughed even harder. “I. Would. Never! I know what you like and don’t like—” Daphne couldn’t keep her laughing at bay and wondered how Asher really was when he wanted to ‘get revenge’ on her stubborn and naughty friends. Out of all of them, he was the most composed, almost had a fatherly figure in the group so seeing him behaving out of character was one hell of a show.

“But you would make me a sandwich with just onions and stink up my mouth.” He had made up his mind: his revenge would surely fall on James. “Bro, first, you had the choice to eat it or not—”

“The fuck are you saying? You’re not saving yourself that way.” Asher’s feet were secured in his shoes while Cleo was already running after Nick to whom James desperately pointed showing how the real culprit was already paying for their sins. “Asher! Come on, man.”

Daphne was laughing hard now, face into her journal and body softly shaking. She’d occasionally stop to look up and listen to their confrontation until Asher had had enough and started pursuing James who was ready and booked it.

Without noticing, they were soon playing hide and seek, giving Daphne more happy memories to encapsulate in letters in her journal. She sat up, crossed her legs and pinned a few of her strands to the back in order to write more comfortably. From time to time, a scream or a running figure past her would rip her attention off the journal.

She quickly tapped on the screen of her phone and checked the time seeing that the sun was already heading to set, painting the sky with warm colours like it was a painting from the Romantic Age, specifically William Turner’s ‘Sunset’. While in the painting, heaven and Earth seemed to merge into one continuous and colourful surface, the sky in front of her was the only uniform and colourful surface before the chain of mountains. The sun seemed to have lost every shape and melted into a simple soft scarlet stain. Those which were once its outlines had faded into lighter colours going from vermilion to coral to orange. Ultimately, the cold colours of the sky melted with the peach colours of the incoming sunset.

This view was so spectacular that Daphne regretted not having any coloured pencil with her to give life to the drawing sitting in the centre of her page. After trying to perfect her drawing skills, but lacking in the field, she finally closed the journal and set it aside. Her friends were still running around and the Bluetooth speaker was still playing music so she crawled to Nick’s phone which was connected to the device and screamed for him to tell her the pin so she could change the music.

Unfortunately, the answer she sought didn’t come so she had to simply skip songs till she found one she liked: ‘Void’ by The Neighbourhood. Eyes closed, arms resting along her sides, she swayed her head to the beat revelling in the fulfilling part of the song, the chorus.

A scream startled her and her eyes opened to look for the source. Before her, the tables had turned and who was once the seeker was now the fugitive: Nick had caught up to Cleo and he had her in a back hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning around causing the girl to scream louder and plead for him to drop her or, at least, stop spinning. Daphne smiled, deciding not to look into it too much despite finding it very cute.

“Daphne!” Someone yelled her name from beside her but before she could turn and see who it was, James threw himself on her like a child running away from an imaginary monster at night which, in his case, was Asher who was laughing very hard. The last time she saw him like that was at Cleo’s place after Nick’s extraordinary burp. So she decided to play the part.

“Oh, no. What happened?” she spoke with the tone of a loving mother. James insistedly pointed at Asher like a kid, whining and accusing him of attempted murder by tickling. Daphne tried to hold her laugh and proceeded: “Oh, no. That’s so bad. You’re ticklish?” she asked. James, still lying against her and caged in her arms, nodded as in answer, “Where?” and he pointed at his side and his tummy without knowing that she wasn’t so different from who he was running away from.

“Daphne!” he screamed, trying to run away from her grasp but Asher caught him before he could succeed and his friends started bombarding him with tickles. At some point, he was confident he’d die but they stopped before anything as dramatic could happen. James slumped his body on Daphne's thighs like that of a fallen soldier and tried to catch his breath. Asher was doing the same beside him. “Never thought you’d betray me,” he huffed, addressing Daphne. She laughed again, leaning backwards on her hands.

“Shut up. Don’t try to accuse her but be thankful she was the same person who advised me to stop else I would’ve gone on till you shit your fucking pants.” James swiftly smacked Asher and he struck him back. Daphne, in between trying to break the fight between the two toddlers.

