(9) what just happened

"Then, how about getting lunch together?" Keith declares to their group. He has this one-sided sinister smirk that makes people wonder what he was thinking. Zoey snorts, wondering if there was something wrong with his head.

Beside him Ren smiles, which tells Airi how uncomfortable he must be with the suggestion, clearly worried about Nina, who is suspiciously silent throughout the exchange.

Airi’s mouth dropped, while Luke could only raise a brow and glanced at Neil, who returns the favor.

What the hell? they all thought in unison.

It was sudden, and to be honest, what the hell? They have no idea how the situation developed the way it did that led to this, Or how this even happened.

Airi, however, could take a guess.

________

It all started the day after their night at the bar. Airi is awakened the next morning by the smell of bacon and eggs. She rises up from her bed and sees Zoey peeking from the living room, her face apologetic as she says breakfast is ready.

She then asks how she is feeling, genuinely concerned for her considering how much she drank last night. Zoey replies that she is feeling okay, albeit her depressing tone says otherwise. Her voice screams that she wants to crawl into a hole and die there. Airi gave her low-spirited friend a soothing pat on the back. Promising her that she will never let her get that drunk again. Zoey seconded, almost pleading with her.

As they ate, Airi starts telling Zoey what happened last night after she passed out. Filling her in on every detail that happened from Ren coming in to help them to her throwing up on the bathroom toilet of her apartment as soon as they reached her home and finally passing out again.

"It was a... somewhat enlightening experience," Airi recalls, all the while thinking that she wouldn't want to catch herself being totally wasted like that. Scratch that, she probably wouldn't go to a bar ever again after what happened.

As if confirming her doubts, Zoey bent over on her knees, weeping. Then she starts screaming curses and profanities aimed at no one but herself that rage from how stupid she is to saying she wants to die (figuratively, Airi supposes). She hugs her friend, soothing her, “there, there. It wasn’t your fault.” but it only served to make her cry more. This is one side of Zoey she will only ever show her, it reminded her of how much Zoey trusted her.

That said, she will probably stay like this for the whole day —whole week at most, Airi thinks. They have class Luke and Neil in first period so she can already imagine what will happen the moment they enter the classroom: endless teasing from the two, throw in Liam too if they see each other on campus. For a second she wants to make her stay home and come to school once everything settles. However, this is Zoey they're talking about, she can pick herself back up in a second! That's the kind of strong, independent woman she is! "C'mon Zoey, it's not that bad—"

"Ren carried me!" She cries, lifting her head up to look at her, "That Ren carried me!"

And Airi was reminded. Zoey and Ren have a slightly complicated relationship.

Zoey is one of the few people who isn't interested in Ren and his blinding popularity from the moment she saw him. It was the main reason she and the young Airi got along in the first place.

During their childhood, Zoey usually just tolerates Ren whenever she sees him, and Ren just usually ignores her in favor of Airi. It was not out of spite or a huge argument of clashing opinions, it was something natural to the two of them; a feeling they both instinctively follow.

Airi, although it benefited her at first, did, in the end, try to make them befriend each other. She devised ways for them to talk more, to open up to each other more. To be friends. However, it never bore fruit. If anything, it only served to make them dote on her more. They became neutral to each other, like coworkers or workmates who have no choice but to band together for a single goal. And that was okay for them, they did not see anything wrong with it. It was not a strained relationship per se (if it can even be called a relationship), some people just do not get along no matter how much they try to.

They have been relatively impartial with each other, but if there is one thing they have in common; it is that they both hate to show weakness to each other, or any sign of it.

They both felt so strongly about it that there was a time when, despite running a high fever, Ren was willing to wait for Airi to accompany him to the clinic, instead of approaching Zoey, who was right beside him. Zoey had her moments too where she blatantly ignored Ren in favor of their other classmates for an assignment she forgot.

So, Ren not only saving her but also going as far as to carry her on his back, was like the nail in the coffin for her pride. Added to the fact that he also saw her in her weakest moment is hard for her to digest, like a bitter pill lodged in her throat in the form of her stupidity that resulted in Ren, of all people, helping her.

