The class was filled with loud noises as usual on the next weekday, with Ryxin entering inside two minutes before class began. The expression on his face clearly tells he's already fed up with the everyday view.
Unlike other kids his age, he acts as arrogant as a teenager for a middle school boy. Class began with its usual lessons, the environment falling in tense silence.
While Rinae had a day off from school, working in a café was another part-time job for her, being the person in position of her father's role. it was partly legal for her to attend jobs since she's almost 3 years away from adulthood.
The atmosphere of the café was quiet as ever, often on weekdays. The staff were busy arranging the necessities, when the soft noise of the bell rang as the door outside opened.
An order arose at the counter, as Rinae left her task of arranging the cups and quickly presented herself before the customer.
A young man probably around her age, having seemingly dyed green hair with blue and yellow hue, and heterochromic eyes of that colour stood in front of her, as she froze on spot. The striking appearance made her mind go places, before coming back to reality by a snap of his fingers.
she stuttered out of embarrassment,
"O-Oh, I'm sorry. please state your order."
"Don't get tense,"
he observed, noting each of her actions as soon as he laid eyes.
"i-i won't, i'm sorry."
"you're good, don't apologize." he smiled, "A latte, please."
"Sure, coming right up." she sparked up, a surge of confidence flowing through her as she went into the kitchen.
Not an hour later, she held up a medium cup of hot latte, the smell mild but sweet. she placed it on top of the counter, the young man taking it and placed a piece of paper with a writing upon paying for the coffee.
Rinae thought he forgot about it, and called out to him,
"h-hey, you forgot-" she trailed off, seeing the young man wink at her.
she blinked in confusion, then unwrapped the folded piece of paper and read what's written.
"thanks for making this my favourite cafe spot, i got a nice view ;)"
Her face flushed red, while one of her co-workers stepped beside her, taking a peek from the lines on the paper and having a short smug look on her face for the whole time.
The day was spent with Rinae thinking about the young man from the cafe, so much that it caught her little brother's attention ever since he returned home from school.
"you're unusually deep in thought." Ryxin noted.
she snapped back, chuckling awkwardly as she rubbed a hand at the back of her neck. "r-really? i can't help it today, haha" she laughed it off, a tint of pink forming in her cheeks.
he gave a smug look on his face behind her back.
"So, who's the lucky guy-"
"none of your business, little one."
she snapped, in an annoyed manner which clearly doesn't have any bite. ryxin scoffed, but not pulling up any more snarky comments. He got up from the sofa and walked to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of ice cold water.
Rinae watched as he opened the bottle and spoke up, "it's winter ryxin. you'd catch a cold if you drink-"
"Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen to me from a sip. plus it's pretty warm these days." he skipped her warning and drank just a few sips, keeping the bottle back while watching her sister facepalm and not commenting anything else. Although small bickerings happen between them, both of them try to keep themselves stable-in-situation among each other.
The next day, Rinae was present in the cafe after school, the environment silent for a small cafe. There weren't many customers so it wasn't much of a hassle for her, except for a customer that made her drive insane.
The young man came again, pleased to see the sight of Rinae working again. a smile creeped in as he walked inside, but managed to stay composed.
"hello again." he called, immediately grabbing rinae's attention. The girl herself was making an effort to not crash out on the spot. she stood in silence, swallowing herself before taking his order.
"w-what would you like?" she asked, mouth quivering by a fraction. her mind started racing with different thoughts.
"he's here again..!"
"God, what do I do?! I'm beginning to burst out after just a day!"
she crashed for a second, then focused on the order she was taking.
"I'll take a latte."
"a latte? again?"
he occasionally glanced directly at her eyes, trying to figure out what she was thinking, although it was obvious from her change of expressions.
"g-great, coming right up!"
she rushed, making it as soon— but steady— as possible.
The young man watched her while seated on a nearby counter, noting every move as if he was collecting information for an assignment. It was sheer luck since almost everyone took a day off in the cafe.
Rinae brought the latte to the counter, and stopped when the young man asked a question. "What's your name?"
she looked hesitant, yet answered. "you didn't read my nametag?"
He gave a look as if he slapped himself for being an idiot. He glanced at the nametag and scoffed to himself, "sorry, that was stupid of me. what a unique and beautiful name you got there, Rinae."
Rinae glanced away, a slight compliment from nobody but this man could drive her heart crazy at this point.
"I'm Alixis." the young man responded, giving a brief pause to gauge her expression, and made a short assumption."I'm the same age as you."
The last reply gave Rinae a scroll of her thoughts, which even made her think that she might get a chance.
She immediately shook that thought away, knowing she'd just appear as a lover only for their cover.
The silence between them was oddly tense, his heterochromic eyes gazing back at her own eyes, then sharing a brief eye contact for a minute.
Alixis stood up, taking his latte and moving sooner. staying for much longer would raise trouble for her.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He replied, his voice leaving silent echoes inside the empty lobby as he was leaving the cafe. Rinae stood alone, staring at the young man till he left. She had a feeling he had a tinge of satisfaction coming here— just for her.
She kept herself in check and continued her work, her premature mind still revolving around Alixis. She was confident she could handle her spark of emotions until she sat on the couch, sinking in her thoughts in the night after her shift.
"Hey, you're absent–minded." Ryxin called out, tapping Rinae on the shoulder. He had stood in his uniform without changing the whole evening.
Rinae blinked twice before staring blankly at her brother, coming back to her senses. She observed him head-to-toe, before crossing her arms and proceeding to question.
"Why didn't you change?"
Ryxin froze and looked down at his current attire, "Oh, i wasn't aware."
He left the hall with his hand running through his messed-up hair.
"My bad."
"At least be aware of yourself before scrutinising into my flaws, little kid." She scoffed, her expression plastered with sarcasm as she watched him walk to his room.