Girl Crush

*I just wanna be...Awesome Girl! Girl Crush! Cool! Everyday I do*

My phone started ringing while I was in the shower.

And when in the shower, THOU SHALL NOT DENY THYSELF!

So I sang and danced along with all my might.

"Go, Girl Crush! Red color lipstick,

My backside is an apple hip!

Go, Girl Crush! Everyday I do!

Cash money, I make just enough too! Go, Girl Crush! I love myself~"

My phone kept ringing and when I took a peek to check who was calling me this early in the morning, I smirked. My favorite part was about to come on and there's no way that I'll be answering the call now. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the deep dive.

Rap:

"I don't play push and pull. My feelings are honest.

From other girls, my worries are a little different.

I'm freakin' naughty girl!

I'm not conscious of others' eyes

'Cause I love myself!

Who cares if I'm a little lonely?

I think you --"

Silence~~~

The song stopped because the call had been dropped. And it ended just when I was really feeling the song! That was the CLIMAX!

So with all my diaphragm could muster, I screamed. "Arthur!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Within seconds from shouting his name from the bathroom, Arthur came banging on the door.

"Zee?! What happened?! Are you okay?!!"

My throat hurt from shouting so I cleared it. "Yeah. Can you call me again?"

"Huh?" From the sound of his voice, he was probably leaning his ear against the door.

"Call me again!" I said while massaging the shampoo on my head.

"Why?! Is everything okay? I called you earlier but you didn't answer. Did you lose your phone?"

"That's not it. Just call me again!" I rolled my eyes in frustration. 'Why is it so hard to make him understand?'

"I'm here already! Why do you want me to call you?!" He was starting to sound annoyed too.

I took a deep breath. "I didn' finish singing the song!"

"Huh? What song?" He sounded confused.

"My ringtone!"

And then, there was silence in the bathroom for a second time…

"Arthur?" I called out.

"Art?"

When he still didn't answer, I screeched again at the top of my lungs. "Arthur!"

*ding*

Just then, I received a message from Arthur. I wiped my pinkie against the towel by the rack and opened the message.

[ArtIsCool: What are you? A Pterodactyl?! Shut up!]

"Ts. Why can't he be useful for once?" I turned the shower back on and finished my bath.

Feeling downhearted from not being able to finish the song, I turned on my music player then continued my concert in my bedroom while changing.

*ding*

'What is it this time?' My phone has been very busy lately.

[Clinton: Same time?]

'Ah…' I sat on the bed, crossed my legs and started shaking it as I thought of a more suitable time to meet up in the station. We usually meet up at around 6AM but we couldn't do that today.

[Haile: Nope. Let's make it 8:30.]

[Clinton: Woke up late?]

[Haile: Nope. Kath's coming.]

[Clinton: Katherine? Why?]

[Haile: I'll try to convince Joey to use her as a stand in for Clarisse instead of me. You just need someone with the same build right? Besides, Kath has previous experience. She'll do better than me.]

Craige didn't reply immediately so I went down for a quick breakfast. But as soon as I entered the kitchen, Arthur was sending me daggers.

"Zeanne, what you did to Arthur was not nice. I can't believe you made him run up the stairs just so you can play your ringtone?" Mom reprimanded me before I could even take a seat.

"Sorry." Take it from the expert. The faster you say sorry, the faster you get forgiven.

Too bad for me, Art doesn't have the ability to feel my sincerity.

"You call that an apology?!" He demanded.

But too bad for him, his father was more than ready to take my side. "Arthur Blake, your sister already said that she's sorry."

Arthur clenched his jaw and quietly started eating. I thought he's already done giving me a daily dosage of torment for today. But I was wrong.

I was reading Craige's reply when he suddenly appeared in my doorway. "You're taking these lessons pretty seriously lately."

[Clinton: Ok.]

[Haile: Laters.]

I sent my reply to Craige then put a hand on my waist as I faced my 'brother'. "Am I not supposed to?"

He shrugged. "That's not what I'm saying. I was just wondering what makes you so enthusiastic about it lately."

"Because I realized that I love what I'm doing." I didn't know how truthful my words were until I spit them out.

"Then why did you drop it back then? I thought you completely gave up on it." He took my bag from me and loaded it in the car.

"What's it to you whether I drop it or pick it up?" I got inside the car but to my surprise, he got on the driver's seat. "You're driving?!"

"I'll drive you to the station. Dad received a call from the hospital." He fastened his seatbelt, which basically told me that he was being serious.

I reluctantly put on my belt too. "Drive safely. 'Kay?"

He grinned. "Zee?"

"Remove that smile from your face or I'll walk to the station today!" I warned him.

Still smiling, he locked the doors. "Do you trust me?"

"I don't!" was my unflinching answer.

And to my horror, he opened the garage and said. "Me too."

"Open the doooooooooor!!!!!"

As soon as we arrived at the drop off area, I unlatched my belt and made a run for the bathroom. I didn't turn to say my goodbyes nor thanks to him because I might just end up killing him instead.

