AGNES

"Let's just sleep inside the storeroom. It's quite cold out here," Felix says.

"Are you for real?! You want me to sleep inside that small cubicle with you?!"

"We don't have that much of an option. Would you rather sleep out here? The weather can get quite unfriendly at night."

"Pfft. Tell me what I don't know. I bet you must be so happy."

My phone battery is flat and I don't think there is a charger anywhere around here. Tessa, Xian and Yvonne started this brilliant plan but didn't think it through to the end, and now, here I am stuck in a situation I wasn't ready to be in in the first place.

On the contrary, Felix is right. I can't sleep here and I really want to go in, but a helpless part of me gives that offer a second thought.

No! He won't do anything to me. He looks tired and sleepy anyway. Besides, Felix... no, why am I reading too much into it? I'm too tired to fight with myself or anyone at this point.

"So, are you joining me or not?" Felix stands by the door. He has already cleared out the room, creating a sleep-able spot at the corner. I study the spread out tarpaulin on the ground with an unpalatable eye.

"Don't tell me we're going to sleep on that."

"If you're going to be a noblewoman and get all picky tonight, that's your call. I'm too tired all I need right now is a good night rest."

"I was actually concerned about you," I lie. "For a person like you who lives in a glass house, this is quite the downgrade."

"Don't worry about me. I didn't spend the early half of my childhood in a glass house."

"Hm. You must have an intriguing story then."

"Well, not all that intriguing, more like tragic."

I laugh softly, "so you can tell me about it. I love hearing about tragic bedtime stories."

He laughs too.

The night grows quieter as the blistering winds start to take its toll. After he steps inside to put some more junk in order, I follow to reserve for myself a good spot on the makeshift floor bed. "I am going to regret this."

Felix faces me sharply. "Regret sleeping beside me or regret sleeping on the tarp?"

Yeah, that. But he is not going to hear it coming from me. "Regret what I will do to Yvonne, Xian and Tessa once we get out of here."

"How unfortunate," he chuckles.

Soon, I lie down on the tarp, literally feeling the concrete floor on my back. It certainly won't be a pretty sleep, but I'll need my energy to teach my friends the lesson of their lives.

*

A smell of someone's breath on my face wakes me up the next morning. My side is pressed up against the floor. As I flutter my eyes open, the first thing I look at is a set of pale pink lips static close to my near vision. My eyes wander about those lips and how cute they are, until my mind spools and I recall where I am.

Felix!

I sit upright quickly, finding his shirt spread out on my upper body. I hope I didn't snuggle in my sleep. The thought of it makes me shiver on the floor.

Though he is kind of endearing when he sleeps, I can't help but notice something astonishingly revolting – drool dripping from his lips above a puddle of saliva.

Ew! This isn't an everyday habit, right?

Beyond the sight of extreme grossness, I get to see his bare body for the first time. His athletic muscles, the glossy skin of his chest so smooth as sweat trickles down effortlessly on the black coloured tarpaulin we've been laying on for the past seven to eight hours. Even his dishevelled dark brown hair for some reason is gorgeous to look at in the morning.

Alright, I'm done. That is enough nudity for my innocent mind, and before I start to create any perverse thoughts, I give back his shirt to cover him up.

While he sleeps uncomfortably, I use part of his shirt to rub off the saliva hanging on the side of his mouth. I even attempt to move his head up a bit but that eventually brings him back to the land of the living.

"Mm..." he says sleepily.

"Good morning."

He adjusts his head position and lets out a loud scream. As mischievous as I'd like to be, I watch him adapt to the pain.

"You must've dreamt about something nice."

He stares at me with a lost in a fantasy posture, and like every kind-hearted person, I return the same look, but his ignorance to what is sticking on his face forces me to break character before he realizes the situation. "Oh shit!"

I laugh my gut, seeing him wipe off the leftover saliva on his lips with the back of his hand.

"Oh man! You're pure evil!" He disses, but I still tease him. "And if you keep on laughing, I'll kiss you on your lips."

Instantly, the laughter ceases.

I choke back on my riposte as an awkwardness that doesn't sit right with me drifts in between. I clear my throat. "We better leave."

"Right," he decides and helps me up on my feet. Before I open the door to leave the storeroom, he holds my hand from behind. "Thank you for this second chance. I promise you from now till forevermore, I'll never disappoint you again."

