Nova gave Ares a look that could kill. Did he perhaps go too far this time?
He looked at the girl that had been staring at him since he walked into the freezer aisle, and the girl quickly averted her gaze.
She looked at Nova with curious eyes, leaving her no choice but to introduce Ares.
"He's my cousin, Ares."
Ares held out his hand towards Orlyssa, smiling.
While looking to the side, Orlyssa extended her hand, grasping his.
'So she can make such a face?' Nova wondered.
Orlyssa began twirling her hair with her finger, speaking, "I'm Orlyssa, your cousin's friend." She then looked into Ares' seasoned eyes for a second, then opened the freezer.
"It feels like a crime eating ice cream alone."
Ares only had little money in his pocket, which he intended to use in case something unforeseen happened.
Seeing Ares wavering, Nova spoke, "Of course she's paying."
Ares moved to the freezer, picking what Nova had chosen. It was ten years since he ate ice cream, so he wasn't sure he would remember the taste.
Orlyssa paid for the three pints, and as they stepped outside the store, they all opened their pints, beginning to eat as they walked home.
Partway, Ares noticed Nova surreptitiously glancing at him.
When they got home, Nova beelined to her room to remove her sweat-drenched uniform, leaving Ares and Orlyssa in the living room.
They sat opposite each other, and Orlyssa's eyes kept moving from side to side.
'Was she okay?' Ares decided to break the ice.
"How far do you live from here, Orlyssa?"
Orlyssa's chest instantly tightened. The only thing she heard was 'Orlyssa'. However, after two or three seconds, she managed to piece together what Ares had said.
"Do you know Orlyssa's Grill? It's about a 10-minute walk from there."
The total distance from Nova's home to her home was roughly 3 kilometers. Dusk was already falling, so Ares wondered whether she was supposed to be there. Were her parents really that lenient?
While thinking about this, a dangerous question was shot at him.
"Which school do you go to...Ares?"
Orlyssa asked this with a small smile. Fortunately, Ares had rehearsed how to answer such a question.
"The Institute for Advanced Learning. I was feeling under the weather, so I stayed home today."
Orlyssa began snickering.
At that moment, Nova walked into the room, wearing a tennis skirt and a lightweight t-shirt.
'What are they doing?' She looked at them with a question mark floating above her head, before blatantly interrupting their apparent good time.
"Does anyone care for some cold juice?"
Orlyssa lifted her arm. "Both of us!"
Nova went to the kitchen, ultimately returning with three glasses of juice on a tray. She placed it on the table, picked one, and sat in an armchair across Ares and Orlyssa. She watched as the two chatted, wondering whether Orlyssa would still face Ares if he were to pull back his hood.
As Nova glanced between them, her eyes met Orlyssa's. Why did such instances keep happening?
Orlyssa went and stooped beside her, then, cupping her hand on her ear, she brought her mouth closer.
"Do you mind giving me your contact, Celeste?"
Though Nova didn't know what suddenly brought this up, she took the phone from Orlyssa's hand and entered her contact, giving it back afterwards.
Orlyssa picked the phone with her lips curled up, as though a big deal had happened. She confirmed it was 8PM, so she went and picked her bag from the couch and walked to the main door.
Nova and Ares stood up to see her off. It was cold, and the smell of the night was dominant outside.
Ares' eyes unwittingly flicked from Orlyssa's to Nova's exposed thighs. He deliberately followed them behind as they walked down on the cracked pavement, heading to a taxi stand that was near the neighborhood's intersection.
While walking, Ares looked back over his shoulders. There were eight people behind them. Four were walking away in the opposite direction, while the other four were moving at the same direction as them.
He looked further, then grinned. "Fool, you can do better than that."
He faced forward and continued enjoying the crisp and cool air. After about twenty seconds, a cab approached from behind, lurching to a stop beside them.
Nova sighed. This saved them some walk.
"Well, have a nightmare. May a demon lick your face as you'll be sleeping."
Orlyssa chuckled, replying, "Right back at you."
She wheeled around, and as she was about to pull the cab's door, a hand tightly held the wrist of her other arm, pulling her body back like it were a sack of feathers.
'What?' Nova gazed at Ares with furrowed eyebrows.
Ares stared inside the cab through the driver's window, then sighed inwardly, 'Going through weaklings? I'm disappointed.'
He unclenched his arm on Orlyssa's wrist, stating, "You should use a bus. It's cheaper."
Without even thinking, Orlyssa immediately responded with a "Yes."
The cab's engine growled. Before it could leave, Nova's eyes caught a figure of a boy seated beside the driver, smirking. The cab then shot away, taking a left at the intersection.
'What the hell's happening?' Nova mused, arching an eyebrow.
There was a bus stop across the intersection, so they crossed the street and waited for a bus there. Not long after, a bus approached from the route the cab disappeared to and pulled up before them.
Orlyssa walked to the bus' door, and turned and waved at Nova and Ares, before climbing the bus.
Immediately the bus left, Nova looked at Ares.
"I didn't know you were that caring."
"So you knew I was caring, just not this much?"
She clicked her tongue, quickly walking ahead.
Ares rushed after her. "You sure you're going the right way?"
She stopped, turning back. "I'm hitting a store. We've been eating the same thing for a week."
"Don't you need security?" He asked after catching up.
With Nova sighing, the two resumed walking, now side by side.