Chereads / BEFORE THE ECLIPSE / Chapter 18 - CHAPTER 18: SWING OF SUPRISES

Chapter 18 - CHAPTER 18: SWING OF SUPRISES

She settled in mentally, closing her eyes to take a deep breath. The next moment, with a quick glance, Irene noticed she had something to blurt out. She looked at Giselle askance, like a balloon ready to be stoked by a needle, waiting to deflate. And oh did she deflate

"I heard what happened in your P.E class. Are you okay?!"

"You can't swim?"

"Do you need a doctor?!"

"Were you at the brink of death?!"

Irene eyed her down, the wheels in her mind not bothering to follow up with the question. She sipped her smoothie deeply curious as to how anyone could ask this many questions in less than 5 seconds.

"Are you a---

Instantly, Irene raised her palm cutting her off before her senses relayed the sentence to her auditory organ. Irene's gaze traced to her eager eyes sighing helplessly. She was not used to someone fussing over her like this. It was all uncharted territory for her.

"Chest pains", The words escaped her lips with a soft tone enough to place a chokehold on Giselle's attention. Irene exhaled deeply, gaze locked with a worried Giselle

"They come rather frequently now and have a knack for bad timings", She continued breaking eye contact in the process. Giselle pushed her drink aside, perplexed and clearly confused, she asked;

"Everyone gets it once in a while. Isn't it more of a common issue?. But from what you said it sounds like something else.

Irene gave her a little nod and continued with her drink. Giselle was clearly not satisfied with the halfhearted answer knowing there was more, however she chose not to push forward. People set boundaries and she was always willing to respect them. Contrary to her belief, she was pulled in by the pressure of others watching as they lay foot into her space. As Irene sipped her drink, she could feel several watchful eyes, none short of drilling a hole in her skin. She had noticed it a while back since they set foot into this cafe, pushing it away.

Yeah, I'm the lucky girl who gets to sit and dine at the table of Giselle Chambers. The thought of this made Irene let out a small chuckle. Instantly the reason dawned on her. She eyed Giselle from top to bottom skeptically, letting out a deep sigh as she shook her head in utter disbelief. Giselle capturing the look immediately asked

"What?!", Her expression already spoke volumes of words.

"You decided to come to a public cafe with no sense of disguise. It's like you enjoy being stared at and stalked", Irene casually said nonchalantly. Giselle threw her hands in denial as she burst out laughing. She placed her phone at the side of the table as she spun back gazing at the people having a glint of admiration. Her face relaxed at ease, shooting all of them a little wave, with a genuine smile to top. Her orbs glistened, unable to mask her sincere euphoria as they eagerly waved back. Meanwhile, Irene's gaze fixed on Giselle began to waver. She could tell that what she was experiencing was not only wholesome but sincere as well. Irene sat there in disbelief of this feeling, The feeling of warmth. Finding the spark of joy even in the deepest depths, the ambiance of Giselle glowed ever brighter.She had inadvertently answered her in the best way possible. A small smile easily made its way to place after Irene realized this. Giselle turned back facing Irene, the question resurfaced.

"Well... I can't really articulate a reason.", She gently pushed back a loose strand of hair back as her smile widened noticing a mini fan wearing her branded pink wristband. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she chuckled softly instinctively covering her mouth. Words couldn't describe it as she said. Her actions etched its mark on Irene, leaving her to remain in a state of wonder. She remained in awe, although she was aware of one thing. The more she got to know Giselle, her aura alone flowed like a sea wave. A familiar wave of ease washed over her, like the serenity of gazing at the sunrise along the horizon. Sneaking one more glance at Giselle, her positivity shone through almost blinding. Carved with sincerity grounded with a heart of gold, undeserving of this world as things unfold. Her lips curled into a smile, followed by a nod of understanding.

As time slowly drifted away, they left the cafe.

"How do you keep up in school with your celebrity activities?", Irene threw the question out of the blue. They had been chatting on the sidewalk about Irene going to Alex's house for lessons. Giselle was taken aback for a moment as she had tried to make Irene the subject matter

"Ohh that...

She trailed off hesitantly, eyes smoothly looking between Irene and the vehicles zooming away.

"It's burdensome. I get someone to help me rearrange school work in a script and watch them act it out, thus my learning process occurs", Giselle told with a straight face, seconds before bursting out laughing almost stumbling to the road. Irene didn't speak instead she narrowed her eyes shooting her an instant "Are you for real look"

Her laughter ceased, the look of understanding evident on her face. Giselle let out an awkward chuckle not attempting to hide her slight unease

"I study like everyone else. If I'm not at a shoot or on set, I try to study as much as I can", She revealed

"And that works out well?", Irene said not pausing to review her words as she awaited her answer

"I'm flattered"

"But no", she replied flatly

While they walked in silence, Irene could finally wrack her mind around something. An uneasy feeling settled the more she thought. Her narrowed gaze has caught a particular black car slightly tailing them on the opposite side. Her suspicions were instantly confirmed, as the car emerged minutes after they had turned a corner.

