Playing Truant

Isaura felt aggrieved.

All of her unhappiness over the situation just poured out.

It happened again!

It had been so long since it did!

Worse, in front of Alex!

She thought she had finally gotten rid of that weirdness of hers, but it came back. Worse then before.

The blackouts – moments when she couldn't remember what was happening. The reason why she had to always hold hands with her parents whenever they were out. Ever since she became friends with Alex, those blackout episodes reduced significantly – so much so that she had even thought she had been cured.

But now?

When she had come to her senses, she felt herself falling; similar to those 'falling' dreams. Yet, she didn't feel scared other than the initial shock and surprise, for she also felt safe.

Still, her initial response and instinct was to push him away because of the sudden horror of it all.

The fact that she didn't know why she was falling but she knew it must have been her fault.

She was scared.

Scared of what had happened and what could have happened … but most of all, scared of Alex's reaction if he knew that she had a blackout.

And she couldn't find it within her to tell him.

What would he think of her?

Yet, as she hugged him tightly, the familiar sense of security filled her and she was getting calmer.

She gripped his shirt with her hands, cherishing the fact that he wasn't pushing her aside like he normally did when she hugged him too long.

She was really, really, lucky to have him as her friend.

And she was deathly afraid of losing this precious friend. Now, more than ever.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled softly against his chest.

Alex, who could feel the movement of her lips and the heat of her breath on his chest – that was wet now with her tears - couldn't help the goosebumps that rose on his arms.

He clenched his jaw tightly and resisted the strong impulse to kick her away.

She was obviously in some sort of trauma at the moment and he couldn't bear to do so. Even though he felt like every cell in his body was screaming. As it is the fact that he wasn't rejecting her was a big enough achievement – even if he wasn't hugging her back.

If Kyle knew about this, he would have been immensely proud of his son. This showed that Alex was getting better and more mature at handling his emotions, which was a good sign.

After what seemed like hours, Alex gave Isaura an awkward pat on the back and said, "Let's go."

"Go where?" Isaura asked, finally lifting up her head to look up at Alex.

As Isaura was rather short for her age, she actually had to tilt her head up to look at him. Alex idly wondered whether she would be able to grow taller or not – for otherwise, she would most likely just reach his chest, or worse, his waist, when they are teenagers.

When the thought hit his mind, he couldn't help but want to laugh.

She would really be like his pet by then.

Stifling the laugh that was threatening to come out, Alex gave a cough and finally replied, "Eat."

Uncle Xing Han always said that nothing beats having a full stomach.

Isaura was obviously unsettled for some reason, and he wasn't the type that could coax anyone – so eat it is.

"But we have to change first," Alex said.

Alex then pointed to the wet patch on his shirt and continued, "This isn't very comfortable."

Isaura's face flushed red at that, seeing with dismay the not-so-small wet patches on Alex's shirt … and she kept mum about one that looked slightly more … let's just say, had more of a gooey 'texture' to it.

"Plus, we wouldn't want to be caught by truant officers now, would we?" Alex continued.

The thought made the guilt Isaura felt fly out the window as she agreed with him. She nodded then shook her head.

Yes, they should change.

No, she didn't want to get caught.

How would she face her parents?

"But…" Isaura hesitated, "How…?"

Alex shrugged.

"With money," he said nonchalantly.

Isaura felt like her brain wasn't working.

She didn't understand what he meant at all.

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

Moments later, a pair of kids were seen walking into a café, with a rather solemn-looking man that was obviously a bodyguard behind them.

Obvious, because he had the typical, stereotypical image of any bodyguard that you see on television: his expressionless face, wearing a suit (even in the hot weather), with the shirt buttoned up to the throat and a tie, dark glasses, and a communication device in his ear.

They were sure if the jacket of the suit flapped a bit, they would see a gun strapped at the waist, secure in its holster.

The only thing that was not 'typical' was the fact that the bodyguard was extremely good looking with unusual hair colour. It actually appeared to look silver, and this made them think that the children were really not normal at all.

To actually have a bodyguard that looked that good, and was obvious about it, meant that he was really skilled. No one doubted that the slim figure wouldn't pack a powerful punch or something.

As such, no one batted an eyelid at the two children being out like that instead of school. They were either in private school or were not locals. Thus, no one bothered them any any truant officers that were in plainclothes ignored them as well.

Isaura couldn't get over the fact that they were in this café, and that Alex had done things so smoothly that she felt he had done it quite often.

Isura's evaluation – and worship – of Alex had increased while she watched him order some clothes online through his phone and then had someone deliver it. That 'someone' was now acting as their bodyguard, just following them and obeying everything Alex said.

The entire time, Isaura had been in a state of extreme emotions.

From the fear of Alex finding out about her blackout, to the awe of watching Alex dealing with things and the excitement of playing truant; it was only now that the rapid beating of her heart seemed to slow down a bit as they sat down in a booth at the far end.

Isaura never knew of this café, but that wasn't a surprise. After all, it wasn't close to their school and rather far away in some secluded area. Or rather, an area that she felt was secluded as it was more of a 'quaint' area rather than having the hustle-and-bustle (and noise) of the city.

Even the name was cute.

Cookie Kitten Bakery.

"This place has the best stuff," Alex said as their 'bodyguard' went to order at the counter.

Isaura just nodded happily and was relatively relaxed now. Something that made Alex feel extremely relieved.

Choosing to come here was a good decision, he felt. Isaura no longer looked pale or have that slight shaking of her hand. She was starting to look like her normal self.

Isaura stared at Alex, who was looking out the window.

Now that she had calmed down, she realised that she had overlooked one important detail.

How did Alex save her?

He was like some superhero, holding her and managing to land safely on the ground. Did he have superpowers?!

Isaura shook her head, dispelling that thought.

No matter how amazing Alex was, she didn't think he was some mutant.

She really wanted to ask him but she was afraid that it would open an entire can of worms. Wouldn't he ask her in return why she had been climbing the wall at that time?

He didn't ask and she was truly relieved about that; and her fear of him asking overrode her intense curiosity to find out more about Alex.

The more mysterious he was, the more fascinated she was.

Just thinking about the entire thing made her feel like there was this 'halo' above Alex's head. She was excited to think of what Zue would say when she told her.

Zue had always been lukewarm about Alex, and Isaura wanted nothing more than to have Zue be as enthusiastic about him as she was. Perhaps this would tip her view on him to be more favourable?

Isaura's eyes lighted up just thinking about it and her thoughts were broken when the bodyguard came back and placed a plate on the table.

He didn't say a word but just sat down next to Alex. He had in his other hand, a plate that held a glass of milk with some chocolate chip cookies around it.

Isaura blinked rapidly in surprise to see such a scene in front of her. The bodyguard, whom Alex called Zero, didn't really talk but just grunted, nodded or hummed at everything. He was good-looking (but not as good-looking as Alex, of course) but like a cold stone.

And now, that 'cold stone' was eating cookies with milk?

Milk??

Isaura then looked at the plate in front of her and saw that it was an array of mini cupcakes that didn't have frosting piled high on it, various types of cookies that looked simple yet tempting.

"Go on," Alex told her.

"You're not having any?" Isaura asked.

"I don't eat sweets," Alex said, earning a short glare from the quiet man beside him.

"Oh," was all Isaura said before she took a cookie.

Nibbling on it, she smiled and said, "It's delicious!"

With that statement, the quiet man in front of her gave a smile, nodded in satisfaction, and continued to ignore them all as he ate.