The idea of having to thank him was too much to bear. It was like giving him the upper hand for all her life, which was a huge exaggeration Airi thinks but whatever. She cried louder.

Airi is mildly entertained. This is just like Ren in middle school when Zoey helped him fend off the dogs running after him. She remembered he was just as ashamed of himself that he let Zoey of all people see that side of him. His 'thank you' to her were like words he pulled out of his throat, forced and dry.

Looking at this with the eyes of a spectator, she could not help but think that the two of them are more alike than they realize.

She pats her, "I know it's bad, but knowing Ren, I'm sure he is not one to take advantage of someone's weakness." At this point, Airi is just saying what comes into her head just to cheer up her friend.

She has absolutely no idea how their relationship progressed after she transferred schools if it even progressed at all. Zoey is not one to talk about Ren and asking her would only keep her mouth shut. She would always say, “what's there to tell?" and she would abandon the conversation because Zoey at this point would already be irritated just by asking the question alone.

Airi stopped asking altogether after she answered like that for the sixth time, with a vein popping on her forehead.

Airi went to school alone. Due to the state of mind Zoey was currently in, Airi insisted she rest instead. She asked her to stay and rest for the whole day as she was still hungover from last night. However, the bigger issue was the fact that she will have to see Ren. Airi didn’t know what Zoey would do when that happens.

For now, all she could do was talk to Luke and Neil, and ask them not to bully Zoey too much over this, they might not be aware of it but Zoey is actually a lot more fragile than she looks. Especially when reminded of who helped her.

Speaking of Ren, she wonders how would she would face him now. Their conversation last night was pleasant, but not enough to boil down the things she did to them. She snorts.

She'd be damned if that happens.

"Good morning!"

Ren's face suddenly comes into view, his head slightly bent over so he meets her eyes, smiling his usual one-sided smile. The sudden friendly gesture made her move away from him slightly as if meeting an overly familiar stranger for the very first time. She wondered if this was a joke, and that cameras would come popping up soon after, making a complete mockery of whatever reaction spouted from her, in full view of everyone.

He casually pulled his bag securely on his back, "how is Zoey?"

Then it registered to her, he was worried for Zoey. She relaxes upon realizing this, "she's okay. She's too hungover to come to school today though," he nods in understanding. She lets him walk beside her.

She feels stupid. Of course, he would want to know how the person he saved and looked after last night is doing, or if anything else happened after taking them home last night. It made her feel bad for being cautiously avoidant earlier, how selfish it is.

She turns to him, mustering all the courage she could get, "thanks again for last night." She didn't feel like her appreciation last night was sincere enough as all she could think of was taking care of Zoey and wishing he goes home, she feels extremely bad now that she thinks about it.

She notices his smile deepens, somewhat appreciatively as if there was something in what she said that he wanted to hear. He says that it's no problem in a voice that is both familiar and unfamiliar to her and she tries to smile back with the same feeling as their conversation fades out naturally, the conscious air around them dying out to a certain calmness she can't explain because it's strange. She wonders deep down how was this all possible.

Then she hears Ren laugh beside her, "you looked so out of it earlier I was worried something happened." she feels her body mellow at the image of him.

Whenever she stares at Ren, it feels like a cinematic film where everything is moving in slow motion and his background blurred, focusing on him as the lighting changes to a lovely pink. It made her realize how much she loved him, and how she still does. Because despite everything, she still loved him most as a family.

Which is why she made up her mind to change. To change for the better and never bother them anymore, Nina and Ren has had enough of her meddling, of her constantly getting in between them. They deserve a happy ending, with the villain (her) up in wraps. What she did wouldn't be forgiven just like that, in no way that was possible. After all, it was something that shouldn't even be forgiven in the first place.

So, surely after this, they would go on their separate ways, moving on as they see fit, as if nothing happened. This (and what happened last night) was just a temporary truce, a break from their feud for the sake of Zoey, whom they both still see as a good friend. If he leaves her right now or makes an offensive remark out of the blue, she wouldn't hold it against him. She deserved it after all.

Then Ren started talking about how he went to this new cafe yesterday and how great their signature coffee was and suddenly she had a bad feeling.