"Huh", Malakai was confused. A short, tanned girl with long pink hair was hugging him, her arms wrapping around him.
"Do I know you?" He asked, lifting his hands not to touch her.
The girl let go of Malakai and looked up at him.
"Nope", she answered, shaking her head cutely.
Malakai looked at Ray, who was with him, not knowing what to do. He looked at the other two girls to see if he recognised them.
"You two can go on ahead. I need to talk to Malakai", she told the two girls.
"You do?" Malakai looked at her, questioning himself if they had met somewhere before.
"Yes", She excitedly turned to him.
The two girls awkwardly left, leaving this girl with Malakai and Ray.
"I'm Nada, and I'm in class 1-E", she introduced, with a smile on her face.
Malakai got a proper look at her face; she had long eyelashes, caramel eyes, and a cute hairstyle with a black bow tying up a bun at the back and a pin at the front. He also noticed she had a few piercings on her ear and a butterfly tattoo on her neck.
"Why's every girl pretty here?" He thought to himself.
"Cool. You don't need to be so formal", Malakai said, still on edge.
"I thought any other introduction would be rude", Nada replied.
Malakai was weirded out and glanced at Ray, standing there awkwardly.
"Anyway, What did you wanna talk about?" He asked cautiously.
"I want to be your apprentice" " she confidently said.
"Wha?" Malakai questioned. He turned to Ray and whispered.
"Is she serious?"
"I don't know, she looks serious", he replied, looking at Nada's facial expression.
"I'm right here, you know", Nada said, hearing everything.
Malakai looked at Nada,
"I've got so many questions".
"Ask away", Nada replied.
"Why is your hair pink?"
"I dyed it".
"How tall are you?"
"Five foot one".
"Hehehe, you're short".
"You're short as well".
"Taller than you".
"Still short".
"Why have you got a tattoo on your neck?".
"I got it when I turned 18".
"Why a purple butterfly?"
"Because I like butterflies and my favourite colour is purple".
"Why didn't you dye your hair purple then?"
"Purple didn't look nice."
Malakai got sidetracked, he shook his head,
"Okay, wait, wait, wait. Why'd you wanna be my apprentice?" He asked.
"Because you're number one on the leaderboard", she replied like it was obvious.
"We've only done the first challenge. I'm definitely not holding that position". Malakai said, trying to persuade her.
"But I know you can help me a lot. I'll do anything you tell me", she said with her hands together pleading.
Malakai was lost; he looked at Ray to ensure he was hearing correctly. By seeing Ray's reaction, it looked like he did.
"Anything? So if I told you to go buy me an energy drink, you would", Malakai said, already holding a drink in his right hand.
"Mally!" Ray was in shock; he was even asking that.
"Yeah, what do you want?" She asked with her eyes lit up.
"Lemonade", he slowly answered, still unsure what was happening.
"Okay", she started walking away. Malakai quickly looked at Ray in disbelief,
"Wait! Im joking. Come back", Malakai called out.
"You sure?" She asked to make sure.
"Yeah, I already got a drink", he said, showing his drink.
Nada walked back to Malakai and Ray.
"You serious?" Malakai said in disbelief, not sure if she was taking the piss or not.
"Yeah. I know you can help me".
Malakai cheekily smiled.
"So you're my apprentice?" Malakai asked one more time.
"Yep".
"If you're my apprentice, I got one condition", he said, lifting one finger.
"You can't be serious, Mally", Ray said in disappointment that he was taking advantage of the situation.
"Wait, man, it's gonna be good", Malakai reassured.
"What is it?" Nada eagerly wanted to know.
"You have to call me sensei", Malakai said, trying not to laugh.
"Oh my god, Mally", Ray said.
"Okay, sensei", Nada replied seriously.
Malakai started laughing while Ray was face-palming. Malakai composed himself,
"What do you wanna know?" Malakai asked, kinda abusing his power right now.
"Have you got any advice?' she asked without hesitation.
"Uhhhh. Don't do drugs", Malakai gave the most basic advice ever.
Nada whipped out her phone and started typing.
"What are you doing?" Malakai asked, trying to look at what she was typing.
"I'm writing your advice in my notes" " she replied, still typing.
Malakai bursted out laughing,
"I like you, we're gonna be good friends".
Eric and Sasha were sitting on the couch. Eric was on the right, and Sasha was on the left; there was a space in the middle. Empty. Eric had his head down; he still couldn't meet her eyes, while Sasha had her hand on the couch's arm with her chin resting in her palm.
"Is it over?" Eric started the awkward conversation.
Sasha side-eyed Eric and then looked down at the floor,
"Yeah", she replied with one word. There was an awkward silence. Sasha didn't know what else to say.
