I watched Caitlyn happily munch on her velvet cake while taking in some caffeine after every bite. She looked very contended. Without realizing it, I have been staring at her with a smile since she began eating. I was only able to snap back when she stopped and stared back at me.
Her cheeks are flushed and her mouth is slightly shaking. "Stop staring... It's embarrassing..." I lightly chuckled at her words and broke my stare. "Sorry, I got carried away" Hearing my words, she nods and then looks at my coffee. "It's Emily's favorite, right? I noticed that it's always the same coffee when we visit Starjacks with everyone else" She said with a smile before shifting to a concerned look. "Are you really sure you don't want a taste of my cake? I could also buy you a different cake, you know..."
She just looks too cute whenever she's out worrying for her friends. The others say the same, but I wouldn't dare reveal it myself, and they would tease me about it. "Don't worry. I'm fine. This has become my favorite as well, so I don't mind having no sides with it" I reassured her, but I really wanted a cake to eat with the mocha, I threw everything at that damned 'discounted' set. This mocha I bought is a bit expensive already. Any more than that and my wallet will be swept clean. I have to put some money aside for later.
It was Eliza who taught me financial stuff as a college student with a limited allowance, and now that Caitlyn made me dump a lot of money on that set, I'm starting to appreciate her efforts. Next time, no more kindness when it comes to spending money. It's every woman for herself when the bills come knocking, yup. I nodded to myself as a promise for me, Lynn, was declared. Caitlyn looked at me curiously while she munched on her cake.
I cleared my throat and sipped on my mocha. After some thinking, I asked Caitlyn. "Do you know the rumor of a high school boy in Japan who can travel in time and visit different worlds?" She perks up slightly as she recognizes what I was referring to. "Yes! But, that's like, high school days rumor. I was fascinated by it, but when I tried to search the internet for it, nothing came up. So I eventually forgot about it" Huh, so she couldn't find anything relating to that rumor as well. How odd. I always find Caitlyn as a walking source of information, but it scares me a bit when she finds it impossible to know more about this particular rumor.
"So you also heard it during high school, huh? Back then, I couldn't care about it, but somehow it got me interested for a day" Now, the rumor has become too interesting for my mind. The mysteriousness of not being able to find discussions relating to this topic is too much for my mind. "High school, huh..." I quickly snapped back when I heard her say high school. That word had become like a trigger to me, especially if it came from Caitlyn.
"During high school, it's impossible to think that you will be willing to buy me an expensive set in a fancy cafe someday" With her head facing me, she narrows her eyes at me as she rests her chin on her palm while her elbow rests on the table. I found myself heating up as she giggled at my reaction. "Never have I thought that you would look like this as well. You looked completely different from how you looked before" She analyzes me from toe to head.
It was too much for me, so I just did the same. I rested my left elbow on the table and rested my chin on my palm. I looked down at my coffee instead and played with the straw as I thought back to my past. As I did, I scoffed and muttered 'High school, huh'. I let out some of my emotions with words. While I played with the straw, I spoke.
"I was foolish. Arrogance and my ego were all I had" My face falls to a frown as I think back to my younger self and how she believes she had everything in her palm. My poor, poor high school self, blinded by her ego, casting dark clouds over her life as she lives on. Without an insight into the future, she kept on going, unaware of the severity of her actions and their consequences. No one would bat an eye to a lost cause like her, they despised her, hated her name, and cursed her name with passion, but she wouldn't just realize this until life took away everything she had and invited her to the gates of hell, eager to take her in and begin her torment.
I slightly jumped as I snapped back when Caitlyn placed a hand on my hand that was holding the straw. She smiled at me gently and nodded. "Lynn..." She called my name in a soft voice. I smiled back at her, although weakly.
Wicked as she may be, the angels of heaven reached out in a gesture of salvation, offering a chance at redemption. Battered and weak, the poor soul extended her grasp on the light and there she was given a chance she could never believe she deserved. In the safe embrace of hope, she begins to mend.
I nodded at Caitlyn. The both of us were silent as we stared at each other, but our thoughts were conversing on their own. She held my hand for a few minutes before she let go. She looked outside the window and said. "This whole time travel thing is scary" She showed me her fear of travelling through time. I can see it in her eyes, she's uncertain. "It's too late to back out now, though" She then looks back at me. "The others would say, if we refuse to go back in time to visit our past, then we will do it to find the right theory of this world finally"
She said that as if we were being held captive by our friends. "Although I may be scared, I'm still willing to be on the frontline of this breakthrough" She confidently smiled at me, which got me chuckling. "You're a coward but your dedication to science pushes you, huh" She shyly giggled at me in response.
"Don't call me that, you're so mean" She said and we both laughed. After that, we just stared out the window. I don't know what's going on in her mind right now, I wish I could see what she's thinking... Oh... Yeah. That's right. I once could read her mind... in the past. I always knew what she was up to, her emotions, and her desires, at the time. I was such a fool. Me and my story, the story of my life. It all began in high school... Hmph... Every story starts in high school, right...?