20TH OCTOBER.
ORION ACADEMY:
CAMPUS CAFETERIA 

SO, UM, HERE'S a suggestion--never stand up in the middle of an intense conversation saying "I have to go" in a high-pitched, squeaky voice. Because that's exactly what Aphrodite did which made her look like a liar in front of her teammates.

"What do you mean you have to go?" West asked sternly--his eyes filtering with judgement and suspicion. His bushy eyebrow arched upwards and a skeptical frown moulded on his circular face. "We were just about to discuss what part you were going to play."

A sharp gaze directed towards Aphrodite beamed from Yumi and Lex. Lex hardly ever bothered to get involved in emotions but at that point, he too was giving her unusual looks. Aphrodite chewed the inside of her mouth, trying to think of words that would convey that her step-brother happens to know something about someone he shouldn't know. She tried formulating a couple of answers but eventually settled for a little white lie. "I, um, I have a date."

Silence built in the cafeteria air. It was like everyone had stopped talking.

Nailed it. Aphrodite told herself. No follow-up questions.

Much to her disdain, Karan opened his mouth. "In the second week already?" He said with a light chuckle. "Who is it? Do we know him, her, them?"

"No, you don't. They are older than us. No more questions." She replied in one breath. She looked straight into Yumi's soul as she said, "Text me the deets later on."

Aphrodite slid her sling bag on her shoulder and took off without making eye contact with anyone. Once she was out of the cafeteria, her inner voice whispered to look back which she happily obliged to. Her eyes aimed towards the booth where the others were sitting. While Yumi, Karan and West were talking--Lex was looking straight back at her. Despite the blazing sun rays falling into Lex's eyes, he seemed unaffected. She instantly snapped her head away and walked to her destination.

She entered the campus cafeteria of the resident quarters for the third and fourth years. She couldn't identify any faces. It felt like she was entering a whole new different world. She has never felt like this before. She has been to wild parties, fancy ballrooms, lavish restaurants and even cheap cabins but she has never felt like she didn't belong. But something was different in the air of this café. Maybe she was overthinking it. Maybe she didn't want to be seen with her brother. Maybe...maybe--

Her eyes fell on Joshua waving at her. His wavy hair twisted down in front of his eyes as his face was garnished with a wide grin. Aphrodite sauntered to the booth. Unlike the couches in her quarter's cafeteria, here there were chairs so she couldn't help but flinch when the chair screeched as she pulled it out. She sat across from him.

"Hey, dumbass. How have ya been?"

Aphrodite gave him a look. "Seriously, Josh? I've been dreading what you were going to say when we meet but all you have to say is hey? We can keep the pleasantries aside and you can talk. What do you have to say? What is it about him that made you want to meet me here?"

Joshua paused and laughed. His head cocked back as he covered his mouth with his hands. It is always strange for Aphrodite when she sees Josh have the same mannerisms as hers. She doesn't even know who cultivated this odd habit in them. Inspite of being step-siblings, they weren't so different after all.

"For starters, I don't mind if you meet me in front of my classmates. It's not like they don't know that I have a step-sister."

"Uh-huh?" She said sarcastically. "I remember you saying and I quote 'Don't come in my room if you need something in the middle of the night.'"

"Because I need my sleep!"

Damn, they really are siblings.

She groaned. "Why did you want to meet me this urgently?"

"It's about Peter." His voice turned cold at his name.

"I know! You said that over the phone, too. What about him? Did you meet him? Did he do something? Did he..did he..." She halted for a breath. "Say something!" Aphrodite banged her palms on the table. Joshua didn't flinch, he watched her with his hands folded over his chest. He didn't know what to say. He kept it shut.

"Oh, my God," Aphrodite said in disbelief, leaning back. "It was a trap. You don't know anything about him."

Joshua stiffened. "No, that's not entirely true." He sighed and let his hands fall to his sides. "Look, I wasn't planning to tell you this but...I saw you sneaking out of the academy a couple of days ago."

Aphrodite swallowed. Was he talking about the day they performed their first task? She straightened her back and pressed her elbow on the rusty brown table. The table was oddly cold against her skin. "What are you talking about?" She croaked in a voice that didn't belong to her. She focused on Josh who was not betraying any emotion.

"Did you go out looking for Peter that night?"

She shrugged. "You're making no sense."

