30TH OCTOBER.
MAINLAND TOWN:
UNKNOWN STREET.

"OKAY SO PETER Kevin lives right..." West narrowed his eyes and studied the street. He raised his index finger and pointed at the third trailer in the trailer park, "...there." He read the address from her dairy again and bobbed his head in confirmation.

Aphrodite slumped her shoulders. She could hear her heartbeats reverberating to her ears. If West was any closer, she was sure he could hear her. Aphrodite had tried her best to hide the truth from him but so far, he wasn't even a little convinced. He kept asking intruding questions and she wasn't fond of that.

"Can I come too?" He asked.

Oh, boy. That would be troublesome.

"No way!"

West shrugged. "Ay, why not?" He frowned. "I wanna see who this mysterious friend of yours is."

He wasn't believing her. His questions made that pretty clear.

"I'm not even sure if he remembers me," Aphrodite began. "And I don't know if he even wants to meet me. He probably doesn't remember my name or who I am." She let her shoulders fall at the thought. She hadn't even realized that it was the truth until she said it out loud. She wasn't sure if Peter wanted to meet her. What if he shoved her away from the door? What if refused to remember her or worse--what if he tells her mom? It was a bad idea. She had spent her last week digging the address of all the Peters that lived in town but now when it was time to knock on the door--she wanted to chicken out.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I, um." She lowered her gaze. Her fingers twirled against the hem of her loose pink t-shirt. Anxiety started to build up in her chest, making her stomach churn. "I'm scared."

For a moment, West remained silent.

But then he sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was going to regret telling her this but he wanted her to know. She wasn't the only one searching for something or someone. "For all my life," he started, "I've been told-- West, do this. West, do that. And like a loyal puppy, I listened to everyone. I was--" He swallowed. "--I am a crowd pleaser. My life has been based on other people's opinions. My mom thought it would be nice to take karate lessons, so I did. My dad thought I needed to earn some money, so I applied for a part-time job. Lex thought I should try basketball in high school, so I did. I never said no but then I met someone." West could feel Aphrodite's strong gaze on him. "And we clicked.

"She was beautiful. And kind, and she let me be...me. But in the process of being with her, I realized that I was hurting someone else, so I cut all my ties with her. Aphrodite," he paused to look at her. Her ocean blue eyes were glimmering with hope. And for a second, his heart warmed up at her undivided attention. "If you think that Peter is someone who makes you...well, you--you shouldn't be afraid. The universe always has new ways to bring people together."

"West, I--" She slapped her palms on her bare thighs and chuckled. Her rings were cold against her skin. "All of you are full of surprises. First Yumi and her lock picking skills, then Lex with his photography and now you with all this...deep thoughts. Don't get me wrong, West but you're the last person I expected to hear this from."

West laughed and wished her good luck when she leaped out of the car. He followed her figure as she walked to the third trailer and knocked on the door. Almost instantly, the door opened and a big man stood at the front.

In all seriousness, how the hell does he fit in that small thing?

Aphrodite asked him something, he nodded and then shook his head. She dropped her shoulders and watched the door being bang shut right in front of her face. She frowned and made her way back to the car.

As soon as she jumped in, West said, "We've got about thirteen more Peters to look for."

This made her smile.

•••

Aphrodite and West strode down the hallway, heading towards their room. They had a few minutes left before meeting everyone at the café so they decided to freshen up--to wash the exhaustion and disappointment off their faces. But before they could reach their rooms, Aphrodite's eyes fell on Lex approaching them. He had an envelope in his hand and as soon as his eyes locked with hers, he frowned.

Oops. Didn't see that one coming.

"Where were you two?" Lex questioned. "West, you missed today's practice."

"Oh, you know. Checking if everything is ready for tomorrow," West answered and exchanged assuring looks with Aphrodite. She pressed her lips and nodded in agreement.

Lex turned to Aphrodite. "You didn't tell me it's your birthday this weekend?"

Aphrodite pinched her eyebrows, perplexed. "What?"

Lex handed her the eggshell coloured envelope. In gold cursive handwriting, it said; Lex Rivera, Orion Academy. She brushed her hands against the letters before pulling the card from inside. On the black surface, in silver handwriting, she read the words imprinted on the surface. With each word that she read, her muscles grew tense with anger.

"Oh, my God. She didn't," She said through gritted teeth. Her jaw clenched in anger. She huffed and massaged her forehead, trying to swallow her blazing anger.

"What is it?" West asked.

"It's an invitation card to her birthday party. Karan got it too so I'm assuming Yumi and you did as well," Lex answered. He looked back at Aphrodite who had her head in her hands and eyes closed. "Why are you being so weird about it? You don't want us there?"

Aphrodite fluttered her eyes and looked between Lex and West. She realised what her body language conveyed and immediately raised her hands in surrender. "No, no, no." Her eyes widened. "I'd like you there, it's just...invitation cards? It excited me when I was five, but I'm eighteen now. She didn't have to be so..." She paused. "For the lack of better words, extra."

West smacked his lips.

"Anyway," he said after a short pause. "I need to charge my phone. See you at lunch." He sent a two finger salute in their way and dashed towards his room. Aphrodite shot Lex a hesitant smile and was about to walk past him too when he grabbed her hand, making her turn around. He bit his lips and quickly pulled his hand back, murmuring sorry for touching her. Before she could reply, he said;

"Are you sure you want us there? It's fine if you don't. We won't take it personally."

Aphrodite eyes softened as her smile disappeared. "Hey, no." She extended her hand and placed it on his chest. As soon as she rested her hand on his torso, he regretted being close to her at all. He could feel himself harden. The layer of his white t-shirt was so thin that he could almost feel her warm skin. He tried his best not to show that his stomach had uncaged wild butterflies. "I want you there." Not the puppy eyes, Aphy. Please. Not the puppy eyes. He begged in silence.

"I, um, okay." His voice was flat, contrasting the sense of feelings that she was setting free at her mere touch. "I'll see you around." He croaked.

Her lips curled up and she gave him a small wave of farewell. She turned around and walked into her room while Lex stood there--thinking about the smile Aphrodite had offered to him.

And he knew he would do anything to earn that smile again.

it's Camp NaNoWriMo. are you participating? my only goal is to finish LTAM. if you're interested in knowing more about LTAM, head on to my IG. for the whole month, I'll be answering questions about Let's Talk About Murder and a lot more.

have a good day/night!

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