ANALEAH DIZON
Moryn and I helped Night to her feet. I noticed she had a wounds on her arms, and her knees were trembling. Moryn told me that Night had fallen while running. Her right hand was bleeding too, apparently from punching the ground earlier. Instead of taking Night to the clinic, I went there myself and asked the nurse for a first aid kit. I left the two of them in the Student Council office for the time being. Then Dad called out of the blue, asking how his favorite youngest one was doing. If he truly wanted to check on Rhyme, why didn't he simply call him directly? That's what's bothering me. It makes my little brother feel as if Dad doesn't really care about him.
On my way back to the Student Council office with the first aid kit, I spotted my younger brother, Rhyme. We were both walking down the hallway, but he didn't notice me since he was staring at the floor. We were about to pass each other, but he turned left. I sped up to catch a better look. I figured he was heading towards the private lockers. Our lockers are different from the regular students'. It's reserved for us and the children of the admins and deans at Destine University. I followed him and, sure enough, I was right. He was still wearing a white T-shirt and dark blue sweatpants, part of the PE uniform.
I walked into the locker room and set the first aid kit down by the door. He didn't even notice I was behind him. Even when I opened and closed the door, he stayed completely unaware. It's like he's totally lost in his own world or maybe he just assumes I'm another student with a locker here and doesn't care.
I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms as I watched him pull something out of his locker.
"What a pain," I said. He stopped, but didn't turn around. I know he can tell it's me behind him just by the sound of my voice. He sighed before speaking.
"If you're here to scold me, well, I'm not in the mood to listen to it," he said and closed the locker.
"You're 18 years old now, and yet you raced against a 16-year-old, and a girl. You're brutal," I said as I took a step closer to him. He sighed again, rubbed his neck while scowling. I took the car key from my pocket and handed it to him. It was the key to the car he took from our driver the other day, which I haven't returned yet.
"Mommy Vanessa said that you should just keep the car," he said, refusing to take the key. I didn't really want to keep it either since I can commute, take a cab, or ride the train.
"Well, if you really don't want to use it, then I'll just take it instead." Because of what he said, I immediately changed my mind. The moment I handed him that key, he'd probably crash that car again.
"Hand it over," he grinned, reaching for the key.
"Nope. I changed my mind," I shot back, and his face fell.
"The very first time you got a car, you wanted to impress Moryn at that moment. But unfortunately, you ended up crashing it." That's the reason why Dad forbids him from driving. I think he crashed enough cars already, that's reason enough to not let him drive anymore. Plus, mommy Vanessa freaked out about what could happen to him next.
"Oh, come on! I'm not a minor anymore. I'm 18 now. I don't need a driver!" He complained. I approached him closer until he was leaning back against the locker. It was evident from his facial expression that he was starting to feel scared. I tapped his forehead with my finger.
"That's what I've been wondering. You're already 18, but you still act like an immature brat, and you get annoyed so easily." He started to get annoyed again and removed my hand, which made me laugh. Sometimes, no matter how intelligent a person is, the behavior still align with the age. I walked back to the door and grabbed the first aid kit.
"Come on. Make it up to the two girls you made cry," I said before finally stepping out. After he changed, he followed me to the food court, and I treated them an ice cream to help ease the tension between the three of them.
I treated Night's wound at the food court since there aren't many students around at this time, mostly just college students attending evening classes. While I was treating Night, it seemed as if it was only Moryn and I who were talking. Rhyme remained quiet beside Moryn, and Night and I sat in front of them. I noticed that their auras appeared lifeless, as if they had lost a cat.
I positioned Night's chair directly across from mine so I could properly treat his wounds. Even though Night and Rhyme were seated on opposite sides of the table, Night still found a reason to avoid looking at him. I glanced at Rhyme and gave him a subtle gesture to start speaking.
He cleared his throat before speaking, and for a moment, I thought he was going to apologize.
"Next time, Night, do your very best so you won't lose!" Rhyme said, his tone laced with irritation. I resisted the urge to facepalm. I wanted him to talk to Night, but not like that. I was still rooting for him after all, but I didn't expect my brother could be that such a fool. What a pain.
Night's face flushed with anger as she stood up, startling me enough to pause mid-way through bandaging her hand.
"You're so arrogant!" she shouted, glaring at Rhyme.
Rhyme looked up at her, and for the first time, I noticed the dullness in his expression was fading. Suddenly, Rhyme burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. In that moment, I realized why he'd been acting so off earlier. Moryn and I exchanged a glance before joining in on the laughter.
"What? Why are you all laughing at me? What's so funny?" Night demanded, her frustration only making the moment more hilarious.
Later, on the way to the parking garage, I made a suggestion.
"Let's crash at my place tonight," I said as we walked toward the car. I was supposed to drop them off at their homes, but since I lived alone, I missed having them around. I saw the quick sparkle in Moryn's eyes. It's obvious that she is excited about my idea. The others seemed to agree without hesitation.