He didn't bother to mask his scowl. " Don't play dumb, Aphrodite." Not Aphy. Not Ro. Aphrodite. Damn, it was bad. "I do know why you chose Orion Academy. It wasn't because you wanted or because Mom suggested. You found out that Peter was in this town, didn't you? You want to find where the hell he is."

Aphrodite's throat went dry. No words crawled out of her mouth. She was afraid to speak. She thought she had done a great job at hiding her real motives to choose Orion Academy. Watching her step-brother's eyes turn pitch black as she came clean was almost scaring her. He found out the truth. And she didn't have anything to say. She believed that telling her Mom she wanted to get into Orion Academy to follow her brother's footstep would convince both of them. Clearly, she was wrong.

"I--"

"I can't believe this," He spat. He leaned forward, rested his elbow on the table and massaged his temples. "Mom was right. Peter--that bastard--is manipulating you."

"He is not! And why is Mom being involved in this? Did you tell her about him being around?" Aphrodite's voice raised.

"If I ever do, she'll force you to leave this academy. Why are you even trying to get in touch with him? Don't you remember what happened the last time you met him? It was a disaster."

Water pooled in her eyes. "He was drunk! He didn't know what he was doing. He was in a bad place. But it has been four years. He could be a better person now." Her voice cracked. "I just...I want to meet him just once."

"Why the hell are you chasing someone who doesn't give a fuck about you? I don't want you to get involved in his life. For all you know, he could be a monster!" Josh half-yelled. Aphrodite flinched.

Before she could even know, tears were streaming down her face. Everyone's eyes were on her and she felt ashamed of herself crying in front of strangers. She pulled a few tissue papers from the box between them and wiped her tears.

He shot daggers at the students to make them look away. "Just talking bad about him makes you cry. Imagine what it would be like for you if you saw past his good-person façade." Josh's voice softened.

"You can't make assumptions about someone you don't know," Aphrodite whispered. Her face was still hidden behind the wet tissue papers.

"Exactly, my point. Just because he didn't show up drunk on our doorstep in the last four years, doesn't mean he turned his life around."

"Ca--" She sighed and crumbled the tissue papers into a thick ball. Her face still had a tinge of red but almost no one could make out that she was crying her bawl out a couple of minutes ago. "Can we drop it for now? I have plans with my...friends."

"The same friends who helped you sneak out that night?" His voice weighed with judgement. She hated that about him. Joshua had a habit of judging people despite doing nasty reckless shit himself.

"You don't have to be this judgemental. It's not like you haven't sneaked out of parties, for parties or to drink. Don't give me those 'I didn't expect this from you' eyes," Aphrodite spat.

"I know when to sneak out and when not. Be careful, Aphy. The world is too close to hell. You'll end up burning yourself."

"Grandma, I won't be on fire if I don't burn," she said. "Can I go now? We good?"

"As long as you're away from Peter, we're good." He got up from his seat as did Aphrodite. She walked towards the exit with her brother closely following her. "And please," Josh said, "wear little loose clothes when you come here next time. I don't want my classmates ogling my baby sister."

Aphrodite chuckled. "Did you just say ogling?"

"Walk."

As they walked towards Mintaka, Aphrodite eyed him. "Are you dropping me off at my dorm room?" Her eyes glistened even though she hated it when he did the same when they were in highschool.

"Nope. I have a date. I'm picking her up from her room," he replied without meeting her eyes.

"You have a date with a freshman?"

"A sophomore."

"Dang, what's her name? Is she cute? Hot?"

"Boundaries."

"Says the guy who--" Aphrodite paused in the middle of her sentence when she saw her group of friends walking in their direction. Karan offered a cheeky grin.

"Hey, Aphrodite! Is he the--" She intervened Karan.

"He is my step-brother, Joshua." She looked at Joshua. "Josh, meet my friends. Lex, Yumi, Karan and West." She pointed at them while telling their friends. Josh half-smiled and gave a chin-down nod at her friends.

"Hey."

"Oh, sweet home Alabama!" Yumi muttered in one breath which went unheard by the two step-siblings standing in front of her.

Josh leaned to Aphrodite's ears. "They are not your friends until they start calling you by your nickname. Who are they? Anyone I should keep an eye on?" He whispered. Aphrodite smiled nervously and smacked his arm. "Shut up."

"All right. I'll see you around," Josh said and took off.

