All students exhaled a pent-up breath as the school's bell rang. This signals that the class is over. They all felt delighted as the last subject falls under Mathematics. Whose mind doesn’t bleed when learning that hard subject?
Aubrey bid farewell to her friends. She won't go with them because according to her mother’s promise, she will pick her up. After saying goodbye, she went down the building and went to the school cafeteria to grab something to eat.
Aubrey noticed the way people looked at her with adoration. This isn't new to her, in fact, this happens everyday. Aubrey is famous at this school. Most students know her for the reason that she is really beautiful.
She opened the door of the cafeteria as soon as she arrived there.
"We don’t have smaller bills, sir. Find a coin because we can’t give you change!"
What welcomed her inside the cafeteria is a shout from a worker. Unable to believe what she heard, her eyes squinted in anger. What kind of worker would yell at a customer? It’s true that not all times, customers are correct, but even if they are incorrect, is it appropriate to shout at them?
She approached the student it was shouting at. Her jaw dropped when she realized that it was Miller. "So it's you?" she said, not believing what she saw.
She no longer cared – she confronted the cashier yelling at Miller. "Ate, what's the problem? Is it necessary to shout?" she asked the cashier.
"We don't have any coins, Ma'am. Take a look." The cashier pulled out the storage of money and would even rub it in their faces if she had the chance. "We only have larger bills."
"And so? Is it really necessary to yell at the customer if you don't have a coin?" she argued. "You are working in a place where you provide fast service. You just have to be patient because the action you show your customer will backfire on you."
"Anyway, let's not stray from my point. Don't your co -workers have any coins?" The worker who shouted at Miller didn't answer and quickly turned away. From what she could see, the worker entered the warehouse. Soon, she came out of that room with money.
"Your co-workers have a coin and then you still want to cause a scene. Please be a responsible worker. I know it can be hard at times to deal with people but please, at least be nice. This guy is the chill-est guy I know and I don’t think he said anything bad to you."
The cashier handed the change to Miller. The young man took it and put it in his pocket. He confronted Aubrey.
"Thank you, but you didn't have to do that," Miller thanked.
Aubrey crossed her arms. "I have to do it, Miller. I think you're too kind to still let it go. I’d literally fight her if I was in your situation"
Aubrey's attention was focused on his hand. It was a cup of milktea.
"Nice," Aubrey smirked after realizing he ordered the same thing she bought for him earlier. "Didn’t you think it tasted like grass? You didn't have to be harsh on me if you actually liked it." She approached Miller and jokingly slapped his arm. He didn't respond.
"You were right about what you heard from me – it tastes like grass. I just tried because I might change my judgment." Miller turned away from Aubrey. "I am going home."
He left without hesitation. Aubrey watched him walk away. Although his approach was disrespectful, she still found him interesting. Something about him is engrossing - it looks like Miller is a book that every person in the library ignored. She wants to unfold the unopened pages in this young man's life that no one bothered to read.
~ • ~
The cold weather made it perfect for sleeping. Before stretching, Aubrey tore the pouch of the beauty face mask to get it out from the inside. She does this every day to make her complexion beautiful, and she was never disappointed with the result.
After she put it on her face, she threw herself on the bed. For the remaining time, she browses the internet while counting down the time before she peels the face mask out of her face. She uses this time to reflect. She never fails to do this everyday because this is her coping mechanism whenever something goes wrong that day or just to clear her mind.
As she began to reflect on what happened that day, she remembered Miller. To be completely honest, she was captivated by his mysterious aura. Miller in general is an enigma himself. Just thinking about how he has no friends in this school bothers her a lot. How could he live without a single person to lean on?
Since Aubrey is also on the Facebook application, she clicked on the search box. She typed "Miller Benedict Aquino" and a profile appeared. An account revealed that the last post was still 2016. The moment she situated her eyes on the profile picture, she knew it was the Miller she was looking for. He clicked on this profile picture and looked at the young man's face.
In the photo, he is wearing a blue green colored shirt. It is posed with his hand on his right shoulder. His bangs were slightly divided in the middle, revealing a small portion of his forehead. His hair is very long in this photo in comparison to the length of his hair currently which is slightly shorter. Another thing that caught Aubrey's attention was the piercings the young man was wearing here. In that picture, the young man looks like the Asian version of Leonardo DiCaprio.
Even though he looks good in that photo, Aubrey still can’t deny that there is “something” unique about this man. When she last observed his eyes, they were hollow. In this picture, that hasn't changed. The vast emptiness in his eyes are slowly swallowing her, making her more curious to know him better.
She had already stopped looking at Miller's profile picture. She went back to his profile and clicked the "add friend" button. She put the phone down on the side and stared at the wall. To his surprise, there was an immediate notification. She grabbed her phone and looked at the notification bar.
Miller Benedict Aquino accepted your friend request.