"Allie...you're graduating tomorrow..." David suddenly brought this up while she was eating her fried rice. This almost made her choke. "Do you want to try working at my company?"
"I already have a job as a freelance copywriter."
"A copywriter? That's a good job to have, too." For the past two months since she's been here, David has never left for another business trip. "I don't mind it either if you never want to work. It's just you. Dad has no issue taking care of you."
Tora still found it hard to accept that this person was perfect. She often questioned the life she had lived so far. Whether life would've been easier for her if her father was still around. Whether or not she would feel this empty and lonely still.
These stupid tears again. I've never had this issue before...
She felt the warmth of a large hand grasp hers gently. She hated how reassuring they were and how quickly they managed to warm her cold heart.
"Do you resent me?" He knelt next to her. "After Mom's passing, instead of staying here and sharing the pain of losing her, I selfishly left you to grieve alone."
Tora couldn't explain the tight, burning sensation in her chest when she noticed tears in David's eyes. She felt suffocated.
"Even if you want me to spend the rest of my life making up for the past four years, I'll gladly do it."
"If I said that I wanted to ruin someone's life...Would you still support me, Dad?" She could see the slight pause in his actions. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared.
"...Even if you want them dead, I'll gladly help you."
+
It was the morning of Graduation. After getting ready, Tora checked the messages she got on her phone.
As expected, there's one today as well.
For the past two months, she had decided to give the protagonist a chance at living a normal, peaceful life. She mainly focused on building her work experience as a freelance copywriter and paid little to no attention to those two.
[Adrian: The weather has been great lately, I think it's because you are around that makes everything bitter.]
[Adrian: Crap! I meant to say better not bitter...]
[Adrian: Today's a big day. I have flowers and a gift I want to give to you.]
[Adrian: I'll work hard, graduate from the U with a Software Engineer degree, and marry you! I love you from the Sun and back]
PING!
[Sarah: I should have expected it but you are someone who would never keep their promise.]
[Sarah: You said that you and Adrian are DONE. So why is it that he keeps going back to you and groveling at your feet!? I wish you would just DIE.]
[Sarah: You're also a bitch for trying to seduce my brother. LEAVE. HIM. ALONE.]
If she had a gold bar for every time these two made her roll her eyes and lose brain cells, she would be a trillionaire.
Sarah harassed her DMs the moment she got to the mall after that embarrassing encounter with her brother. She even tried approaching her in school but was thankfully blocked by Karina.
Every time Sarah brought up Vick, Tora's mind would wander towards that moment two months ago.
"I've loved you ever since." Ahh! Fuck! Stop thinking about it!!!!
She slammed her phone on the bed. All the embarrassment she felt because of this one person was killing her.
The person he likes is ALLISON anyway. No need to be so affected by it, Tora.
'Maybe he likes Tora and not Allison,' Asier had a way of messing around with Tora. He loved shoving his fingers deep into her wounds just to get a reaction.
Tora has made it a habit of just eating the messages that were sent to her. It was the best way to enact revenge on this mysterious being.
'Please, stop doing that.'
She grinned and shoved this one in her mouth as well. She had found out that Asier could FEEL being inside her mouth and that made him uncomfortable.
"Keep sending them and I'll keep doing it."
She scoffed when she thought about the past month when Asier stopped sending messages. He had said that it felt like he was touching a slimy toad.
A SLIMY TOAD!? REALLY!? It's like he was born to annoy me.
But that was enough information for Tora to deduce that Asier has a physical body connected to his power.
Although she disliked Asier, Tora had to admit that he was the one keeping her from being eaten by this world's emotions.
Every time he sent a note, it would wake her up from intense emotional distress, like a wall blocking her from truly becoming a part of the novel.
'Congratulations on graduating. I heard that it's an important day for humans.'
Humans...?
'Ok, an important day for PEOPLE. Now stop overreading everything.'
Her lips twitched and yet again, she aggressively shoved that paper in her mouth. This time, however, the paper evaporated before it even touched her lips.
"Huh?"
'I learned.'
"I'm not talking to you anymore."
