013

013

Gaia
"Oh my God, Gaia," Alyssa screeched in genuine concern as she reached the empty booth I was in, my face plastered to the cold hardwood surface of the table. "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" I retaliated, but without much sass as usual. I sighed deeper as the cushioned seat next to me gave way to someone else sitting. I didn't have to look up to know who it was. “No snarky remarks today Tatum?"

"Not today, Gaia." His voice was soft, barely existent even. “You look like hell and you've been ghosting Aly and me for the past week. So no, no sass today."

"Awww." I raised my head slowly and pouted in his direction. “Tatum's worried about me. He's going soft..."

"I'm not." He quipped all of a sudden, and call me crazy or whatever, but I could swear I saw a blush staining his cheeks. “Don't make a big deal out of this."

"What's wrong with you, Gaia?" Alyssa cupped my face in her hands, forcing me to look her in the eye. Her usually vibrant green eyes didn't have their normal sparkle and tiny bags carrying a huge amount of stress stood there. “Gaia, look at me."

But I didn't. Instead, I shifted my gaze to the counter behind her. The words "Fooders" were scribbled on a neon board that glowed in the almost dim atmosphere of the restaurant we were in.

It was a family restaurant because almost all the booths and tables were filled with a family with at least two kids, and my heart broke at the sight. Mom, dad, and I used to go to restaurants like this when I was little. Then mom left and it was just dad and me. Now, dad's gone too, leaving me all alone in this cruel world.

My eyes darted to a woman, probably a single mother in her early thirties with a set of twins strapped into their baby seats across the table. They'd already messed up their order and I could see she was trying her hardest not to pull her hair out of frustration. As if on cue, one of the twins smashed its fist fiercely on its plate, sending a whole bowl of pudding unto the crimson wall beside her.

Now I get why the restaurant used dark colors, to hide stains like that.

Smart.

"Gaia". Alyssa screeched and I covered my ears immediately, temporarily pushing back the high octave of her voice. “Are you even listening to me?"

"Do you want the truth?" I sighed, putting my hands over her and and taking them off my face. “Do you?"

"Yeah." Tatum spoke up this time around. “You haven't spoken to us over the past week now. And you look stressed out. What's wrong?"

"It's a new look I'm trying on." I beamed and they both rolled their eyes simultaneously. “What? Don't you believe me?"

"We don't." Tatum spoke, an angry tick in his voice. “And you'd better start talking or else."

"Or else what?" I retorted. Usually, he'd have his neck twisted at an unnatural angle, but I wasn't feeling it today. Hell, I was down in the dumps and I didn't know why. “Fine, I'll tell you."

"No snarky comeback?" Tatum looked genuinely shocked, his eyebrows wriggling all over. “Wow, this is more serious than I thought."

"Don't make it worse." Alyssa slapped his arm and he yelped immediately, gaining a few stares from the other diners in the restaurant." We're listening, Gaia."

"I don't know." I sighed, as I reached for a stray lock of my black hair, losing and wrapping it around my index finger again and again. “Everything I guess."

"Chief's still mad at you?" Alyssa frowned sympathetically. “Isn't he?"

"Yeah," I drawled forlornly. “He isn't picking my calls or replying to my texts. And to top it all, he gave me another assignment."

"That's not so bad is it?" Tatum's lips quirked into a tiny smirk. “He could have threatened to kick you out of the academy.."

"He did actually." I rubbed my temples. “After the whole clubbing and near death incident, he reported me to our superiors and if I mess up again, I'll lose my spot."

"I'm so sorry.." Alyssa cooed.

"And that's not all." I cut her off, still twirling my hair around. “I have to become Cassian's TA to make sure what happened the last time doesn't repeat itself. He already has one and they seem super close and I don't think I'd be able to do anything about it."

"You could be an assistant TA then?" Alyssa poked me in the side. She obviously wanted me to giggle but I just gave a little frown instead. “I'm sorry, I just wanted to cheer you up."

"Why does their closeness bother you?" Tatum asked. “They're bros right, so I mean..."

"It's a she." I curled my fists in anger, almost ripping out the poor strand. I didn't even realize it, until a sharp pain tugged at my scalp. “It's a she and she was practically fawning over him. She could gobble him up if it were up to her and...."

"...this bothers you, why?" Something flashed in Tatum's eyes. Pain, regret, sadness, anger. I couldn't quite tell, but elation definitely wasn't one of them. “Why does it bother you that he's close to his female TA?"

"It's not." I mumbled incoherently. “It's just... I dunno. I mean I know but it's just.. "

"I get it." He pursed his lips, his face becoming unreadable all of a sudden. “I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

"Tate." I reached for his hand but our pinky barely touched as he slid out of the booth and trudged towards the exit, his fisted hands planted inside his pocket. A part of me wanted him to look back,but he didn't, and it hurt more than I was willing to admit. “What did I do? Aly?"

"Calm down, Gaia." She patted my back gently. “Just calm down. Ignore him if you can.”

"But what did I do?" I groaned dejectedly. “He asked and I told him why...."

"Do you like him, Gaia?" Alyssa dropped the bombshell and I felt as though a bucket of ice-cold water had just been doused on my head. “Because I see no reason why you should be this stressed out because he has a female TA."

"I'm not stressed." I whipped my head towards her. “and I certainly don't like that douchebag. He's an annoying prick, a worthless piece of...."

"Then why are you wasting your breath on him?" She countered. “Just find a way to get the TA out of the way and complete your mission. Unless.."

"Unless what?" I yelled and she flinched." You know what? I'm out of here. I'll talk to you later, I have a class soon."

"Come on, Gaia." She held onto my hand but I brushed it off roughly, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. “You don't have to get mad."

“I'm not.” I shrugged, but you could tell it was a blatant lie. “See you later. And take care of Tate.”

Without another word, I slinked out of the restaurant and made my way back to campus. I huffed out a puff of air, as I had a rerun of what just happened. I didn't want to snap at them, but it just sorta happened and why I snapped at them, I wasn't sure.

Sighing heavily, I adjusted the straps of my backpack and increased my footsteps. I had five minutes to get to class and my college was approximately a seven minute walk from here, so I'd be two minutes late at least. Not that I was going to attend the class anyway.