Just before opening the car door, I turned to face them.
"What do you want for dinner?" I asked.
"Japanese chicken curry!" Moryn enthusiastically shouted. Perfect! I wanted that too. In fact, I had curry roux cubes sitting in my pantry. I had ordered them online in a moment of excitement, but I never figured out what to do with them. At this point, I felt like I had been collecting dust for a century. It's funny how thrilling it is to buy something, only to realize later that I do not actually use it.
"Wait. Who's going to cook?" I asked again. I do cook in my apartment, but only simple dishes I'm used to. Honestly, I have no clue how to make that dish.
"I will!" Night said eagerly, but both Night and Rhyme raised their hands at the same time.
"I'll do the cooking. Trust me, I'm good at everything." Rhyme said, emphasizing each word as if to imply that he is superior to Night in every aspect. Night frowned and turned to Rhyme beside her.
"Oh, so you think you're the only one here who can cook?" She said, fully facing him. With his arms crossed, Rhyme turned to face her as well.
"Absolutely," Rhyme said confidently.
"Alright, guys! Let's head to the grocery store first," I said, cutting off what was about to become another argument between the two. If I didn't intervene, they might have ended up throwing punches.
"We still need to grab the ingredients, and we better hurry since it's getting late," I added. As they were about to get in the car, Rhyme and Night started arguing again. This time, it's about who got to sit next to Moryn. Annoyed, I grabbed Rhyme and made him sit in the passenger seat beside me. My goodness! These two are so stressful.
We went to a mall to do some grocery shopping. Before heading home, I stopped by the second floor to browse some clothes, and they decided to tag along with me. With my busy schedule, I hadn't had time to shop in ages.
A few minutes later, Rhyme and Night started arguing again not far from where I was. I quickly walked over to them and saw Moryn trying to calm them down.
"What's going on here?" I asked, hands on my hips with a puzzled expression.
"I saw it first!" Night yelled.
"No, you didn't! It was me!" Rhyme shot back. They were fighting over a blue off-shoulder dress that ended above the knee. Rhyme had the dress in his hand, holding it high so Night couldn't grab it.
"What are you even going to do with that? You're a guy!" Night stopped trying to grab the dress from Rhyme as her brows furrowed.
"And what are you going to do with it? You think you're a guy too, don't you?" Rhyme retorted. I didn't quite like what Rhyme said, so I gave him a light slap on the head.
"Ow!" he exclaimed while holding his head.
"That's not for me, I'm giving it to Moryn!" Night shot back.
"I don't care. I saw it first because I thought it'd look good on Moryn!" Rhyme explained. I took the dress from Rhyme and held it up, inspecting it. Honestly, if it looked good on me, I might just take it to avoid more arguing. But then I glanced at Night and got an idea. I held the dress up to her. Moryn gasped and immediately turned to Night.
"Night, that dress would look amazing on you! I swear!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.
"Exactly! You should try it!" I said. However, Night took a step back and raised his hand slightly, forcing a smile.
"Um, no, it's just that... I think that would suit Moryn better," she stammered, sounding a bit nervous.
"Are you out of your mind? That dress is just going to look ugly on her," Rhyme reacted.
We ignored Rhyme's comments because Moryn and I were genuinely curious about how Night would look in the dress.
"It's okay, Night, relax. We're just trying it on," I coaxed her gently, hoping she'd agree. She didn't respond and just grimaced instead.
"Hey! Hold on a second!" Rhyme interrupted us.
"I'm not okay with this. I was the first one who saw that dress, and I'm planning to buy it for Moryn!" Rhyme exclaimed. I gave my brother a stern look, causing him to immediately close his mouth and avert his gaze out of fear.
"Come on! Try it on!" Moryn pulled Night towards the fitting room, and I couldn't help but laugh as Night reluctantly followed. While Night was in the fitting room, the rest of us waited outside, excited to see how it looked on her. Rhyme sat on a bench with his arms crossed, sulking as usual.
When Night stepped out of the fitting room, Moryn and I both gasped in amazement. The color complemented her fair, smooth skin, and the style highlighted her curves perfectly. I had no idea she could look this stunning. Moryn and I rushed over to her.
"Oh my gosh! I'm speechless!" I said. I can hardly put into words what I'm feeling right now. Night gave us a hesitant smile, clearly lacking confidence in how she looked. I heard Rhyme clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"It just doesn't look right on her. It only makes her seem stupid since she's ugly." Rhyme muttered under his breath, his gaze turned away.
"What do you mean ugly when you're not even looking?" I shot back. He tisked softly, shaking his head and continued to avoid facing us.
"I'm gonna wait outside," he said calmly before standing up and walking away.
"What is wrong with that guy?" I muttered, frowning. Now that we no longer live under the same roof, I find it even harder to understand him.