Graduation starts at 3 p.m. Every student needs to check in from 1-2 p.m. This gave Tora enough time to enjoy the lunch David prepared for her.
Her green satin dress matched her dad's inner shirt under that nicely tailored suit. David had them tailored specifically, so Tora didn't have to bother with shopping for a nice party dress.
Her school's graduation gown was red and white, which gave it a nice color contrast to her green. Because they were walking in the grass, she went for black mid-platform heels instead of the high heels that Karina wanted her to wear.
"Party at my place tonight!" Tora noticed that Sarah was going around inviting people to her after-party, even though there was already an after-party provided by the school. Regardless, Tora was not interested in either party. "You're coming, right?"
"Are you talking to me?" Everyone, including Tora, was shocked when Sarah approached her in a friendly manner.
"Yep! I'm hoping that we could start over!"
What kind of bullshit…?
"Of course!" Laura quickly cut in when she noticed the frown on Allison's face. Her arms wrapped around Allison's shoulders and she said, "ALL of us will be there!"
"I'm glad…" Sarah stared at Allison for a few more seconds before leaving.
"Ugh! The nerve of that girl!" The friendly look on everyone's face quickly turned bad.
"Why did you agree to it?" Tora couldn't understand it. She would rather not interact with Sarah at all.
"You don't get it, babe! She's definitely up to something nasty. We won't know how to counterattack if she says something at the party when we're not there." The others nodding along. "Besides, I gotta catch a glimpse of that brother of hers."
"OH! I didn't even think of that!" Laura and the others squealed when they imagined meeting Vick.
"Duh! We gotta pair Allie and Vick together somehow. Look at our girl today! Baby girl material right here! Ready to steal hearts, if you know what I mean." Jada wiggled her eyebrows and cackled evilly.
Tora decided to tune out from the conversation up until the ceremony ended. Her mind was completely blank the whole time, barely processing anything.
"Allie…" She felt the tip of her lips tremble when she saw David speed-walking over with a bouquet of roses that sparkled in the sunlight. It was very eye-catching and absurd when everyone noticed that the sparkles came from diamonds placed in the flowers. "I'm so proud of you. I think I'm going to cry—!"
"Dad! Please!" His charismatic laugh made all the girls blush. Tora, although embarrassed, felt proud of her father's good looks.
David was, however, oblivious to the stares of all the women nearby. He gently pulled her into a hug. "I didn't say anything this morning, but you look very beautiful today…"
His soft whispers were like a charm. Her arms, for the first time, wrapped around her father. "You look very handsome today. Thank you, Dad…"
All she could hear and feel were the rumbling of his laughter. She felt a blush creeping up in her face and to hide it, she buried her head deep in his chest.
"Stop laughing!" She pinched David's tummy and pushed him away. "Give it!" Her hands snatched the bouquet away and hid her face in it. "Ugh! This is so embarrassing!"
Everyone stared at her in awe. They had never seen Allison behave in such a way before that it completely captured their attention. This was the same for Adrian, who was making his way towards her.
The hands that gripped the bouquet and gift box felt sweaty. Seeing Allison behave like that reminded him of the first day they met. He had just transferred schools in seventh grade because of his parent's divorce. It wasn't difficult to make friends but he always felt lonely deep inside.
He remembered tripping and injuring his knee during a track race in PE. When he arrived in the nurse's office, a young Allison was crying in the arms of the School Nurse. The blush that accompanied her face and the moistened eyes sent a shock wave through his body.
He would never admit that her crying face and embarrassed look made him feel all hot and uncomfortable. That was when he decided that she needed to be his. It was fairly easy to coax and manipulate someone who was emotionally unstable. But even after winning her over 4 years ago, they still had not been intimate in any other ways other than kissing.
Seeing her like this rekindled the need to monopolize her. He had been blinded by Sarah, who vaguely resembled Allison from 7th grade.
"Allison…" He had never seen her father before which made him more nervous. "Mr. Jones."
The interruption soured both Tora's and David's moods. "You are?"
"Ah…I'm Allison's boyfriend—."
