Ara walked towards the elevators ten minutes earlier than yesterday. She only realized that Jules was behind her when she reached the elevator doors. He managed to walk noiselessly somehow. Thankfully, it seemed like the rest were not with him. A door opened and they went inside. Ara did not know what to say, and Jules was silent as well.

“Good morning, Jules.” Ara greeted him with a smile after a while. Jules looked in her direction and nodded.

“Good morning.” He seemed a lot nicer now that Dominic was not around. They were in silence after that but neither were bothered by it. They exited the building and walked the same path as yesterday towards the train station. It was early and the morning was silent. There were only a few people out, and they were headed in the same direction.

In contrast, there were already a lot of people at the train station as they fell in line. The commuters were different, but they recreated the same busy scene from yesterday afternoon. It was the same and yet today felt different. Ara gave it a thought and found that it was colder and more silent this morning than yesterday. The big screen was on, but the speakers must have been turned off.

Soon, the train arrived. Even though there were still a lot of empty seats, Ara wanted to see how the cityscape looked like in the morning so she chose to stand by a door. Jules didn’t really sit down whenever he rode the train and preferred to lean by the door as well.

Ara was surprised to see a different view from yesterday although she realized soon after that the train was going the opposite direction after all. She found the morning city stood still but had a tension about it, like it was only holding its breath and its silence would soon be broken once the day truly started.

Ara stared at it intently that Jules unintentionally found himself watching her closely as well. He wondered what she was seeing outside the train’s window. He looked out at the sky. It seemed like it was going to be another hot day today.

A sudden sound came from Ara that surprised the both of them. Her stomach growled a second time.

“Haven’t had breakfast yet?” Jules suppressed himself. He found it funny but did not want to laugh at her.

“No, not yet.” On her part, Ara was surprised to see that the usual heavy air around Jules lightened in that moment. It was embarrassing, but she found it funny too. She laughed at herself and Jules chuckled.

“I know a place that’s open even this early.” Jules suggested.

They shortly reached their stop and exited the station. Ara followed Jules. This place Jules knew of turned out to be a convenience store. Ara was surprised to see that there were meals sold too. She always thought they only sold overpriced snacks and drinks.

The meals themselves were inexpensive and they didn’t look bad. Jules took two different boxes and Ara chose another one for herself. They paid for it, watched it go into a microwave and waited as it was heated up by the young store employee. Afterwards, they left the store.

“Where will we eat it?”

“At the cafeteria, of course.” Jules said like it was obvious. Ara wondered just how often Jules did this to be something so natural for him.

As expected, the school was a ghost town. They took a seat at one of the tables and opened their breakfast. The meal she chose turned out to look different from the picture, which wasn’t really unexpected. She said a silent prayer in thanks and took a bite. It was warm and not bad for something priced so lowly.

“Who cooks breakfast for you guys?” Ara remembered the lack of pots and pans in Clarissa’s apartment. There was a coffee maker though.

“No one, we just buy our own food.” Jules answered.

“Does that mean you’ve had nothing but those since…?” Ara started but found she did not know just how long Jules and the others have been living together.

“The past months? Yeah.”

“But that’s not very good for your body, and–” She stopped herself and tried not to sound so overly concerned. She was afraid she has crossed on a line.

“I tried cooking once before and didn’t like it.” Her eyes focused on him and listened to his every word. She waited for the rest of the story. “I made a lot of pasta so I could also have it for lunch and dinner too, but the other guys ate it all while I was away.”

“It must have been delicious.”

“It was, which is why I’m not cooking again. I’ll end up being their cook. I think Ram cooks, but only for himself.” Ara nodded.

They continued eating after that. Talking with her felt a bit unnatural. Unlike all the people he’s met who always talked about themselves and filled up the silence, Ara didn’t seem like she had anything she wanted to say. They were quiet most of the way to school earlier too, but it wasn’t bad.

“Does that mean you have pots in your apartment?” Ara asked when they were done and was throwing away the boxes in a nearby bin.

“Yeah.” He looked at Ara who gazed at the distance. She blinked and looked like she was thinking about something. “What about it?” He wondered why she asked something like that. It didn’t seem like she just tried to break the silence.

“Clarissa’s place doesn’t. I thought I’d be able to cook when I moved in.” They walked back to the table to get their bags. “Is there a grocery store nearby?”

Ara confused Jules. She looked like she was about to ask to borrow their pots there and then changed her mind. It annoyed him, he wished she would just speak what she thought already.

“Yeah, I’m dropping by later. Wanna come with?” He figured she might ask for directions and going there was faster than explaining anyway. Ara nodded.

“Thank you very much.” She beamed at him. It might have moved his heart a little. He tried to think of what to say next.

“Let’s meet by the school gate after classes then.” He settled and Ara nodded in understanding.

