Callisto was feeling reluctant to go to the convenience store, to do her shift. After what just happened between her and Elesis on the rooftop, Callisto just wanted to curl into a ball on her bed and sleep.
As soon as the bell chimed and the classes were over for today, Callisto was quick to extract herself from that classroom, away from Elesis' gaze. But getting out of that room did not give her an immediate sigh of relief.
"Hey, Calli!"
"Are you heading home already, Callisto?"
"We're going to the karaoke. Wanna join us?"
Each greeting, each invitation, felt like a hole was being torn open across Callisto's body. Every smile, every gesture, every response felt like adding salt to the injury.
Painful, that was the only word that could describe that feeling. Overwhelming, the only word that truly captured the magnitude of the pain Callisto had been accumulating since she met Elesis with Karen up until now.
Callisto wished she could get rid of the pain, to make her connections real, to storm back into the classroom and tell Elesis she didn't mean everything she said. Sadly, she knew damn well it was impossible. As long as she had to keep the truth about her silver hair, her cat ears, and tail a secret, she would never be able to make those connections genuine nor have the right to consider herself Elesis's friend.
With heavy footsteps and a small frown on her face as her head fell slightly forward, Callisto left the school building, traversing through the school grounds toward the main gate. The early afternoon sun washed over the buildings she passed by, catching the flowing strands of her silver hair.
Callisto's shadow veiled her face as she kept her head down, not wanting to meet the gaze of other people. Each step was a quiet prayer that she was getting closer to the main gate.
The silver-haired girl was just thinking about messaging her boss that she would like to take the day off when she heard a familiar voice call her by her nickname, the sound softening her expression as she looked up, the warm glow of the sun meeting her beautiful face.
"Calli!"
Standing next to the main gate was Hinata, his gaze fixed on the young lady whose pace slowed to a stop.
"Hinata..."
Hinata's name tasted sweet and bitter in Callisto's tongue. She wasn't sure whether to be happy or otherwise at his sight. All she could do was force a smile as she approached him.
"What's up," Callisto said, the casual tone a mantle over the chaos in her mind. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"I was waiting for you," Hinata smiled back, the ever so charming gesture and the zero hesitation in his reply stole the air from Callisto's lungs.
"You were waiting for me?" Callisto said, her face was flushed, almost burning, but the sun had nothing to do with it.
"I hope you don't mind. I was thinking we could go to the convenience store together."
"That's..."
Callisto hesitated at first, her heart beating faster than it ever was before. But eventually, she gave in.
"... Of course. Let's go?"
"Yeah."
To her inner desire.
* * *
The street was filled with students heading home from school. The voices of other students chatting around a peddler selling street food were drowned out momentarily by the jeepney's rattling engine as it passed by.
"This is the worst," Callisto cursed at herself in her mind, peeking under her eyelids to look at Hinata's side profile, his handsome features undeniable under the warmth of the sunlight. "I'm such a hypocrite."
This wasn't how the rest of the day was supposed to go for Callisto. She was supposed to tell Selly she couldn't go to work today and just isolate herself from everyone at home. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to decline Hinata's suggestion to head to work together.
At this very moment, Callisto should have told Hinata the same thing she said to Elesis, should have distanced herself from him as she did with the redhead. But somehow, those thoughts couldn't materialize out of her mouth, her body refusing to create space any more than a few centimeters between their shoulders.
Try as she might, his scent, the heat radiating off his body was pulling her like a magnet, like a moth to a flame. She was powerless.
"Why," Callisto asked herself. "What makes him different?"
Callisto felt her heart hammering in her chest, wondering what Hinata had that the others hadn't. What Elesis hadn't despite meeting her first.
"Hey, Calli?" He called, Callisto's body jolting in surprise as she returned to reality.
"What?"
Hinata took a moment of silence, taking in the curiosity shining through the young lady's sky-blue eyes.
"It's nothing. It's just that, I was expecting to see you with El."
Callisto was quiet for a brief moment, looking down. Hinata's words hit her like a physical blow. Of course, he would think that. Until now, it almost seemed like Elesis and Callisto were inseparable even though she would act indifferent about the redhead's antics and clinginess most of the time.
"El said she needed to go home early..." Calli said, the lie tasting bitter on her tongue, fingertips finding the hem of her blouse, a nervous habit.
Hinata had been friends with Callisto long enough to know if something was going on. And right now, something was definitely off about Callisto.
The young man noticed it the moment his gaze locked on her when he was waiting near the school's main gate. The way her head was down, her shoulders shrinking as if they wanted to hide from the world, even the way her cat ears seemed to fall flat as if it was a natural part of her body before meeting his gaze, tells Hinata something was definitely bothering Callisto.
Hinata simply remained silent until now, unsure if pointing it out would be prying at something he shouldn't. But then, the way Callisto answered his question about Elesis caught his attention. Hinata noted the short pause, the way her fingers find the hem of her blouse the same way he saw Callisto do it at least once when she was nervous. And on top of that, he noted how she kept her head down even after giving Hinata an answer.
Hinata was made certain.
Whatever was going on with Callisto definitely involved Elesis.
"I see. What a shame."
Hinata decided not to pry much, but he had a wild guess that Callisto and Elesis probably had an argument about something. He was expecting Callisto to say something like, "I know right? I hope everything's all right." after his response. That was how Callisto would express her affection toward Elesis, only when the redhead was out of sight, out of her earshot. But she didn't say anything else, further confirming his suspicion.
"Calli," Hinata called, his soft voice drawing Callisto's gaze toward him. "Let's do our best at work like usual today."
"Huh?"
Hinata's words came out of nowhere, soft and encouraging. But maybe it was because of the fact that it was unexpected that it got her to meet his gaze, the warm glow of the sun catching her pretty features.
Callisto smiled, though whether it was a natural reaction or a forced one was something even she did not know for sure.
"Yeah. Let's do it."