THE NIGHT
Despite her lingering fury over kei salt-laden fried rice, a traitorous smile played on Sofia's lips. She was still fuming, yet there it was. As she prepared for bed, the sharp pimm of a notification echoed through the room. Reaching for her phone, she found a flurry of texts from her inner circle.
Chloe: "Sofia, can we hang out at your place next week?"
Mia: "Yeah, let's do it. I'm bored out of my mind."
Sylvia: "Please! I'm so lonely here. My parents are always working."
Sofia: "Why my house, though?"
Chloe: "I need a change of scenery. I'm always stuck at my place; I want to go somewhere else for a change."
Mia: "Exactly. Besides, your house is huge."
Sylvia: "Yeah, Sofia's house it is!"
Sofia: "Fine. What time are you planning on showing up?"
Chloe: "Next Monday. We don't have class, right?"
Mia: "Yeah, let's aim for 7:00 in the morning."
Sylvia: "What?! 7:00 AM? Are you insane? I'm still dead to the world at that hour."
Chloe: "Then learn to wake up early, idiot!"
Sylvia: "F#ck y#u."
Sofia: "Okay, okay, fine. Goodnight, girls."
Sylvia: "Night."
Chloe: "Night."
Mia: "đź‘Ť"
Sofia sank slowly onto her mattress, letting out a weary sigh. What a pain in the ass, she thought. Her friends were a handful, and then there was her "slave" a jerk and an idiot rolled into one.
The following morning, the air was crisp, but Sofia's temperament was already boiling. Standing on her marble balcony and clutching her silk robe tight, she glared down at the expansive back garden. Below, kei was methodically trimming the rosebushes. Her movements were fluid and entirely too relaxed for someone who had "ruined" dinner the night before.
Sofia stomped down the garden steps, her slippers clicking sharply against the stone.
"You!" Sofia shouted, pointing a finger at the hedge trimmers. "The salt! I can still taste it! My tongue feels like a desert because of your incompetence!"
kei didn't flinch. She didn't even jump. She simply finished a precise snip on a stray branch before turning around. Her expression was the definition of nonchalant heavy lidded eyes, a flat line for a mouth, and an aura suggesting her mind was a total vacuum.
"It was just a pinch extra, Miss Sofia," kei replied, her voice smooth and entirely devoid of apology. "I thought you liked a 'bold' flavor profile."
"Bold? It was a biohazard!" Sofia marched into kei's personal space, forced to look up at the taller girl. "You're a slave! You're supposed to know my palate better than I do! Are you trying to poison me so you can inherit my shoe collection?"
 THE UNSPOKEN TENSION
kei set the shears down on the garden bench and leaned back against a stone pillar. She looked down at Sofia, her gaze drifting lazily over Sofia's disheveled morning hair.
"Your shoes are two sizes too small for me," kei remarked calmly. "And if I wanted to poison you, I wouldn't use salt. It's too loud."
Sofia's heart gave a traitorous little thud. Why does she have to look so cool while being so annoying? "Whatever! Just… fix it!" Sofia crossed her arms, desperate to reclaim her authority. "My friends are coming over Monday at 7:00 AM. If the breakfast you make isn't five-star quality, I'm locking you in the cellar."
"7:00 AM?" kei blinked the first genuine sign of a reaction. "On a holiday? Your friends are quite… chaotic."
"They're a pain in the ass," Sofia muttered, averting her eyes. She noticed a smudge of dirt on KEI's cheek and instinctively reached out to wipe it away, but she froze mid-air, her hand trembling.
 THE DENIAL
kei noticed the gesture. Instead of pulling away, she leaned slightly closer, her nonchalant mask cracking just enough to reveal a hint of amusement. "Is there something on my face, Miss Sofia? Or are you finally admitting you like looking at it?"
"In your dreams, you idiot!" Sofia snapped, retracting her hand as if burned. "There was a… a bug! I was going to squash it! Just like I'm going to squash your ego!"
Sofia turned to storm away, but the grass remained slick with morning dew. Her slipper slid, and a tiny gasp escaped her as she began to tilt backward.
Before she could strike the dirt, a firm hand caught her forearm while another steadied her waist. kei had moved with a speed that defied her lazy demeanor. For a heartbeat, they were inches apart. Sofia was flooded with the scent of cut grass and the faint, clean aroma of kei's soap.
"Easy," kei murmured, her dark eyes searching Sofia's. "It's a bit early for a fall, don't you think?"
Sofia's face went supernova. She could feel the warmth of kei's palm through the silk of her robe. For a split second, she didn't want to pull away. She wanted to stay right there, anchored by the girl she claimed to hate.
"Let go of me!" Sofia finally squeaked, shoving herself back.
"As you wish," kei said, instantly dropping her hands and returning to her deadpan stance as if nothing had happened.
Sofia scrambled back toward the house, her heart racing a mile a minute. She didn't look back, but if she had, she might have seen kei staring at her own hand with a very confused, very subtle frown.