 

***

 

At lunch, Lily and Ara met Ram who was only coming in for school. Again. They continued their way down the staircase when they met with Dominic who was going up. Ara was hoping for maybe just an acknowledgement, a smile at most. But this was Dominic after all.

“Oh, hey Ara. Did you see Ram too?”

“Yes, he came up just now.”

“Great, I’m going to congratulate him for coming to school today. See you later, Ara.” He did not stop at his year’s floor and continued to go up the stairs instead. It didn’t seem like Dominic would settle at just congratulating Ram either.

“Ara, I’m very confused right now.” Indeed, Lily looked like she had so many questions. “But first of all, you remember Dom’s photo from yesterday, right? The one from SBC I was talking about?” Ara nodded, she remembered more than well. “That guy just now, he looks exactly like him. And you know him, what’s his name?”

“His name’s Dominic.” Ara started.

“Then?”

“Yes Lily, he’s the same guy.”

“No way.” Lily’s expression made Ara wish she didn’t leave her camera inside the classroom. It was a clear look of utter confusion. “How? Why? Huh?” Lily asked so many questions as they continued down the stairs and bought lunch in the cafeteria.

Only when they settled down on a table did Lily become silent. Ara started to explain, how she met Dominic last week, the job offer, and moving in to Clarissa’s apartment. Lily wordlessly listened through everything. She was quiet after that as well.

“Lily?” Ara wondered what was wrong. It was unlike Lily to be so silent. She worried if Lily was mad at her for knowing about SBC and the members who Lily was sure of were all handsome men. Maybe she should have told her about it earlier, especially when they talked about it yesterday.

“I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me all about this until now.” Lily looked down and pretended to be taken by her food. Her lip quivered.

You never tell me about yourself. A lot of times I wonder if you even saw me as your friend as well. If I’m qualified to be called one. I wish I could listen to you talk more in that gentle voice you have.

“I’m sorry, Lily.” Ara’s voice was sad. That wasn’t what Lily wanted to hear from her friend either. She should be the one who’s sorry for probably not being trustworthy enough. “You must have wanted to hear more about Sunset Bay City.”

“That’s not it, Ara. Who cares about them?” Lily’s chair screeched as it scraped the floor when she stood up. Nearby chatters dropped and turned to look at them. The stares of students felt like burns across her body. “I’ll-, I’m going to the restroom for a bit.” She told Ara and ran away.

She ended up going to a restroom as she said and locked herself in a stall. She didn’t mean to leave Ara like that, but the sudden attention reminded her of awful memories she thought she has mostly forgotten.

It started as stares back then too. Then began the hurtful words that were spoken by other girls like they were nothing. They poked their fingers and pencil tips at her skin, saying they wanted to know how long it took to bruise and bleed an average human. They were angry and jealous at her.

She was as average as every other human being, they said, so how come she got lucky and had rich parents?

When teachers started to notice, the girls switched plans and isolated her instead. No one talked to her. It was a suffocating situation where she was closely looked at by everyone and ignored at the same time. On the worst days, she sometimes wished they would just prick her with pens again. At least the physical pain from that distracted her and made her cry that she felt better after.

Someone tried to open Lily’s stall and the thud brought her back to where was. There were footsteps and she heard the next stall’s door swung open. She took a deep breath and tried to think of happier thoughts and thought of Ara, the girl who ended up her first and only friend.

Her friend that she left alone at the cafeteria. She shook her head in disappointment at herself and exited the stall. She looked in the mirror and wiped the tears that weighed heavy on her cheeks.

She returned to the cafeteria and once she saw that it was full of chatters once again, she sat back in front of Ara.

“Lily, are you feeling okay?” Lily always found Ara’s voice soothing even though she never seemed to speak so casually. Maybe it was how her sentences were often so formal and complete that was the reason why it was comforting in the first place.

“I’m fine, Ara, sorry about that, just got a bit startled.” Lily continued eating her food that had lost some of its heat. She pressed Ara for more details of what happened over the weekend. The mood had somewhat returned to how it was earlier. She had always talked a lot in the hopes that it encouraged Ara to talk more too.

She bit the inside of her cheek as she now realized that maybe that did not work.

 

***

 

After classes were over, Ara hung around and sat at the waiting shed near the gates and waited for Jules. It was late afternoon but it was still too bright to look at the sky directly. She closed her eyes.

A few minutes later, a shadow that did not move blocked the light. She opened her eyes and saw a palm near her face that covered the light. The hand belonged to Jules who stood in front of her.

“Isn’t the light hot?”

“Just a little.”

“I see.” Jules said and took his hand away. “Let’s go, then.” Ara stood up and they exited the waiting shed. “We can walk or take a ride to there.”

“How long does it take to walk?”

