Chapter-6: Take care of him.

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked suddenly in her serious mood.

"Yes?" She suddenly stopped making me stop too. What's with her?!

"Ray... I know maybe you like him but..."

OH MY GOSH! Does she have a big crush on him? Are they DATING??!!

"If you like him, please take care of him." She said with a smile looking at me and then again started walking. What the... Isn't she dating him?

"I thought you were dating him."

"What?!! No! Never!" She jumped, shocked.

"What did you think of me! Hah! That's why I told him not to go with Plan B!" She scoffed.

"Um...What?" I muttered.

"No...lol, actually... The thing that happened was that when I was dating Jack he and I had a misunderstanding and we kind of fought over that and he ignored me for what seemed like a thousand years. So! My childhood best friend named Ray came up with a plan for making him jealous... And! I guess the entire school misunderstood both of about being in a relationship like a boyfriend and girlfriend."

I grinned ear to ear.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Mariana shouted.

"You! Don't shout!" I nearly shouted.

"So... You are telling me you don't have any rival in your love interest?" Eva squealed.

"Mm... What do you think? I already have so many of them! Just look at those girls who are looking at the table where Ray is sitting with Aria!" I pointed at the table.

"A-A Whatever. Dude, you have a chance! And even if you don't have one, you can just take a chance." I glared at Mariana.

"Hey! Why don't you guys sit at our table?" Aria asked out of nowhere. When did she get here? I saw her there just a second ago!

"Sure! By the way, nice to meet you! My name is Eva and her name is Mariana. We are this dude's best friend!"

"Hey! Just give me a chance to introduce myself. Don't say all the stuff yourself. Let me introduce myself to you again! My name is Mariana. Hope we can be best friends soon." Mariana showed her teeth to Aria and three of them shake their hands with each other.

"I am Aria, I also hope the same thing. By the way, let's go to that table!"

"Um... N-"

"Yes!" Eva cut me off and glared at me. What is she trying to say? It is a fantastic opportunity for me to become close with Ray? It's a bad idea!

"Hey! I got them."

"So, what will I do, Aria?"

"Sorry for his behavior." Aria apologized to us as we sat down.

"Hey! You should sit here beside Ray." Aria smirked and winked at me, making me sit beside Ray as I did my best to not sit beside him. There you go. Another mark for the awkward moment! The sound of gossiping was coming to my ears by now, and that sound was coming from nowhere but from the three girls who were sitting in front of me. Me and Ray? We right now, are sitting like we don't know each other and I am just putting my head down and eating the food that is on my plate. I don't know what Ray is doing. Yes, maybe he is talking with someone on his phone.

"Hey, why are you not talking?"

"Um... Just thinking about some stuff."

"What stuffs?!"

"Stuffs like how this food tastes so wonderful!" I maked up.

"You mean how bad it tastes?" Aria guessed.

"Yeah...you can say that," I muttered, stabbing the food with my fork.

Ray got his phone down. "It's good for me." He said.

"Then, it's good for me too," I said getting a bite of my fruit bread. I felt the gaze of Ray. Shit, did I say something to annoy him? I guess no... or did I?! Oh my Gosh! Did I just say that 'it's good for me too then'?!

Aria stood up suddenly, pushing her hand on the table, making me jump in shock.

"What?!" I and Ray said together, shocked, and looked at each other and then looked at Aria again.

"YOU guys look so CUTE TOGETHER!!" She nearly shouted.

"I ship you guys!" She said again. I looked at Ray and he looked at me and we both looked and Aria AGAIN!

"Wow!"

"NO." He said at the same time as me.

"Oh, come on! I want to sail a ship." Aria said, pouting and sitting in her chair again.

"I said no." He replied and Aria glared at him.

"Bro, you should be shipped with someone at this age and you know what we three are going to ship you with her till we die," Aria said and stuck her tongue out to Ray. She included Mari and Eva by 'we three'. He deserves it... probably.

