Someone I'm Not

17| Weekend comes to an end

"Are you sure you're going home already? But we still haven't accomplished the prank to Bret because he didn't open his desktop yesterday!" Nico complains, acting like he's a ten-year-old kid whose mom will find a job in a distant place.

"Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it. But for now, I think I have to focus On my studies first. Besides, our teachers will be giving us A LOT of paperwork this week, which means I have to push more and dedicate to it if I want to pass and be able to get a college ticket." She explains that made him nod.

"Yeah, you're right. But come back, okay? I still have a lot of tricks to pull up on those ugly friends of mine. And it will be more successful in having you as my partner in crime."

"Of course, I wouldn't dare to miss those pranks!" She assures her before giving each other a hug that lasted for more than five seconds. When Nico is already satisfied with their conversation, he turns to Phoenix, leaning by the entrance gate frame.

"You two lovebirds did yet?" He teases that made her stick her tongue out.

"You're just jealous," Soroya replies as Nico agreed to it.

"Yeah. You're just too bitter! Find yourself a woman already!" He says before tapping his shoulder as he walks past him and gets inside. That leaves the two of them outside.

"So. . . Let's go?" Soroya asks that made him nod. He unlocks Philip's car before entering the vehicle. Phoenix decided to stop by a bakery shop for a minute before coming back in the car with a white plastic bag in hand.

"Ooh, what did you get?" She asks excitedly as the aroma of the bread lingers directly into her nose, making her hungry.

"Do you want me to answer, or you'll just have to find it yourself?" He asks as he hands her the plastic bag. She didn't reply as she opens it, only for her eyes to meet—

"Croissant and crinkles!" She excitedly blurts out before taking out each piece and starts biting them. Phoenix chuckles at her expression as he starts hitting the road again.

"Still nailed that one." He says that makes her give him a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Phoenix!" She acknowledges that made him smile at her.

"Of course, you need to still have something in your bag because your ride will take a bit longer than expected. And besides, I should be the one thanking you for making my weekend special." The words slip out of his mouth comfortably, as if he's destined to say those words only to get to hear. It made her stop chewing the bread that's already inside her mouth. Just then, she instantly feels her cheeks get warm, making her turn away from him.

Her heart starts beating louder and faster, like a prisoner wanting to destroy her ribcage and be free from hitting in an indefinite area to deal with.

The following minutes were indeed quiet, but it was just the noise they both needed to enjoy the moment. When they've already reached the station, it was already time for her to go.

"Say hi to Vianne for me, okay?" He reminds her that he made her nod.

"Yup, I will. . . And thanks for the bread! I'll probably enjoy the ride with these delicious crinkles. . . But, oh, before that. . ." she takes out one piece of the croissant and hands it to him.

"But I— there's no need. Besides, I bought it for you—"

"Doesn't mean I can't give you one, Phoenix. Come on, take it. You'll still be riding a few minutes, and this will might keep you not bored now that I won't be riding with you back." She says, still, her hand is stretched out with the croissant in hand.

"Okay fine." He answers back before getting the croissant out of her hand. Soroya's smile widens as she dusts off the powder from the bread on her hand.

"I know you couldn't resist me." She chuckled, which made Phoenix's heart starts beating faster. But then, he doesn't want to be too apparent that what she said is true.

"What!? No! I just want you to end this awkward conversation and to let you get on that line already because your ride is arriving." He chuckles back. The giggle died down after that as they both get lost in each other's eyes. But then, as they hear the paging of arrival from the speakers and the pulling off the train, Phoenix decided to break the eye contact.

"Okay, that's your cue!" He says that made Soroya turn around as the doors slide open as the passengers get inside to find themselves a comfortable seat. "You should go now, or you'll end up standing for the next couple of hours."

Soroya now wears a sad smile at the thought of going home, and dealing with her studies will be more challenging now that she has to pull her grades up and, at the same time, fix all of her resumes for college application. It may seem too early, but for her, she has to be prepared for college as early as possible, now that she also has to get scholarship grants, or she will not be able to sustain tuition for college.

