CHAPTER 32

The evening passed smoothly. When Seven returned, the awkwardness subsided. The cuisine was excellent at that restaurant, Pierre made me taste something that Seven did not order. It was the absolute finest.

Seven warned me, though, as several of them were unhealthy for me. We didn’t stay long after supper because Iris was waiting at home. She stated that she would do what Pierre made her do, and thus I knew she would be unable to cook.

Seven slept in our house. We agreed that he would sleep here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He slept in the guest room beside Iris’ room.

Iris and I were already dressed before the sun rose, in contrast to yesterday, when we hardly applied make-up because we were in a hurry.

“Aurie, my dad called yesterday.” I turned to Iris, who was looking in the mirror at her completeness. She was already dressed in uniform and had groomed herself, but she couldn’t stop staring at her reflection. She wasn’t looking at me, but I was sure I was the one she was talking to.

“Really? What exactly did he say?” I took last the medicine on the list; this was the paper that Seven handed me last time.

“I’m going to Alister’s place to celebrate my birthday. Numerous guests have been invited; you have been placed on the priority list.” I placed the medications in Seven’s bag because they didn’t fit in mine due to its size. He was always with me, so I simply placed it in his backpack.

“When’s your birthday? It’s fortunate that you said it now; I still have time to buy you a present.” Iris and I had never discussed our birthdays, but we were aware of each other’s ages.

“Next Saturday. To be sure, I’m expecting that you’ll come. If you don’t, I’ll kick you out of the house,” she said, laughing.

“Girl, we’re practically sharing a house; I’m sure I’ll come.” I fixed my hair and donned my backpack. We didn’t have practice scheduled at the moment, so we were not in a rush. We did, however, woke up early. I fell asleep early; I was not sure if Iris was the same way.

We left the house after I cleaned up; Seven, who had been waiting for us in the living room, simply followed.

While on the car, all I could think about was Iris’ gift. I was honestly at a loss for what to gift her, as she already had an abundance of clothing. She was wealthy, and I was confident she could buy whatever I’d gift her. I wanted the gift that she couldn’t just have.

That was still on my thoughts when we arrived at school. In class, I was so silent that it appeared as though I had lost my voice. This was really stressing me out. I know she could afford jewelry. She might even purchase three more for me. I’d been squeezing my brain since earlier and was at loss for ideas.

“Who’s your group mates, Ms. Jenkins?” I returned to reality when I heard the teacher’s voice in front of me. Her two arms were crossed, and her eyebrow was raised while looking at me intently.

What? A group?

“I don’t know?” I didn’t have any idea what she was talking about. What if she had already given the group and I was simply not paying attention? Aurora, my goodness! Why were you spacing out?

“I just named each member of the group; are you paying attention?” I shook my head as a response.

“She’s a member of our group, Ms. Leonel.”

I fiddled with my finger while the teacher maintained her piercing attention on me. Oh, Pierre was one of my group members? Good. I was not close with anyone in this class besides him.

“You belong to the same group as Mr. Cardinal. You’re going to create a jingle about our topic for the entire month; this takes time and work. I want everyone to sing loud and clear. When I say props, I don’t mean the ones you’ll buy; I mean handmade. If you presented the jingle appropriately, I’ll give you a great grade.”

Many of my classmates sighed when they heard the term ‘hand-made’. I wanted to complain too, but I kept my mouth shut. I knew nothing when it comes to arts.

Time elapsed until the end of the class. I was zoning out the entire day. I hadn’t even had a decent conversation with Pierre earlier. I couldn’t stop thinking about Iris’ gift. That woman was excessively choosy.

“What are you thinking, Aurora? How many times have your teachers yelled at you earlier, but you appeared unconcerned? Even when we were eating at the canteen, you were zoning out. What’s the matter with you?” Seven asked with a grimace. We had already arrived at the parking place where he parked his car.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to get Iris for her birthday. I’m about to die yet I can’t come up with any idea!” irritably, I stated.

