Twelve Chapter: After School Date (2)

 

Alternative Chapter Title: Anxiety?

 

 

McBogart.

 

Queuing in line, we were at the end, waiting to get our turn to order. 

 

Kris was right beside me, blankly staring ahead. Meanwhile, I was on her left, pouting about some petty things.

 

I’m still sulking about being made fun of! Is this her revenge for calling her a klutz? I just teased her a bit!

 

Hmm … can’t say I didn’t like her teasing me bac—ah, ah, no, nooo! I sound like that kind of person! 

 

Defending myself, I was making excuses here and there to myself about stupid things I say inwardly, but I acted normal on the outside and spoke to Kris.

 

“What do you want? Order anything, it’s on me today!” I jokingly acted arrogant, tilting my chin up.

 

Kris has that cool face of hers as always and with her hands under her chin—pondering—thinking hard about what to order. 

 

She ignored me again … I remarked in my mind, not taking it to heart as I stopped my attempt to start a playful banter.

 

It’s obvious enough that Kris is the serious type of person. She doesn't look like the type to joke around that much. 

 

I made her laugh earlier though … Soo maybe not that serious … I thought with a grin, feeling somewhat smug about it.

 

Breaking out of my thoughts, I was facing her with her turned to the side, distracting me and made me drawn at her side profile, unintendedly yet welcomed.

 

She was just standing quietly and thinking. Her brow slightly creased, pulling my attention to it …

 

Looking at her sharp features and serious face tickles all the right places in my brain. There’s some sort of unexplainable thing swirling around my chest and stomach the longer I gaze at her …

 

I’ve been feeling it for a while now, like, since yesterday. Is this that thing I heard about? 

 

Moving my eyes downward, Kris is again wearing an all black outfit. But today is more casual than yesterday. She was wearing black cargo pants, donning some black-white sneakers, and an oversized black tee with a huge white skull at the back!

 

The difference in vibe is too huge … 

 

But! 

 

The impact is still the same! She still looks good whatever style she’s wearing! Keuk! How envious!

 

“Whoa …” I uttered out loud in amazement. 

 

Kris caught that and looked at me with her raised beautifully-crafted eyebrows.

 

I nervously waved my hand. “It’s nothing …”

 

Can’t say I’m too busy admiring her looks, can’t I? I said inwardly, somewhat dazedly.

 

I heard lots of people experience it but I didn’t think I would be feeling social anxiety now! Right when I’m trying to get my first college friend! 

 

Was I biting more than I can chew or is it the thick long eyebrows … 

 

.

.

.

 

Definitely not the eyebrows. And Mr. Stomach please stop churning, will you!

 

She accepted it, somewhat doubtful and finally decided what to eat. “Burger and coke.”

 

“Okaaay, anything else?”

 

“That’s it.”

 

“You sure?”

 

She nodded her head. 

 

“Okay!” I smiled at that, showing a thumbs up! 

 

It’s my turn to think about what to order …

 

“Hmm, what should I get?” I pondered out loud, fingers on my chin.

 

I slightly tilted my head to the ceiling, creasing my brows in deep thought. I was so deep in thought, my surroundings blurred out in the background, while contemplating whether to add fries to my order … 

 

Probably no—

 

When all of a sudden, Kris grabbed me!

 

!!!

 

Kyah! Eh, eh, w-what is happening?!

 

I was so surprised by her sudden action! My anxiety is at max level right now! It’s causing major waves on my stomach!

 

My face is on her chest, buried in something soft …. I moved my head up, attempting to say something, and saw her defined jaws up so close, which made me turn my head to the side in a fluster!

 

“Someone almost spilled their drinks on you.” she said that in a calm manner while her lips were so close to my head … 

 

It made my back shiver as if I touched something cold as her deep voice reverberated in my ears … 

 

In such close proximity, It was inevitable that I would be enveloped by her body scent … 

 

It was the same as the one I smelled the first time I met her. Now that I’m encountering it for the second time, I realise it was actually her natural scent … 

 

It has a cool, refreshing note to it and … a little addicting, causing me to unconsciously take a deep breath to sniff it more. Thankfully, Kris is occupied with something else and did not notice my actions.

 

And anyway … I don’t know how Kris is keeping her cool, but I definitely could not!

 

“... O-oh, t-thanks …” I finally let out with a stutter, blushing all the way to my ears, hoping she won't notice!

 

“You can—” I stopped. “Y-you can let go now.”

 

Feeling my head heating up, I don’t know why I hesitated.

 

Is this the terror of anxiety …?

 

“Ah,” she let out, realising she was still holding me and immediately let go.

 

Ah … I felt a tinge of disappointment—but I didn’t show it to my face.

 

“I’m s-sorry …”

 

The person who almost bumped into me meekly apologised, bowing her head. 

 

Ah. Right. There was this person. I was too focused on Kris, I forgot her existence!

 

Facing her, I said it was fine with a smile, unbeknownst to everyone what I’m feeling right now.

 

She timidly bowed once again and went ahead on her way.

 

Perhaps it worked as a distraction, my attention is now on something else …

 

“Her bangs are so cute!” I exclaimed.

 

Kris’ gaze lingered at the back of the girl with the bangs as she slowly disappeared in our line of sight.

 

“She looks familiar …” Kris spoke slowly with an unsure expression.

 

“You know her?” I inquired, surprised at her words.