“Maybe around 10 minutes.” At this, Ara nodded with a small smile. “Walking it is, then.” Jules concluded and Ara nodded again. After having sat around all day, walking was good.

Although Jules said ten minutes, it was actually closer to fifteen according to his watch. He looked behind to tell her about it and found her resting a hand on her heart and taking in deep breaths. Her face was red. Did he walk too fast?

“Idiot, why didn’t you say anything?” He handed her his water bottle and she only stared at it. “Are you okay?” He realized he hasn’t even asked and instead called her an idiot first. But, she kind of was. “Do you have your own water, then?”

Ara nodded and took an empty bottle out of her bag. Jules couldn’t tell whether to laugh or be worried about the girl.

“I thought I refilled it.”

“You didn’t, so here.” Jules took her bottle, opened it, put it back in her hand and gave her some of his water. “In case you were thinking about that second-degree kiss or something.” Jules felt thirsty himself and drank.

“I see. It did seem like it would be quite uncomfortable drinking from a stranger’s bottle.” Ara drank from her own bottle. Jules coughed and nearly choked from her comment. That was how she saw the situation? The way she talked was hard to wrap around to, as well. “Thank you very much.” She said as she put her once again empty bottle back in her bag. Jules did the same and accepted her thanks.

They went inside the grocery store and each took a basket. It was a normal shop. Ara worried that prices would be higher in the city but that wasn’t the case. It carried a lot of familiar brands and had a good selection of fresh produce too.

She hopped from place to place and Jules followed her around. It stirred a nostalgic feeling in him.  The last time he shopped in a grocery store with someone must have been when his parents were still alive. They often went as a family. He shook his head and tried to dismiss the memory away. Ara looked at him expectantly with those eyes that seemed to see a lot. How much, Jules didn’t know.

“Is there something wrong?” She held and compared two small cabbages in her hands. He shook his head again.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’ll go get some things of my own. I’ll be right back.” He left her and went to the aisle for the instant noodles. He cursed at himself in a low voice for remembering. He scanned the selection carefully. In the end, he took ten packets of different things and went back to where Ara waited for him. She had the slightly bigger cabbage in her basket.

“Maybe a little meat would be nice.” Ara said. Jules nodded in understanding and led her to the meat selection. He closed his eyes while he waited for her to choose something. “Jules, what kind of meat do you like?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Pork’s good. Chicken too. Beef’s best though.” He realized he hasn’t eaten beef in a while. A barbeque restaurant sounded tempting. He decided to go later after band practice.

“Beef really is expensive anywhere, after all.” On the other hand, Ara looked distraught as she looked over the beef section. Her brothers gave her a good allowance fit for a week, however, she wanted to save up to buy a new camera. She placed a pack on her basket.

“I thought you just said beef’s really expensive.”

“But it does taste good.”

“That’s true.”

They finished soon and fell in line for the counter. For some reason, they’ve been getting stares from people, especially the older women who shopped alone for their families. Even the cashier they ended up with had an unidentifiable grin on her face that made Jules apprehensive.

“What young love.” He heard the next customer say to the cashier say once they walked away with their bags.

“What’s wrong, Jules?” Ara was a little ahead and stopped to turn at him. He wanted to correct the cashier, but he just wanted to leave even more.

“Nothing.”

The grocery store was only a few distance away from the apartment building, so they decided to walk home as well. Once inside, Clarissa was not around to welcome them. She did leave a note at the island that she’ll probably be home late. Ara questioned why Clarissa didn’t just send her a text instead. She found Clarissa’s handwriting both messy and pretty. It suited her.

“Do you need the pots and pans now?” Jules said as he placed one of the paper bags he carried on the floor. The other two bags he still held had his instant noodles.

“Yes please, I’ll return them later.”

“Don’t bother, no one’s really using them anyway. Ram’s just home to sleep these days.”

“Where does he go?”

“Beats me.” He did not seem to be concerned in the slightest. “I’ll be right back.” Ara started putting the fresh produce on the refrigerator. Thankfully, it was functional and even had stocks of milk cartons, iced coffee bottles, and water tumblers. She was glad to find it wasn’t just display like the rest of the kitchen. Jules returned a few minutes later with the promised kitchenware.

Ara debated internally if she should invite Jules for dinner as thanks.

“What is it?”

“Thank you.” Ara said after a while.

“Alright, I’ll head out now.”

“Jules,” Ara decided as Jules walked to the front door. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”

“Ah, thanks but I’m thinking of eating out at a restaurant later after practice.”

“Oh, okay.” Ara smiled. “Have fun at practice.” Jules nodded and left. Ara was relieved that Jules was going to eat something better than convenience store meals tonight. Maybe she’ll just thank him another time.

