Leanna

[Zoe's POV]

[Message]

[Unknown Number: Hi. Sorry, I can't call you.

I'm still at the hospital.

This is Lawrence by the way :) 

Add me on Social – Lawrence Lee.

Let's message each other on messenger ;)]

Eeeekkk!

I twisted and turned, stomach pressed against my bed.

I gave my number to Lawrence. He promised to call me, and that was only when I left the hospital to give Leanna's family some alone time together.

I was on edge waiting for his call ever since. My phone never left my sight, even when I was taking a bath.

I did what he said.

I squealed again when I saw his profile picture and wanted to check all his photos, but messaging him took priority.

[It's alright. I understand.

How have you been? :D]

I didn't want to end this God-given opportunity. I wanted to talk to him some more. I knew Leanna would not like it, but I couldn't help myself. And besides, I was not feeling guilty for what I did to her brother.

I mean.

I didn't know Lawrence was her brother.

And I love Lawrence.

Ever since I was beholden by those deep mesmerizing brown eyes –– I completely surrendered myself to him.

And no.

I didn't care one bit about our age gap.

And no.

I didn't care if he was twelve years old.

He'll get older.

[Been busy with school.

Can I call you Zoe? (°o°)]

Kyaaah!

I was jumping now!

[Of course!

You can call me whatever you want.

Babe. Honey. Sweetie. Cupcake ????]

It was a joke, and I would delete it, but I pressed send instead.

. . .

. . .

Honest.

It was not my intention at all.

[ . . . (Typing) . . .]

Why does it take him so long to type?

Fudge!

I shouldn't have sent that message to him!

What if he thinks I was pressuring him into becoming my boyfriend because of what happened between us? I mean, he didn't exactly leave anything behind when he left except for that note which had no information about him whatsoever.

It only meant that he didn't want to see me again, right?

I bit my lips when a tear threatened to escape.

Calm down, Zoe!

Calm down.

He was not angry when he saw you again. He even gave you his number.

That thought somewhat comforted me.

[Uhm . . . Zoe, it is then. LOL.

So what have you been up to, Zoe? ????]

I breathed a mouthful of relief when he didn't block me.

Somehow, we avoided the topic of that night, and I was not about to complain since, mostly, I was afraid to know the reason why he disappeared without leaving any information behind.

Like he didn't want to associate with me anymore.

[Been busy with school too ????]

. . .

. . .

[Are you free tom . . .

*delete . . . *delete . . .]

[There's this awesome café . . .

*delete . . . *delete  . . .]

[How's Leanna?]

[She's fine.

She's sleeping now ????]

[That's good (o^v^)/]

. . .

. . .

[Are you sleepy?]

I turned around and rubbed my curling toes against the mattress.

[No]

[Good.

Let's talk for a while (o^v^o)]

Kyaaah!

[What would you like to talk about?]

[Let me think of a topic.

Next time, it will be you ????]

Next time?

There's going to be a next time!

Eeeekkk!

[How about we do one of those 

questioning games ????]

A rush of romantic giggling sprinted back and forth inside me.

[I'm game! ????]

[What's your favorite color?]

[Take a guess ????]

[Hmmm . . . white?]

[Oh, come on!

I'm not that pure (-_-)]

[Hmm . . . pink?]

[Not that girly]

[Red]

[How did you know? (°o°)/]

[. . . (Typing) . . .]

. . .

. . .

What's wrong? Why does he take so long to reply?

[Do you want the truth or the lie?]

[The truth of course ????]

[. . . (Typing) . . .]

[Your undergarments at that time

were red (o°-°o)]

I blush –– hard.

[How about you?

What's your favorite color?]

[Red]

I blushed again. If that was even possible.

Oh, my god!

My body was on fire.

[What food do you like? ????]

[Tricky, I'm not picky but . . .

I love stake the most. ????

Medium cook.

How about you?]

[There are a lot of food that I love 

from our travels ????????????????????

but I got to say . . . the best

is the Chicken Adobo with pineapples.

It goes well with rice ????]

[What's that? o(°o°)o]

[A classic Filipino dish.

You should try it sometime (o°v°)o]

Okay.

Chicken Adobo with pineapples.

I repeated as I grabbed a pen and paper to write it down.

This is an opportunity to get to know him!

[When's your birthday?]

[Funny you mention that.

It's actually two weeks from now (^v^)/

How about you?]

Gifts!

[November 27.

