Chapter 22

Lorelei didn't bother to look back at Jace, and Jace too didn't bother going after her. It was pointless seeing that both of them still happened to meet at the bus stop.

Jace stood a meter away from Lorelei. "You just wasted your energy running," he mumbled.

Lorelei just stood there pretending not to hear him. None of them dared to say a word. Only the brief honking and the sound of the passing cars' engines can be heard as they waited for their bus to arrive.

After minutes of waiting, they were finally able to ride their bus, still with no interaction between them.

The two of them were forced to sit at the backmost part of the bus since those were the only vacant seats left. Fortunately, the vacant ones were on the opposite sides. Lorelei wasn't bothered by it at all. In fact, she preferred it that way.

The ride home was smooth and quiet because they were separated by seats. Lorelei got off the bus first and made her way to their apartment building. Jace walked on his own as well without minding Lorelei. They arrived at the building at the same time, entered the building at the same time, and even rode the elevator at the same time.

Lorelei couldn't help but sigh while Jace just stood beside her unbothered. Before the elevator reached the third floor where Lorelei's unit was, Lorelei cleared her throat. "Here," she said, handing Jace three of the books she was carrying. "You better read these so you could be of help."

Jace took the books and said, "You should say that to yourself."

Lorelei was about to reply when the elevator already reached the third floor and opened its doors. She stepped out of the elevator and just gave Jace one last glare before proceeding to her unit.

"The nerve! I swear to God I'll get back at him one of these days," she murmured while opening the door of her apartment. "How dare he?! I mean, my gosh. If there's someone between us who's not likely to help, it would be him! Heavens!" Lorelei mumbled. She put down her belongings on the couch and the books on top of the table. She immediately took a quick shower and prepared herself a meal.

Lorelei was busy chewing her food when a notification popped up on her phone. It was a message from Sam.

Sam: [ Lei!!! Guess what >:) ]

A baffled look formed into Lorelei's face as she typed in a reply.

Lorelei: [What Sammy??]

In just less than a minute after sending her reply, Sam messaged back with a photo of two people walking. The picture looked a bit blurry because of the sudden motion when it was taken. It took a while for Lorelei to realize it was her and Jace from earlier.

Sam: [Heh I saw you with Jace earlier >:) ]

'Oh my god, not Sammy too,' she thought. She couldn't help but face-palm. Lorelei quietly hoped that Sam didn't send the picture to Amari because God knows hell would break loose if he actually did. Her best friend would most probably shower her with messages and tease her ceaselessly for the next few days. She immediately sent Sam her reply.

Lorelei: [Sammy what sakjdhakshf]

She was literally keyboard smashing at that moment.

Lorelei: [Please tell me you didn't send this to Amy T.T ]

It took a minute or two for Sam to respond which made Lorelei uneasy on her seat.

Sam: [Hell naw! As if I'm gonna share something juicy as this with her hehe ]

Lorelei didn't know whether she should feel relieved or even more annoyed that Sam was actually enjoying teasing her with Jace.

Lorelei: [Fine. Thank you, then. BUT PLEASE STOP PUTTING MALICE ON EVERYTHING!! ]

Sam just sent him a laughing sticker as a reply.

At last, Lorelei was able to eat peacefully without anyone making fun of her. After having her dinner, she decided to start reading one of the books she borrowed earlier. She went to her living room, sat on her carpet, and grabbed a book on top of the center table. She leaned on her couch while perusing each and every word from it while taking some notes on her laptop. She actually started a rough draft already with an outline that she thought that maybe should send to Jace anytime soon.

An hour passed already, or maybe two, and Lorelei was still reading the book. Surprisingly, she was already halfway through it. Her apartment was too noiseless that she wouldn't have thought of having a break if it weren't for another notification from her phone.

Lorelei stretched her arms and did all these weird poses to stretch all of her body which was somehow aching from sitting for too long. She reached out for her phone to check what the notification is all about.

She thought it must be Sam again, or maybe a random text message for her upcoming packages, but it was a notification from her social media account.

[ realjbond_ just followed you. Tap to follow them back! ]

"Realjbond?" Lorelei mumbled upon seeing the username. She tapped the notification which led to the user's account. "Oh? Jace? He has the same name as Jacey," she said when she noticed the display name.

"Jace Bond not James Bond?" Lorelei chuckled as she read the account's bio. "His parents are quite witty, I must say," she said between her laugh.

The account was nothing special. Its profile picture was a photo of a man's silhouette at a beach with the sun setting behind him. Lorelei scrolled down to check who it was since the user's face wasn't visible in his profile picture. As she checked the photos, she realized it was actually the guy wearing a football jersey earlier. "Woah. It's him?"

Lorelei continued scrolling down, checking his feed. She saw a post of the Jace Bond guy with Jace.

'With my long-lost brother lol' read the caption.

"The two of them are really close huh?" Lorelei mumbled again. She refreshed the account and then shrugged when she tapped the follow button to follow him back.

Lorelei then continued on her reading which didn't last long as she drifted into slumber unknowingly.