“Ouch!” My eyes widened when Seven flicked my forehead. What did I do this time, and why was he hitting me with his fingers again?

“Don’t tell me that’s what you’ve been thinking since this morning? You were yelled at and humiliated earlier for that gift? Oh please. Let’s simply go home so that you can think clearly.” He entered the car, but I disobeyed. Where was Iris’ car parked? When we arrived here, their cars were parked close to each other.

“Aurie, hurry!” Seven shouted after he lowered the shotgun seat window.

“Where has Iris’ car gone? Perhaps she has been waiting for some time. I’ll ride with her, can’t you remember?” I searched the entire parking area but was unable to locate her pink Lamborghini. That was the most one-of-a-kind vehicle among the ones here. It was simple to locate if you forgot where you parked it.

“While we were previously at the canteen, she told us that you would be riding with me today because her father had called and she needed to go to their house. Perhaps it’s because of her upcoming birthday. She stated that she won’t go home today, therefore I will sleep in your house once more to ensure that you have someone with you. Don’t tell me you didn’t hear that as well?” When I heard that, I immediately got into his car without saying a word. Was I really zoning out earlier? I couldn’t even remember what we talked about in the canteen.

Seven drove the car until we reached our home. When we entered the house, it was silent and dark; there was no sign of Iris passing through. Perhaps she did not change her clothes and immediately went to his father’s house when she was called.

Anyway, she stated that her father lived in the city, implying that the trip would not be brief.

Out of tiredness, I slumped my body on the bed. I didn’t do much today, but I was exhausted. I was mentally tired because of that freaking gift.

Despite my desire to sleep, I forced myself to change my clothes. I didn’t want to sleep with sweat. I opted for black shorts and a black spaghetti strap blouse. My pajamas were still in the dryer, this was the only pair of comfortable clothes I could wear.

I returned to my bed, my eyelids drooped barely seconds after. It wasn’t long until the surroundings became darker.

#

I awoke with a stomach ache; it wasn’t as severe as it had been in the past, but it was enough to wake me up. I looked around; it was pitch black outside, even with the window open. How many hours of sleep did I get?

“S-Seven!” I shouted. He must be in the living room or guest room, as he previously stated that he would sleep here.

“Seven!” I rose from my bed and caressed my stomach. My hands and soles were becoming cold, and cold sweat began to flow from my brow.

Oh my gosh, I took medicine today; why an I feeling this way?

When the door opened and Seven entered, I raised my eyes. He was dressed in a basic t-shirt and gray pajamas, his hair was still unkempt, and he appeared to have just awoken.

“My stomach aches—”

I was unable to continue speaking when I felt another pain. Due to stomach ache, I was unable to reach the bathroom and simply dumped everything on the floor when my body desired to vomit.

“Fuck,” Seven swore as he saw the blood on the floor. He attended to me promptly and rubbed my back.

“I’m going to go grab your herb drink. Remain standing; don’t sit on the bed because you vomited on your clothes as well.” I remained silent until he left the room. I examined the floor, which was splattered with blood, as if I had murdered someone. Anyone who hadn’t seen what happened and had just arrived here would believe I murdered someone.

Seven reappeared moments after with a glass of herbal tea.

“Come on, let’s clean your mouth. You can’t drink this herb if your mouth is full with blood.” Seven assisted me with everything because I was having a hard time to move freely due to the pain. He allowed me to rest for a time after I drank the herb drink to lessen the ache.

I dressed alone in the restroom, and Seven immediately began scrubbing the floor outside. I examined myself in the mirror; I was pale and ugly; I looked as if I hadn’t eaten in a month based on how I looked today.

“Aurie, take a break. I’ll simply bring your dinner here,” Seven stated when I was finished dressing. He’d finished cleaning but the floor remained damp, as if he’d just washed it down and it hadn’t yet dried.

“Careful.” He took my hand in his to keep me from slipping. He then let me go once I successfully laid down on the bed.

“I’ll get you something to eat; what do you want?”

“Anything.”

I shrugged and forced my eyes open. I was drowsy, but I was not ready to sleep; I still wanted to eat dinner.

