When Sam woke up... no, not from the bed, but from the sofa, it was already daylight.
He was actually quite impressed with his own sleep quality.
But it might also be because he had exerted himself too much throughout the day, sacrificing a lot of energy. Although Sam's current physical condition wouldn't be affected much, falling asleep had been remarkably smooth.
Could this be considered a kind of sleeping pill?
He wasn't sure, but upon waking, Sam was montarily stunned.
It seed like many things had slipped off his body, and glancing at them, Sam couldn't help but chuckle.
What on earth...
He clearly rembered that after chatting with Sophie about this and that last night, she couldn't resist her sleepiness and went back to her room to sleep, while he continued to lie on the sofa.
Of course, it was impossible to actually sleep in Sophie's bed, even if last night's conversation seed to have touched the girl sowhat, but not to the extent of sharing a bed.
So, Sam, who continued to sleep on the sofa, had covered himself with the thin blanket and used his jacket as a cushion.
But now...
Why were there so many clothes on top?
Even a sweater...
It seed that there were so developnts after Sam fell asleep last night, but perhaps those didn't need to be explicitly ntioned.
Because the girl still sleeping in the bedroom was essentially that kind of person, only by reaching deep into her heart could one understand these things.
So, was this now considered a deeper layer of understanding?
Perhaps.
Sam picked up the blanket, folded it neatly on the sofa, and also folded the various jackets and sweaters on the side.
After finishing these tasks, it was still very early, the sky was just dimly lit. The days light up particularly late in this season, and today's weather didn't seem very good either, exuding a gloomy air, as if preemptively telling people not to expect a bright sunrise.
Fortunately, Sam wasn't soone who expected sunshine every day; he might now prefer rainy weather.
The pitter-patter of rain might just wash away so of those ssy thoughts at the bottom of his heart.
Sam left Sophie's apartnt early, without lingering or waiting for her to wake up to make a thoughtful heart-shaped breakfast or anything of the sort.
She wasn't Angel, nor was she Zoe.
Trying to deliberately touch her heart... would only backfire. Any overt concern would make her uncomfortable.
So Sam left with a carefree attitude, not even leaving behind an extra glance.
But what he didn't know was that almost the mont he closed the door behind him, the bedroom door opened.
The girl, still in her fluffy slippers and cartoon pajamas, with her hair disheveled, appeared at the doorway.
Looking at the tidy living room, as if no one had ever been there, as if nothing had ever happened.
She just sighed softly.
"Really not giving any chance to hold on..."
Sam returned ho, as he had classes today and needed to change his clothes.
Passing by Zoe's room, he paused briefly, but there was no sign of movent, nor any indication that she had returned.
After opening his own room door, it beca apparent that the woman had indeed not co ho all night.
How much had she drunk? Did she really fall asleep at Aurora's place?
First, he charged his phone, which had long been dead, and then Sam took a shower.
Letting the hot water cascade over his head.
The only fatigue and the remnants of sleepiness were thoroughly washed away by the scalding stream.
After changing into his clothes for school, he picked up his phone and discovered that Aurora had sent him ssages last night... and not just one.
There were twelve missed calls.
The ssages read:
Officer Aurora: Sam, where the hell are you?
Officer Aurora: Answer your phone, don't play dead!
Officer Aurora: Did you really go back to sleep? How can you sleep at your age! You really have no conscience, I'm handling trouble for you, and you're at ho sleeping through your phone ringing, huh?!
Officer Aurora: Great... really nice of you.
Officer Aurora: Call back when you wake up, jerk!!
Sam thought for a mont.
Hmm, first he changed her contact na to just Aurora; "Officer Aurora" was what he had set when they first exchanged contact details after eting by chance in Cedarwood, and he hadn't changed it since.
After updating the contact na, Sam grabbed his backpack and headed out, sending a ssage as he left.
"Sorry, my phone died last night, so I didn't get your calls. You okay, Officer Aurora?"
Before he could even slip the phone back into his pocket, it started vibrating intensely. It was Aurora calling. Although he didn't know what she wanted to discuss, Sam couldn't help but feel amused.
He composed himself and answered the call.
"Officer Aurora, is there a problem?"
"You have the nerve to ask? Did you really sleep through the whole night?"
Her tone was clearly annoyed.
"Generally, I sleep pretty well; I don't usually wake up in the middle of the night."
"You must have slept comfortably. Do you have any idea what I went through? Fuck... my head still hurts."
It was rare to hear Aurora swear.
Sam stifled a laugh, making no sound.
Likes to drink, huh?
And likes to drink with those two won—totally asking for it.
Cough cough.
"...Sorry, sorry, you really went through a lot, Officer Aurora. I'll make it up to you by treating you to a al next ti."
"Yeah right, what can a high school student treat to... making it up to ... forget it, just take care of my sister's issue properly, and that'll be thanks enough for last night's ordeal..."
"You drank too?"
Sam walked towards the bus station, which was already crowded.
"How could I not! Those two won... they have no restraint when they drink. If I didn't drink a bit, they would have finished all my bottles. I was afraid they'd die in my house!"
"Dead people in a house make it cheaper, you know."
"Is that the point?"
"Ha ha ha... sorry, you really went through a lot, Officer Aurora. I'll rember your kindness last night, grateful!"
"Cut the crap... I'm never getting involved in this kind of thing again. Let soone else help if they want."
"They're not at your place anymore?"