"Whatever." He muttered and started eating his food.

Aria is so sweet. How badly I thought about her! I should just, you know, get some punishment for judging this adorable girl. That's why they say that never judge a book by its cover.

The rest of the time went just like that. Gossiping, eating, and my awkwardness. They say that love is gorgeous, but it can be sometimes like the roses. No matter how much gorgeous smell it has, it can hurt you with the thorns that stick with it until you remove them. So, they say that never grab a rose with the thorn on it carelessly because...it will hurt you and the thorns can even get inside of your hand no matter how bad you want it to come outside it won't. But... for me... I hope to take the rose even if it has thorns or not I will live in regret about it and will die inside for the rest of my life. I don't want to regret as I did for the past years. I want to become someone in his memories, someone beautiful. Not someone who was a person only there for him in a dream, but in his memories that will last long till he dies. Even though I know that my presence means nothing to him & that I don't have a chance, it doesn't hurt to try for the fullest of your wish.

The more I think about it, the more my day becomes bad because I don't have a chance! AAHH!

"Did something happen?" Aria asked, looking at me.

"Yeah!" I said, depressed.

"Something shouldn't happen to you, you know like you are the person who is energetic," Ray said, beside Aria, and I looked at him with a disgusted face.

"Something can obviously happen to me. I mean, come on, I also have my daily works. It doesn't matter if I am an energetic person."

"What... ever."

"Yeah, what was I even hoping for you to say? You can only say 'whatever.'" I muttered.

"Hey!!" a familiar voice shouted from behind and we look behind. Sam? He is back already?

"Sam! It's been a week already. I was missing you, bro." The cold-hearted person with a cold-blooded face named Ray said hugging Sam after running to him. I don't know why am I criticizing Ray so much. It is going like I am becoming like a tough person for him. Ah! I-I don't know what I am doing but, even if my behavior for him changes, I will keep going on liking him. After all, isn't he my rain? I mean, come on, who the heck in this world won't understand that I like Ray? I mean, I even told Ray that I like him. . . Okay! I told him I like him indirectly. But that doesn't matter.

"Why are you back so fast? You should've just stayed there forever, you know. It's hard for me if you stay here." Aria said, flapping her hand as if she was not interested in him.

"As if I like you a lot." Sam said, and I giggled, watching them fight like siblings. Well, they are actually siblings. As the day passes by, I am going crazier and crazier than I actually am.

"Hey, Scar." I looked up. Why do I feel like my heart skipped a bit? Yeah, obviously my heart will skip a beat because whenever there was someone who came to our house, I was the last one they would ask for. I know maybe he also noticed me at last, but they are closer to him.

"Hey, are you doing good?"

"Umm...Yeah." He replied with an embarrassed smile. What is he embarrassed for? Should I ask him? No, I don't think I should. Will they consider me as an attention seeker if I ask? No, I shouldn't ask them.

"How did your trip go?" I asked with a smile. He had fun guessing by his appearance.

"It was fun. I had so much fun there. You guys have to come to my house today. You have to see all the photos that I have taken." Shit. Does that mean I have to socialize with people? Again? Okay, these are not people, these are my friends, so it should be okay. But what if aunty thinks something about me? What if she thinks I am going there too often? Okay! I mean, let people think! But I don-

"Yeah, we are coming. Oh yeah, I forgot to say to you yesterday, today mom has actually gone to her party. You know like which they hold every month?" Aria said as we walked.

"Oh. But that's okay." Sam replied. Thank goodness I can be comfortable...maybe? I can feel someone's gaze. Should I look? I looked at that side and no, no one was watching me. I looked at Ray, who seemed like always. With no feelings. Aria described him as a lovely character who is cheerful. Looking at him doesn't feel like it. They say that humans have 3 faces. One that they show to nobody one to the friends and family and one to only themselves. Hmm, then that means that he is showing me the first one.

"I am going to come as well."