"If only she'd worn a hoodie or something", Irene muttered under her breath sighing helplessly. Her ears perked up as they grasped the sounds of footsteps closely approaching them from behind. At this point, Giselle was well aware of this. Meanwhile a rather relaxed Irene felt no hint of threat whatsoever. The person overtook them blocking their path, turning to face them. In a swoop, he took off his cap revealing his sleek blonde up cut, doing the same for the dark shades and mask that left them in the dark about his identity. A cool breeze blew by as he now stood tall face to face with her. Without the slightest warning, the air felt a little more suffocating as her mind reeled. As she stood there utterly bewildered, Giselle's words got stuck like a lump in her throat, eyes locked on him. Certainly this was some sort of mind game, far away from that of reality. Unthinkable thoughts hovered like a butterfly attracted to it's nectar. Beneath the faulty mask of her calm exterior, a mix of emotions swirled in her and Irene's momentary side gaze never late to catch on.

"Kai?!", She struggled to let out, still visibly dumbfounded. Kai Emmens, her famous celebrity partner. Well former partner due to the falling out they had some days ago. The famous ship Kaielle had soon become Kai and Giselle. Hesitant, clearly uncomfortable, he said softly

"Giselle, can we talk", eyes pleading like a golden retriever that awaited its promised treat.

~~~~~~

"I'm half certain you're smart enough to know the park is the last place for studying", Irene flashed him her typical exasperated side eye. After meeting up at Alex's house, he stood deep in thought, his gaze lingering subsequently. He let out a deep breath, grabbed his headphones and walked out the door gesturing Irene to follow him. Trailing closely at his back, she stopped to see that they had arrived at an amusement park.

"Just half certain?", Alex turned back to face Irene putting his hand on his chest as if he was hurt. Irene let out an amused scoff. Just then, her gaze locked onto to other guys in the distance. The one carrying in a blue jacket looked awfully familiar even from far away. Alex with the phone to his ear found them and waved to catch their attention which they noticed. As they walked over to them bridging the distance, the side of her lips upturned into a small smile. The familiar guy was Jason, the complete opposite of the one she was with. His emerald eyes sparkled magically as she walked towards them with a bright smile.

"Hey", he greeted Alex with a fist bump not forgetting to wave at Irene. She smiled for a moment before it faded realizing that she hadn't met the other guy who was texting on his phone. She subtly furrowed her brows unable to place the guy behind. Jason caught onto her gaze quickly nudging a backward faced Felix forward.

"He's Felix, we're all on the volleyball team together", Jason introduced to Irene.

"Sup", he greeted sneaking a few glances at her before continuing violently texting on his phone looking exhausted. For a moment, their gaze locked and she was able to fathom a tad bit of familiarity. His fiery gaze painted a mesmerizing mosaic as the hue of the blue ring contrasted with the golden center, leaving quite the impression. Flipping through her memories, she remembered he was the guy with Gia, when she asked her for the way to the restroom.

"I'm Irene, nice to meet you", Irene said as she forced a smile. Well even she couldn't deny that his eyes were something else. Surrounded by beautiful orbs like Jason's bright emerald gaze and Alex's warm amber gaze, she couldn't help admit that Felix's was a different scene of allure. Felix flashed a small nod as she was done speaking.

"Now we have fun!", With the single tap of send, Felix slid his phone away eyes locked on the trio. Alex and Jason double checked Felix to confirm if this was their sloth friend. Well then again, they realized he could drop school work for anything even silently watching paint dry. Alex felt a slight push from Irene trying to get his attention.

"Tell me we're not going to have biology lessons at an amusement park". Alex grinned a small smile and walked past her as her brows wrinkled into a scowl.

"Leave that for today, don't think of anything. I'm sure that's what was on Alex's mind", Irene's frustrated gaze softened as they met with Jason's. She sighed deeply as she took his hand to follow the guys who had wandered off the vast expanse of stands. Soon enough they caught up with the duo at the darts stand. A middle aged bald man dressed in casual clothes draped in an red knitted apron was wiping the top prize on his hook. Right there at the conspicuous peak next to the scrawling of his stand, the sapphire blazing water gun was hung. His face lit up with a kind smile as he saw Alex and Felix shamelessly gawking at the prize. Alex gestured the two to the stand probably to join their adoration of the cool top prize. As the man seemingly to be the owner wiped his hand with the towel, he approached them

"I see you've already decided on what you would like to go home with. Hit the bullseye and the prize is all yours."

Without another thought, taking a few steps from the stand, they huddled up, dragging a reluctant Irene to the circle of discussion.

"How about we make it, first one to win that huh?", Felix smirked, Irene rolled her eyes as she spotted the new defiant glint in his gaze. Felix's quick insightful look faded as his mischievous gaze landed on Irene.

"They say Ladies first then.. Show us what you've got other than a pretty face". Amidst Jason's supportive expression, Alex's poker face and Felix's taunts, she was left with a sense of wonder as to how she ended up here. Squirming from the group huddle, a devious thought surfaced and she couldn't help to mask the small smirk of pride. Finally breaking the silence, as Irene's figure walked a little farther, he chuckled saying out loud for Irene to hear

"Physics lesson 101"

Irene could see that smirk from the corner of her eye letting out a scoff.

"At what angle should we project the dart to hit the bullseye?"

"We're about to find out", he flashed her a half smile striking her as a real joker.

Irene raised a brow, her eyes sparkled with mild amusement as her dismissive chuckle could not be concealed by just her wry smile. "Watch me then", her words came out as a mutter, her tone laced with adamancy. It all happened in a flash, their earnest gaze peering persistently. As she reached the desk of the stand, the kind man greeted her, his gaze landing between the guys and her. He dropped a few red darts on the wooden stall desk with a knowing smile subtly whispering something to Irene. In one swift motion, she grabbed the dart tightly, drew in a deep breath and launched it at the dart board with a satisfying thud.