Secluded

Secluded

Chapter Three

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"No!"

"Tell me"

"Never"

"Come on."

"Are you just here to make me spill everything?"

"Oh,yes"

"Still a no"

"aww.. Come on"

"..."

"Please?"

Levana sighed. Dysis arrived when they were about to kiss. Oh, yes. If someone would tell someone that something exactly like that happened, they'd think that it's so cliché. Well, it is. That's so cliché, It always happens in the movie. Oh, God. She might be an actress in some world. Stop the crazy talk.

Levana gave up and sighed. Dysis kept on annoying her about spilling what just happened. She owes Dysis a lot anyways. Dysis was going to sleep with her for the night and Azaiah was fine with staying on the couch which she immediately agreed about.

"It was...it was an accident" Levana started. "He scared the crap out off me. I was scared while we were watching Ju-On and he surprised me."

A smile crept on Dysis' face. "Go on"

"I was actually embarrassed. And in a moment of seconds, My eyes became teary. You know? I was trying to put on a brave act there" Levana sighed and remembering that memory gave her a frown. "He knew I was pretty upset though, then he started to tickle me . Kicked him off. Fell to the floor , dragging me with him but he wouldn't stop tickling. Then there"

"So...was it good?"

"It's so cliché" There goes the word again. She rolled her eyes. “When we were about to kiss, you went in the scene. It never happened" Paused. "Which I was glad" Levana muttered then covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to ruin your moment. It seems so fast though."

"Well..."

"He likes you for years. I understand" She said smiling.

"How come I never knew?" Shock was with Levana.

"We're good hiders"

"I see." Silence. "Hey! You told me you are going to let me see what is beyond those walls!!!"

"Well , yeah. A trap" Dysis chuckled.

"You tricked me pretty good there" Levana said, scowling.

Dysis yawned and said "Come on let's go to sleep" and Levana agreed almost immediately.

Levana's glad that her best friend, Dysis was here with her. For this day to pass. It helped her a lot .

-*-*-*-*-*-

Levana woke up because Dysis smacked her on her stomach. Well, not on purpose but accidentally. Dysis is really. As in, really fidgety when she is asleep. At least, she has time to cook for the three of them. She planned on cooking eggs and bacon for breakfast. And of course, Coffee will never be forgotten.

When she was about to go out of bed, Dysis accidentally kicked her back, making her fall backwards and back to bed. Oh, Levana wished that she could tie Dysis up.

"Dysis!" She whispered like a mom- I mean... err. Never mind- who wants her child to behave.

Once again, she tried to get out of bed and succeeded. She went out of the room as quietly as possible and tried to peek inside the Living room. Azaiah was still asleep and she was glad.

She's glad that no one would disturb her while she cook and brew some coffee.

As usual, she did everything by herself and luckily, As time reached six o'clock, Both of her visitors woke up because of the loud alarm clock.

"Rise and shine!" Levana said as her two best friends was already in sight.

Azaiah and Dysis just sat there, at the dining table, sleepily as they cupped their faces, trying to cover their eyes to get more sleep. Levana placed a cup of coffee in front of them but they didn't take it at all. Maybe they were half-awake and half-asleep.

"Hey!" Levana said a little louder. "Drink coffee. We have school, remember?"

"Buuuuut..." Dysis said wearily. Her voice fainted.

"I'm too sleepy. Can we skip a period or two?" Azaiah mumbled.

"I swear to God that I will get a bucket of cold Ice cubes and put it all over the two of you" Levana said and she knew that she's gonna do it. "I swear" She said again.

"Okay. okay" The both of them said in chorus.

The three of them drank the coffee and one by one, they took a bath. Last night, Dysis have her clothes because she had gone to her house to get them. Dysis, of course, while waiting, she just listened to her music. Sound trip.

It was snowing heavily in the morning and she knew that Dysis and Azaiah wished that there will be no school or it'll get suspended. Well, the prediction happened.

"So, what now?" Levana said, bored.

"I wonder. Anything in mind?" Dysis said.

Azaiah was the last one to take a bath and he didn't know that school's out. Dysis and Levana heard it faintly on her radio. She never paid attention to it at all.

She made a mental note.

Conserve Electricity. Plug off gadgets or equipments if not used.

When Azaiah went out, He already wore his School uniform and currently drying his hair with the damp cloth- or rather, towel. He shifted his eyes at his best friend and Girl friend - though he still thinks it is awkward to call her that but she's proud of it- , Azaiah saw that they wore their usual home clothes and they weren't in a hurry to change.

"No school?" He asked immediately and the both of them nodded.

"Awesome!" He said nodding in approvement. Then silence.

Levana and Dysis just stared into nothingness, bored as hell.

"What now?" Azaiah said, sitting beside them. They stared at each other for a whole minute. What to do? It was getting boring.