 

“No, but I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere …” Kris trailed on her words. “Never mind. Let’s go.”

 

She shook her head and simply brushed it off.

 

“Let’s go? Where?” I said stupidly, confused about where we going. 

 

Kris sighed and gently pushed me forward. And I realised, with embarrassment, that there is a wide gap between us and the next person!

 

Ahhh! Did I become stupid aside from becoming a pervert?! This can’t be!

 

When I looked at Kris to check what she’s thinking, I saw that she still looked like she’s always in a trance, so peaceful and out of this world.

 

Phew … Good thing, Kris doesn’t care … 

 

I heaved a sigh of relief but also felt some sort of disappointment. A little bit of care is okay too, you know …

 

Deep in thought, I just noticed that we were next in line. I get a hold of myself and recall Kris’s order and my orde—wait a minute! I haven’t decided yet!

 

“Next in line, please,” the register lady called out.

 

Just a minute, pretty lady! I haven’t decided what to order!

 

I moved forward and hastily said our order. 

 

“Uh, um, two sets of burger and coke!” I blurted out, showing two fingers.

 

“Two sets of burger and coke,” the lady repeated. “Would that be all, ma’am?” 

 

“Yes!” 

 

“Is this for dine in?”

 

“Yes!”

 

The lady nodded with a smile and told us to kindly wait for our order …

 

So I decided to make small talk with Kris and, fortunately, I have the perfect topic!

 

“That lady is so pretty, isn’t she?” I whispered to Kris, admiring the pretty register lady. 

 

Kris simply nodded, looking like she’s not interested in this type of conversation.

 

So this can’t make Kris budge, huh …

 

That’s my first thought, but her next words—

 

“She’s married, though.”

 

“Eh? How’d you know?” I was slightly taken aback.

 

Her eyes moved towards me. “She was wearing a ring on her left hand,” she raised her hand slightly.

 

“That could be just an accessory?”

 

“...” Kris stared at me silently. 

 

“..” I also stared back silently, blinking several times. 

 

A staring contest ensued.

 

Deja vu … kinda feel like this already happened before …

 

“Yeah,” Kris finally spoke, ending the short staring contest and carried our previously empty tray, now filled with food.

 

That’s it?! Where’s the amazing deduction? Where’s the cool ass observation? You’re just going to give up?!

 

As I thought, Kris is a banana! Black outside, pink inside: colorly challenged version!

 

Her unexpected silliness temporarily let me forget the embarrassing things I did earlier. 

 

I caught up to Kris, walking beside her with an amused grin. We were wandering around trying to look for an empty table. 

 

My mind naturally thought about what Kris said after getting over her silliness … Pfft, maybe not.

 

Back to the topic, why would she notice if that pretty registered lady was married or not? Is Kris—

 

As I was thinking about those things, I found an empty table, pulling me out of my thoughts.

 

“Kris, there!” I tapped Kris hurriedly on the shoulder. 

 

Restless, I kept on lightly stomping my feet, rushing to get to the table before someone first! 

 

Having similar thoughts, Kris immediately walked faster, trying to get it before someone got it. Especially, it's quite crowded with lots of customers eating and ordering.

 

Kris arrived and put down the tray on the table!

 

Table get!

 

Lucky! We found a seat by the window which is nice! I like it! It’s so aesthetic!

 

She sat across from me, manspreading a bit on her seat.

 

Normally, I would find it inappropriate to see a girl spreading her legs like that. 

 

However …

 

Somewhat, it feels natural when she’s the one doing it …

 

Without speaking, Kris put my food on my side and her food on hers, and evenly split the napkin between us, putting mine on my side of the table.

 

She silently held her spray bottle of alcohol hanging on her ID lace and sprayed her hands with it thoroughly.

 

Taking notice of me watching her, Kris gestured to spray me also, which I did not refuse.

 

Who would refuse to be clean, anyways?

 

As I was rubbing my hands, I entered my mindspace again …

 

I’ve sort of picked out that Kris appears to like … cleanliness? I mean before, after eating, during classes, even just walking! She randomly sprayed her hands with alcohol! Like she did not even touch anything and I would hear a psh psh sound on the side! If I were to count, possibly she had over fifty or hundred sprays in just one sitting!

 

… Perhaps that’s why she has such a nice natural smell? 

 

My ears are turning red again as I remembered what I did earlier. 

 

Gosh! What’s wrong with me? Sniffing? Shivering? When did I become such a pervert?!

 

I want to slam my face on the table or bury myself beneath the earth … 

 

What am I even doing …

 

On a side note …

 

She’s unexpectedly attentive and caring—wait, that sounds so rude. I meant like you wouldn’t think she would be the type to care for others, you know?  

 

The short time spent with her made me realise she’s just awkward though. But still … I don't know anything about her for now other than what I can see and discern.

 

Whether she’s doing it intentionally or not… We’ll see in the future.

 

I peeked at Kris to see what she’s doing and saw her eating her food so happily. Her stoic and nonchalant face disappeared the moment she took a bite of her food. 

 

If this was a movie, I’d probably see glitters and bright background effects on Kris with the way she eats and reacts. 

 

I chuckled—not the bad kind—watching her so engrossed at eating. Her genuine happiness at a small treat, somehow, magically perked me up.

 

Gushing at her adorable eating figure also made me hungry so I picked up my burger, unwrapped it and took a bite out of it.

 

Mm. Delicious.