"They haven't even woken up! With all that they drank, it's a wonder if they could get up at all. I was one of the ones who drank the least... Ah, I've got to go to work now. Sam, you really are a troublemaker."
She hung up quickly.
It sounded like she was really in a rush.
Although Sam didn't ask what exactly those two did or said while drinking, from the tone of the conversation, it seed that things were miraculously moving in a positive direction. At least for today, Sam should be safe.
Could Zoe and Alice really have a good chat? Sam couldn't picture it; it felt almost disrespectful to the significance of these two female leads if no one ended up dead.
As the bus arrived, Sam boarded.
Amidst the crowded flow of passengers, he didn't see the girl he was looking for. As the bus swayed, Sam allowed his mind to drift montarily.
One can't be thinking all the ti; aside from sleeping, there are monts when the mind needs to be completely empty, though achieving total emptiness is a challenging feat.
As ti passes, one realizes that the hardest thing to achieve is a mind free of distractions.
Not only that.
It's all bloody distractions.
"Ah."
He sighed into the gloomy morning and then stepped into the campus that seed eternally youthful and vibrant, no matter the day.
———
"Huh? Where's Teacher Alice?"
"It seems Teacher Alice took a sick leave today. I heard a few teachers talking about it as I passed the office. They said she wasn't feeling well."
"Really? Studying is already so dull, and now even the only scenery worth seeing is gone. What's the point?"
"You could try looking at Sam, you know. Sam is quite a sight in our school too."
"Are you joking? I'm not gay!"
Sam already knew that Alice wouldn't be hosting the morning study session, which, of course, was good news for him. It at least spared him the awkwardness of the first day.
But still...
It's quite outrageous.
To have such powerful abilities and not use them to save the world, but for make love? Turning water into a water bed... man, that's too kind. If Sam had the superpowers of these female leads...
He'd probably turn into Anthony Stark on the first day.
"How odd."
Just as Sam was about to lay his head down on his books to catch so sleep, he heard Louis's whispering voice nearby.
Sam turned to look at him; the boy was eyeing him with a suspicious and sowhat suggestive gaze.
"What's odd?"
He couldn't have noticed sothing... could he?
"Didn't I see you going out to eat with them yesterday? How co Teacher Alice is off sick today?"
"...What did you see?"
Sam was suddenly wide awake, as if jolted from the brink of death.
Louis blinked.
"I was just hanging out at Seaview Park yesterday... and I happened to see you and a few others rushing off to eat. You were there... and Teacher Alice too, right? It was crowded so I didn't say hi, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't mistaken."
Sam imdiately asserted with righteous indignation.
"You got it wrong. I was at ho all day yesterday and didn't go out at all."
Louis squinted his eyes.
"Are you kidding ? You, staying ho quietly over the weekend? Even a dog wouldn't believe that."
"Well, you'll have to."
"Why... damn! You're the dog!"
"But I really didn't go out. I was ho playing gas all day."
"Hey, you played video gas all day? Why didn't you call to team up? My Yasuo is really good, I could have carried you to a win!"
Sam just smiled and then laid his head down to sleep.
Sure enough.
When he woke up, Louis seed to have completely dropped the issue of having seen Sam and Alice outside. People's attention can be easily diverted, and they can quickly forget what's important.
Especially Louis, who really didn't have much of an attention span to speak of.
By the ti they went to eat, it seed Louis had completely forgotten about the whole matter.
Just then...
"Holy smokes, isn't that... Sophie?" exclaid Louis.
"Chill out, man. Even Sophie needs to eat," Sam replied.
"But I've never seen her in the cafeteria before!"
"...Just like I've never seen you in the library, right?"
Despite his words, Sam couldn't help but look over.
There he saw Sophie with Thalia by her side. Thalia seed to be having a great ti, laughing and chatting while clinging to Sophie's arm. Of course, it seed to be all Thalia doing the talking and laughing.
As for Sophie, she looked quite uncomfortable, trying to wriggle out of the contact but seemingly unable to.
It was almost funny to watch.
"Sam, you womanizer, you even mock your best buddy for Sophie's sake," Louis said with a sarcastic tone.
Sam grabbed a fried chicken leg and placed it on Louis's plate.
"My bad, my bad. Here, take this as an apology."
"This doesn't have your saliva on it, right? But hey, I love chicken legs, hehe."
Watching Louis suddenly happy and eating without further outbursts, Sam silently sighed.
Why can't these girls be as easy to please as Louis?
At this mont, Sam's focus wasn't on eating. He was more concerned about the girl who usually ate alone in the study room. Now, it seed she finally had a friend to openly sit with in the cafeteria. The scene was sowhat poignant.
It was like watching his own daughter, whom he had raised, finally stepping onto a normal life path.
If only it could always be this way.
Making friends, engaging in normal social interactions, beginning to understand that happiness isn't sothing out of reach, but often well within grasp.
Just then...
The biggest lesson in life is that nothing ever goes smoothly; there are only brief monts of calm.
"Looks like you're having a great ti. Mind if I join you for lunch?"
Oh boy...
You guys must have planned this! Either you all show up together, or none at all!
Watching the scene that quickly drew the attention of nearly every male in the cafeteria, Sam's eyes twitched.
Sophie, who was about to bow her head and eat, reacted instinctively upon hearing that voice.
She lifted her head, gripped her spoon tightly, and furrowed her brow—all in one fluid motion.
"What if I do mind, Angel?"
Facing her was that insufferable girl, wearing her familiar, arrogant smile.
'Superior'...
'Annoying'...
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