“No, I didn’t.” I lied.
“Snow. I am not stupid. I know you saw something, now say it.” He said in a low voice, I gulped. His eyes pierced me, almost like piercing my soul.
Knowing he won’t stop until I tell the truth, I sighed, not having a choice. “Well, actually, I have.” I hesitantly said. “What are those…. smurf stickers on your books?” I asked slowly, afraid of his reaction. Was it that big of a big deal for him? I waited for an outburst or anything, but nothing came. Furrowing my eyebrows, I dared to look at him and saw he was calm and was looking at me curiously.
I raised my eyebrows at him, “What?”
“You can laugh now. C’mon, laugh at me.” He said.
“What are you talking about? Why are you telling me to laugh?” I asked back, not sure what he was referring to.
“Because it was funny, me liking that kind of book and some stickers,” He said.
I blinked at that, “Well, it was a little funny.” I agreed, chuckling. “But, I think it’s cute.”
He snorted at my reply, but I couldn’t miss the fact that his cheeks turned a slight tinge of pink, avoiding my eyes now and looking at the ground.
Was he… blushing?
“A-are you blushing?” I asked aloud.
He forced himself to look at me calmly but failed. It was too late since I saw through his mask.
“You are blushing!” I exclaimed, confirming it.
He bit his lip, “So what if I am?”
“It’s not every day I see the robot blushing. Guess I was wrong.”
“Yes, you are. This robot has feelings too. And wasn’t it long ago that you stopped calling me a robot?” He asked.
“Oh yes, I forgot, sorry about that. I just can’t seem to remove that from my mind, it’s now engraved on me. I said, mocking disappointment on my face.
Then I smiled evilly, thinking about the smurf. “Then fine, I shouldn’t call you a robot anymore. Just a smurf robot.” I chuckled.
The following things he did took me by surprise. The next thing I know, my back was on the wall. His body was trapping me. “Careful…” He breathed.
My voice seemed stolen. “This smurf robot can do things you won’t expect.” He said in a low voice, his hands clutching my shoulders.
My heart skipped a beat and I closed my eyes. His hot breath was fanning my face and I was stiff because of his sudden nearness from me.
My knees turned to jelly, if it wasn’t for his firm grip on me, I would have fallen. A weird feeling on my stomach was present. What is happening?
“Don’t tell everyone.” He said after minutes of silence. I opened my eyes and saw his face drew nearer. My breath hitched, aware of everything around me. I didn’t notice that his eyelashes are long and curled.
I was busy not thinking about the situation we are in and I didn’t understand what he was saying.
“W-what?” I managed to ask.
“I said don’t tell it to everyone. The smurf stickers.” He explained, still clutching my shoulders. Oh, so that’s what he was saying. I nodded my head yes.
“Good.” He said and let go of me. I heaved a sigh of relief, now feeling free. He walked towards the edge of his seat. Still recovering from the encounter, I walked back to the chair I was seated at earlier.
My laptop was left open so I reread our presentation, avoiding my thumping heart.
An awkwarddsilence passed us until he decided to break it. “Well, I was bullied when my classmates found out about it last time. I just hid it now…” He started.
“But don’t misinterpret it, Caleb put those stickers. It wasn’t me.” He warned.
Bullied? Was that also one of the reasons why he became like this now? Well, now I feel a bit bad…
Being made fun of just for liking something especially when you’re just still a child really affects your mental health, and you’ll carry it until you grow up….
I nodded at him, “Oh I see, I won’t make fun of you about it, I promise.” I said to him, raising my hand in surrender. Just then, the thought of him in a blue color like a smurf and having those hats and big noses. My chuckle turned into a deep laugh. I can’t help it.
“What are you laughing at? Didn’t you just say that you wouldn’t make fun of me?”
Seeing his annoyed expression, I can’t help but deepen my laugh.
“Oh, it’s just I realized that you’re obsessed with the color blue,” I explained. “I’m not making fun of you… It’s just that now it all makes sense to me now… Your choice of color for Aunt Maggie’s wedding, your door, even your pillow.” I blurted out to him.
He stiffened. “No, it’s Caleb’s fault.”
Yeah yeah, blame it to Caleb, Eion….
Ignoring what he said, I continued, “Now that I think of it, it’s weird.”
He just stared at me blankly. I took it as a sign to continue.
“You love blue yet you say that life isn’t colorful.” Saying that, I couldn’t help looking into his emerald eyes.
And with that, his calm expression changed, and I never in my life regretted what I just said…
“Leave,” he said.
I stopped, “What? Why?”
“I don’t have time for this nonsense. You are only here for the project, right? You finished it already so get out.”
I blinked at that, why is he acting this way again? Just when things were getting better…”No, I was just kidding, Eion.”
But he didn’t believe my words now, “No, just leave, Snow.”
Looking at him as if he was really serious, I sighed, giving up. “I see, you’re now back to being yourself. Fine, I’ll leave.” I arranged my things and put the laptop in my bag before standing up.
Guess it was a mistake on my part. I shouldn’t have gotten really comfortable with him, he probably got hurt by what I just said. Now I regret it.