Five: Glimpse

Chapter 05 | Glimpse

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|AVA SANDERS|

“Uh, hi?”

Biting my lower lips, I secretly darted a glare toward Mira who was now hiding behind her boyfriend. I flicked an eyebrow and quickly averted my eyes to the three women who were now in front of me, widely smiling. 

“Hi! You must be Mira's friend, Ava?” the tall girl who was wearing a white shirt underneath her black denim jacket and tucked in with her army jaggers which she paired with white sneakers was the one who greeted me first. 

I must say, 'cool'. 

She has jet-black straight hair down to her waist. My eyes went to the girl on her left side. The length of her hair was the same as mine but the difference was that hers was curly while mine was straight. She was the kind of girl that was 'into' dresses. A girly one, per se. But I couldn't be sure. Some people loved dresses but acted the opposite. 

“Yea,” I timidly smiled at her and gave her a single nod as I quickly fixed the white cap which had a little chain on the side over my head. I made it cover a little of my forehead as I felt anxious and conscious at the same time. 

The short-haired girl just smiled at me and went through her phone. Seemed like someone messaged her. 

“Pleasure to finally meet you, Ava! Mira has been talking about you for days now. Anyways, just call me Calli. This woman, call her Mara,” I slightly moved my head up and down when she pointed to the short-haired girl who was now busy on her phone but when she heard her name, she looked up to me and nodded and so I did. 

“I'm Victoria but you can call me Tori. Nice to meet you, Ava!” 

Looking at Tori, the girl on Calli's right side, I realized she looked like the guy, I mean Mira's boyfriend. That was why I couldn't help but look in Mira's direction, my eyes darted directly at the guy which she called 'Roy'. He has a thick pair of eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and a deep set of jet-black orbs, which Tori also has heart-shaped lips. 

“He's my twin, Ava.” 

I immediately glanced at Tori and nodded. I unconsciously clicked my tongue and mindlessly fixed my cap again. I was really nervous earlier but I think it worsened as time passed. I really don't know how to talk with strangers, albeit they all introduced themselves. 

“Anyways, Avi. This is Roy, you know who. This is Rayver,” my head turned to where Mira was. 

She was already clinging her arms to Roy's left arm while the latter just casually stood there, nodding to what his girlfriend had to say. I looked at her hand and followed to where she was pointing at. It was the other guy who was wearing formal attire. He seemed like he attended some business before he went with his friends. 

I curtly nodded when his brown eyes found mine. I was itching to raise my brows when he didn't withdraw his stares, instead, he deepened them. Tilting his head while his hands were at the inside of his slacks' pocket. 

“And the guy over there,” her voice suddenly sounded weird. It was like she was making a point that I had a hard time figuring out. I was only looking at Mira and didn't dare to look at her side. 

My throat dried for some reason as my hands felt colder than before. It wasn't even a Winter season but I feel like it. 

“He's Ale–,”

We were interrupted by a phone ring. My breathing hitched as my shoulder was slightly shaken by my surprised reaction upon hearing the loud sound of my phone. 

Slowly, a cold sweat rolled down from my nape. Probably because of the embarrassment I had to face when they all looked at my small shoulder bag, where my phone was. 

“Oh, sorry. I'll take this call,” I bowed my head a bit and walked to the side road, a bit far from them. 

I felt suffocated. Not because they all have strong presences but I wasn't just used to conversing with other people aside from Mira. 

“We'll wait for you in the car Ava!” I looked back and waved a little in agreement but before that, I glared at Mira who was laughing at my situation. 

She surely knows something that I don't. 

“Av, sweetheart.”

I almost jumped in surprise when a voice interrupted me from killing Mira inside my head. I walked back and forth feeling the wind, gently grazing my soft fragile skin. Until I decided to stop and faced the road instead before talking to my Mom. 

I don't know if she was a blessing in disguise or not. I wasn't able to know 'his' name but I managed to escape the suffocating wind around them. 

“Hey, Mom! I can't go home early today,” I told her and looked down at my white converse. My lips protruded. My shoelaces weren't tied properly. 

