Someone I'm Not

18 [pt.3]| Different Perspectives

Vianne and Houdini settle down at the table from the near end of the restaurant. Surprisingly, few people only go there, making her enjoy the almost silent surroundings.

"Good afternoon, ma'am sir. Welcome to THE PERFECT PLACE!" The waitress comes over to give them the menus. It didn't take long for them to order, even if it's just Vianne's first time to go there. As soon as the waitress takes down all of their orders, she unhesitantly makes her way to put their orders in line. That then leaves Vianne and Houdini.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Vianne straightforwardly asks as she couldn't take the agony of thinking every possible reply she could receive from him. She's too bad at predicting, which made her wonder more and more about what he could be wanting to tell her.

"Chill down there, sweetheart. You're too straightforward! Can't you just loosen up a bit and chill? Besides, the conversation would be more significant if we already had our milkshakes to freeze our hot brains." He says as he takes out his phone and suddenly, without asking her permission—

*click!*

Vianne is surprised to hear the clicking of Houdini's phone that she quickly got the idea of what just happened.

"Why would you do a snapshot on me!? Don't you know that's a bit mean and illegal!" She exclaims, which makes Houdini chuckle.

"You're exaggerating, Vianne. And besides, you humans do this a lot of times, right?" Houdini asks as he crosses his forearms in front of his chest, leaning back so that his back would relax on the chair. With his chin held up high, he musters a smirk that quickly makes Vianne narrow her eyes at him.

"As if you're not a human, so don't talk like you're doing regarding your existence." Joanne retorts as this time, and it was her moment to do the crossing of arms in her chest, leaning back and smirking, making her feel it's too cool to be true.

"Did you just copied me?" Houdini asks as if he just watched a reply of himself. Vianne wanted to laugh, but at that moment, she felt like going with the flow of their unprepared roleplay.

"What if I just did?" She challenged his confidence that made Houdini laugh. A split-second after, Vianne breaks into laughter as well.

"Damn, I thought you weren't good at acting!" He says as the little moment they shared felt like they've been doing it for a very long time.

"And I thought you wouldn't notice me copying you." She answers back as she once tensed muscle, now relaxing.

They stayed in that situation for the next few seconds until their chuckles died down. Few more minutes later, their orders came up. This time, as they start enjoying their food, Vianne took the initiative to break the silence and ask him the same question she raised a while ago.

"So, now that the food is here. We should get down to business already. . . So, why are you actually here for, Houdini? Are you here to ask my approval for you to court my sister? Or are you here to ask about her relationship with Eduardus? Because the I, myself is really suspicious about what's going on between them." She didn't beat around the bush any longer. Houdini then places down his utensils to sip on his shake.

"Damn! This strawberry shake is so delicious! I almost forgot how it tastes—" He compliments the shake, but Vianne rolls her eyes, knowing that he is just trying to change the subject. A bit irritated, she half-stand, enough for her to lean forward and catch Houdini by his collar. Taken aback, Houdini didn't have much time to process everything. Now, he is also half-standing and forcefully leaned forward as his eyes are wide open. Few customers turn in their direction that made Houdini smile at them shyly, saying 'just don't mind us. . . Your foods need more of your attention than us.' The customers then turn their backs on them that makes him sigh but silently gasps when she pulls him closer to her.

"For a second there, I forgot that you're—"

"Listen to me here, Houdini. I'm not stupid, okay? If you think inviting me here to treat me to lunch is good, I do appreciate the gesture. But to ask me here just to waste my time is a NO-NO. Do you either tell me your intention or I'm going to smash your head into that strawberry shake you're enjoying as I watch your blood drip into it, mixing it entirely in that once sweet milkshake you just complimented." She explains her side that creeps Houdini out immediately. He gulps as he places his hands on top of Vianne's hands, who are gripped tightly on his collar. He then folds his hands to grab hers as he forces a small smile.

"You don't have to threaten me, Vianne. I know it sucks to die, but I'm tired of dying all over again, so how about you let go of my collar and let's take a seat and a good deep breath?" He asks as he pulls her hands away from his collar. "Good."

Vianne sighs as she sits back, now not knowing what to say next. But then, she hears Houdini sigh across her before talking again.

"Okay, fine. I'll tell you while I'm here." He says before sipping at his strawberry shake again and lifts his gaze to meet hers. As their eyes lock, Vianne could feel something strange about it. But just by staring at his eyes, she knew that he would ask something that will definitely make her reply almost unconscious with her words.

"How we'll do you know your sister?"

•••

Soroya meets Eduardus at the main gate of the Academy. She thought that it would be better to talk to him at lunch because they would have no restrictions, just two individuals who look like coquetry.

"So you make me wait for FOUR hours before we could talk. You could have just messaged me— ouch! What the f*ck was that for!?" Eduardus massages at the back of his forehead after receiving a smack from Soroya.

"How would I message you, you son of a gun? My subject was Algebra, Physics, and Biology this morning! Would you expect me to fricking message you when all we do is solve formulas and memorize solutions!?"

"So, is there something difficult with solving?" Eduardus asks, not getting why Soroya complains about it. Instead, she rolls her eyes and walks faster.

"Lucky for you, you're a guardian. Of course, everything will be easy for you." She says, but luckily, Eduardus already coped up with her steps.

