ARIELLA'S POV

"So Rachel's got no idea about your awesome Christmas plans," I asked in doubt.

"Absolutely not. Ari, please don't tell her. I just want everything to be perfect," he expressed optimistically causing me to slightly giggle.

"Are you kidding me? Austin, I'm not gonna ruin the surprise for her," I stated.

Austin Daniels interrupted my Saturday Travel podcast by sending him a text to meet him at Zainies Patisseries. So here we are in the peach and dark purple painted bakeshop, sitting at a table that was close to the window. As always, it was packed with a lot of customers and salivating flavors of different snacks and desserts lingered in my nostrils. Austin looked pretty much chill in blue jeans and a casual red shirt ordered for corn dogs and a strawberry smoothie. Cinnamon rolls complemented the winter season so I ordered a box and hot coco cookies with roasted marshmallows and of course, a pineapple smoothie. The sundress I was putting on complemented my delightful choices of desserts.

Midway through munching, Austin indulged me in his romantic plan that involved going on a cruise ship with Rachel. I was sure that Rachel would love it since she'd been dreaming of it since seventh grade.

Honestly, Rachel and Austin looked like that kind of high school couple that would end up getting married to each other.  It would be perfect if they did and I'd have to take many pictures as well. Ugh, I would have to balance being a bridesmaid and a wedding photographer. The thought itself aroused goosebumps within me.

"Thanks for helping out," Austin appreciated, signaling that he'd be leaving in a bit. I waved a hand of dismissalFriends didn't have to thank each other.

He sighed and continued, "Ah, I'm not usually so polite so you should treasure my rare thank you's," he smirked.

"And I'm not always so nice either so you should treasure my rare nice deeds or else, Rachel...."

Austin swiftly cut me off to say, "Oof, don't be so I chill."

I sighed and dived and took sips of my smoothie. "Hmm, isn't that Mr. Steele?" Austin's face turned to the last person that I wanted to see.

What on earth was he doing here? After leaving the library a week ago without any explanation. As if that wasn't enough, he didn't say a word to me throughout this week. He totally ghosted me.

Maybe, that was a good thing.

From my observations not that I'd been observing him though, I noticed that he always loved wearing hoodies mostly in color black. And today was no different, his entire outlook was definitely appealing, and sexy and I just felt like taking a picture of him on my phone or camera. I bit my tongue hard to kill my thoughts. Yet, the thought hovered in my mind.

His strong male scent drew me in as he came closer to our table and the fact that his gaze was fixated on me as he walked was hypnotizing. He was intentionally walking slowly but I didn't know why.

"Mind if I join you," his question was directed to Austin.

"Dude, I'd love that but I gotta go now for Basketball practice," Austin told him. MR. Steel nodded and Austin flashed a goodbye wave before dashing out of the bakeshop. MR. Steel sat on Austin's seat that's opposite mine. I hissed,  "I don't remember asking you to sit."

"And I don't remember asking you if I could sit," he smirked.

This was the last thing I needed.
        
"Suit yourself, I'm leaving," I stood up to leave.

"Is this because of how I left the library? Hmm, seems like someone was hurt," he foolishly mocked, a ghost of a smirk playing at his pink lips.

It's the audacity of me.

"If only I noticed," I lied, but made sure to not let it show.

"Really? So why don't prove it?"

I knew he was using reverse psychology on me so that I would stay. "If you want me to stay, then you should try much harder. And even if you did, I still wouldn't stay,""

"Don't think too highly of yourself and  last I checked, I'm still your teacher, ain't I?"

"Not outside the school," I walked out on him confidently, intentionally flipping my hair.

When I was close to the entrance I saw a little boy who could be six-ish or less. An idea popped into my mind as I watched the little kid holding his box of popcorn. He was on a cute yellow shirt over black jeans.

"Omg, I love your shirt. Mind if I take a pic," I asked, smiling widely at him. The little boy looked at me and thought to himself. He must be thinking if he should talk to a stranger or not.

"How much are you willing to pay?" His question took me by surprise but I wasted no time in answering, "100 boxes for the pic and another extra 100 boxes if you do something for me."

Seeing as we were blocking people from coming in, we went to the corner beside the door. The cute kid stood beside the Christmas light and made a few adorable poses. I snapped him with both my camera and phone too.

"You see that green-eyed dude over there, you just have to rain your popcorn over him. Don't worry I'll give you 200 boxes for everything," I stated.

Thanks, I would have done this one for free," he said cheerfully running to MR. Steel's table.

I moved closer so that I could properly take the video. For some reason, I was eagerly anticipating the popcorn shower. Just like I imagined, the whole scene was hilarious. My partner in crime had silently wiggled his way to the back of MR. Steel and without delay, he showered popcorn over MR. Steel's handsome face. I giggled, seeing how the popcorns played across his face, he sure didn't see that coming. He also ate a lot of the popcorn and my heart skipped a beat seeing him grin like he was actually happy. It was my first time seeing him truly smile like that and it just felt very right to watch him like this.

Totally worth it.

I wanted to secretly take more of his pics but I was interrupted by a call.

"Babe," Steve's voice sounded troubled causing me to flinch a bit.  Out of guilt, I said, "It's not what you think."

"What? Ari, what do you mean?" He asked, signaling he had no clue about what I was talking about. I inhaled deeply and it was only then that I realized that little kid was beside me.

"Steve, hold on a bit," I hung up on him and brought out the money from my bag. I got most of my money from being a videographer at some random high school parties.

"Thank you, thank you so much. Now, I can buy Christmas gifts for my grandparents," he squealed for joy, earning a fulfilled smile from me.  "You're a welcome cutie."

"No, don't call me that. My name's Kelly" he announced and I smiled again.

I wondered if he was here alone but as I was about to ask him, Steve called again. I swiftly waved Kelly goodbye and finally went outside.
M

"Sorry for cutting the call."

"Ariella, where are you? Umm...Julie's and Kate's bodies were found," Steve paused, alarming me even more. Why was he talking as if they were.....I knew they were absent from school yesterday, probably because they went out of town or something. Steve continued, almost sounding teary, "that fucked up mysterious animal killed them."

Instantly, my phone dropped to the ground and my fall promptly followed. How could Julie and  Kate be dead? Tears rained down my cheeks as I hugged my camera to my chest tightly. More tears began to flow as I realized that I would never see them again and that I'd never take their pics again.

SYLAQ'S POV

It was difficult to believe that Ariella Reas paid a kid to play a prank on me but my super hearing had never failed me either. Indeed, I came here to start executing Projedt Ariella but things didn't go as I hoped. Playing MR. Romeo seemed harder than being a vampire Prince and she wasn't making it easy for me too. I wasn't surprised that the strange kid poured popcorn over my head but I was shocked to see her capturing the scene with her camera. Oh, I see this hazelnut-eyed human planned all this just so that she could look at my face all day long in her camera. The thought itself amused me and I couldn't help but smile. It annoyed me to watch her exit the bakeshop but I fought myself hard not to follow her.

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