"You can leave me here, Adie. Thank you." I said as we were already standing in front of the gate of our house.
His thick brows furrowed. "Adie?"
I chuckled. "You can call me Naomi,"
"So, we're second name basis now, huh?" He chuckled, so did I.
"Take care." I cut the conversation off after a long silence. "Finish your homeworks, hmm?"
He gave me a sweet smile before he nodded and waited for me to go inside the house where there are almost no living people except for me.
I opened my window and saw him still looking at the gate, scratching his nape and the moment he met my eyes, he smiled and waved at me before walking away.
;
I finished my assignments with a smile plastering on my face as I remembered how bad and good this day went.
To: Adie
Thank you for today, Adie. I do appreciate you a lot. ;)
After sending the message, I went to my bed and let myself feel the comfort of it until I unknowingly slept with a smile curving on my lips.
;
I was woken up by the thunder outside and a message on my phone, saying that all the classes in our school were suspended due to the typhoon outside.
But those announcements didn't wake my system up.
23:11
From: Adie
Hoping that there would be no classes tomorrow so you could take some rest :)
05:10
From: Adie
Hey, the classes were suspended. Take some rest, okay? I'll treat you your favorite ice cream if you will :)
Those messages warmed my heart because someone cared for me, that he knows how drained I am.
I came back to my bed and slept for a few more minutes before finally feeling the urge to stand up and make myself some breakfast.
I don't know where my family is, but what's important is that I could cook for myself.
"Heat some water for me. I will drink coffee," my father commanded, and I obeyed what he asked before cooking my food.
After cooking my food, I immediately went to my room and ate my food there while watching some movies I forgot to watch before.
Mark Adie Tuan sent you a friend request.
Mrkd followed you.
tuan.mrkd requested to follow you.
Wow, he's this fast on searching almost all of my social media accounts… or Yoshi gave this to him?
I accepted his requests after watching a few episodes of the drama I got curious about and besides, it's already lunch.
Mark Adie Tuan:
Want me to bring you some comfort foods there? It's still raining outside.
That was his message right after I accepted his request.
I was about to type something when he called.
"Yoshi, what have you done?!" He then dropped the call and sent me a message, apologizing for the call because Yoshi tapped the call button.
Taliyah Naomi Simbillio:
I want some ramen. :)
I put my phone down and was about to sleep when he called once again.
"Hello?"
"Uh, I ordered you ramen. Just wait for it in a while." He sounded shy, the reason for me to giggle.
"Thank you for the effort, Mark."
;
Not an hour later, the food had arrived and my family seemed to have a strong bond without me, causing me to just believe in whatever I could have.
Once I had my own family, I would care less if my lover would choose me or not. What is important is that I will always choose my child's happiness over his misery.
I ate the ramen silently while shivering in the cold because the rain outside didn't stop from pouring since early this morning.
I am now silently wishing for the class to resume because I cannot stand what my mind is telling me to do.
My hands dialed a number and without looking who it was, I started talking while my voice was slowly cracking.
"I am thinking of doing it again. I'm sorry…" I sobbed. "I still don't have enough money to seek a psychiatrist."
The other line didn't talk and I heaved a sigh. "I saw my family being happy without me again. I kinda feel jealous of my siblings."
I covered my mouth to prevent a sob to come out again.
"I didn't mean to be jealous, but I can't just help it. And now, it's not getting any way better." I tapped my legs to stop them from shaking while my tears were rolling down continuously.
"I hate myself for being like this. I will hang up now. I'm sorry for disturbing your work. Thank you for listening." I ended the call and put my phone beside me before crying and making sure that no one would hear me crying.
;
The following week, I saw a bunch of crochet flowers on my desk, with a note saying, "Crying doesn't suit your beautiful eyes. They're not meant to cry for pain; they deserve tears of nothing but joy."
I smiled at it and kept the flowers on my bag before fixing it.
"Good morning!" Mark excitedly greeted me before placing his bag on the vacant chair beside me. "How's the weekend?"
I chuckled and nodded at him. "Good."
He accepted it before taking out a paper bag and gave it to me. "If you haven't had your breakfast yet."
I accepted it and opened it, only to get hungry by what it smells like.
I was munching when I caught him looking at me like something went wrong.
"Did you cry early this morning? You look like you didn't sleep at all." He shook his head. "And you became thin in an instant, after just three days? You're not eating any meal?"
"I am eating now?" I answered his question by a question because I don't know where he was coming from and heading to.
I continued eating until I finished what he gave me like I did not eat for a long time.
"You didn't have a proper meal last week, didn't you?" His brows are both up, but his eyes shouts worriness.
"If I did not? Would you treat me?" I fixed the trash and put them inside my bag and smiled at him, without showing my teeth.
"Are you still hungry? If you are, let's—"
"Okay, good morning, class. I'm sorry for entering your room this early. But I have an important meeting to attend to and I don't want you to miss this lesson." Our subject teacher said before proceeding on making us not understand anything because she's freaking fast on discussing and I'm wondering why Mark could still write even if she's like rapping.
"Adie, can I borrow your notes later?" I looked at him after our teacher left and he nodded before handing me the notebook that I was asking him.
He chuckled when he saw how irritated am I when I saw the lesson he took notes with.
"I really don't get it why do some math instructors needs to speak like that." I almost cried because of that and give the notebook back to him. "Thank you, Adie."
"You're just out of yourself." He took the notebook above my table and put it inside my bag before getting the crochet tulips while curiously looking at me. "Where did this came from?"
I shrugged. "I just saw that in my chair. Maybe someone placed it there for me."
He nodded before fixing them inside my bag and tapping my head.
"If you have difficulties understanding something, tell me, okay? I'll always listen to you." He gave me a warm smile. "You're worth it, Naomi. You really are."