"Why?" Eric asked. Sasha briefly closed her eyes,
"You ask this every time", she answered in a tired voice.
"And you never answer!" Eric raised his voice, staying in the same position. Sasha jumped a little; it was the first time she'd heard that sort of tone from him.
"I just want a clear answer", he said, bringing his tone back to a calmer one. Eric didn't want to raise his voice, but it had to be done if he wanted answers.
"I don't love you anymore." Sasha dropped the bomb.
Eric's eyes widened. It was like his body shut down for a split second. Everything happened at once. He felt pain in his chest, thoughts filling his head; it felt like he was being dragged down, his body heating up. But the thing is, he already knew this. It was just hearing it from the person he loved was different. He was hearing the words said out loud compared to him imagining her saying it. It killed him. Eric had hope. He hoped she broke up with him for another reason, a better reason. She wanted to take a break or focus on herself. Heck, he thought she was possibly moving to a different country, anything but her losing feelings for him. These were the delusional thoughts that helped him sleep at night, the thoughts that kept that candle still lit. But those five words blew that tiny flame; it didn't only diminish the flame, it melted the wax. There was nothing left.
"Why?" Eric continued to question. He was already broken, but he still wanted to know. To clear his conscience. To answer the questions that he had to make up answers for. Sasha turned her head to look at Eric; she saw a statue looking down. She was scared to say the wrong thing, but in this scenario, there can't be a wrong answer.
"I- I- I don't know", she stuttered. She didn't answer correctly.
"What do you mean?" Eric replied, almost mumbling. Confused by that answer. How can you not know why you lost feelings? Do feelings just come and go? One day someone can wake up and stop loving someone? These thoughts flooded Eric's brain.
"I … didn't feel the same as I did at the start. I didn't feel the same. I don't know Eric", Sasha tried putting into words. Even repeating herself shows how nervous she was. All this time, she was running away, but now, facing the situation head-on, she doesn't know how to articulate herself.
"When did you stop feeling the same?" Eric covered all the questions; he had to know the answer.
"Around two months ago", Sasha said, looking down.
"What did I do wrong?" Eric asked, defeated.
"Nothing, you didn't do anything wrong".
"Then why?" Eric slightly raised his voice not in anger but in desperatation. The word why was like a broken recorder in his voice box. That word kept appearing.
"It wasn't you, it was me", Sasha replied on the brink of tears.
"Did you cheat?" Eric asked, finally lifting his head to look at her. He saw her brownish-red eyes coated with water.
"NO!" Sasha quickly replied.
"I would never cheat! I promise! You can check my messages if you want", Sasha defended herself, moving closer to Eric.
"No, there's no point", Eric said, looking back down.
"I swear! You can check! Please believe me! I'm not a cheater!" Sasha continued to plead her case. Eric kept strong this whole time; no tears escaped his eyes. Maybe the non-stop crying the previous week made his tear duct dry out. Eric stood up,
"I got one last question. After this, I won't talk to you again". Eric paused for a moment.
"Is there anywhere in your heart that still holds feelings for me?"
Sasha was stunned by the question,
"I-I." She couldn't answer. She didn't want to say no, even though it was true.
Eric knew what type of girl Sasha was, so he knew if she kept quiet or didn't say yes immediately, it meant no. He knew she was a nice, honest girl; she didn't like to lie. She hated liars. He knew she didn't cheat; he asked in the heat of the moment beacuse he was desperate. He knew she was too good for him. He knew this whole relationship was too good to be true. He knew this couldn't last. He knew he couldn't be this lucky. He knew he couldn't be this happy. He knew the answers. He knew all along, but he was blinded by love.
"Okay. Sasha. I just want to say thank you. For everything".
Eric started walking to his room.
"Eric, wait!" Sasha was worried Eric was going to do something stupid. She quickly leapt off the couch and got in front of Eric.
"Eric, calm down!" She said, blocking Eric.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything I'm going to regret. I just want to go to sleep. I'm pretty tired", he said with a frail smile.
Sasha looked into his eyes and was instantly frozen. Shivers running down her spine is an understatement. It was like time stopped.
His eyes were hollow. No colour. It was like he wasn't present, almost like a ghost was talking to her. Sasha thought this only happened on TV, but the person in front of her had those eyes, and she was the cause. Sasha couldn't move; she was shocked in place. Her face was still with a tear moving down her cheek. Eric walked past her, opened his door and went inside. He locked the door and instantly dropped to the floor; he couldn't even make it to the bed. His body gave up. He was safe now in his room. No one to see him. No one to hurt him. No one to judge him. Only himself. He lay there on his floor. Broken. His eyes were dead, nothing behind them, but one last tear formed and coated his eyes before trickling down his face and dripping to the floor.
"Our last conversation".