ELEVEN

My hair smelled good today. It was the same shampoo that I used every day but that morning, it was giving off some different but nice kind of smell. I was glad. I hoped this continued every day.

Yvonne was still sleeping when I had entered the bathroom for a shower. I had woken her up but she had asked me to wake her up again after I had come out of the shower.

The weather was getting chiller with every passing moment so being under the hot shower felt great, making me not want to leave even though I was done with it.

There were two neatly folded towels on the rack just beside the bathroom door so grabbing one, I wrapped it around my body and came out of it reluctantly.

I started shivering immediately once I was out so I quickly increased the temperature of the thermostat. Without looking back, I called out for Yvonne but she didn't answer me. Confused, I turned back and found no one on the bed.

I again called out to her but she was nowhere to be seen or heard so I quickly put on my sweater and my pajamas and headed out to check on her. But as soon as my hand turned the doorknob to open it, she came in, making me jump and hold my breath in panic.

"Hey! You are done already?"

"YVONNE!!"

"What? Why are you shouting at me?" She questioned with a sleepy but confused tone.

"Seriously?"

Upon realizing what must've have happened from my expressions, she started laughing loudly, making me more irritated and upon seeing me more irritated, she laughed more.

She was annoying like that.

I then told her about everything. My meeting with Elijah followed by the plan. She listened eagerly, joy and excitement slightly evident in her eyes which meant she hit the rest of it well.

She grinned. 'Thank you for this. Remind me to thank Elijah as well. Today, I will gather up the courage and tell him everything." There was this new-found confidence in her that I really was glad of but it was short-lived. Concern and doubt overshadowed it quickly as she added, "But, are you sure it wouldn't turn out horrible?" Her face turned frail at the thought of Jason rejecting her. However what she said next impressed me to another level but also at the same time, pity rose in me.

"You know what. It honestly doesn't matter. I will try nevertheless. And if it doesn't turn out the way I want it to, it's okay still. At least I tried." She looked at me and smiled.

I exhaled soundly before hugging her tight. "I hope you know how proud I am of you. No matter what, I got you and I promise you this. I swear on you."

She hugged me back. After we pulled away, she said, "Don't swear on me. I'll die if you turn out to be a bitch and decide to abandon me."

I stared at her as she stared back. Then, we both burst out laughing.

. . .

"What's the time though?" Yvonne asked. She had just come out of the washroom.

Taking a quick glance at my phone, I answered, "7:30,"

"We would've left for St. Luke Church by now if it wasn't canceled." I thought.

We moved out when there were still five more minutes to 8. Breakfast time started pretty quickly and ended pretty quickly. It was also in the same restaurant as the previous night and I had to admit, they served one of the best foods I had ever eaten.

She ate so much more than I did and even tried to steal my part but of course, I did not let her. I was hungry too. Once we were finally done, even if we felt lazy to get up and go back, we had to; we had a plan to execute. Otherwise we could've stayed a little while longer.

When we came back to the inn soon after breakfast, we immediately flopped down on our beds, taking deep breaths and sighing heavily. Five minutes in, my phone vibrated, indicating that I got a text; it was Elijah:

Time for the mission to start :)

"Elijah just texted me. We got to go," I said, completely unknown to what was going to happen next.

"Yeah sure but before we go, I want to ask you something," There was a serious expression on her face.

"Yeah sure," I answered, acting as if she wasn't scaring me already.

"Do you like him?"

"Who him?" I asked, now completely confused.

"Elijah."

Speechless. That was the question to which I didn't even know the answer to. Even though I had always preferred staying quiet and speechless, today was an exception. I wanted to give her an answer because I myself wanted an answer. But, I didn't. I really didn't have the answer to that.

"No," I finally managed to speak. "I don't think so." It sucked how I didn't know if I was lying or not.

"But the way you look at him does,"

I looked at her, not knowing how to answer that. She sighed in response, letting the soft rain outside fill in the silence. A phone call came, making Yvonne get up and attend it. Those few seconds gave me time to reflect on how I truly felt; it was getting kind of something to be concerned about.

She cut the call a few seconds later before joining me back. We just ignored the unfinished conversation as we started heading out. For some reason, it felt like the right thing to – to leave it right there without finishing it because none of us really had answers. Just when we were about to get into the elevator, I got another text:

Just fyi, you both don't have to come to our room because I'm waiting here with him downstairs. There is a small sofa swing beside the back garden which we never noticed before, overlooking the view of the county. It's beautiful so come there, kay?

I shrugged and showed her the chats again. She hit me on my shoulders as she defended, "At least he told us."

When we reached the place, we found them right where he said they would be — sitting on the sofa swing, talking. I sent him a quick text saying, "We're here behind your back."

He read it as soon as I sent it and quickly got up saying, "I got to go,"

He smirked at Jason who was now more confused than ever but quickly changed his expressions when she was finally in sight. Just as soon as she sat, they already got comfortable with each other. One thing about them that always amazed me was that no one could tell they were romantically involved because they never talked like that. People would assume they were instead best friends because of how they conversed with each other. They were so comfortable with each other that it was soothing, calming yet pleasant to see.

Me and Elijah looked at each other and smiled, having done our small part as friends. Just when we were about to leave, Dr. Green crossed the other side of the hall and eventually saw us. She gave us the "what's happening here?" look but before she could see them, we took her to the other side where neither of them could see each other.

We quickly made up a lie and eventually, she bought it. Almost couldn't believe we were so much in sync while coming up with a lie last second.

"Okay," She said. "But, on one condition," killing off my budding good thoughts about her.

"And that is?" Elijah asked her as soon as she said those.

"You both have to stay here and guard. Make sure nobody goes out in that weather." She pointed to the heavy downpour outside. My mouth dropped.

"But Dr. Green, why? What did we even do?" I argued and Elijah supported me by nodding his head.

"I don't see any of our faults in it," Elijah reasoned calmly, keeping his cool. I gave him a glance questioning how he was managing to do that.

"Well, you guys were here, near the entrance so it's obvious you were planning on going out so for that, stay here and guard." She commanded, pointing her finger.

I stood speechless as well as him. We looked at each other in silence. Wow, great. Just great. I was stuck here, 'guarding'. With him.