"EX!" Tora couldn't help but feel shocked for the thousandth time when Karina popped up. It was like Karina had an Adrian radar attached to her. "At this point, I think we should fight it out! I'm sick and tired of having to repeat the same damn words to a dog that refuses to listen!"
"I would never slap a lady, but a bitch like you would be an exception!" The two quickly got in each other's faces.
'You're good at causing conflict.' Tora noticed David looking over at her hand where the paper was. She felt a rush of panic because this was the first time Asier sent a note while everyone was looking at her. The note suddenly evaporated.
It would freak them out, right? If he asks about it…
'You look cute when you're stressed. Don't worry, they can't see this.'
David paid close attention to Allison's expressions and body language. He noticed that her hands were constantly opening and closing.
Is this making her anxious? Thought David as he looked toward the two who were being held back by a few others.
"Hey! Break it up this instant!" A teacher came running at the sudden disturbance. "Is this in any way to behave as new adults!?"
"Allie, if you want to, Dad can—," David was interrupted by Jada's loud shout.
"Mr. Jones!" Her arms grabbed Allison and pulled her over. "I'll take good care of Allie, so please don't worry!"
"Uh...?"
"We gotta leave, now! I'll be sure to drop her off after the party ends!" Jada waved goodbye and gave him a REASSURING wink.
Laura was already dragging Karina along and the next thing they knew, they had arrived at Sarah's house.
The girls were welcomed by Sarah's mother. She showed them around the house for a bit and then busied herself with getting ready for her date with Sarah's father. They all decided to hang out around the pool while they waited for everyone to come.
"I suppose the party can't start if the owner isn't here." Laura sighed and started nagging Karina about her situation with Adrian. "I swear, Karina. You can't keep trying to fight Adrian every chance you get!"
"Yeah! I noticed Allie's Daddy's gaze and managed to salvage the situation. He was ready to take her home!" Tora rolled her eyes. She'd much rather be home than at a stranger's home. "I almost didn't get to witness our plan to seduce Big Bro!"
"What is this about seducing Big Bro's plan? Care to share it?" An amused voice sounded right behind Tora, causing her to almost fall out of the pool lounge. "Whoa there! Careful." The person responsible managed to grab hold of her.
The others were equally frightened at the sudden appearance of someone behind them. They all had their backs towards the house while they each lay on the pool lounges.
Vick came around and sat at the end next to Tora's feet. His playful grin made the others swoon.
"Oh dear! I think I'm in heaven!" Laura fanned herself and squealed with Jada. "I heard that Sarah has a brother."
"Ah...You could say that." Vick didn't seem to like being associated with Sarah. "I was planning on leaving for the dorm since she was having a party, but..." His eyes looked toward Tora meaningfully. "I caught a glimpse of someone familiar and decided to stay."
Tora felt uneasy under his gaze. Her body started shifting away and her eyes looked everywhere but Vick. Occasionally, she would find herself looking at him. It had been two months since they last saw or interacted with each other.
"Uh...What is that supposed to mean? Perhaps, a certain SOMEONE caught your eye?" Jada's tone of voice was very teasing. It made Tora's hand twitch, it felt like she could really slap someone.
"I'm feeling THIRSTY!" They both sprung to their feet, winking at each other in a very obvious way. "I should probably grab something to drink."
"OH! ME TOO! I know you're thirsty, Karina! Let's go!" Karina was grabbed by both the girls and dragged towards the sliding door that led into the kitchen.
"Alright! Stop pulling already!" Karina shook them off and complied with their stupid request. "I'll be right here. Right behind this CLEAR door."
As expected of Karina.
"Your friends are funny."
"Yeah, they are."
"I've missed you."
"Okay..."
"I think about you all the time. Even during masturbation—."
"SHUT! UP! What are you saying!?"
"Well, I read that communication is key to a successful relationship."
"You don't say stuff like that casually!"
"Aren't you the least bit curious? About how deep my affections are?"
"Do you want to die!?"
"I can't even touch a girl, let alone look at someone who isn't you."
"I'd rather die instead. I'm not the least bit interested!"
"Ah...I see. Is that why you're blushing so much?" Vick leaned in close and whispered, "I love you, dearly."
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?"