The E-mail

Following those words uttered by Vincent was silence. Calla said nothing in response, and Vincent was the same. He did not push her and merely stared, patiently waiting for her to speak.

Unable to retain his gaze, Calla moved her eyes away from him. Still with her arms around her knees, she sat up straight, her gaze coming in contact with different shades of orange, red and brown leaves on the grass. Tilting her chin upward, her hair slid downwards and her eyes stumbled upon the green leaves of the sturdy tree that were now painted by the season of fall.

With the little rays of sunlight passing through the tiny spaces of the leaves, indirectly giving the leaves a warm glow was a beautiful sight for calla, who had never stopped for a moment in her life to appreciate nature.

''Pretty…'' Calla voiced out the word that came to her mind at the picturesque sight. She wished to be pretty like this, too.

*snap*

The sudden sound of a camera disturbed the moment calla had with the beautiful sight of autumn leaves. Her chin dropped and her gaze naturally shifted to the person at her side, only capable of making that sound.

''Haha…I didn't turn off the sound…'' Looking extremely guilty, Vincent tried to laugh the situation while trying to insert his phone back into his jean's pocket.

''….Can I see?'' After eyeing his guilty self, Calla asked, curious about what she looked underneath this tree with the beautiful autumn leaves.

''….You can.'' Vincent answered after a pause. It seemed as if he was not expecting calla to ask for the picture, which he did not.

Holding the phone in her hand, Calla sat up straighter with her legs now flat on the prickling grass. With her back on the sturdy tree, Calla took her time to examine the picture. The first thing she noticed was the model of the phone, which was definitely not like her cheap model. She had surmised that Vincent was probably like Lacy, coming from a family with money, and did not have much thought to his family background.

Well…the rumors did say that he was from a rich family, and also a family from New York City, which was false since she had never seen him in any banquet of the past.

''Ah…'' Before Calla could even register the picture in her mind, her lips had already released a faint sigh of admiration, just at the sight.

The masked side of her face, which was on the left, did not show in the picture. The only side that was taken was the perfect side of her face.

''The picture is beautiful, right?''

''Hmm….'' Calla nodded with a hum in response. Her eyes looked past her sitting figure to the leaves floating down from the tree and landing around her in the picture. The picture seemed to be depict that it was raining autumn leaves, which was absolutely beautiful.

''I am sure if I take a pic with your entire face, you will be more beautiful than this.'' Calla turned away from the picture to Vincent, who spoke just right now.

''Am I right, Calla?'' He asked with a knowing smile.

''…..Hm.'' Calla took a moment to reply him with a small smile of her own. It seemed Vincent was gradually understanding her way of thinking.

For a moment, while she was admiring the picture, she almost had a thought of her twin sister's face. Her twin sister did not have a scarred face like herself, so it was very understandable how the picture would turn out this amazing.

But….Vincent seemed to have known that she would think in that direction, which was not possible since he did not know her twin sister or her past.

Was she that easy read?

Calla couldn't help but dwell in her thoughts as the princely boy by her side returned to their conversation before this.

''So…can we talk about it?'' Vincent asked, bringing his knees up to his chest. His arms wrapped around them with his head resting on the knees, just as she did moments ago and his fixed gaze drilling through her.

''….What do you want to know?'' Calla sighed, a bit annoyed that he did not drop about what he had seen in the lecture theatre of the zoology department. She also made sure to drop his phone by his side.

''How did it start?'' Vincent asked, curiously.

''….about that, I actually do not know.'' Calla took a pause before giving her reply. Now that Vincent asked her about the bullying started, she really did not know.

''Lacy just started going after me with her friends in our first year, and then others followed….i guess since she is the influential one in the department. I heard the university depends mostly on the money her father donated, so no one really wants to get on her bad side.''

''Hmm….'' Vincent hummed attentively, his eyes flashing with a certain thought.

''Should I help?'' He suddenly asked, to which Calla shook her head, denying his request.

''I am not sure if you are really dense or not, but Lacy really likes you, and I guess seeing how you are with me does not sit right with her. If you do anything, it will only worsen the situation.''

''But I already did.'' Vincent arched an eyebrow at her words. He stood up for calla against the arrogant young missy, and indirectly insulted her by comparing her to an immature queen b in highschool.

'If I had paid attention to you earlier, you won't have suffered this much…' Vincent felt guilty for his previous actions. He carried his non-chalance from the high society to the university and indirectly hurt his new friend. If only he had not assumed that Calla was only ignored among their peers.

*bzzzt* *bzzzt*

The vibration of a phone pulled Vincent from his thoughts, and he watched how Calla brought out her phone from the bag pack on her left.

Her eyes were fixated on the lighted screen. Soon after, her lips slightly pursed, silently expressing her grievance.

''What is it?'' Vincent called out asking when noticing that small action of hers. It was obvious she wasn't quite happy with what she was seeing on her phone. Was someone harassing her?

''It's the university's email. My department is going a trip to Manhattan. We will be visiting some zoos and museums, which will be part of our grades.''

''Really?'' Now Vincent lifted his head at her words. According to his grandfather's investigations, this university was quite poor and didn't have the funds to embark on a field trip for the students. Just as Calla said, the university mostly depended on the Allens family's donation, so where did they get the money to go to an expensive city like New York City?

'Something's not right.' Vincent's gaze narrowed for a moment, taking a mental note to check on how the university suddenly became rich overnight. What had happened during his absence?

''I have to go, Vincent.'' At the sound of those words, Vincent snapped out from his thoughts, and stared at the standing Calla who hurriedly hoisted her bag pack over her shoulders.

''I'm late for work.'' She glanced at him before casting an uncertain gaze on her stacked up textbooks.

''I can….'' Before Vincent could offer a hand, Calla bent to pick up all of her textbooks into her arms. Seeming to have balanced them tucked in her arms, she stared at him, who stood up with the notion of helping her out.

''….They seem heavy.'' Vincent took his out-stretched hand back and rubbed the back of his head. ''So…can we talk on the phone….like message and call each other?'' He quickly asked to keep himself from getting more embarrassed.

''...''

''You know….since we are friends….right?'' He added with an expectant gaze.

''…..Hm.'' After what seemed like a long time to Vincent, his ears sharply caught the faint sound of hum. Before he could respond to the short hum, Calla walked past him after giving her a reply to his question.

For some reason, the pounding of her heart was faster than before, and her face felt quite warm in this dry and cool weather of the fall season.

Was she stupid for allowing him into her life? Yes…maybe she was.

During the moment that she had with Vincent, Calla felt peaceful around him, which was a first and for some reason, she could not dim his expectant gaze that lit up waiting for her answer about becoming friends with her.

Perhaps…this was the reaction of getting a friend in her dull life.

>>>Enjoy and Post soon<<<