Levana wished that there would be classes and she wished her friends regret wishing for suspension. It's really boring.

Yeah, they can go there through the snow but she never wanted to catch a cold at all. But her best friends would risk it.

Nothing else to do, they just sat there and drank coffee. They just watched television and suddenly, Azaiah stood up and jumped. Looking at him as if he was weird and not normal, he never cared.

"I know what to do!" Azaiah said, grinning.

"What?" The two girls said in chorus.

"Let's go out!"

"But where?"

"Somewhere..."

"It's snowing hard, my friend" Dysis said, frowning.

"Who cares? It's like Last Man Standing but with two girls" He reasoned out.

"Very funny" Levana said, sarcastically.

"No, really." He said giving Levana his "puppy dog eyes" which made Levana look the other way.

"Please?" He pleaded.

"No" the girls said once again.

"ow, C'mon!"

"Still...No" Dysis said as she stressed 'No'.

"Why not?"

"It's too cold out there" Levana said, folding her arms against her chest.

"You want me to hug you while you walk then?" He said, eyebrows raised and with a smirk then a smile lightened his face.

"Uhmm..." Levana faked thinking "No" Then smiled innocently.

"You are such a..."

"Such a what?" She intervened.

"One Hell of a girlfriend" He said, smiling.

Dysis smiled and winked at Levana and shoved her elbows to Levana's sides. Levana smiled but she didn't blush- or did she?

"Haha." Levana said slowly as she faced the floor, hiding a frown.

"ow, Why did my little girl frown?" Azaiah said as he touched Levana's chin but she gently pushed it off.

"Because... "She paused "You used Hell instead of Heaven and it's like you're saying..."

"Oh, I didn't mean that." He said. "What I mean is, you are one of a kind for me"

"You should've used Heaven though" Levana pouted and Azaiah shifted his eyes on her lips. Unconsciously, her lips slightly parted.

Azaiah inched a little bit closer to Levana. In the corner of Levana's eye, she knew Dysis was grinning at them as she waited. When Azaiah was in kissing distance, she pushed Azaiah away and said "No" but gave a smile instead.

"But why not?" Dysis said. Shouldn’t be that Azaiah should be the first one to ask? A frown appeared on her face.

"Because, it's just the second day. That's not in my dictionary" Levana reasoned out.

"It is in movies" Dysis justified.

"I'm no actress, Dysis"

"And I thought I was watching a romance or drama movie" Dysis mumbled as she placed her arms against her lap and slumping.

Azaiah scratched his head and said "I'll respect you then. Don't worry."

"You should" Dysis muttered.

She wasn't up for romance. Yet. She felt no spark at first but what if? A little hope might give the answer away. She only needs to wait a little longer. Was she too impatient? It had been two days when they started being together though. Was it worth it? What if she said no instead of yes?

She thought of many possible things that might've happened when she said no. The worst case scenario was Azaiah drifting away from her slowly and call it as Friends Out. His-or maybe her- aloofness would cause them to stop communicating and they will never be best friends like they used to.

She never knew what will happen if she said yes. This was her first and she knew she's inexperienced in this kind of stuff; relationship.

Levana woke up from her thoughts when she heard a ring. Dysis' cell phone.

"Oh, hold on." Dysis said, fishing for the cell phone in her pocket. When she finally found it, She answered the call "Hello?"

Levana and Azaiah was watching-or maybe hearing- the conversation.

"Oh, okay. I'll be on my way" Dysis said as she put her cell phone back in her pocket, grinning. "My mom. I need to go"

"Oh, okay. Then maybe we could hang out next time" Levana said.

Dysis stood up from the couch and drank coffee until the last drop. She walked out of the hole in the arched wall which led her out off the living room. After a couple of seconds- or minutes- Dysis went back to the living room and asked Levana if she could borrow one of her furry, thick coat because it was snowing heavily, her teeth was chattering. Of course, Levana accepted her request and told her to pick the one she wanted to use. She went back in the living room and grabbed one of Levana’s leathery brown coat and went.

Levana and Azaiah was thinking about something; Where to go to have fun.

“Paintball?” Azaiah asked.

“No”

“Basketball?”

“No”

“Chess?”

“No”

“Darn” Azaiah said, frowning then silence.

After a couple of minutes of thinking, Levana leaped as an idea arose from her mind.

“I know what to do” She said, grinning in excitement.

“What is it?”

“Just come with me” She said in front of his face, smirking.

She grabbed his hands (not the couple kind of hold where the fingers are interlaced but the hold that looks like a hand shake) pulling him to his feet as she led him to who-knows-where.

Azaiah grinned as Levana dragged him. He knows where she’d take him.

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“Ow, Levana… stop” He hauled.

“Never”

“Lev, Be gentle”

“Then keep quiet” Levana banged his head.

