Lima
~
"You should be careful with men!" The fortune teller said as she extended her palm, gesturing that she needs the money.
"That was a waste of time and money!" Aisha said soon after the fortune teller was no longer in our line of sight.
"Yeah, no fair! Why'd you get a good fortune while mine is a warning?" I said pouting. The fortune teller said that Aisha will marry a doctor in the future.
Aisha and I are currently in a town square. She made me go here so we can buy food and stuff necessary for our school's educational outing.
"I'm so excited for the outing! I can just imagine the beautiful scenery on top of the Chocolate Hills. But it's so sad that it's not made of real chocolate," she said. I just playfully rolled my eyes.
Then in just a millisecond, she gazed at me seriously. "But Fleur, I have something to tell you. Keep this a secret, okay?" I agreed and listened to her intently.
"I like Dash," she embarrassedly said while she covered her red face. I just nodded. No surprise there; it was kinda obvious.
"Yeah, I know. It was obvious, to be honest with you. And... everyone likes Axel," I said in a-matter-of-fact tone.
"A-Axel?" Aisha said confusedly. "Oh, do you mean Dash?" I nodded as an answer. Then I remembered, I'm the only one who calls him Axel. He introduced himself as Axel Finley when we first met so I got used to calling him that. While in this class, he specifically mentioned that he was much more comfortable with Dash than Axel, so our classmates call him Dash instead.
"I like Dash, although not as a friend," she said with her face flushed. I looked at her bored.
"Help me with him please?" she said with her infamous puppy eyes.
"But why me?" I asked. I know it's not just because I'm her best friend, there's something more than that.
"B-because Dash seems to like you not just as a friend. It's the like-like!"
"No, he doesn't. I am sure of that."
"You just don't see it because you're too loyal to Colt!" She bursted. I was taken aback. Was it that obvious?
"...and Colt likes you too. Everyone knows that," I was more shocked. My cheeks turned pink.
"N-no, he doesn't," I repeated, looking away. But then something or... someone caught my attention.
In a dark alleyway, I saw a hooded man wearing a black face mask leaning on the wall while looking at our direction. It was just like the last one, though this one gave me more of the creeps. His stares felt like it's paralyzing my whole body. I stared at him back to see if I could recognize him, but to no avail.
He then stood up and started inching towards us. As much as I wanted to run away, my legs weren't allowing me to. Right as he was about to get a hold of me, I regained the control of my legs again.
I hurriedly looked away from his direction and pulled Aisha's hand, dragging her away with me.
"H-hey, where are we going? My cotton candy!" Aisha complained. My feet went on and on, hoping that he lost track of us. When I thought that he was gone, we stopped running and ended up in front of a vintage-like store. It had a bunch of interesting items that piqued our curiousity.
"I'm sorry about the cotton candy. I'll pay it back soon," I said in between breaths.
"You better!"
"Since we're here already, do you want to check out the items in here?
"Sure! But you're paying! It's to make up for the cotton candy," Aisha declared with a sly smile. I couldn't do anything but agree.
We went inside and everything was elegantly retro and well... cute.
An Elvis Presley song was playing in a small speaker near the counter where an old lady was seated.
"Wow, everything is so cute!~" Aisha said in a sing-song voice.
"We should get something for the boys too," I suggested.
"Hmm, let's see... Ooh! How about this?" Aisha said pointing to a small blue customizable keychain. "This will be Dash's and the red one's for Colt." I thought it was cute, so I agreed in buying it. It was surprisingly cheap too!
Since that was the case, Aisha and I got one too. Mine's a lavender keychain while Aisha got a hot pink one. Earlier, Aisha said we should get a pair keychain but I'm not a fan of pink because it seems too girly for me.
"Do you want me to carve anything in those?" The old lady asked as we set foot in front of the cashier holding the keychains.
"Yes, yes, yaasss!" Aisha exclaimed while nodding her head vigorously and smiling so wide. The old lady looked at her weirdly and looked at me with a 'Is she good?' look, or is that a 'She's so extra' look? I just shrugged. She handed me a small piece of paper to write what she will carve into the keychains.
Lavender- Eli
Pink- Rin
Red- Tenten
Blue- Adi
————
"Ugh! I hate people calling or using my second name," she said, rolling her eyes at our newly bought keychains. "Pfft! At least you're not Tenten!" I tried not to laugh out loud as I read Colten's keychain for the nth time. Aisha and I shared a laugh as we looked at Colten's keychain for the last time today.
After that, we bought chips, juice boxes and other items we deemed useful for the outing until the sun was going down. We stopped our shopping haul there and called a Grab taxi to go home.
While waiting, Aisha and I were just chatting to catch up with whatever we missed with each other. Then Aisha asked me a question that reminded me of something. "By the way, why did you run out of nowhere? I was looking forward to eating the cotton candy, too."
I just stood still while reminiscing what happened earlier. We were too engrossed in our shopping spree that I totally forgot about the hooded man.
"Fleur? Are you okay?" Aisha shook my shoulders, bringing me back to my senses. I looked at Aisha, her eyes filled with worry.
"Yeah, I'm okay. It's just that..." I trailed off.
"Just that?" Aisha encouraged me to continue.
"I saw a hooded man in a dark alleyway earlier. He was staring at me and he started walking towards us, so I ran."
"A hooded man? Are you sure it wasn't a homeless dude who just wanted to ask for change?"
"I-I'm not sure... Maybe you're right."
Aisha has a point. It could've been a homeless man begging for money, but why was he staring at me? Besides, this was the second time I encountered something like this. The first one happened just recently, so what are the chances that I encountered another hooded man?
