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.