—Now playing: White Mustang by Lana Del Rey ✫

“Hey! Nobody is allowed to blow nasty raspberries in my presence!” she warned her childish friends. “Let’s change the music.” James got serious and grabbed Nick’s phone. Since he already knew the passcode, he opened it and looked for his desired song. “Put this one.” Daphne hurriedly pressed on the song against James’s wish and snatched the phone before he could change it. Her friend was confused because he barely had the time to register everything, especially when Daphne ran off making his head slump onto the blanket.

“Oh, come on. What’s this slow song?” he asked. Daphne gasped, feeling offended at his remark. “Hey! Have some respect! I love this song so fucking much.” Nick’s phone, tightly clutched in her hands.

“Yeah but I can’t dance to this,” he replied in an almost whiny voice. “Huh, you dance?” she laughed almost mockingly and he now was the one to gasp, “Hey, you have some respect! I got a few nice moves here,” and he got up and started break-dancing to the song, making Daphne and Asher burst in a fit of laughter. “Oh, my God. He’s not seriously break-dancing to Lana Del Rey, is he?” Asher laughed while Daphne was already recording the whole thing with Nick’s phone. Only later would James regret not stopping her when Nick would upload the video on his stories.

Nick and Cleo came out of their little world and soon the boy hopped in, promising he could dance worse. Exactly, he started dancing salsa… to Lana Del Rey. Asher soon joined them, giving in to the little competitivity within him and hit the DJ Khaled meme dance… to Lana Del Rey! Cleo walked up to Daphne and watched as she recorded everything, both laughing like it was peak comedy.

Soon having enough of recording, Daphne turned the phone off and dragged Cleo in so they could dance as well. So now, dancing upon the hill, was a group of five friends: one was break-dancing like a novice, the other was messily dancing to salsa, the other impersonated DJ Khaled and the girls were jumping up and down as though they were in a club and techno music was playing. As they hopped around, they couldn’t help but laugh at how comical everything was.

They were all laughing. Until they weren’t.

—Now playing: Always Forever by Cults ✫

Daphne had accidentally pushed Cleo too hard and sent her rolling down the hill. Initially, Cleo screamed in terror but, by the time she started laughing, she was too far away for her friends to hear her. They were just frozen, looking at her in fright and worry.

“Oh, my God. What did you do—” Nick broke the silence.

“I didn’t mean to. It was accidental—”

“You sure she’s okay—”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? She’s still rolling—” Daphne’s frustration grew stronger.

“Guys, shut up,” Asher called for their attention. Cleo had stopped rolling around, reaching the bottom of the hill, but, instead of immediately getting up, she decided to pull a little prank on her friends and lie there for a little bit more—mostly because she felt comfortable. They started freaking out.

“Oh, my fucking God—”

“Daph?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose—” she was on the edge of sobbing.

“She’s fucking hurt! What the fuck?!”

“I’m sorry!” Cleo could hear her friends in distress. Could hear Nick and Daphne's screams. If she was looking in their direction, she would’ve seen James holding his hands upon his head and Asher looking at her attentively.

“Let’s fucking go check on her. Bruh, what the fuck—”

“Guys!” They all froze, heads snapping in the direction of the voice. “I’m fine. Calm your tits, jeez,” Cleo laughed, sitting up and adjusting her hair but her friends were still silent, blinking to know if they were hallucinating or not. “Yoo-hoo?” she called them. “Earth to fucking lovely shitfaces?” still utter silence and just four teenagers staring at her.

She couldn’t hear James when he whispered: “She’s— She’s alive—”

“Of fucking course she is—” Asher whispered back

“Oh, my God, I was so scared—” Daphne’s voice wavered as she sighed in relief.

“Not as much as I was—” Nick yelled.

“Nick, this ain’t a fucking competition—”

“Shut up! You should join her and go check on her. You’re the one who pushed her—”

“It was never my intention— James!” before Daphne could finish speaking, James lifted her off the ground and walked closer to the end of the hill. All the while, smiling brightly but Daphne didn’t know this. She was shitting her pants—figuratively.

“Ain’t we friends?” she asked, genuinely scared. “I really didn’t mean to.” Her friends noticed the change in her voice and James dropped her.

“Hey, we’re just playing around, Daphn. It’s nothing serious”

“You okay? We’re just joking.” Her friends tried comforting her and she didn’t know if to continue sulking around because of the shock or to think about how easily they went back to joking after believing a friend of theirs was hurt. “How can y’all be joking right now?” she questioned, eyebrows almost meeting each other.