"Oh look, there's our ride!" She waved her hand to get the driver's attention.
The Grab driver got out of the car to assist us with the stuff we bought and put them inside the car's trunk. We expressed our gratitude to the driver.
"C'mon Fleur, let's get inside."
I followed Aisha into the car and we started to hit the road. The trip home was rather dull, but that was understandable since we were tired from walking around all day. Throughout the ride, that hooded man was all that I could think of. Aisha saw me spacing out again, so she put her hand over mine as a sign of comfort. As I felt her hand, I returned back to my senses. I looked at her and she gave me a reassuring smile, like telling me that everything's going to be alright. I smiled back at her as a thank you.
————
After an hour, we finally got to my house. The driver assisted us again with our stuff, which we're very much obliged. We paid him and wished him a safe trip, then he drove off.
Aisha said that she will be sleeping over in my house tonight since it's a Saturday anyway, and she'll just go home in the afternoon.
I unlocked the door to my house. Aisha was ready to greet my parents, but instead was greeted with emptiness. She was confused as to why my parents weren't here.
She also used to come here when we were in junior high school, so my parents knew her very well. They treated her like she was their child, which I was okay with. I see Aisha as my younger sibling, and that helps with my loneliness of being an only child.
"Where are your parents?"
"Oh right, I haven't told you yet. They're currently in a business trip and they will be coming back in the next month and a half."
"Really? I see." Disappointment was visible in her eyes. I guess she misses my parents as much as I do.
"But man, it's good to be back here! Nothing has changed!" Aisha mentioned as she returned to her usual jolly self in a matter of seconds. How intimidating.
"Do you want anything, like water or juice?"
"Hmm, I'll have water."
"Coming right up!" I jokingly said. I could see her eyes rolling even though I have my back turned.
I went to get a glass and proceeded to the fridge, grabbing the pitcher filled with water. I poured water into the glass and gave it to Aisha.
"Thank you, Fleur~!"
I smiled at her. I began to realize how I missed having people in this house. I got so used to my parents being absent that I didn't bother anymore. Usually, Aisha would be the one keeping me company when my parents are out, but she moved out of town for a while to study somewhere else. I'm just glad that she's back and she's here with me, especially when I am having strange encounters lately.
Aisha finished her glass of water and went to the sink to wash it. Back then, I told her countless of times that she didn't have to wash it, but she always insisted. That's one of the reasons why my parents adore her so much.
"Can we go to your room now? I'm so~ tired. Plus, I want to see if anything changed in your room."
"Sure, let's go. Oh and spoiler, nothing has changed."
Aisha pouted at my last statement, suggesting that she was expecting something different from me. Sorry Aisha, I'm still the same person as before.
We went upstairs and to my room. Aisha still had hope that maybe I was joking and that I actually changed the design of my room, but to her dismay, I wasn't kidding.
"You really still are the same person as before, huh. That's reassuring."
"Well of course." I winked at her. The look on her face screams extreme disgust.
She went towards my bed and plopped herself down.
"Oh my god, finally!" Aisha sighed in relief after letting the soft mattress practically sink her in. "I don't remember your mattress being this soft."
"Well~, I guess that's the only thing that changed." I shrugged my shoulders.
After Aisha relaxed on my bed for a while, something has caught her eye.
"Hm?"
"What is it, Rin?" I snorted
"Stop calling me Rin!"
"Alright, alright. But seriously, what is it?"
Aisha showed me what she was talking about. It was a small box. I don't recall ever having this box.
"Weird..." I muttered.
"What do you mean 'weird?'"
"I don't own a box like this. Is something inside it?"
"Well, there's one way to find out." Aisha opened the box, and it revealed a gold necklace that has my initials. It has a small lavender paper taped on the underside of the lid. A letter, perhaps.
"Wow! Who did you get this from? Possibly a secret admirer, hm?" Aisha teased, raising her eyebrows playfully as she holds the small box.
"A secret admirer? That couldn't be." I chuckled nervously. I somehow have a bad feeling about this.
I grabbed the box from Aisha and examined it. The letter has a golden symbol to it. The symbol is familiar to me yet I don't know what it is called. I slowly unfolded the letter.
"Read out the letter, I want to know what it says."
So I began to read out:
"My dearest Fleur,
I really love you, I'm just too shy to tell you. So, will you cooperate with me and not let other guys talk to you? I don't want you talking to that so-called "friend" of yours. I thought I was the only one that you love? Even if you don't directly tell me that you love me, I can feel it... and I love you too, so much... that I can kill who ever thinks of hurting you or even just looking at you. You see the necklace that I gifted you? It's 24k gold. 24k gold is also called pure gold. Similar to this gold, my love for you is also pure. I even made this letter so I can be the only one who occupies that pretty head of yours. I hope you think of me too. Have a good night. See you again sooner. I love you so much. (.>‿<.)♡
-Hubby ♥︎"
Right as finished reading, I began to feel uneasy. I was trembling out of immense fear. Who is this guy? How does he know me? Do I know him? What does he mean by kill? All these thoughts came rushing through my mind.
"Aside from the killing part, this is really cute!"
"Aisha."
"Especially the part where he compared 24k gold to his love for you." she continued to blabber.
"Aisha..."
"It's a really good analogy! Hmm, maybe I should use it sometime-"
"AISHA!" I shouted. "This is not cute. This is serious. The fact that whoever this guy is mentioned that he will kill someone because of me is horrifying."
Aisha was lost for words. "I... I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely.
"Aisha."
"Yes?"
"Let's call the cops. ASAP."