[A few hours later]

As soon as she steps out of the train station, her eyes quickly found the person she's been waiting for her.

"Hello again, Guardian Ed!" She gleefully greets him that creates curiosity in Eduardus's mind. 'Did something happen?' He asks himself

"I was expecting you'd be like, “Urgh! That ride took me forever!” and I'll just nod in agreement with you."  He chuckles that he quickly received an elbow at her stomach. "Ouch!"

"Hey! First of all, I don't sound like that, and second, the ride was indeed long, but it was just okay." She replies as she still grips right on the white plastic bag. Eduardus noticed that shortly as he tries to get his hands on it.

"What is that—" but before he could even lay his hands on it, Soroya quickly pulls it away from him and onto her side.

"Don't! This thing right here is only FOR ME." She announces as she emphasizes the last two words.

"Oh, come on. It's not like it has gold in it. . . Or wait! It's food, right?" His eyes narrow as if he's trying his best not to blink to what her next reaction is.

"How did you! Hey! Do you have an X-ray vision there or something? Or hold on. . . We're you stalking me!?" This time, it was her moment to narrow her eyes like she's already Chinese. Eduardus laughs out loud as his hands rest on his stomach, still laughing.

"W-what!? Did you seriously think that I have an X-ray vision?" He asks as his laughter slowly died down. Soroya's eyes then relax and now back to the standard sizes of her eyes.

"If I have that superpower, I shouldn't be standing here in front of you because I have probably enrolled myself inside the Popular X-Mansion." He continues as his smile widens. But then, he didn't expect her only to raise an eyebrow at his reply.

"Uhm, X-Mansion? Do guardians like you have mansions of their own? But what do you mean by enrolled yourself? Oh, wait." Soroya pauses as she tries her best to connect the dots. This time, Eduardus's smile falls in a thin line, making him a bit disappointed in Soroya, who is trying her best to realize everything that he just said.

"Right!" Soroya exclaims as her once roaming around eyes now darted into his. "You guardians attend school too? Cool! But is it exactly look like a mansion or—"

"Okay! That's enough. . . you didn't get my joke." He answers with no such interest in prolonging the conversation.

"What—"

"BY THE WAY, your sister decided to stay home today to check up on the house. I told them that they should come with me instead, but your sister doesn't trust him yet, so—"

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm not getting what you mean. . . First, you're talking about my sister, and now you've mentioned THEM and then HE? Are you sure you've studied we'll on your pronounce?" To her great confusion, she asked that with just one breathing. But then, Eduardus got all of what she meant.

"Of course I've learned my pronouns, you dummy! And about that confusion of yours? Yeah, there is someone from your house that badly needed to talk to you." He replies that it sounded too convincing and scary at the same time.

"Who?" She asks as she gulps her saliva. Just as their eyes locked, Eduardus grins as he lifts his hand, revealing a bread he's holding.

"You'll find out soon."

With such short notice, he takes a bite without breaking eye contact. Just at that moment, Soroya's eyes widen to see the break he is holding.

"How—"

"Oh, and by the way? This bread smells and tastes delicious! Now I understand why you don't want to share it with me." He winks at him before closing his eyes and inhaling the delicious aroma.

"What the f—"

•••

As the car pulls over, her sister's expression is the first thing that greeted her. Vianne's eyebrows are almost colliding. Her eyes narrowed down over the vehicle they're riding at. Her arms are draped around her chest as she taps her left heel and toe alternately.

"Your sister's not angry." He confirms without looking at her because he's busy parking the car.

"Well, I know if a person is angry when I see one. And her expression has passed on 'mad person' qualifications." Soroya felt nothing more but anxiety about what she might hear from her sister. As the car stops, Eduardus was about to come out when he noticed the woman sitting in the passenger's seat is frozen.

"Hey, Client 100. You might want to get out of the car now."

