Rose

"Dad I'm off to the workshop" I was beaming with delightfulness as the thought of seeing Zeth again, crossed my mind.

Wait, that sounded wrong....Why am I delighted to see him.

I am delighted to craft another wooden masterpiece.

Yeah, that's it, I'm gonna create a masterpiece, everyone including Zeth would acknowledge my skill in crafting.

That still, sounded wrong. I totally know I can't craft that well.

We arrived at Rosette's after a few minutes and I instructed the driver to come fetch me at 4:30.

"Good morning Rose" I turned around to see Fanna with her usual pigtails and glossy appearance. It may sound unusual but I've found some friends in the workshop.

"Sup Rose. You're early today" Gia butted in.

Fanna, Gia, and I were the only girls who signed up for woodcraft, and naturally, we got closer. Fanna has a bright personality while Gia's kinda boyish, and they're fun to be around. They both have different temperaments but they complement each other very well.

"Yeah, It's a miracle you're early today" Zeth came in the view, smiling so smugly and I rolled my eyes at him.

"I can be punctual too, you know." I crossed my arms and looked away at him.

"How about we bond after the workshop's done for the day" Fanna enthusiastically suggests.

"And where should we go?" Gia asked and I was waiting patiently for Fanna to answer.

I had planned on going home early to help Dad with his documents, ever since the business conference, Dad allowed me to help him with minor papers pertaining the business, but it's kinda nice to unwind myself once in a while.

"There's a newly built shopping mall, just down the road, we can go there after we're done here" Fanna excitedly replied, jumping with her hands clasped which made her look like a kid.

Hmm, maybe I should go. I can only count the times I've gone shopping partly because of Sophia and my reserved personality as a child.

Sophia would always mock me whenever I went shopping from the clothes I buy to the money I expended which I thought was playful banter back then. This was one of the reasons why I'm so adamant about restricting their usage of money. It felt like I was was able to cut one of her horns.

"Ok. I'm in." I stated and Gia also agreed.

We all turned our heads to Zeth to hear his decision and he appeared surprised.

"Uuh. I think I should pass." he backed away, hands raised to protest, and his face distorted to a distressed one.

"What are you saying Zeth? We're all buddies here, you should come with us" Fanna grabbed his arms smiling widely. He looked at us with an expression screaming 'help' as Fanna continued to tug at his arms.

I chuckled and nodded. " Yeah, Zeth. You shouldn't miss the fun" His complexion turned pale and he shook his head declaring his loss.

After having another failed day in the workshop with my indescribable craftwork that could pass as an abstract because even I, couldn't understand it literally. It looked like a deformed extraterrestrial being and an abominable little monster at the same time.

We all decided to go to the mall. Zeth tried to ditch us but Fanna's like a wild animal with super sharp instincts and manages to freak the hell out of him. In the end, he was forced to come. I texted the driver of the new location and time and informed Dad I would come home late.

The mall was overcrowded, maybe due to the fact it's newly built and there's a discount thrown everywhere.

"Omg, that looks so nice! That too!" Fanna hollered pointing everywhere, earning us a lot of weird stares, and us suffering a pretty damn well second-hand embarrassment.

"Fanna shut up, you're like a girl trapped in a basement for years who just learned about shopping and malls." Gia complained, getting annoyed with the stares other people threw at us. She's not particularly good with attention.

We visited some boutiques and shops, and we bought so much. I was thankful I didn't plan on wearing heels today or I would've killed my feet off.

Zeth was clearly not enjoying his time shopping but he never said any word and complained about it. He even offered to bring our stuff which made him appear like a pitiful dog.

"Hey, Fanna can we pause for a while and eat." Gia muttered as we were about to enter another boutique.

"Yeah, I'm getting hungry also" I agreed with the thought of food flooding my mind, and felt my stomach craving for anything that would satisfy it.

"Ok!" Fanna twittered and I began wondering how hyper this kid is. We were all tired from walking and I reckon we have entered almost two-thirds of the shops present in this mall, yet Fanna's still as vigorous as usual.

I heard Zeth sigh, clearly exhausted from all the weight he's carrying.

"I can carry some" I told him and he looked at me skeptically.

"Naah you got stick-like hands and you're too scrawny to handle more" he peered at the shopping bags I'm carrying and shook his head.

