Lilith's POV:
SHE. HELD. MY. HAND.
Gosh, what happened to "everything will be fine, I'll just ignore her"? I forgot all about that when I saw her. Oh my god, that was so stupid. I looked up at her as we were getting checked in. Her usually long, messy hair was swept up in a high ponytail. Her pale skin glistened under the fluorescent lights, like reflective crystals.
I was so mesmerized by the humanisation of elegance presented before me that I barely realized that we had already passed the check-in. However, I jolted back to reality when Hui Jie suddenly waved aggressively in front of my face.
"Hello? Hello? Lilith?"
"Huh, what," I blabbered like an idiot.
"The old hag said we could walk around the terminal for a bit before boarding time," she said, peering at her phone's time display, " which is half an hour from now."
It took me a moment to completely regain my consciousness to figure out and register that "Old hag" meant our teacher.
"So...do you want to get Starbucks?" Hui Jie continued tentatively.
"Yeah sure," I replied blindly.
We strolled to the nearest coffee shop in awkward silence. None of us dared to initiate a conversation with the other. Hence it was just the seemingly loud thuds of my heavy shoes and the subtle rumbling of our luggage as we trailed them along.
[at Starbucks]
"Welcome to Starbucks, what may I get you?" the barista asked pleasantly as we walked in. I smiled weakly.
"A vanilla frappuccino with less ice, oat milk, and more whipped cream," I recited. "Please," I added. Hopefully, I didn't sound too entitled. I turned and stared at Hui Jie expectantly, waiting for her to order.
"I-uh..." she paused, "Caffè Mocha."
Wait, wasn't she allergic to chocolate?
When we received our drinks and got out of the small cafe, I questioned, " why did you order a chocolate drink? Aren't you allergic?"
"Well- yeah. I panicked, okay?" she fixed her eyes on the floor, her flushed cheeks indicating that she was embarrassed. I sighed.
"Here," I snapped. I took the drink from her grasp and replaced it with mine. "No chocolate."
She lifted her gaze to meet mine. "Oh...thanks," she said, giving me a grateful half-smile. I shrugged and continued walking back to the class's agreed assembly point.