“But it hurts” He rubbed his head.

“Shut up and let me do my job” She lifted her head to face Azaiah then glared. After a few seconds, she continued.

Azaiah sighed deeply “You’re going to make me..aah!” She hit him again.

“You deserve it” She said without raising her head, but an evil smile crept to her face which Azaiah noticed.

“Really? Oh, please. I know that I don’t deserve that. It hurts and it’s hard, you know?” He said as he rubbed his head back and forth.

“That was to put some senses in your brain. You kept on disturbing me and I badly wanted to read” Levana pouted.

“Aww… You are so cute when you are upset” He cooed, with a motherly tone where you want a baby to laugh.

“Shut up” She glared at him.

Azaiah smirked and pinched Levana’s rosy cheeks. “For a second, I thought you were going to rape me”

“W-what?! I didn’t! What’s wrong with you” Levana said in a harsh whisper. Some people gave them death glares which she noticed “and would you keep your voice down.”

“Yeah, I know they’re looking this way but who cares?”

“For God’s sake, Azaiah, This is a library. You should keep your mouth shut or else…”She trailed off thinking for the consequences.

“Or else what, Little Levy?” He teased. He knew that she hates being called Little Levy. She isn’t little at all. Well, talking about Levana and Azaiah’s height, Azaiah’s taller.

“Don’t call me that!” She snapped as she shoved an elbow to Azaiah’s stomach.

“Shh” Someone said from a distance.

“Shh!” Azaiah said back, a little louder. Though, Levana didn’t know if it was for her or for the person from a distance.

Azaiah suddenly pulled Levana to her feet, Levana didn’t register quickly that Azaiah’a fingers was tangled with hers and for the first time, she actually felt warmth on her cheeks.

“Wh-where are we going?” Levana asked.

“At the back part of the store.” He said and then continued as he face Levana “So that I could annoy you more and less people would bother hushing me”

“Oh, great!” She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

When they reached the back, it was quieter and it is a good place to read a book. Levana sat on the floor Indian style and Azaiah followed as well.

“So, I’m going to annoy you” He started.

“Shh” She said as she let go of his hand, untangling their fingers.

“No letting go” He grabbed her hand immediately. She tried to shove his hand but he is too strong. He knew he needs revenge. He made an evil smile that she didn’t notice.

“Oh, God. Stop that” Levana said.

“No” He stuck his tongue out.

She did the same “You’re a jerk sometimes”

“Sometimes but not always” He placed his occupied hand on his chest, Levana almost fell.

“Hey!” She hissed as she maintained her balance.

“Hmm?” He batted his eyelashes innocently.

“Let go!”

“No”

“I swear I am going to kill you” She threatened.

“That’s not a good joke, Little Levy” He said as he raised his pointer finger.

“If you won’t shut up I will…”

“You will?” He interjected, smirking.

“I’ll hit you”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t guys hit on girls?”

“That’s not what I meant” She did a face palm.

“Oh, puh-lease, we all know you want to hit on me” He said arrogantly as he wiggled his eyebrow with a smirk.

“Oh puh-lease” She mocked. “We all know no one likes you “She grinned though she knew it wasn’t the best combat ever.

“Except you, my little cupcake” He held her chin. She stuck his tongue out.

“Maybe” She faked thinking. She liked him as a best friend but she knew it was slowly developing. Her love for him was getting deeper but not that deep for now. Levana was scared if she fell in love but she could at least try.

As he pouted, He said “What?”

Slowly, she said “I said maybe”

“I…” He started “don’t believe in you”

“I’m just kidding” She laughed, shaking her hand.

“Hit me now” He said, expression hardened. She knew he was hiding a smile behind that mask.

“Screw you”

“Please do”

They faced each other then grinned.

"The two of you...stop grinning. You two looks like psychos" A familiar voice said at a distance.

Ezana stood from a good two feet away from them and she was with Dysis.

"Hey, Dysis. You said your mom called!" Levana said giving her a frown.

"Luckily my mom called me for shopping. I told her if I can stroll around the mall and here it is... Right in front of me. Flirty people" Dysis reasoned out.

"Yeah right"

"I know"

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The days went by pretty fast. Levana was back to her house as night falls and she crashed into bed right away. Tomorrow was another day for her to spend and she wished classes will be resumed.

As Levana knew, Shouldn't students hate school? She knew she was different but she knew when people heard about her life they'd think it is a boring life but she seems to enjoy it.

She chuckled to herself. It's just because she liked school because it gave her a small hint about what is behind those walls. She knew about Ecosystems (of course, which was for Grade school) and she'd expect that that is the things that she'll see behind those walls.

She closed her eyes and wished for something different and more challenging tomorrow but she wished she'd never regret it.

The next day, when she woke up, the town announced the death of one of their townspeople.

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