I kicked my right foot in the air causing the laces to freely fall on each side of my shoe. Sighing, I knelt and tied it in ribbons. 

“Mira already told me about that, dear. Have you eaten? At least eat dinner first before you drink,” I let my phone in between my left shoulder and the side of my head as my hands tied my laces. 

“Of course, Mom. I will never forget that. I'm not like Mira, tsk.” I clicked my tongue and sighed once again. 

Still, on my knees, I get my phone and put it on my right ear. I slowly pulled my body up and shoved the dust off of my knees. 

“I know that dear. But I'm your Mom,”

“Who even told you you're not?”

“Av, fix your tongue, okay?”

“Whatever Mom,” I made faces even if she couldn't see me. Pouting my lips, I turned to my side and was about to look for the others when a pair of blue orbs met mine. 

My body froze. 

What the freaking hell. 

“Uh, Mom?” I blurted out while fighting his stares. 

“Yes, dear. You're going? Then I'll end this call already,”

“No. It's not that,” 

“Then what is it?”

“Well, your daughter might not come home for a while,”

“What?”

“Nothing. I'm just kidding, Mom!” A laugh made its way out of my mouth, not really realizing that someone was looking at me. 

“Just come home before three, alright?”

“Uhuh. I'll take care of myself, don't worry. I'm not a drinker, you know that. I'll call you later?” I told her and pulled my eyes from his stares. 

Looking at the cars passing by the road, left and right, I put down my phone and stared at it for a while. 

What should I do now? Walk near him or run? 

I slapped my forehead a little and sighed. I wasn't feeling myself right now. I've never been this anxious my whole life. Damn this. 

A notification made me glance at my phone but instead of the notification, the time caught my eyes. I bit my lower lips and looked back to where I left them. He was still there but he wasn't looking in my direction anymore. 

That made me relax a bit. 

I was taking too long. I needed to go there now. If only I disagree with Mira, I wouldn't be like this tonight. I just want to run away and sleep. But that would make them irritated. I don't want people to have negative thoughts while remembering my name. 

One last deep breath, I made my way towards them. 

“I'm sorry. The call took longer than I expected,” I used all my courage to talk with the guy who wore specs. 

I wasn't really looking into his eyes. I fixated my gaze on the bridge of his nose. 

“It's okay. Come on,” I watched him turn his back and open the door of the black 'perosnal' van. I clicked my tongue and shook my head. 

I really got it bad this time. 

“Thank you,” I raised a brow when I couldn't remember if I was able to get his name earlier. I looked at him and found his blue eyes. 

There he was again, his deep stares behind those glasses.  

“It's Maxim Alexander, Ava. Get in,” 

I wasn't able to open my mouth again when he already pushed open the door of the vehicle in front of us. 

“Thank you,” 

“What took you so long?” 

As soon as I heard Mira's voice, my eyes rolled in no time. 

“Blame my mother, bi-- sweety,” I bit my tongue when I almost cursed my friend. She was sitting in the first row, next to her were her boyfriend and Tori. 

I smiled at her and give a threatening gaze to Mira before I walked into the next row. Calli was there sitting alone as I caught a glimpse of Mara and Rayver at the last row, talking about something serious. Maybe. They seemed to like it. 

“Hey, Ava. Sit beside me,” I smiled at Calli. Somehow, I was a bit comfortable around her but there was still an invisible line between us. 

“Thank you,” she smiled at me before looking back to her phone probably scrolling at some apps. 

My back felt relaxed when I was able to lean on the soft feature of the seat inside the van. The tiredness of the whole day's work earlier finally dawned on me that my eyes slowly closed due to the sudden sleepiness kicking in my system. 

The car moved a bit but I was loving the comfort of the soft seat so, I didn't open my eyes. But there was something that was pulling me to open it. So, I did. 

With my sleepy eyes, I directly gazed towards the rearview mirror in front. In there, I caught a glimpse of his blue eyes looking back at me. I blinked twice to make sure I

wasn't seeing wrong. But when I found his eyes, I abruptly closed my eyes and stop breathing for a second. 

How many times should our eyes meet?