Seven left the room with the cleaner he had brought earlier, leaving me there alone. I didn’t mind. I was really sleepy.

I kept myself entertained in order to prevent falling asleep. I reached my phone on the side of the bed and phoned Pierre’s number. I wanted to facetime him but I looked awful; maybe another time.

It only took seconds before he answered it.

“Hmm?”

Pierre’s voice was low, as if he had just awoken to take my call. Perhaps he didn’t realize I was the one who called and simply answered. I shouldn’t have called him; he seemed to be resting.

“Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t know you were resting.”

“No, no, it’s all right; I’m delighted you called.” His voice cleared slightly but remained clearly tired. My lips curled into a smile as I imagined him sleeping on his bed right now, topless and surrounded by an extremely frigid temperature in his room.

“Uh, I just called out of boredom,” I explained, laughing. Gradually, I was battling sleepiness, but I knew that if the food did not arrive soon following this call, I would be able to fall asleep instantly.

“You didn’t talk to me the entire day,” he murmured. I chuckled once more, and I could picture him frowning.

“I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to gift Iris because her birthday is on Saturday; I was spacing out the entire day, so...don’t be offended; I have a decent explanation, alright. Uh, speaking of spacing out, I wasn’t paying attention earlier; when are we gonna practice?”

“Tomorrow? 9:00am is what we discussed earlier. At your place, isn’t it? You even agreed.” My eyes suddenly widened; had I really said that?

“Oh, I remember; why are you coming so early again?” I lied; I didn’t remember anything earlier. Perhaps I simply agreed to keep them quiet.

“Because the majority of our group members have something to do? There are no classes tomorrow; maybe they’d want to take a stroll around town.”

No classes?

Oh, Iris informed me that tomorrow would be EastWood’s anniversary; children were excused from school whenever there was something to celebrate.

“Aurie, the food is here.” The door opened and Seven entered carrying the food that he had been ordered.

“Pierre, I need to eat so I can rest. I’ll see you tomorrow, all right?” I hung up without waiting to hear what he would say.

He didn’t just bring food; he also brought an overbed table, which he had most likely taken from Iris’ room. He once accidentally walked into Iris’ room, believing it to be mine. He most likely noticed it as soon as he walked through Iris’ door.

We ate in silence in my bedroom. He was the one who cleaned up the leftovers and didn’t bother to ask me for help.

Before going back to bed, I washed my entire body. Even though I was sleepy, I couldn’t bear the thought of going to sleep feeling sticky.

“I’ll sleep here, your stomach might hurt again and you won’t be able to call me due to your weakness. It’s better to be sure.” Seven walked into my room with two pillows in his arms. I was expecting him to walk directly to the sofa, but as he hopped into bed, my eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Who said that you can sleep on my bed? Get out of here!” In the end, I had to hit him in the face with a pillow because he wouldn’t move. He then hit me and shoved me aside so that he could lie down.

“Move,” he said when I didn’t budge an inch from where I was laying.

“I’m not going to do that. Seven, I’ve got a guy in my life. We’re not allowed to sleep in the same bed!”

“So? You tiny peasant, you’re like my sister. Even if you undress infront of me, I don’t really care? I might even vomit right in your face. My entire body won’t fit in your small couch, and your room is extremely cold, it makes me unwilling to sleep on the floor. Aurie, are you serious? Although you are not yet dead, the temperature in your room is comparable to the temperature inside a mortuary. Now, move.” When he continuously smacked me with the pillow, I took a step back and backed away. Yes, my bed was quite large. There was still a lot of space even there was a two of us on the bed. He couldn’t lie down a while ago because I was laying in the middle.

I repositioned the cushion before turning off the lampshade, which served as the only source of light in the room.

I hadn’t fallen asleep yet when I heard Seven’s very weak snoring, proof that he fell asleep quickly.

Tch, what a sleepyhead. He appeared to be even more exhausted than I was? Anyway, he was responsible for me today, so it was understandable that he’d be exhausted.