The mont Arthur uttered her na, Stella was surprised.
At first she had been prepared to give the staring man a piece of her mind, but then changed that thought after realizing he was familiar with her.
'Do I know him?' Stella wondered.
"You're… Stella, aren't you?" Arthur asked directly this ti.
"Yes… Do we know each other?" Stella questioned in confusion.
"Haha, yeah… we do, or rather we used to." Arthur wondered if it could even be called a friendship at this point.
It had been many years, after all. For him, it was literally over fifteen years since he had last seen her. It was more than enough ti for most people to forget, especially if they had only t at a young age.
"We did?" Stella furrowed her brows.
She glanced at the young man again, trying to rember. His slim build looked like he hadn't gotten to eat well, or perhaps he was simply soone who didn't gain weight. Regardless of what it might be, she could tell from his look that he had genuinely known her and wasn't pretending.
"Yes." Arthur was doubtful about telling her about it again but reckoned he should do it. 'What use would it be for to return to the past, if I don't take the chance to change it?' Arthur questioned himself.
"We… used to play together once upon a ti. About a decade ago." Arthur replied. "I am Arthur from the orphanage." He introduced.
Hearing that, Stella had a visible reaction.
"Arthur?! The child from the playground!" Stella said out loud enough that the others in the restaurant looked over at her.
"You rember?" Arthur said, also noticing that the others were looking at them now.
Stella felt the looks on her too and thought of sothing. "Co over here. The table is half empty." She gestured to the seat in front of her.
"Alright," Arthur said with a smile, thinking that it was better to eat with soone. "We won't have to talk out loud this way, haha." He said.
"Yeah… the people should stop staring now." Stella chuckled before looking at Arthur. "So it really is you… it has been a long ti." She muttered.
"I'm surprised you still rembered ." Arthur said genuinely.
"How can I forget? It was one of the best tis of my childhood." Stella replied.
"I guess I can say the sa." Arthur agreed.
It was one of the happy mories he had from his childhood and he would have never suppressed them if not for the pain associated with abandonnt. Then there was the fact, he had been busy with his life's struggles, not having much ti to think about others.
"It sure has been a long ti though… I never expected I'd get to see you again." Stella stated, with a hint of lancholy.
" neither," Arthur replied before a challenging thought appeared in his mind. "Why did you… why did you stop coming to play?" he finally asked the question that had been bugging him.
"I…" Stella hesitated for a bit before speaking. "I moved away." She stated.
"I see… well that is normal. People move away all the ti." Arthur justified it for himself.
"Though I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before leaving," Stella added, knowing that it was not the right thing. "But it all happened so suddenly, I didn't even know about it before Dad said we needed to move right away." She revealed.
"It's okay." Arthur didn't mind her reasons for moving. "I'm just pleased that I got to et you again. That's all that matters." He said with a smile.
Hearing that, Stella didn't know why but she felt calm.
'Was I harboring guilt all this ti?' She wondered.
While she could admit, she hadn't thought about Arthur much over the years; it was also due to the fact that it had been a long ti. Plus, she didn't even know much about him other than his first na and the fact that he had lived at an orphanage.
Being kids, there wasn't much that they cared about asking after all. It wasn't sothing that could be blad on either of them.
"Well, considering we've t. Why don't I treat you?" Stella suddenly said, wanting to do sothing.
"You sure?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah!" Stella replied.
And as if on cue, the waiter had arrived.
"Uh, do you wish to eat on this table, sir?" The waiter was a bit confused.
"Yes! He'll be joining !" Stella quickly said.
"That's right." Arthur also gave his approval.
"Alright, sir." The waiter said before placing the set al that Arthur had ordered.
"Do you wish for to cook, sir?" the waiter asked.
"Nah, it's fine. We'll do it ourselves." Stella interjected. "It'll be more that way." She added.
"Yeah, we'll just do it ourselves." Arthur agreed.
Originally he'd have let the waiter cooked, but now that he had a friend to talk to, this would indeed be better.
"Enjoy your al then, sir." The waiter said with a smile before leaving.
"Let's get to cooking! You look like you need lots of at." Stella said. "You're barely skin and bones." She added.
"Ah yeah… I hope to change that." Arthur was in agreent and wasn't offended.
"Are you one of those that don't gain weight no matter how much they eat kinda people?" Stella asked.
"Uhh… more like I just haven't eaten that much." Arthur replied.
"Good! If you were, I'd be too envious!" Stella said with a pout.
"Haha." Arthur couldn't help but laugh seeing her expression.
"Co on, let's get to cooking." Stella said as she picked up a few cuts of the pork before placing it on the grill.
Arthur also did the sa, and the two quickly embroiled in it. They also talked along the way, telling each other about how things had gone in their life.
"What happened after I left?" Stella asked while flipping a piece of at.
"Well… life continued as usual at the orphanage till last year." Arthur replied. "Once I turned seventeen, I had six months to leave the orphanage and find a place to live." He added.
"You didn't try to a college?" Stella asked curiously.
"If I could, I would have." Arthur shook his head. "Unfortunately, it wasn't for ."
"Don't orphans get fully paid scholarships for college too?" Stella wondered if it was a matter of being able to afford.
"Those are limited… to the best performing orphan students," Arthur told her the truth. "I am not one of them. And besides… the number of those scholarships is already stretched thin." He added.
"I'm sorry…" Stella didn't know what else to say.
"It's fine. I've gotten over it." Arthur replied. "Besides, I have a different plan for myself." He added before flipping a piece of at and adding it to Stella's plate.
"You should eat first." Stella said, seeing that he had served her.
"More will be ready in a few seconds. Don't worry." Arthur said, changing the topic.
But Stella wasn't one to back down and gave Arthur so of her own beef. "You should try this too. It's good!"
"Sure!" Arthur wasn't one to deny free food.
The two got to eating, and the conversation stopped for a minute.
"What do you do now?" Arthur asked, feeling curious.
"Ah, I'm just in University," Stella replied.
"University? This early?" Arthur was surprised.
As far as he could tell, most students first went to college for two or three years, depending on their field of study. Then they could enter the University for higher studies. Considering that most students finished college at eighteen or nineteen, he was usurped that Stella was already in it.
'She was the sa age as . If she's already in a University that ans…' Arthur thought of sothing.
"I finished college early when I was sixteen," Stella confird Arthur's thoughts.
"You're surely smart." Arthur couldn't help but say.
"Of course!" Stella proudly said. "Like father like daughter."
"Oh?" Arthur was intrigued by that. 'Now that I think of it… I never asked what her father did,' He recalled.
"Yeah, since Dad finished his college and university early too, I gotta do the sa. I cannot lag behind him." Stella said with confidence.
"That reminds … what does your dad do?" Arthur asked.
"He's a researcher," Stella replied.
"Makes sense now." Arthur nodded his head. "A daughter of a researcher is bound to be smart." He had wished to ask more but reckoned it wouldn't be appropriate to pry into personal matters this early.
It was better for it to happen later on since they had just t. Arthur didn't wish to sour the friendship that had just started to be rekindled after all.
"What do you do while on the sa topic?" Stella asked, feeling curious. "If it is fine for you to say."
Arthur thought about what he should say to her, as he couldn't just say he was playing a ga for money.
"I'm a ga strategy writer." He said, after thinking for a bit.
Reviews
All reviews (0)