“Exactly!” Asher shared the same idea. “We don’t like feeling sad for too long, y’know—”

“Be fucking for real—”

“Okay, you’re talking too much.” She couldn’t even reply to him before he pushed her rolling down. Her screams, a source of entertainment to her friends. At the bottom of the hill, a smiling Cleo was patiently waiting for company unaware of the little dispute they just had. “Fuck you!” she managed to scream as she rolled down and the boys laughed wholeheartedly.

“Okay. Who’s next?” James questioned while Cleo welcomed Daphne. “What the fuck do you mean by ‘next’?” Asher backed up, slightly annoyed at them. “Who’s next?” repeating himself and moving closer to his retreating friends.

“Don’t make another move. Y’all can’t be all happy and jolly after something like this.”

“I suspected already that it was a prank—”

“And that’s sick Nick. And let’s not talk about how you were the loudest so that’s bullshit—”

“Yeah, Nick. It makes no sense. You wanted to combust Daphne with your eyes back there!” At the bottom of the hill was Cleo helping Daphne get rid of any grass in her hair.

“Okay, I got a little scared—” James immediately grabbed Nick, ready to lift him even in bridal style just to get him rolling down the hill.

“Yo! Yo! James, ain’t we like brothers? Why are you betraying me like this? James!” Nick plead. “Asher! Hey, wait, wait!” The girls were laughing looking up and watching their friends struggle. Indeed, they could move from very serious to completely childish in a split second. “Means trauma wouldn’t way on them, right?” Daphne thought to herself.

Nick was in James’s arms and Asher was helping to push them both down the hill but Nick understood and ratted him out to James who didn’t have enough time to react before he was pushed off with his friend still in his arms. Asher was convinced to have won but Nick grabbed onto his T-shirt and dragged him with them so now the three boys were rolling down the hill, screaming, yelping and cussing everything out.

“Oh, my God. They’re so stupid.” Daphne calmly spoke sitting next to an agreeing Cleo as they both observed their friends roll down the hill like bags of potatoes. “Indeed, stupid.”

Once the boys reached the bottom, they immediately sprung up adjusting their hair, clothes and composure to come off as unbothered. Exactly, they did all that hurriedly and simultaneously posed when done causing the girls to laugh like two gossipers.

“Okay, okay. Enough. We look ridiculous. No need to laugh.” Asher was the first to give up while his friends side-eyed him for ruining the play. Tired, Asher slumped down next to Cleo and flicked her head for pulling such an ugly prank on them earlier which reminded everyone of it: James and Nick almost jumped on her with tickles. Asher and Daphne joined in right after.

Most likely, Cleo had to plead with all living beings, including Greek, Christian, Hinduist and Buddhist gods before they let her go and allowed her to catch her breath.

“Yeah but jokes apart, that prank was nasty. Nick was already hating me—”

“That’s not true—”

“Fuck yeah it is—”

“Guys, you all collectively panicked and didn’t think of rushing down to check on me—”

“I told Daphne she was the one who’d have to do that—”

“I’m sorry. I was scared I’d see something too traumatic—”

“Okay. Silence… and let’s go back up.” James was the one to interrupt the banter as he got up. Slowly, all of them followed meekly and started climbing up the hill, hands on their thighs and backs bent to help against the slope. Nick noticed it’d take too much time like that and they all looked like old goats so he decided to spice it up because it’s the only way he functions. “Who gets to the top last is gay!”

“What the fuck?—”

“No worries. I’ve already come out before confessing eternal love for Asher so you all can go on. I’ll take the fall for y’all.” James dramatically explained, making all of them laugh.

By the time they were at the top, there was a different song playing, one Cleo started singing to. Daphne and everyone gradually joined in.

“You and me, always forever! We could stay alone together! You and me always forever! Say you’ll stay never be separate!”

The sky now was very similar to Turner’s ‘Sunset’. The sun was lower, gradually going into hiding behind the mountain leaving traces of warm-coloured rays behind. The breeze had faded away at the moment and the air was mildly warm for it to be October but with the sun exiting the stage, the environment wasn’t as warm as before and a few of them decided it was right for them to grab their hoodies before joining the group and sitting down on the grass to look at the sunset, singing to the song.