His electric touch directs shudders through me. I turn back with a smile that cannot be helped. "Wear your shirt. Those friends of yours will be back any minute and I want to reprimand them seriously."

He lets go. "Go easy on them."

I finally open the door. Simultaneously, the one to the garage rolls up.

"Oh my god!!! We're so sorry we kept you guys inside the..." Yvonne trails off as she sees what she sees.

And what did they see? Yvonne, Tessa and Xian hastily enter the garage at the same time. They see me stepping out of the storeroom, grinning my face off and Felix following behind, wearing his shirt, seeming to whisper sweet nothings in my ear.

"What happened?" Tessa asks, a bit surprised, or scared maybe.

The look on their faces, a mixture of shock, fear and inquisition. It cracks me up so hard, a peek from Felix and we burst out laughing.

"Okay, no seriously, what happened?" Yvonne asks.

"Nothing happened," Felix answers them while he adjusts his collar.

Oh right! I'm supposed to be angry at them for locking me in here all night. "Three of you! How could you keep me stuck in here all night?" I try to make-believe my anger. "What if I was dying from claustrophobia, or worse, starvation?"

"Seems like our plan worked alright," Xian says casually.

"You can say that again," Felix responds.

"Shut up, Felix." I prod him on his side. He isn't even making the situation less weird.

"But seriously, what really happened?" Yvonne asks again.

Okay, this is getting tiring. What happened this, what happened that...? I'm already sick of it. Or what precisely are they thinking? "Felix already told you, didn't he? Nothing happened!"

"Yikes! That seems too good to be true," Tessa says to Yvonne.

"Yeah," she responds. "We wanted you guys to reconcile alright, but now, I'm not so sure."

"Felix, what did you do last night?" Xian directs his blunt question towards him.

Is what I think they're thinking really what they are thinking? Oh, I see. Jeez! These debauched humans I call friends will never cease to amaze me.

"Damn you Xian!" Felix flares up. No one would have expected his next action when he tries to approach Xian with an attempt to punch him in the face.

"Felix!" I yank him back right before he delivers the punch. "Are you crazy?!"

"How could he ask such a question? What does he take me for?"

"He didn't mean it that way!"

Yvonne and Tessa stand by the corner to watch the entire scene with mouths agape. Xian looks at the rest of us, horrified to the bone. To have his best friend who is just like his brother attack him in such manner would be very devastating.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I... didn't mean to... I'm sorry," Xian stutters and makes a run for it.

"No! Xian, wait!" Felix calls after realizing what he's done.

*

Monday morning, Yvonne arrives early to wait for me before we head to school together.

Aunty Cherry came back from the seminar and not a word of what occurred on Saturday night was spoken of – if only it remained that way.

She walks out to meet Yvonne while she waits. "What happened in my absence, Yvonne, since Agnes doesn't want to tell me anything?"

"Aunt!" I scream. Ever since her return, she has been bugging me to narrate to her every single thing that happened while she was absent. She even mentioned Felix, but I made a decision to never tell her we shared the same bed, or slept in the same room for a night. That'll only make her pull out her hair – and possibly mine, too.

"Nothing much, I'm afraid," Yvonne answers.

"Did Felix come by to disturb my niece?" Aunty Cherry asks.

"Come on, aunt!" I interject their conversation, a required course of action to take to hopefully put an end to this matter. "I'm not a little baby anymore. I can take care of myself even in your absence. You don't have to watch over me like a hawk."

"If that's what it'll take to stop Felix or anybody from hurting you, I'll do it."

"I really do appreciate your sweetness but I can handle myself too, you know."

"Oh! So you must've forgiven him."

"How'd you know?" Yvonne buds in, uninvited.

"Just take a look at the sparkles in her eyes, and the brightness on her face. Her warm smile too is back."

"Seriously, aunt!" I say coldly, meanwhile in my head and heart, I'm blushing away.

"Stop acting like a drama queen. I know you've reconciled with Felix."

What I've tried to keep a secret since yesterday till now, Yvonne manages to divulge it. "It's not a big deal."

Aunty Cherry smirks, "see! It didn't need much persuasion."

"So, you're not mad at Agnes?" Yvonne asks.

"I'm mad actually. She took this long to forgive him."

"Aunt, we have to go now. We are running late for school." This mushiness from aunty Cherry, I don't think I can take it any longer. It's starting to get too eerie for my comfort.

"What about—"

"Bye...!" I rush out, and Yvonne follows behind.

* # * #

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