Changing Impressions

Like some kind of a hero who just saved a damsel in distress, Lemuel is now looking down at Anastasia with the warm glow of the sunset wrapping his lean figure - making him appear transcendental and quite a bit ethereal.

Too taken aback by how she just found out that he's not so much of a gloomy guy that he made himself appear to be, she ended up losing words to say. The way his breath-taking features take a peek from behind his thick-lensed eyeglasses doesn't help her regain her bearings at all either.

"Are you alright, Anastasia? I heard screaming all the way from the library. Never thought that it's you who was trapped inside there," Lemuel started, concern laced in his voice.

"Y-Yeah, I am alright now. Thank you for helping me out..." Anastasia trailed off before stretching a downcast smile.

"Really, thank you. I don't know what I'd do if you hadn't come."

She really doesn't talk much with this person since he appears somewhat distant in class. He always looks like he doesn't need anybody to talk to. His usual companions are his earphones, an iPod and a book - serving as some sort of tools to help him shut the world off.

Anastasia never imagined a day when she'd find herself this deeply indebted to him. What's more, she already feels like she can never continue seeing him the same way as before because of this incident.

"Hey, are you really alright? You seem pale," Lemuel continued before inching closer and holding her cheek out of nowhere, much to her surprise.

"I-I'm fine! N-No worries," Anastasia ended up stuttering, too dazzled by his handsome frame and confused by this uncalled-for gesture of his.

"Hmm... Quite hard to believe. I knew you as someone who wouldn't do something like locking herself up inside the janitor's closet."

That's when she gets caught off guard even more than she already is. He just sounded as if he knew her that well despite the fact that they didn't talk much. The way he looks at her also appears like he's shedding light on an obscure form of genuine concern.

"Did someone do this to you?" he asked with a low, dead serious tone as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion, making her flinch a little.

"W-Well, ummm... It's kind of a long story. But don't mind it! I'm alright now," she tried to reassure him, not up to the idea of troubling him even more than she already had.

"I see..." he then trailed off all of the sudden as he pulled away, looking as if he just finished reading her inner thoughts.

"You really ought to put your distance from that guy now, Anastasia. Nothing good happens when you're at the center of unwarranted attention."

Right after Lemuel dropped those words with a hooded expression, Anastasia reacted nonplussed and speechless - feeling not only the heaviness in his tone, but also the weight of the meaning behind them.

---

"...Hey, Anastasia?"

Snapping out of her train of thoughts, Anastasia blinks rapidly as if batting away her looming memories of that eventful afternoon.

A couple of days already passed after the janitor's closet incident, but she decided to simply continue her daily life like nothing happened. She never told anyone about it in the end, which was probably caused by her firm denial of what Lemuel said to her that day.

"Am I getting myself in trouble by staying together with Lucien?"

As Anastasia silently wondered this, she looked ahead of her once more and locked eye contact with her classmate. Lucien is seated right in front of her now, staring back at her while tilting his head quizzically.

The two of them are all alone inside their classroom at the moment. Recess just came, but they decided to stay behind this time - with him wanting to avoid getting dragged by his fans again as his reason, and her trying to escape the burdensome attention she's been getting these days.

"You're acting weird, you know. I'd been calling your name for a few times now. Is there something wrong?" Lucien started again, eyeing her inquisitively.

"N-No, it's nothing..." Anastasia blurted out a bit hastily, averting her gaze and thinking of something to change topics.

"Oh, right! There's something you want to tell me, isn't there?"

"Well, yeah... There is."

As soon as Lucien said that, he took his turn to evade Anastasia's gaze this time and proceeded to drop his usual ebullience, puzzling her a little. He appears like he's hesitating to say it, especially with how a hint of discomfort surfaces on his troubled expression.

"Say, Anastasia... Is it true that you have a crush on me?"

Then, she froze.