“You know you got me in your pocket! You don’t just have to wait around! You know I keep you in my pocket! Just come here and we can settle down!”

—Now playing: Sweet by Cigarettes After Sex ✫

While the sky before the five rolling friends faded from blue to orange, forming an almost invisible line of dull green where the colours met, outside Taehyung’s window, it simply went from a darker to a lighter tone of blue. He didn’t feel as hungry that evening so his leftovers from lunch were more than enough. His homework was done and perfectly placed into his backpack. His body felt fresh after having a quick but nice and warm shower. The house was mildly silent: his mom and grandmother had finished eating. He didn’t know what they were up to but he suspected they’d retired to their bedrooms. Silently lying on his rug was his little dog lounging in a sea of tiredness, waiting for sleep to take its body to the abyss.

Taehyung was drained as well but, while Christians would read the bible or pray before going to sleep, he had to stalk his crush’s Instagram profile��no creepy intentions behind it obviously. The hour hand was midway into the last quarter of the clock. Lauri had updated both her stories and her feed: a new post and lots of stories. He clicked on the five-picture slideshow.

The first picture displayed a picnic blanket lying on a green field and decorated with plates of food and beverages. In the background, he could see someone’s legs, a pair of shows laid aside, school bags and, at the bottom corner, were the legs of who he believed to be Daphne. The second picture was a selfie. Again, something he has noticed, she rarely shows her full face online and, in this case, only her cheek was in view. It was slightly swollen meaning she was smiling as she held a plate of four sandwiches next to her face.

The third slide captured a picture of a flower he couldn’t recognise but still found beautiful—especially because she surely found it pretty enough to take a picture and post it which means she likes it… which implies he loves it.

The following slide was another selfie and this time, she was lying on her stomach. Against her leg was Cleo and, right beside them both, a boy. The same familiar guy whose name he couldn’t remember. Looking at the picture, one could tell they were resting. Again, of Daphne, he could see only the outline of her head and her hair.

The last picture of the post was another selfie. This time around, Daphne’s face was fully visible. She was standing in a train station. The sky was dark and behind her, in a line, were her friends: Cleo, James, Nick and the familiar nameless guy. They were all smiling and funnily posing. It looked exactly like the last picture one takes before their journey comes to an end.

The post had a peaceful vibe and matched her feed. Taehyung fought against the need to like the post and proceeded to her stories.

The first story was a picture taken on the train, a motion-blurred picture. The following story was a repost from Cleo’s story who recorded her friends as they walked along an empty road. Daphne was in the background taking pics. Next up was a repost from James’s, a short video capturing him and his friends—James was standing and his friends were preparing the picnic blanket.

As Taehyung proceeded, on his screen appeared a selfie reposted from Cleo’s. She was posing with Daphne as they bit on their sandwich—he just didn’t know that Daphne was biting on the sandwich Cleo prepared for her and the other way around.

Taehyung forgot to adjust the volume of his phone so he got startled when he moved on to watching the next story because, unlike the previous videos, this one was loud, a repost from Nick’s: Daphne was the one recording and the focus was on her guy friends funnily dancing to a slow song he recognised was from Lana Del Rey. Hilarious. In contrast to the music were Cleo and Daphne’s laughs.

Tapping on the screen, he moved on to the next story, another video. This time around, there was barely any loud sound just the focus starting from a journal, a sunset drawing to be exact, and ending up on the view before the cameraman. Daphne decided to make a little video comparing her drawing with the source of inspiration and it was enough for Taehyung to place his attention on it more than he did with anything else. “She’s also talented,” he thought to himself, admiring her drawing and developing a greater interest in her. “She’s also talented.”

Daphne would disagree, especially when the field in question is drawing. She’s pretty good at writing but she still wouldn’t fully claim to be ‘talented’. The only thing she could full-heartedly state of herself was that she was weak. Took her nothing to give in to anxiety during the test and took her nothing for all the picnic’s happiness to leave as soon as her mother asked her about her day when she got home. She burst into tears as soon as she went down her memory lane. She explained to her mother that all her efforts were in vain so that is what the woman believes. She was unaware that the main reasons behind those tears were guilt and regret. All connected to Anxiety.