 

***

 

That night however, Jules ended up eating one of the instant noodles he just bought. Practice left him tired and in no mood to go out. The soup was hot and the artificial flavoring hit all the right spots. Meanwhile, Ara ate her first homemade meal since Saturday night. Her cooking reminded her of her dad’s. He was the one who taught her how to after all.

Outside the night sky drizzled even though it’s been perfectly clear the whole day.

The next morning was chillier as well. Jules fell behind the same line as yesterday and Ara followed. They got in the same car and spot by the door and shared another morning on a train in the city. Once they got off and was about to leave the train station, Ara figured Jules was about to head to the same convenience store.

“Jules, I made breakfast good for two people. I was thinking that the meals at the convenience story was probably not very healthy.” Ara looked at Jules and tried to gauge his reaction. He didn’t look pleased. She realized that it wasn’t her business after all. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep. I’ll head to school first, bye.”

She waved goodbye and walked in the direction of the school. Before long, she found him walking beside her.

“You can’t finish everything by yourself, right? It’ll be wasteful to have leftovers.”

They walked the rest of the way to school and sat in another table in the cafeteria. Jules was surprised to find the food delicious. How long has it been since he had homemade food like this?

“It’s probably not a good idea to have beef so early, but I hope it’s not too heavy.” It was what she made for dinner last night and just had it reheated this morning. There was no rice cooker as well, so the rice probably wasn’t as soft anymore either.

“It’s good.” Jules thought. It was infinitely better than the convenience store’s meals indeed.

 

***

 

“Hey Ara, how are you adjusting to Clarissa’s place? Is she being any trouble?” Dominic asked after they wrapped up from practice. The rest had gone ahead and left early.

“Not at all. She’s been nothing but kind to me. Thank you so much for asking.” Ara answered.

“Well, that’s good. Don’t hesitate to tell me if you ever need any help.”

“Thank you for the offer, you’re very kind.”

“Not really.” Dominic disagreed and finished wiping his guitar and put it on the bag. “How have you been the past few years anyway? Grade school doesn’t feel that far away, but I guess it is.”

“I have been well. How about you?”

“Well, it was so-so. I became even worse than how I was as a kid, I guess.” Dominic laughed at himself.

“You weren’t bad as a kid, though.” Ara said, although it’s not like they ever met besides those lunchbreaks in the library. She didn’t know much about him, she realized.

“That’s nice, but it ain’t true. I’m only doing this band after all, to annoy my father.” He said although Ara didn’t understand. He looked plenty serious to her. “I don’t want to inherit his business or whatever, so I’m rebelling.” He said with a playful smile.

“It doesn’t seem that way to me. I thought you sing wonderfully.” Ara thought it so seriously.

“You don’t have to say that with such a straight face.” Dominic couldn’t meet her gaze and he cleared his throat. A blush creeped on his face. “Thanks, though.”

“How long have you been living together?” Ara asked as they walked the way back to their rooms.

“A few months? We’re not getting along well, as you can see.”

“It always seems lively when the five of you are together.”

“Not at all, it’s so stressful keeping those boys under control.”

“That’s true.” Ara always worried whenever they fought but was glad that things never took a turn for the absolute worse. “You’re a good older brother though.” Ara thought so, Dominic reminded him of her own older brothers. However, Dominic stopped and shook his head furiously.

“Not at all. What are you talking about? Who’d want to be a brother to those brats?” Dominic scoffed. “Anyway, sorry about Ram. He was out of line that other day. I hope you don’t let it get to you.”

“I won’t. I’m fine.” Ara assured him. She remembered the two pictures of Dominic that she had been comparing, that of the warm and kind him and the other where he was a lot more distant. Maybe Dominic just had an off day that day. He was back to the being the warm and kind person he was today, after all.

“Oh, there he is. He’s with Ara too.” Reo stood outside their door and saw them right away once they reached the hallway. He was with Vince. “Domi, I need your help with something.”

“Don’t tell me it’s for school again.”

“Please? I’m just no good in Science.” Reo brought his hands together. It seemed difficult to say no to Reo, especially when he did something like that, Ara thought.

“You too, Vince?” Dominic asked.

“Nah, I was just helping him look for you.”

“If I’m gonna teach him anyway, you might as well just listen in too.” Dominic said in the end.

“Yay, thanks Domi. Vince is thankful too.”

“Don’t just go deciding for me.” Vince was a lot taller than Reo and easily grabbed his head. His intention must have been to apply pressure, but it only looked like a massage that Reo enjoyed too. “And I really don’t need help in that subject, Dom.”

“Well then, how’s your Math going?” Dominic challenged and Vince flinched. “Come on, let’s go you two. How about you Ara?”

“I will be going in now too. Good night.” Ara said and excused herself.

She was more than sure, now. Dominic really was as kind as she thought, and more like an older brother even though he didn’t think so. The true Dominic was a kind Dominic.