"What!? Of course not! I just found out that I'm good at it, and—" Eduardus wasn't able to finish his statement when he suddenly felt his world churning. Soroya keeps talking but to him; he is as if hearing her from a far distance.

"Eduardus, are you okay?" Soroya asks the moment she noticed that he's already stopped walking, and now, his hand supports his head that starts to get heavy. "Eduardus, what the f**k is going on!?" She asks as she places her hand on his back while the other tries to had a grip on his hands, but only for Eduardus to push her away.

"It's happening again." He says as he tried to move his eyes rapidly to check if he can do anything to stop it.

"What!? What's happening!?" Soroya asks, but he only received it like a muffled noise. The students walking past them start to wonder what is happening and that they start debating whether to ask what's wrong or not.

Eduardus then runs his fingers into his hair as he tries his best to contain the scream of pain that wants to escape into his throat. He doesn't want to draw attention, but the ache is too much for him to bear.

'What the f*ck is going on with me!?' He asks himself but only closing his eyes answered his question.

"Mister Oasis, is there something wrong?" Eduardus quickly opens his eyes to see that he's facing a blackboard. Not that it is blank, there is an equation written on it. Eduardus then felt a hand on his shoulder as he turns to see a worried woman wearing a pink blouse and a black skirt. "Mister Oasis?" She asks again.

Eduardus then turns to the board again as he sees an equation with a complete solution. He then turns again to the teacher to know that she's already got her attention on the board.

"Did I get it wrong, Miss Grace?" He asks, which surprised him to how she knew her surname. A smile then forms into Miss Grace's lips before turning to him.

"You got the correct answer, Mister Oasis." She praises him before turning to the best of the class.

"Now class—" suddenly, a brown light voice starts to echo into his ears. Before he could even ask what it is, he felt a sudden punch of plain at his back.

"EDUARDUS, WHAT THE F*CK!"

"Hhhuuugghhhhhh!" Eduardus deeply inhales like he's never had inhaled air before as his hand catches his neck. His eyes are wide open as he realizes that he's already kneeling on the ground. His eyes then trail to find Soroya, who is already kneeling beside him.

"Wha—what happened?" Eduardus managed to ask as he tries to breathe more air. Soroya looks at him, worried as her hand still caressing his back.

"You suddenly stopped and complaining of an ache right in your stomach. Suddenly, you start applying pressure on your chest by rubbing it harshly. The next thing I know is that you're catching breath, but your eyes were wide open like you've seen a ghost or something." She explains briefly, not wanting to leave a single detail. "What the hell just happened to you?"

Eduardus ignores her question as he closes his eyes for a brief second before opening them again and standing back on his feet. Soroya follows as she fusts off her knees.

"You even told me that it's happening again, which is I don't know what you mean?" She continues to ask; now, her suspicion is growing towards him. But instead of getting an answer she wanted to hear, Eduardus just chuckles at her statements and gently rubs his forehead.

"Maybe I'm just hungry? Come on, let's get burgers and fries again." He manages to curve his lips into a small smile before grabbing Soroya by her wrist as they continue walking as nothing weir has happened.

But as they continue walking, one thing caught Eduardus's thoughts.

'Mister Oasis? If I heard that right from that son of a b*tch flashbacks or whatsoever, why do I have Phoenix's past? Unless I have to find a clue about those flashbacks!? His name also sounded like me. Gosh! This is making me f*cking crazy!'

•••

"So, you're telling me you don't know her anymore? But I thought you knew her more than anyone else?" Houdini asks as the conversation gets interesting. Vianne blows and exhales before taking a huge at her Red Velvet slice of cake. While chewing, she continues to talk.

"Well, as I said earlier, that's only when we were kids! I mean, yeah, we grew up together under one roof, and just one day came, a man is knocking at our door, and she doesn't even introduce me to Eduardus!"

"And what are your key points or observations that can make you think she's changed?"

"Well, first of all, she DOESN'T COOK. At all!. Even a sunny side she couldn't do! How come she made it a few days earlier while I couldn't perfect the egg that way!?" She exclaims as particles start flying out of her mouth, making Houdini dodges them using his hands.

"You don't act like a proper lady if you continue targeting me with bread particles, Vianne. So I suggest you chew and gulp first before talking." She says that makes Vianne cover her mouth.

"Sorry, I was just kind of used talking while stuffing the food inside. But I apologize. It won't happen again." She says before drinking her iced tea juice.

"But yeah. . . As I said, I've known my sister once, and now, I don't. That simple." She says before slicing a piece of her cake. "But please don't tell her this?"

"What is it? You know you can always trust me." He says that makes them lean forward; their elbows rested in the ends of the table.

"I'm planning on finding out what this is all about. I can't just sit here and pretend like nothing ever stinks with lies. It may sound so stalker-ish, but I have to just to make peace with my curious and painfully throbbing with a lot of things to think through." She explains that it makes him nod.

"So please, no matter what your relationship is with my sister, I don't care. As long as you keep this a secret. . . Can I trust you with that?" She asks that makes Houdini thinks for a few lore seconds.

But in the end, he nodded.

"I'll help you out."

"What?"

"I'll help you find out about everything you want to know."