A few days had passed since Assana experienced the slightly terrifying dream. The wounds she had received were almost completely healed, making her believe that there were no wounds at all and that the trauma she had experienced made her believe she was actually hurt. However, Sienna seemed to notice these as well but decided to ignore it, thinking the marks were produced by teenage hormones.
Assana was oblivious to her mother's dirty thoughts and simply kissed her cheek and smiled, greeting her warmly. "Good morning, Assana. I see that you're healing up quite nicely," her mother said while secretly glaring at what she thought were hickeys.
"Yeah, thank god. It was quite uncomfortable."
"Then, does that mean you won't do it again?"
Feeling confused, Assana stared at her mother and raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean by I won't do it again?" shrugging, Sienna looked away and kept preparing lunch, completely ignoring her question altogether.
Sighing, Assana sat down and glanced at her phone. The screen was slightly cracked since she let it fall down only once, and this fact had hurt her immensely. Especially since she treated her phone with extra care.
The screen lit up, signaling she had received a message. "I'll come to your house. Don't eat without me," the message read. Assana sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"Mom, leave some food for Ahe. He'll be coming over today."
After some time, Ahe finally arrived. The pair of friends ate in a comfortable silence, neither of them wanting to disrupt the peacefulness they felt. However, after they finished their lunch, they placed the dishes in the dishwasher and began to converse, the words naturally flowing out of them.
"Summer break will end soon… do you know what school you'll be attending?"
Assana stared at the empty space in front of her while thinking. "I haven't decided yet. There aren't many options to choose from," she said while her figure slumped against the chair she was sitting on, the motivation she used to feel slowly left her being.
Ahe sighed and flicked her forehead, removing her from her dark thoughts. "You're not the only one. Let's attend one together!"
Ahe and Assana have always attended the same school since they were little. However, after growing up, they enrolled in different schools, resulting in their loss of communication. Their friendship almost broke because of this. Despite this, they were able to salvage their friendship, making them grow even closer while also strengthening their bond.
"Sure, why not. You should go and find a good school, though."
They spent the rest of the day talking and doing absolutely nothing. Spending time together with Ahe made her forget about what had been happening these last few days. The strange man she had met, the homeless man, the dream and the snake had been weighing her mind all day. These thoughts weren't leaving her mind and the only thing she has been thinking about was if all of these occurrences were connected.
However, it would be absolutely impossible that all of these were connected, especially since the dream and the two men had no correlation whatsoever.
Shrugging away her thoughts, Assana smiled coldly at Ahe since he had just spilled her favorite juice. "You… have no manners!"
•••
The next day, Assana woke up late due to the fact that her best friend abruptly decided to stay the night. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to shoo him away, resulting in a sleepless night because of him.
Wearing a black hoodie that reached past her hips, she groggily walked down the stairs. Her hair didn't look like a bird's nest since she was able to wash it yesterday, resulting in it looking soft to the touch. However, despite her hair being in a good condition, the attire Assana was wearing completely sold away the idea that she had just woken up.
Finally reaching the kitchen, Assana served herself a bowl of cereal and elegantly poured milk into the bowl. After closing the fridge door, she began walking towards the kitchen while scratching her head.
Assana´s mother was conversing with an old and frail looking man in the kitchen. Beside the man was a young boy that looked to be around Assana's age. He wore what appeared to be a prestigious school uniform that was able to catch the attention of many people. However, this wasn't the most noticeable characteristic the young man possessed.
His black and slightly messy hair reached his shoulders and covered up his eyes. The aura that surrounded him was mysterious and it made him seem like an extremely unapproachable and cold person. Despite his aura, the boy seemed to be quite good looking.
When Assana arrived at the kitchen, everyone turned to look at her. Her hoodie covered her up completely and she simply held a bowl of cereal while eating peacefully. Glancing at every single person in the room, her eyes stopped for a split second as she took in the sight of the cute male in front of her. She then turned to look at her mother and smiled.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Her mother's distressed look made her feel wary about the two people inside the room. The old man was smiling warmly at Assana and invited her in.
"Of course not! actually, we were talking about you. My name is Amos and this is my pupil Joash," said the old man as he patted the seat right next to him, silently telling her to sit beside him.
Holding her bowl filled with cereal, Assana sat beside the Amos, feeling a bit uncomfortable because of the situation she was put in.
"Your mother told us that you still haven't found a good school that provides for your every need. Am I right?"
Hearing that this possibly involved her education, she began paying attention to what the old man was saying. Sienna still wore a disgruntled while Joash held an expressionless face. Assana took a good look at the boy's uniform and narrowed her eyes, making him shift uncomfortably under her sharp gaze.
Amos noticed how she was staring at his pupil and thought that she had fallen in love with him because of his cute looks and mysterious nature. This thought made him feel proud of Joash, but he didn't know that he was thinking about this the wrong way.
"So, tell me. Why are you here?" Assana asked while leaning forward, obviously growing interested in this topic. She kept eating her breakfast, not wanting to stop eating because of such a serious topic.
The old man smiled once more and looked at his dear pupil before looking back at the mother and daughter. "Like I told your mother, I want you to enroll in my school."