"Oh, okay then. Let's go to our house directly then." Aria replied to me.

I nodded as an answer. Will I have to get mom's permission? Nope... I guess? Yes, she won't say anything to me. Nothing will happen if I do something. Just one thing without her permission. We got inside Ray's house and it smelled just like before. A smell that feels like home. I don't know why, but I love this smell.

All this time we have been chattering and watching pictures taken by Sam.

"You know what happened?"

"What?" I asked Aria.

"It's time for some spooky stories!" Aria said, waving her hands and making her eyes seem like the word named 'spooky'.

"Go on! I am ready." I cried excitedly. Though I get scared easily, I love hearing, reading, and telling ghost stories. I mean, who doesn't like ghost stories. They give a slight chill to your spine and get you excited as well as scared.

"Yeah, that's the spirit, girl."

"What? You guys don't look at me. We are so excited." Aria said to the boys, who rolled their eyes at her.

"Switch off the lights, please," Aria said, and Sam got up and turned the light off, making the room dark.

"Start the story," I said excitedly.

"Once upon a time, there lived a girl who had taken the work of constructing the old house into a 'new one. When she was doing it, her work was to remove the old wallpapers from a new one. She did it easily, but when she was getting those off, she saw something that made her shocked. She saw the date numbers and some names on the back of the wallpaper. When she searched, the people's names, she found out that those names were the missing people's name,s and apparently the dates were the same dates when they went missing. Seeing that, it terrified her. Later, an investigation was held, and they knew later that, the wallpapers were actually the skin of the people that went missing and the old owners of the house were missing." Aria stopped making a 'spooky face'.

"It wasn't scary," I said and looked at Sam and Ray. Sam was looking at Aria, whereas Ray was looking down at the floor. Wait, is he scare- The lights suddenly went off?

"Oh, there must have been some problems." Aria and Sam said at the same time.

"Hey, did you call your mom and say that you are here?" Ray asked. What? Why did he suddenly ask me that and why do I feel like he is sitting a few inches away from me?! Is...Is he somehow scared? No, he can't be, right? I guess... yes?

"Yeah, and she said okay," I said with a smile, though he maybe didn't see it. I can't clearly see anyone's face. I just can not know that who is who and where is everything by looking at their body shape.

"Wait, let us check the electricity. Sam and I will go. You guys wait here." Aria said as she stood up, making Sam also stand up with her. Wait! She is living us here?! Us two? Only we two?

"Ari-"

"Scarlett, we are going. And yeah, don't get scared, Ray." Aria says, cutting me off. Don't tell me she is talking about this chance. Aria stops, making Sam groan in an annoyed voice.

"I forgot to say a thing, that is. Do you know something?" Aria asked in her still position.

"They say that this is the house from the horror story." She said. My stomach did something, the feeling of a bit scared. I can't see her face, but I know a smirk is playing on her face. Sam and Aria get out of the room, leaving both of us alone. What should I do now? I don't believe in Aria's stor- I felt something come closer to me. Wait, is it something or someone? I moved my head to Ray's side.

"Are you scared?"

"Umm..."

"You are. I was right. There is nothing wrong to be scared, but let me tell you, this story isn't real. I knew the neighbor who stayed here. They were an old couple, and they were lovely. Sometimes, they used to send us delicious food. It wasn't something like I talked to them so much etc. etc. It's just that I know it isn't this house." I said with a smile. He didn't reply, and it was a silent atmosphere. Should I say something? I kept my hand on his shoulder and patted it and again placed it beside my thigh. I opened my mouth to say something.

"No one has told me it's ok to be scared, I thought boys shouldn't get scared." He said not letting me speak.

"Umm... Boys are also human so, they can get scared if they want to." I said.

"Hmm... Now that I think about it... our conversation was quite embarrassing."

"Quite?" I said, raising my eyebrows with a giggle.

"So much." He said.

"We can be friends now...if you want to." I said.