Chapter 3

Ring ring

Ring ring

Ring ring

[Hello?]

I covered my mouth as I listen to his bed voice

"You awake?" I asked as I sat at my bed fidgeting with my fingers

[I was sleeping] he answered quietly

"Oh, is that so" I trailed off, having a loss of words

My phone buzzed and as I looked at it he was requesting for a video call so I accepted it

And there he is

His hair is down, all messed up from sleeping, his eyes are still closed

"Mary Rae told me you fell asleep on the bus" I said sternly

[But I just got sleepy as soon as we sat on the bus] he answered, still eyes closed

"Oh, really?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm

[Believe me] he said and whined

I smiled a little and hugged my knees

[Why did you call, Kei? Something wrong?] he worriedly asked as his raspy voice was gone

"Nothing, I just can't sleep" I said as I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 12am

[That's new, you always sleep early] he said as I saw him opened his eyes searching for my face to show up in the screen

"Lights are off so you can't see me" I answered him

[Oh, I fell asleep with the lamp on] he unconsciously said as he stared at the lamp beside him

I raised my eyebrows and stifled my laugh

[So? What's bothering you?] he asked as he looked at the screen again

He's intently staring

I decided to sit at my study table and opened the lamp

[Oooh, you look sleepy] he said as soon as he saw my face

"I know" I answered and placed my hand on my chin and closed my eyes

[You aren't sleepy?] he asked

"Not really, you?" I asked while my eyes are still closed

[I won't sleep if you can't sleep] he said

I opened my eyes and stared at him

"Then I'll sleep" I said

[But you can't] he chuckled

"I'll be able to" I said and put my knees in front of me and hugged it

[What are you thinking anyways] he asked curiously

"Nothing, absolutely nothing" I answered

He gave me a 'really' look and I furrowed my eyebrows

"I meant that, I am absolutely thinking of nothing" I said and looked at him

[You are thinking of nothing?] he repeated what I said with sarcasm, so I rolled my eyes at him

[That's funny, how can someone think of nothing?] he laughed loudly and I shushed him

"Mary Rae might be sleeping, you're loud" I said to him

[What? Can't still think of something?] he asked as I saw him sat up fixing his hair

"Why would you fix your hair, you're only talking to me" I said and unconsciously stared at his face

[Because it's you] he said and turned to me

My face was written with an expression he can freely read

I was shocked

He smiled, [What? Caught you off guard?] he asked with his deep voice

I blinked and stared at him

We just stared at each other then suddenly my heart's beating pace became unstable

I held my chest, [You okay?] he asked

"Why don't we sleep?" I asked him

[You woke my soul up, let's stay awake for the mean time] he said and turned off the camera.

I cranked my head to the side—a habit of mine when I'm curious

[Can I off my camera for a bit? I'm going to do something] he asked

"Okay, what are you up to?" I asked

[Nothing, how about you? Aren't you hungry?] he asked

"Kinda, but I'm fine" I said as I decided to lay in my bed, leaving my study lamp on

[Hmm, what time is it?] he asked

He's always like this, he doesn't check the time on his own phone, according to him, he's 'too lazy' to even check it

"12:35" I said

[Let's stay up, and when I say up, don't lie in bed, you might sleep] he said

I chuckled at his remark, "Well, who knows" I said and hugged my pillow

[Stay up for a bit, I have something to say] he said

I heard a little noise in the background

Are his parents still awake?

How about Mary Rae?

[So, it's the weekend tomorrow, do you have plans?]

"Maybe I'll just sleep the whole day" I said and closed my eyes

[You don't want to hang out?] he asked, sadness is evident in his voice

"Let me rest, you should rest too, we've been practicing nonstop" I told him

[But I'm used to it, so what's the use of resting?] he asked again

I sighed

"You can't play at your best if you don't take a rest atleast once or twice before the competition" I scolded him and he laughed

[Okay, okay, so rest day it is] he trailed off and I just stayed silent

He stayed quiet for a while

[Kei, are you still awake?] I heard him from the other line

I hummed in response getting sleepy all the sudden

[You want to sleep?]

"I'll sleep if you sleep" I said quietly and yawned

[Okay] he answered then I heard a knock from my bedroom door

I suddenly was awake

For an unknown reason, my heart started to beat fast

He couldn't be here, right?

I slowly walked to the door staring at it and still holding my phone

[Open the door, Keiri] I heard him said on the phone

My heart hurt so bad that it wanted to go out of its cage

I suddenly don't know what to do

Slowly..

I opened the door revealing him, in his house clothes with a food in his hand and his gym bag smiling at me

"Hey, still sleepy?" he asked as he raised the food, he was holding

I looked up at him not knowing what to do and what to say

He raised his eyebrows, "What? Caught you off guard again Kei? I'd love to do this every single time just to see you in that state" he said and laughed

I opened the door and motioned for him to come in

"Why are you so quiet" he asked as soon as he stepped inside my room and settled down on my bed

I closed the door and stared at him, "Why are you here?" I asked him softly as I went near him

"You said you can't sleep" he said and wriggled his eyebrows

I sat on my spot as he rummaged through his things, "Let's watch a movie" he said and brought out a CD

"What movie?" I asked

Could it be, a walk to remember?

He always watches that movie whenever he's here

He showed me the CD and the familiar name was written on it

The notebook

"I thought you'll be tired of watching a walk to remember so I changed it" he said and laughed

I shook my head, for goodness sake

Please remind me why is he my friend?

He prepared the dvd player and opened the television

Remind me to remove those—oh no wait, I can't have him sulking the next time he sleeps here

"Okay! All set!" He said and settled down beside me and started eating

I looked at him being all giddy in watching the movie, so I smiled softly and focused on watching

"After eating the food, lay down and rest" he said and ate

"Laying down after eating is not allowed" I said to him

"Then, put your head on my shoulder" he said and gazed over me for a second

I hummed in response and we proceeded on watching

Even though we've watched a lot of times, I feel like I won't ever get tired of watching this because it's Kennoh

I'll never get tired of everything with him

As the movie reached the climax, I decided to lay down and hug my pillow while watching

I feel sleepy, but Kennoh stayed on sitting and his eyes fixated on the screen

He really loves to watch movies with me

He doesn't love to watch alone; he only watches when he's with me

As I feel my eyelids getting heavy, I felt someone laid beside me

Slowly, I felt the pillow that I'm resting on felt more comfortable

Little did I know that the owner of those comfortable arms were Kennoh's

As I drifted to dreamland I felt myself being enclosed to a tight but warm hug and a hand caressing my hair

If this is a dream then please, don't wake me up

"Sweet dreams, Keiri"