What do you like the most in the world?]

[My family (o>-<o)]

Aww . . .

But that's not it!

[I mean, material things]

[You don't have to get me a present ????]

Busted!

[I want to! (o`O´)o]

. . .

. . .

[Alright, if you insist]

[Anything you get me

is fine (/´v´)/]

What? No, it's not!

I wanted to message him again, but he was much quicker.

[Sorry, I gotta' go.

My parents are asking me to turn off my phone.

It's time to sleep]

Noooo!

[Alright, I understand . . . ????]

[Good night]

[Good night . . .]

. . .

. . .

Fudge!

The hell with restraining!

It's soooo not like me.

[Hey, do you want to bang out sometime?]

Fudge!

[I mean bang sometime]

Fudge!

[Good donut!

I mean bang]

Fudge! Fudge!

[Calm down. LOL]

[Wait.

Let me catch my breath first ????]

[Sorry. I swear.

It was the auto correct]

[Right . . . ????]

My face was literally on fire now.

[And yes.

I'd love to h a n g out with you sometime 

(o^v^o)]

YAAAYY!

----

[Emery's POV]

[Give Up]

"You know, when I said Fairies Pastries, I was expecting a box of cake and we will call it even . . . But what is this?"

Lance pointed at the dozens of boxes laid out on the table inside Leanna's hospital room.

"Well . . . I kind of . . . wanted you to know how grateful I am to you," I said a bit shy.

I also did not expect I would end up buying dozens of different pastries at Fairies.

I wanted him to try every flavor! Is that so wrong?

"Oh, don't be ungrateful, Lance. I didn't raise you that way," Mrs. Lee reprimanded. "Well, what do you say?"

Lance pursed his lips, and I almost hugged him from the extreme cuteness.

"Thank you," he mumbled.

Everything seems to be bright and warm this day.

"You are welcome." I beamed, which he returned with a gruff huramp.

"Emery dear, how about you stay for lunch?" Mrs. Lee said as she sliced a cake and went to Leanna's side, who was looking at me with an uncomfortable scrutinizing gaze.

I was sure she noticed my feelings by now –– from the way I stared at her brother and all.

Mrs. Lee handed the plate to Cain Fay, and before the latter could grab the plate from her hand and personally feed Leanna –– Lance jumped in and seized the plate.

"Sis! I'll feed you."

Lance scooted over to the other side of the bed and started feeding his sister.

A tight, suffocating sensation engulfed me when Lance spoon-fed Leanna. He was looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

I wish he is also like that to me.

"Lady Emery, right? Do you like my brother?"

My eyes snapped at Lawrence, who was sitting at my side, eating a mouthful of cake.

". . ."

They have the same face and voice, but my heart was not beating at him like the way it was beating for Lance.

"You do, right?" Lawrence grinned. No one seemed to hear his remarks as everyone was busy with their own things.

"Yes," I answered.

Lawrence's smile grew wider.  "Hmmm . . . my brother is only twelve, you know. Why him? I'm sure there are lines of men waiting for you to notice them."

. . .

. . .

Why him?

"I don't know."

I frowned when it dawned on me that there was no particular reason.

"I just like him," I whispered.

"Pft . . ." Lawrence stifled a laugh. "Too bad for you, though."

His gaze then shifted at the loving scene of a brother and sister. "My brother already likes someone else."

"I know. It is Leanna, right?"

Lawrence gave me a complicated look before he flashed a toothy grin that was not entirely a smile.

"You'll stand a chance if that is the case."

My brows crumpled when I did not get what he meant.

"Lance already likes a girl. Her name is Jennifer Brane." Lawrence stood to his feet and shot me a pitiful glance. "Give up while you're still ahead. You'll only get hurt."

He then left and ran to his brother and sister's side.

. . .

. . .

To be honest, I was more surprised that a twelve-year-old could speak that way.

He has someone he likes?

That did not hurt as much as I expected it would be. I mean, they are not married –– for all I know, they are not even dating.

I was confident. With my beauty and worth, I could make him fall in love with me.

. . .

. . .

But it still did not stop my curiosity.

I wonder how he is towards someone he likes? Was he still the same cold and indifferent guy like the way he treated me, or . . .

I stared at the beautiful boy who was laughing without a care, looking at the girl on the bed with soft eyes as he fed her with the utmost care.

My heart twisted so much that I retracted my gaze.

Could not look another second at the scene.