Unlike herself, her mother worked magic with her words when it came down to comforting a person so in a split second, she was already blowing out her nose, clearing her tears away and getting into the shower for a warm bones-and-muscle relaxation.

Just like that day, after the library with her friends, she stared into her reflection to look for any traces of her mental breakdown, wondering what she looked like throughout the day. After slipping into her PJs and checking her homework, she dropped onto her bed, the softener scent filling her lungs.

Loki and Luke were sleepy and both lying on the rug, next to her bed. Behind the curtains and outside her window, the sky was darker in one corner and lighter in the other as the moon shone brightly through. The windows were closed, so was her bedroom door. The only light in her room came from the lamp on her nightstand so the environment was warmly dim.

Yes, it is unhealthy and yes, she had it in her hands right at that moment. Before going to sleep, she turned her phone on as she got under the covers. She had uploaded everything from today while on the train but still felt unfulfilled because she still hadn’t had the chance to stalk her crush’s Instagram. Yeah. Obviously. It became part of her night routine. You know how they say… New home, new life. Didn’t it go like that?

If, by chance, her mother’s comforting didn’t work and rewatching her Instagram updates about the picnic wasn’t enough, surely checking on her crush would’ve helped her—only if he actually posted something. She had to postpone her plans when she noticed a new account started following her. The name ended with the initials of her school’s name meaning it had something to do with it. The profile followed a green theme and belonged to one of the teams running in the campaign—didn’t take her long to realise.

What surprised her was finding familiar faces in the posts. First, it was Jungkook. Then came Jimin, Taehyung, the blonde friend and the pretty brunette. They were running in the campaign. A little smirk changed her facial expression when she thought about how they had secured a vote from her because of Taehyung. The blondie’s name was Adrielle—pretty name she thought. The next post presented Taehyung and his role in the group—if Adrielle was the president, he was the vice. Then came Jimin, an assistant of both, Avyanna, in charge of the upcoming cheerleader team and last, but not least, was Jungkook, in charge of ‘the fun’, as stated in the post. Along with their roles, in the centre of the picture was the tag to their profile.

‘Temptation’. The desire to do something, especially something wrong and unwise. The word comes from the Latin word ‘temptare’ which means ‘handle’, ‘try’, ‘test’. According to the Bible, it has three sources: the world, the flesh and the devil. Surely, she had nothing to do with the devil at that moment. What she was pursuing was her love interest, the pretty boy to whom the profile displayed on her screen belonged. Never felt so tempted. Never felt it so strong but before giving in—since Temptation wasn’t being as strong as Anxiety—she thought about all the possible consequences.

What would happen if she started following him from her main? Would it come off weird? No, because he’s not aware of her interest and she thinks is weird just because she likes him. Would he follow back? Holy shit, if he actually did, she’d go bananas. It wouldn’t be seen as stalking, right? No, why? Why would it? Oh, God. She’s going crazy. If she started following him right now, it would make sense because his team started following her first which would mean she’d have to follow everyone in the team. Yeah, yeah! She could totally do that.

And that’s what she did. She pressed on the blue follow button and now the stalking wouldn’t objectively look creepy. It just moved on to a different level. Now, she was indirectly closer to him which makes no sense because the other day, she was sitting a seat away from him in the bus and didn’t have the balls to even look in his direction. Better than nothing, though since it’s been long since she’d last seen him on the bus in the morning.

With that done, she turned the phone off and retired to sleep. Taehyung, on the other hand, was just about to go to bed. Had just eased himself in the bathroom and gave his notifications one last check before going under the covers but he stopped in his tracks. His eyes bulged out of their sockets when he saw a very familiar account start following him. He swallowed hard and unlocked the device.

Yes, she indeed started following him and he had to fight various boxing matches against his will not to follow back immediately. Temptation.

He really wanted to but he felt like it would be weird. The main reason behind her follow was his team’s Instagram profile. He was sure because right below the notification of her follow was the one from his team’s account. It would’ve been crazy if she actually started following him out of the blue. He would’ve jumped out and on his bed, rolled on the floor, happily laughed and sang, waking up his dog, his family and probably the neighbours in the process.

A win is a win though. He still felt excited because he knew it wouldn’t stop there. He’d go crazy if he didn’t at least try. The only time it would be over is if she told him she wasn’t interested point blank. He hoped that would never happen.

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