I offered some help but it seems he's acting like a real gentleman and I have some conscience to let him keep his pride.

So I gave him my remaining shopping bags to carry and gently smiled at him.

If he wants to act like a gentleman then I'll gladly let him.

He looked at me with a flabbergasted face. His arms and hands were full of bags that it was impossible to refuse as I slung two shopping bags around him.

"I have stick-like scrawny hands remember?" I sneered, waving my hands at him and he was about to decline but Fanna and Gia called us.

We entered a restaurant, Gia found around the corner and plopped down on our seats. Zeth puffed a huge breath as he set the bags down and sat opposite from me.

We ordered our meals and I got a fried chicken paired with rice. It smelled heavenly and the chicken skin was crunchy while the meat inside was juicy and soft as I cut a huge chunk of meat and brought it to my mouth. The rice was sweet and it complimented well with the meat and I unknowingly let out a satisfied groan.

I was extremely famished and it tasted so good that the meal was gone in a matter of minutes.

"That was very unladylike" I heard Zeth muttered with an amused face.

"What do you know about lady-like acts?" I inquired annoyed by what he stated. He blatantly told me I act unrefined and it was a big blow in the gut.

We all finished eating and after some time of spending and window-shopping, we decided to part ways and go home.

Zeth waited until there were only two of us, Fanna and Gia were picked up by their own chauffers and my driver was late.

"How about you, Zeth?" I asked him because he doesn't look like he's waiting for someone.

"I can just hail a cab." He stated looking at the sky.

The night was settling down prematurely, there was a mixture of yellow-orange and blue in the sky that it appeared like someone brushed a stroke of paint on the horizon. The moon hung lowly with a bright light, gazing back at us and looking as beautiful as ever. It was also getting chilly until I felt warm cloth around me.

"You're shivering" I heard Zeth uttered in a low voice as he draped my body with his jacket. It smelled like mint and lemon mixed together and it was sort of calming. I felt like a child cuddling a bear underneath his jacket.

He loves to annoy me sometimes but I can't deny he truly has a decent personality.

I smiled weakly at him and mouthed 'thank you'. We both fell into complete silence as we gazed back at the sky appreciating it, feeling each other's presence.

We fell into deep silence but it wasn't awkward nor we were trying so hard to keep up a conversation rather, it was comfortable.

"I miss them, especially with nights like this." he suddenly blurted out and I turned to observe him with a sorrowful expression.

"Miss who?"

"My parents.....my mom loves to paint, and she particularly admires the night sky. Dad also loves to watch her and they would goof off with dyes which in turn would result into a huge mess." He chuckled while staring at the moon with downcasted eyes but he was smiling genuinely. It was a mixture of both sadness and happiness.

He paused for a while, as if he was recalling his past memories.

"Yeah we were all happy until.... that happened" He gazed back at the horizon and sadness enveloped him.

I was taken aback since it was unusual for him to act like this. He's usually goofy and playful that this situation was kinda unexpected.

"What happened? " It took me moments to realize I actually blurted my thoughts out.

"I...It's ok for you not to answer. It was just a question out of whim" I frantically told him, terrified he may be upset with my stupid self.

My heart clenched as he chuckled bitterly and I want to smack my head on the wall for my absurdity. It might be a painful memory for him to reminisce and I just forced him to remember it.

"They were-"

We were interrupted by a loud honk of a car and we both turned to see my panicked driver running towards us.

"I..I'm sorry miss. I lost track of time and- I'm deeply sorry" he bowed at me, ashamed with his mistake.

I checked my phone and it was getting late. I also received some missed calls and texts from Dad that I assumed I'm dead once I get home.

"It's ok, let's just quickly go home" I was also in a state of panic thinking of Dad.

"I'm sorry Zeth. I really need to get going" I smiled at him apologetically, thinking it was a regret not hearing the reasons about his parent's death but I need to prioritize myself or I'll end up as a corpse.

"It's ok, Rose. It's getting late and besides, we'll see each other next weekend" he smiled at me softly as I hurriedly sat down the passenger's seat and he helped the driver settle my shopping bags in the trunk.

I waved at him as his figure started to get smaller and disappear in my vision.

"I just hope, I won't get killed by Dad"

I muttered loudly, thinking I'll be grounded and earning a long litany of sermons from him.