Whoosh~
The wind blew gently as Cale fluttered his eyes open to see a familiar back in the distance.
'I'm...outside?'
Standing outside of the school. Cale had difficulty adjusting to the sudden light that struck him fiercely
"H-Ha ha"
He chuckled, happy to not be in Gardenia for even a second longer.
The surge of happiness dragged on, the figure of Catrina growing smaller before she slowly came to a halt
"...."
All the relief and happiness dissipated quickly, survival was something to celebrate of course but with the new information he received from Carlos made it impossible to properly celebrate for
'Practical exam...'
He repeated those words in his mind, mentally carving and searing it in his memory as he begun to walk towards Catrina and follow her.
It didn't take a genius to take to find out that these exams would be the focal point and the most dangerous times Cale would have to face in the future
Catrina wore a satisfied face and started walking slightly forward, her strides childish and innocent
"So which Café are we going to?"
"Huh?"
The gears in Cale's thought process stopped grinding against each other at the sudden question
"?"
Both Cale and Catrina stared at each other for a few moments, finally Cale broke the subtle silence between them
"Shouldn't we just walk around and find one we like? Or we could just go to the closest one"
"..."
Catrina twirled her head forward without saying anything, her black bow resting on the back of her head swaying gently against the wind, her dead eyes revealing her disappointment
"What?"
"No effort In choosing whatsoever"
Her voice overlapped with Cale's, expecting what he was going to say before he even was about to say anything
"No effort? thinking something like this on the spot Is effort enough no?"
A statement rebuking her words flowed defensively from Cale's mouth
Catrina opened her mouth to argue but she closed her mouth and covered it with her hand, pondering on what to say. Cale noticed this and his eyes glinted at the opportunity
"I mean, no one is chasing us? so why should we be Impatient when we have all the time In the world"
He shrugged and scoffed at the hastiness of Catrina
Only after landing the last blow did he turn his head away from the pondering Catrina, in that instant, his eyes turned dead at the realization that while everyone had all the time in the world, he didn't. Time was ticking and he even got warned that If nothing is done. A gruesome death would escort him to the afterlife
'I don't even know what would exactly happen to me if I were to die in Gardenia'
Gardenia goes against all common sense by merely existing after all.
"...."
"...."
Stifling silence permeated between the two, Catrina seemed to be wasting her time on how to rebuke both of Cale's statements but couldn't seem to find any effective way. Cale on the other hand was deeply lamenting and cursing himself for touching the envelope.
*
Eventually Their aimless walking lead them to a popular and probably one of the only worthwhile tourist spots
"Why did we come to the park?" Catrina asked
The man next to her grinned widely
"To see kids fighting over the swings" A sarcastic but funny to Cale
Catrina looked at him with eyes as dead as fish.
"I was just joking..."
"Your humor needs a software update"
"That's a good comeback"
"Thank you" She held her head higher, put her hands on her hips and pouted slightly.
Catrina then clasped her hands together behind her back and looked at Cale with an asking face
"So, where are we going?"
"To a Café"
"Where is it?"
"It's close by"
"How close?"
A bombardment of question scraped and overclocked Cale's thoughts, but he answered them nonetheless
"Just pass through the park and you will find it. It's usually somewhat crowded there though. Well the good thing is that we won't have to find a seat since we won't be staying there for long"
Catrina widened her eyes In astonishment. Then she narrowed her eye in understanding
"Wait is the Café we're going to"
'Took her long enough for her to remember'
Cale smirked
"It's the one my mom works at"
She pulled her face away from Cale
"Ah...got it"
She didn't remember the Café because it had been a long time since she last went there, thus it took her a long time to remember clearly
They stopped their chatting and started trudging forward to the Café, leaving the park behind.
"You know where it is?"
Cale answered her, genuine curiosity asked if Catrina truly remembered where it was.
"Yeah I remember where it is"
Catrina answered with a beaming smile glued on her features.
Cale only frowned at the sight
He considered that smile to be one of pure schemes, so he begun to grow anxious and nervous.
***
"You damn brats! Careful where you're going!?!"
Beep!
Beep!
The car honked loudly as Cale and Catrina passed the red lights that glowed brightly on the traffic lights
"Should we call the cops? He passed a red light?"
Catrina pointed at unlawful driver
"You have your phone with you?"
"I do...But its at 3%"
"How do you even get it that low?"
"Luck?"
Like teenagers, they quickly forgot about the driver who for some reason has a driving license even though he by all means shouldn't
But did that stop them from insulting him?
"That guy has no shame whatsoever"
"I bet his kids are disappointed in him at home, if he even has a wife"
Who wouldn't start cursing and making fun of a dumbass who couldn't even properly stop at a traffic light when needed like a normal driver
"How about you call the police? My phone is basically almost dried up but what about yours?"
"Don't have cellular data"
"Ah well I gues-"
Wheeeeee
Sirens blared from behind Cale and Catrina, loudly wailing and pursuing the car
"Uhh...A high speed chase?"
The dwarf asked the towering giraffe next to her, his expression reading 'Meh, I've seenworse' nodding in agreement with the startled questioner
"Should we go?"
