267 How They Met

I yawned as I stared off in the direction of the blue ocean, still feeling somewhat sluggish after not getting a good night's sleep. Even though I was pretty sure I did fall asleep, for some reason I was unable to rest up. It was...just weird. But whatever. Hopefully, I will be able to get back the lost sleep by taking a nap.

I was the first one to wake up this morning, so once again, the awkwardness returned. Laying next to me, were my teachers, both woman in their twenties with alluring and seductive figures that...were completely off guard. At that moment...if I were to do anything...I would've probably succeeded because they were simply so defenseless as they slept. However, I didn't. I'm not that stupid of a person.

I crept out of the room by myself, carefully tip-toeing out the door and past the closed doorway leading into the girls' room. I had communicated with Alvelyn about my situation (although I am not certain whether or not she was able to perceive it as she was still asleep when I did so), and I hope that she would be able to stall enough time for me to safely retreat to the downstairs living room so that I wouldn't get caught and things wouldn't get...awkward.

After having a simple breakfast meal, it was decided that we will be heading to the beach once again. This time, it appears that both Emilia and Mura will be accompanying us, and since everyone is going, that means I will have to go as well. So after changing into our swimming attires, we all gathered at the front door and made our way over to the beach. The others brought along things that they would probably going to be using, such as a beach volleyball, surfboards, and an inflatable raft. But for me, all I did was bring along a foldable beach lounge chair as well as a beach shade umbrella. The others all thought that I was being a bit excessive as what Mura and Emilia had brought were large towels to lay on. My reasoning was that since I won't be swimming, I might as well make myself comfortable.

Once at the white sand beach, the others appeared to be greatly invigorated by the sight of the water. This baffled me as didn't they just come yesterday? However, I can sense someone who is not enjoying this beach trip as much as the others and that is Alvelyn. I suppose she must still be suffering from the trauma from learning how to swim yesterday, but I doubt Erith is going to let her go that easily.

While the others went off to have fun in the ocean, I began setting up my station on the beach. I glanced around the shoreline in search of a suitable place, and luckily for me, this beach isn't extremely busy so there were plenty of space available. Therefore, I found a suitable spot that was a set distance from the water so that when the tide does rise, it will not flood. Then, I began setting up the beach chair and the shade umbrella.

"You need help with that?" I heard a voice say to me as I unfolded the beach chair. Looking over, I saw that it was Zevin. He walked over towards me, smiling while wearing only swim trunks.

"I'm fine," I responded as I grabbed for the shade umbrella.

"Don't worry about it," Zevin said as he also reached for the umbrella and began to help me set it up.

I simply observed him as he did so, hoping to read what he was intending to do. I have a basic idea of what was on his mind, but I am not entirely sure as to what it was. Therefore, I guess I'll just have to let things keep rolling.

"This is the first time I'm able to talk to you alone," Zevin commented as he placed the umbrella on its stand.

"Right," I nodded as I watched him.

"So you're the boy that Luna's always talking about."

"Um..." I felt somewhat...awkward when he said that. Obviously, it must not feel nice for your girlfriend to keep mentioning another boy.

"Don't worry. Relax," Zevin chuckled as he looked over at me.

"Aren't you um...a bit worried?" I asked him.

He simply shook his head. "I trust Luna. We've been together for...almost two years now, so I trust her."

"..." I remained silent as I stared at him.

"But even if she does cheat," he lifted his head and looked over at me, smiling in a sad manner. "It's probably because I'm not good enough for her."

"...How did the two of you meet?"

"Us?" Zevin nodded his head as he had a thinking expression on his face. "Well, we first met in our first year of middle school. Me, Luna, and Erith."

"You knew Erith since back then as well?"

"Erith...well I mostly only saw her around during our first year of middle school with Luna. We really didn't talk much back then until the latter half of my second year of middle school. Oh and this might shock you, but back in middle school, Erith isn't like who she is right now."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Well," Zevin turned and looked over at the girl who was standing in the water next to Luna as they enjoyed themselves. "She's cute and outgoing and all right now, but back then, she's rather shy. Like conservative shy. She was the quiet girl and wore glasses. I guess if I have to summarize my impression of her at first, it was probably the more nerdy type, I guess."

"Erith?" I looked over at the girl in surprise. My countenance must be rather...exaggerated as I felt Erith glare at me for staring at her like that.

"Yeah," Zevin nodded. "She had something of an image change when she started high school. When we first met up, I almost couldn't recognize her!"

"You um...don't go to our school, right?"

"I uh...I wasn't able to pass the entrance exam. I barely missed the passing score for that year by five points." Zevin rubbed the back of his and smiled in an embarrassed manner.

"That's like getting half a question right," I muttered.

"I wasn't in the best of conditions," Zevin chuckled. "I stayed up all night to study for the exam and ended up waking up late. I had to take the exam with only two hours instead of the three that is usually given."

"That test was already hard enough," I said. "And giving only two-thirds of the time and barely missing out...that's quite the achievement."

"Well, it still didn't end up the way I wanted it to be. I ended up going to a high school that is on the other side of Nocsinis, but Luna, Erith, and I we're still able to hang out."

"I guess you have to thank the cheap public transportation."

"Yeah," Zevin nodded.

"To think that Erith had an entire image change," I steered the conversation topic back and glanced over at the girl.

"I was caught off guard by that. I think it was probably because she wanted to become more social, because in middle school, her only friends were Luna and I."

"But still...that change is kinda drastic," I muttered.

I thought about the image of Erith in middle school that Zevin painted and compared it to her right now. It's almost as if...she tried to become someone else, someone that...I know right now...

"Anyways," Zevin continued. "Back in middle school, I had a crush for Luna. Even though we only started really interacting the second half of our first year, I had a crush on her the second I met her. She's just...perfect. Outgoing and fun, while still being compassionate and kind. I...I kinda just kept it a secret during middle school. I was afraid to confess my feelings to her and was worried that it would ruin our relationship. But then...once we got to high school and I had to attend a different school as her, I became...paranoid. I was worried that...someone else is going to get her. So I just thought to hell with it all and just confessed to her one day. And...she accepted it and became my girlfriend."

"That's...rather brave," I nodded.

"You think so?" he chuckled as he looked at me.

"Yeah," I nodded.

What he did...was what I wasn't able to do. He is more courageous, more of a man than me. He might think of himself as a coward, but he was brave enough to take that first step, to be willing to risk their relationship in pursuit of true happiness. That is something I have yet been able to do while people around me has...In the end, I am the greatest coward of us all.

"After all that I've been through," Zevin continued as he glanced over at his girlfriend. "I guess...it's that...I trust her. I want her to be happy, and I trust that she will only do things that will make her happy. In that case, then it doesn't matter if that person is me or not. As long as she's still by my side, talking to no one else but me about the fun she's had during the day, then I really don't mind at all."

"That's a rather mature way of thinking," I nodded in approval, staring sadly into the white sand at my feet as I repeated what he said in my head. Slowly, I looked up at him. "I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Thanks for your help."

"No problem," Zevin smiled at me. "And thank you for making Luna happy while I'm not with her."

With that, he jogged off towards the ocean to be reunited with his girlfriend...