"What if she yells at me? What am I going to say? I might spill the beans unnoticed when I'm seated on a pressure test." She admits, the Present Phoenix starting to tremble. He is indeed a person with lies, but when he is being forced to disclose everything, he will and, without doubt, will spill it all.

"I told you, she's not mad. She just feels that she's been missing a lot of things, and she needed coping. Trust me." He says before getting out and closing the car door. Soroya didn't have much of a choice but to trust him, even if she still thinks that hes someone she should be aware of.

"Okay. I guess that person who wanted to talk to me wasn't kind of a big deal. Besides, who would want to visit Soroya?" She asks herself before stepping out of the vehicle. Vianne pays her close attention, her mouth still in a zipped position.

'She's not mad, she's not mad, she's not—'

"Hey, sis—"

"Don't ‘hey sis’ me, Soroya!"

'Right. . . Vianne is indeed a bit mad. Right?'

Soroya turns her attention to Eduardus as if she's asking him to save her from being blank. But then, he decided to smirk and shrug his shoulders, enough body movement for her to understand what it meant.

'You're on your own.' She can already imagine him laughing at her, making her curl her hand in a tight ball.

'I'm going to get back at you, you dimwit!' She promised to herself before looking back at her sister. She musters a confused look as her acting begins.

"What's the matter?" She asks, trying her best to pretend that she didn't know about the visitor, but at the same time, she's still as curious as a third-grader about a lot of things. Vianne steps down on the mini wooden stairs and hesitantly walk towards her. When she is already standing in front of her, Eduardus decided to talk.

"I'll leave you guys to talk. Gotta go!" He calls before rushing himself inside their house. She furrows her brows as her blood starts to heat up.

"Eduardus, you son of a—" she murmurs but was cut off shortly when Vianne talks.

"Who is he?" Vianne asks directly. Soroya raises a brow, not thrilled to her question.

"What do you mean, who is he? Does he at least have a name or something?" Soroya asks, slapping herself with the fact that she is dumbfounded.

"So. . . Wait. I don't get it. This Houdini guy didn't tell you he's coming to a stop at our house to check up on you?"

The name sounded too familiar for her not to recall. As if it rings a bell, her eyes widen.

"What did you. . . What's his name?"

"Houdini! He told me he's looking for you!"

"I don't— how come—"

"Soroya, WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? First, it was Eduardus who suddenly came knocking at our door, telling me you two had something, and a few hours later, he's come hitting on me! Second, this guy named Houdini came in and saying that he needed to talk to you!? I don't even know these guys because you haven't seen them in your school, not you introduced them properly to me! Are you hiding something from me?" She starts to get emotional that made her feel bad. 'But is telling her the truth any more of a help?' And oh, don't forget the fact that EDUARDUS ALWAYS WEAR A SUIT! And now, Houdini too?"

"Hey, Vianne. Wait. Everything that is happening is not what you think it is—"

"Oh, what fo you think that I'm thinking?"

"Erm, y-you're right. I don't know. . . But please, you don't have to be suspicious about Eduardus and Houdini! They're just someone who came so suddenly into my life and—"

"Oh my goodness, Soroya!" She starts to raise the voice that made her a hit startled, making her shout back.

"What!?"

"Are you. . . Are you secretly dating both of them!? Soroya, this is NOT how girls deal with relationships!"

"Via—"

"You should be loyal!"

"Vianne, I—"

"If you had just an argument with your boyfriend, don't go finding yourself a new one! Just settle down, talk it out and be open—"

"VIANNE! Could you just please let me finish!"

She shouts at her sister, not having much of a choice to make her stop. Successfully, she made Vianne stop at her sudden burst of emotion. That made an open gate for her to breathe before explaining herself.

"First of all, I wasn't dating EITHER of them. We both know who I actually like! And second, if I have a boyfriend, why would you think if cheat? We also know how LOYAL I am when it comes to that issue. nd third, as I said, I know Eduardus was at first and now, Houdini, but trust me in this one. They're just here to help me. So, please calm down first before replying? I don't want to argue with you regarding that matter."