"Hopefully, not. It'll ruin my day even more." Aphrodite giggled. Josh didn't bother to turn around as he gave her the finger. She chuckled and looked back at her friends who don't call her by her nickname.

"Is your step-brother, by any chance, less straight? 'cause dayuuum, he is H-O-T," Karan smirked as he turned around to check Joshua's retreating figure. Surprisingly, West's gaze followed there too. A small frown lingering on his face.

Do I sense a new...boat? Cruise? No, wait. Ship? Yeah, ship.

"Why did you lie about the date?" Yumi asked. "Sweet home Alabama, much?" She couldn't help but say it out loud this time.

"No! I, um." She swallowed. "I, I don't know. I thought you'd be mad at me if I told you I was meeting my brother."

"Why were you meeting your brother?"

"Jeez, Karan. Stop being a nosy asshole. We have some stuff to figure out," West said as he sent a sharp glare at Karan's direction.

"Right. About that." Aphrodite looked at them. "What do I have to do?"

"Lex will explain it to you. In the meanwhile, Yumi, Karan and I are gonna do some...sleuthing," West replied. Aphrodite nodded and the three of them walked away in the opposite direction as they left Lex and Aphrodite amidst an awkward silence.

"Soooo..." she said, dragging every letter. "Should we discuss the plan in my dorm room?" Aphrodite suggested.

"Okay," Lex answered.

•••

"I'm glad we are doing this tomorrow." Aphrodite smiled after revising the plan with Lex for the third time.

"West and I have basketball practice from the day after so we thought tomorrow would be perfect," Lex answered.

"I didn't know you played basketball."

Lex shrugged.

There was an eternity of physical distance between them. He was sitting on Yumi's bed which was exactly opposite to where Aphrodite was. His back rested on the white painted walls. One of his hands made its  way to the back of his neck as he rolled his neck, stifling a lazy yawn. Aphrodite blinked and tried to not look at Lex whose hem of the t-shirt raised upwards, showing his stomach. She gulped and fidgeted with her hair, suddenly finding the rugged floor interesting but not even half as interesting as what was going on in her head.

"Are you hungry?" Aphrodite asked him, refusing to meet his deep-set chocolate brown eyes. "Yumi always keeps a bag of chips in her cabinets. You can have it."

"Thanks." He stood up and walked to Yumi's nightstand. He pulled the first cabinet and rummaged through it. "It's not here," he announced.

"There's no way she wouldn't keep it there. Take a closer look." Lex shuffled the items again. "It's not here. She probably ate them."

"Tsk." Aphrodite smacked her lips. "That's not possible. I ate half of them last night and kept it there." She jumped from her bed and walked towards the nightstand. She pressed her small hand on Lex's hard chest and pushed him behind--a spark of energy coursing through her veins. She kneeled and shuffled the items. Her hand went deeper inside the cabinet. Her fingers trailed against some kind of plastic, making a noise that made her stomach growl lightly. She smiled and pulled the half-eaten pack of chips out. She spun on her knee, as she handed him the packet.

He was about to grab the pack when she recoiled it. "Yumi doesn't have to know about this." He smiled--his never before seen dimples--popping up. He nodded and took the packet. "Your secret is safe with me." He winked.

She chuckled and peered up at him. His eyes turned a strange shade of whiskey brown hue. Her smile faltered as she watched his smirk disappear. The packet slipped from his hand but none of them reacted. Their eyes were locked. She was afraid that if she looked anywhere other than his eyes, something would happen. Something incorrect because he was just a step away from her. And she was just a few centimetres away from his--

The door flung open, making them break eye contact. West, Karan, and Yumi barged in. Their laughs were cut short when their eyes landed on Aphrodite and Lex. Karan smirked. West seemed horrified. And Yumi--well, she snapped her head away.

Lex and Aphrodite exchanged looks before he stepped away and Aphrodite stood up on her feet--her thighs going numb. "Oh, my God. It's not what you think!" Aphrodite squeaked.

"I'm sure we entered at the wrong time," West muttered.

header image by Ella Jardim.

*phew* that was a long and eventful chapter. did you find it interesting?

QOTD: when was the last time you were caught lying?

not something I should be proud of but I'm a great liar. I honestly don't recall being caught. But if I ever find an interesting story, I'll share it here!

have a great day/night!

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