"On the roof."
'I can't sleep...' I groaned as I turned to look at the alarm clock beside my bed and saw that it was already 10:36 pm. Suddenly, I heard something ruffling outside. I instantly got up from my bed and went to check by the balcony. I took a peak outside, and there was nothing. 'I needed some fresh air anyway. It's fine.' I said through my head as I walked out. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes while looking up at the night sky, only to see Clayden on our roof, staring at me with a grin on his face—My eyes grew wide, and I let out a loud scream. He started to laugh at me as I heard our neighbors wake up one by one, complaining.
"Geez, What are you even doing?" I asked Clayden, trying my best to be quiet as much as possible so I wouldn't disturb our neighbors. He busted out laughing as I turned away from him and was about to head inside.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Clayden apologized while trying his best to stop laughing. I glared at him, but he only smiled at me in return. "Come up here with me." He offered a hand so I could climb up the roof. I hesitated to take his hand and turned to look away from him. I glanced over to his direction, and he was smiling.
I let out a sigh and took his hand. "Fine." Clayden chuckled as soon as I got up on the roof. I clicked my tongue and sat beside him—He was looking up at the sky and was silent the entire time as he was laying down on the roof. 'I guess both of us wanted some fresh air.' I thought as I stared at him. He suddenly faced my direction, and we started staring at each other. He suddenly smiled, and that made me look away in an instant.
"Hey... Clyde?" I called out his name while I faced a different direction. He hummed in response as I started to think about Zenji's odd behavior again. "Did you know when Zenji started to change?" I asked, which surely made him take a while before answering me. I glanced in his direction, and he looked like he seemed to know but was lost in thought.
"Come to think of it, he did change. Still, isn't that a good thing?" He asked me back as I started to think that he didn't do anything bad or seem to hate us. "Zenji is more mature than us, after all." He added, and that certainly made me agree. He is older than us.
"Don't think too much, Rae," Clayden told me as he moved a strand of hair at the back of my ear. I was startled by his action, so I backed away a little but then when he suddenly said, "Don't move." Once he was done, I checked the same portion of my hair that he fixed and noticed a hairpin on it. I couldn't help but feel butterflies in my stomach.
"T-thank you." I stuttered as I felt my cheeks heat up. Clayden chuckled at me and smiled. Somehow, I didn't mind him laughing at me at all—This smile had drawn me to the light that I started to hate and avoid, the light I once loved. I smiled back at him as I looked up the sky. "What's up with the hairpin anyway?" I asked him.
"Nothing, really... I just thought it would suit you as soon as I saw that hairpin at the mall earlier." He answered and closed his eyes, lying down beside me.
"You had given me two things in one day. Won't that be weird to you if you were me?" I asked him again, waiting for him to tell me the truth, but he gave me a silent treatment and smiled instead. "You have a photoshoot this Friday, right?" I wanted to clarify so I can tell our adviser that he'll be gone that day.
"I won't be going to school starting on Wednesday. My manager found me a drama and movie that I should audition for. I think this would be a good opportunity for me, don't you think?" He said, looking ecstatic as he told me about what he would be doing in a few days. My eyes grew wide at the news that he told me. I hummed in response, and just by the look on his face, I knew that he was excited, too. "You'll help me practice, right?" He asked me, and I instantly nodded, saying.
"Of course I will." He hasn't acted in a drama or a movie before, so I know he would be nervous. He has only been doing advertisements and modeling, after all.
"Thank you!" He hugged me tight as I hugged him back.
"You should really go to bed already, Clyde. Don't make me have a hard time waking you up again." I told him as I remembered how I tried to push him to stand up when we were late for school earlier.
"Alright, Alright." He smirked and stood up as he offered his hand to help me stand. "Let's go." He said as he led me to the edge of the roof, where we climbed up. He jumped down on our balcony and spread his arms wide, waiting for me to jump to him.
"Is this really necessary?" I asked, but he still stood there waiting for me instead of answering me. I sighed and closed my eyes as I felt my heart beat fast before I jumped down. 'It didn't hurt...' I thought as I felt Clayden's arms around me. I opened my eyes and noticed that Clayden was carrying me in a bridal style. My cheeks started to heat up—I looked over to Clayde. He was really close and had that smirk on his face. I immediately jumped off his arms and pushed him to the edge of our balcony. "Just go already!" I said as he started laughing.
"Goodnight, Rae. I'll see you tomorrow." He said before jumping over the window to his room. He immediately closed the windows and covered it with the curtains.
"Goodnight, Clyde..." I muttered before heading inside my room. As soon as I closed the sliding door to the balcony, I caressed the hairpin Clayden gave me again and smiled. 'Can I really sleep at this rate?' I thought and let out a sigh before heading to bed.
• • •
I started to knock continuously on the door and realized Clayden was still asleep. I barged right inside his house and sighed as I walked straight to his bedroom—I suddenly heard the doorknob rattle behind me and saw Zenji standing there. He was smiling and started to remove his shoes by the doorstep before heading in. 'He hasn't changed that much after all...' I thought and let out a soft chuckle. He hummed as he tilted his head with a confused look on his face.
"What?" He muttered as I looked away, shaking my head, and continued to walk to Clayden's bedroom.
"Nothing."As soon as I got inside Clayden's bedroom, I pulled away his blanket from him as he let out a groan. He opened his eyes slightly and seemed to have noticed that Zenji was also there, making him fall on his bed while Zenji was just there staring at him and lookin' pissed within those smiles of his.
"Clayden, will you ever change? You do know you're making things hard for Rae... Don't you?" Zenji sarcastically asked Clayden as I went pale from how scary he looked even though he was smiling. Clayden hurriedly went out of the room to get ready as both me and Zenji were left alone in there.
'These two really do get along, even when I'm not looking... right?' I thought. I then heard Zenji sigh before I snickered on my way out of Clayden's room, assisting Zenji, who looked stressed. "Did you talk with Clyde about something that I don't know of, Zen?" I asked. He tried to avoid my gaze, obvious enough to say that he did. Zenji looked like he really wanted to tell me. Whatever he told Clayden, I'm sure it's not anything bad.
To Be Continued. . .