Still feeling queasy, I found Craige and Katherine waiting for me at the platform. They were in the middle of exchanging their phones when I saw them. 'Don't tell me… they're asking for each other's numbers? Now? The year is almost over!"

Katherine immediately noticed my pale pallor when she turned and saw me. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

Her question made Craige raise his head from his phone. It seemed that he didn't know that I arrived already. He stood up from the bench. "What's wrong?"

Katherine didn't fail to catch the worry from his tone and the side of her lips raised with astonishment. I quickly wrapped my arm around her neck for support. "I'm not okay. Arthur drove me here."

Katherine started laughing and Craige wore a deep frown.

"Congratulations for making it here alive." Katherine shook my hand in between her laughter.

I shook it back. "I just feel bad for whoever's using the toilet after me. I think I clogged it with bacon and eggs."

Our train arrived after a few minutes and by that time I was already feeling a little bit better. We bought tickets for regular seats this time since there will be three of us. And the ride has been pretty fun with nonstop chatting and snacking. Except that Craige hasn't said a word since asking me if I was okay on the station's platform. 'Could it be because the place is too crowded for him?'

"You're not coming with us?" was Katherine's worried question when I told her that we would be separating ways here in Cape Hallows' station.

"Yeah. I already spoke with Joey and he's expecting you to come with Craige to the studio as soon as you arrive. As for me, I'm already late for my class." My eyes caught Craige's. I sent him a silent warning not to tell Katherine unnecessary things while I'm away. "We'll meet around 4PM for an early dinner with Teacher Kimmy."

"Will you be fine on your own?"

I was so shocked to hear his voice for the very first time since forever. "Y-yeah. Take care of Kath for me please. Don't overwork her."

He nodded and I remembered something that made me turn back to Katherine. "By the way, when we meet Teacher Kimmy later. Don't tell her that we're classmates with Craige."

"Why?" Katherine asked curiously.

"Just because." Craige and I answered at the same time that made Katherine look at us with suspicion.

I pretended to look at my watch that already stopped working a long time ago. "I gotta go. See you guys later!"

***

As soon as Zeanne was out of sight, Katherine's smile disappeared as she turned to Craige. "So what were you saying earlier?"

"I wasn't saying anything." Craige looked at his phone to check if the cab that he called earlier had arrived.

"You know what I'm talking about, Craige." She folded her arms in front of her which made Craige smile because he was reminded of somebody.

'They really are birds of the same feather.'

"What's with that smile?" Katherine asked with a tinge of annoyance.

He turned away. "Nothing."

Katherine snatched his phone from him. "I hate it when people don't look at me when they talk to me."

Those words made his head turn back and look Katherine in the eyes. 'She's a bat. Not a bird.'

'No.'

'They're both bats pretending to be birds.'

He chuckled and accidentally said his thoughts out loud. "Girls really are scary."

"Tell me, what is it?" Katherine pushed.

"I already told you what I had to say. I can't tell you any more than that." He took back his phone. "Just make sure that you call me when something happens. You can't be a minute late."

Katherine glared at him.

She never liked Craige in the first place. She hated guys like him that act like they're so important and couldn't be bothered. She'd prefer the loud and narcissistic Joshua any day over the silent and mysterious types like this guy. And she just developed another reason to hate him more when she found out that he became friends with Zeanne without her knowledge. Katherine didn't like that Zeanne hid that fact from her for months. Also, Zeanne seemed to be keeping a secret from her that only Craige knew. That annoyed Katherine like hell.

She raised her chin and eyebrow haughtily. "And why should I do that? It's not like she's your girlfriend. And you're not the boss of me."

Craige took a deep breath, starting to lose his patience as well. "Look, Katherine, I don't mean Zee any harm. And I know that you've cared about her for a much longer time than I did. But the bottomline is that we both care about her now. All I'm asking is that if anything happens to her, please let me know immediately."

Katherine studied him for a while. "And I can't be a minute late?"

He shook his head. "No. Not even a second."

Her eyes twitched with irritation. She hates it when she doesn't get answers to her questions. "Craige, be honest with me."

Katherine was just like him. She would look at the other person's eyes when talking. But the look in her eyes was way too scary for a normal conversation. She looked like she's in the middle of hunting.

And he's the prey.

He massaged his temple with one hand. "That's what I've been trying to do since earlier so please stop pushing me to a corner."

"Do you like Zeanne?"

***

Dear Dairy Milk,

I'm a little worried about leaving those two alone.

They'll be fine right?

They're both not the type to purposely start a fight, but I still can't help but worry.

Sparks were flying earlier. And I don't mean it in a good way.

P.S.

The train ride today reminded me of my first train ride with Craige.

It was nerve-wracking

I can't believe it's been three months since then. How time flies…

He never brought up 'that' topic again. Nor did I.

I guess it's been mutually agreed that we'll sweep it under the rug like it never happened.