“He’s my good friend!”
Upon hearing this, Sabrina pouted. “Dylan is so unreliable. He didn’t even introduce me to his beautiful friend! Next time, I’ll secretly tell Nadia that he broke his uncle’s new vase and blamed it on the dog.”
Ranita giggled.
She never thought Dylan would do something like that…
“Sabrina… why don’t you go over there and wait for me? I need to talk to Ranita,” Chris said after waiting for Sabrina for a while.
Sabrina wasn’t happy about it, but she immediately complied when she saw Chris’ expression.
“Ranita, what brings you here?”
“Vincent told me there was a sports event going on here and it was lively, so I came over to check it out and join in the fun,” Ranita paused before sharing her intel. “There’s also an evening carnival tonight which sounds like a blast.”
“I see… what time does it start? Maybe Sabrina and I can come join too after we finish dinner,” Chris asked as he considered joining in the festivities as well.
“Do you have nothing else planned?” Ranita teased with a wink.
“Don’t worry about that! Later on, I’ll be sending Sabrina back home anyway so might as well make a stop along the way,” Chris replied with confidence.
“I actually went to watch the sports event earlier today; It was really fun…” Ranita sighed. “I feel like those younger students’ energy and enthusiasm are rubbing off on me.”
The two of them fell silent for a moment before things got awkward between them.
Chris asked hesitantly, “Brendon didn’t do anything inappropriate during lunchtime right?”
“Nope!” Ranita pursed her lips while curling her eyelashes downwards. Her cheeks were tinged pink from the sunlight but she seemed somewhat disappointed emotionally.
Chris breathed out in relief, “That’s good then.”
“Chris, Ranita…. the sunset looks so pretty! Let me take some photos of you guys!” Sabrina suddenly rushed over with her phone camera ready. “Stand here… quickly now… the sun is about to set!”
Sabrina pushed Ranita towards Chris who had known each other for years but couldn’t exactly call themselves close friends.
So, Ranita felt a bit awkward, especially since Chris was quite tall, and she felt like his shadow loomed over her. She straightened her back and stood there like a robot.
“Ranita, relax a bit and tilt to the side,” Sabrina directed. Ranita followed the instructions, and unexpectedly, Chris also leaned in her direction.
Eye contact.
“Click!” Sabrina captured a few more shots, almost jumping in excitement. “Amazing, Ranita, you’re truly beautiful! I used to think that only really pretty girls could take photos with my cousin given his looks, but now I understand…”
“I want to take a picture too!”
So, Ranita ended up with several more photos.
Sabrina’s photography skills were decent, and even though these were just cellphone photos, they had a beautiful artistic quality.
Ranita particularly liked the one where she stood alone with the ivy. The sky was dyed golden by the setting sun, the red walls, the green ivy, and the blurred figures of passing students…
Sabrina took these photos from the same spot where Brendon stood years ago. At that time, did he also see such a beautiful scene? Was she part of it?
“Ranita, isn’t it incredibly beautiful?” Sabrina, being an enthusiastic girl, warmly invited, “Ranita, would you like to have dinner with us later? It’ll be just the three of us.” She subtly tugged at Chris’s sleeve and said, “Chris, is it okay?”
“Of course!” Chris looked at Ranita. “Do you have any plans for this evening? If not, let’s have dinner together, and then we can attend the garden party together.”
“Yes, yes, yes! With me guiding you, you’ll definitely feel at home!” Sabrina added, winking at Chris and making a subtle victory gesture towards him.