She asked again, fiddling with her thumps ever so slightly
"Yeah we should"
Ignoring the possible criminal, they finally reached the Café, it wasn't huge but it wasn't small either and it was in a pretty noticeable spot, not far from the park.
"So what are you getting?"
Cale attempted at small talk
"Something to drink"
"...."
"I was joking..."
"I thought it was sarcasm"
She shuddered slightly at those words
"Alright I'm going in..."
Catrina stepped forward, going through the open doors with Cale following right behind her.
"Hello there, how can I help you?"
The receptionist in front of them wore a surprisingly rare hairstyle that you don't usually see in a remote place like this
'Is that ugh...'
Snap
Snap
Snapping her delicate fingers together, she whispered into Cale's ears curious and slightly envious of the hairstyle the woman had
'I have it so close to rolling it off my tongue'
Cale having enough whispered back
'I think its called a Dutch fishtail braid'
'Ah okay, thanks!'
She raised her thumb, her eyes sparked while slowly turning to the receptionist
"Hello, I would like a milkshake, strawberry flavor"
"I see...What about you sir?"
"I want a smoothie, also strawberry flavor"
"Okay, one milkshake and one smoothie, both strawberry flavor right?"
Brows furrowed deeply as the girl spoke to Cale
An unsettling feeling digging into his mind
'Is it.. just my imagination?'
"Martha!"
A woman then came from the side and spoke.
"Martha, there aren't any available tables!"
"?"
The woman named Martha looked confused and asked
"What do you mean by that?"
"There aren't any free tables...It's full..."
Martha's face turned into a bewildered expression, She then turns to us and spoke
"Well.. you heard her, If you want to get a table you'll have to wait"
The girls voice cracked, it seemed she was a new worker and also appeared to be the same age as Cale and Catrina
"No, it's okay we were going to get a takeaway anyway"
"Ah... I see, well then please wait for a few minutes for your drinks"
With a bright smile. Martha reassured the two that their drinks would come out soon
Walking outside the building to wait for the drinks, they talked in the process out of boredom of nothing happening.
"Still, where is your mom? she still works here right"
"She still works here, her shift might have ended or she is doing something else"
Cale's mom has worked at this Café for many years and has not been fired from her job nor did she ever resign from it.
'Still...It's too crowded'
Even if the Café were a popular spot, It's this full? at this time no less.
'Well I'm not one to talk since I've never worked at a Café before'
It could've been an ordinary occurrence for all he knew.
But it didn't really seem like one the more they waited
"Ugh! It's taking too long!"
Catrina got frustrated after 15 minutes of waiting.
"Can't you have a little bit of patience?"
"No! I mean if we ordered a lot I'd get it, but we only ordered a milkshake and a smoothie! And we can't even sit anywhere because there is nowhere to sit!"
She stomped at the hard pavement in anger, not like she was wrong, there really was nowhere to sit unless they went further away from the Café, not only that but Catrina's legs were sore since the morning.
'Well, I'm also sore all over my body but not as much as Catrina whose legs were trembling like a vibrating phone'
He glanced pitifully at Catrina, he wanted to laugh but he knew that if he did that, she might just push him into the road
"Ah... wait"
Catrina looked at Cale with a face that looked like it had just received a bright Idea. She then dug Into her pocket to get something out
"Here"
After scrambling her pockets, she gave Cale a surprising gift
"?"
'She is giving me, money?'
Cale was about to humbly decline Catrina's kind nature
"I'll go sit over there, once you get the drinks come to me and also give back my change"
Did he want the money given to him? No. Was he disappointed? Yes he was
"..."
Catrina then trailed off to the bench she pointed with her finger which wasn't too far away after giving the errand money to her thug
'I feel like an errand boy...'
***
Snatching their drinks after Martha kept apologizing for the unexpected delay. Cale came walking over to Catrina and gave her the milkshake she bought and her change, he then took a seat next to her, his entire body melting at the sensation of sitting down after a long time of only standing up.
Cale instantly took a gluttonous sip of his smoothie and Catrina also took a sip from her milkshake, even the way they drank was identical
The smoothie tasted impeccable as it touched the dried tongue of Cale and came slushing down violently in his throat.
It tasted incredibly refreshing, he didn't know how good the milkshake was but seeing Catrina have a similar reaction to him, he judged that she also felt Incredibly refreshed.
"It's so good~"
Catrina answered ecstatically, her face melting under the scorching heat that the sun emitted while sipping on her milkshake
"I agree~"
Cale was no different
'This is bliss, truly blissful and relaxing, so much so that I might just completely forget that my survival is at stake and might not live to see days like these'
Dangerous thoughts surfaced in his dopamine-filled mind
'Well none of that matters since I'm now outside of Gardenia'
'As long as I finished my classes and left School safely, I wouldn't die and be safe'
'So let me just bask in this blissful, Intoxicating moment~'
Cale continued basking in the sun for a while longer with its scorching heat burning and sizzling against his skin. Catrina did the same and they both sat there with faces melting like Ice cream.