Double Press - Luminary Novels

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“What—transfer students? Really?” I asked, not believing her the first time she said it. “Yup—a couple! Saw them with my own eyes.” Before I could think of opening my mouth to talk, she beat me to it. “The new guy’s handsome, like, Chris Evans handsome! And the girl’s pretty cute too. They’re like a celebrity couple!” Of course, they are. And it looks like you’re smitten by them too… I always appreciated my friend’s cheery tone. But when it comes to things like these, I don’t get why people get so riled up. “There’s still more than an hour before class starts. I heard a new café had opened up nearby. Let’s go?” My words linger in the air for a little while, my friend letting out a sigh at my change in topic. “You obviously can’t care any less about this, do you, Levi? But I don’t think I have anything better to do anyway. Lead the way!” The way her shoulders drooped down when she sighed – Her disappointment was clear because of my uninterest in what was happening. But that didn’t last for more than a second she heard my invitation, her eyes lit up, and the glee that I knew so much was back. Seriously, it doesn’t even take a nudge to cheer you up. My friend held on to my sleeve as we walked through and out of the school – another one of her gestures that grew on me over the years.

“Hey Levi, you’re the one who said we go to the café, right?” Slightly taken aback by her question, I stop momentarily and turn to my friend.

“Uh, yeah. Did you forget already?” “That’s not what I meant, idiot! I’m saying, since you were the one who said we go, this is on you! I don’t want this to be like the last time you brought us to that restaurant last week. Made me pay for everything, hmph!”

She poked at my sides while talking, quite hard. I laughed off her whining, but I knew what she was talking about – Last week we were at the restaurant that also just opened. That time I forgot my wallet at home so she paid for both our meals.
“I know, this one’s on me, okay? My treat.”
“It better be!” This time she poked my face, before clinging once again to my sleeve and forcing me to lead the way again.

The morning sky was still full sunny blue. And the walk to the café was as peaceful as when I was going to school this morning. Still, at a casual pace, my friend asked a question, breaking the silence after quite a while. “Hey Levi, how long have you been in Connect?” Her tone had an innocent curiosity, like a kid asking a question to one of their siblings. “Three years,” I reply flatly, not wanting to say too much. I wanted to savor the bits of silence within our words. Connect was the school’s newspaper committee. I started out doing small articles and a few bits of feature writing. But I became a department head after a year. “Um, do you think I could uh,” She starts, then pauses for a while. A tinge of nervousness can be heard in her tone, making me feel more interested in what she has to say. “Do you think I could join too? Like, if I would make the cut?” Her words were unexpected, to say the least. She always went away from tedious tasks she didn’t have to do. Considering it an ‘avoidable hassle’. But now, she sounded serious about her question, so I answered as honestly as I could. “Well, Aster, the work at Connect requires commitment. A lot of it. If you have that, the people there’d be happy to have you.” Still walking with me, my friend lets out a satisfied ‘oooh’. “I can do that! Without a doubt! I always saw you trying new stuff, so I think I’d give it a go too! So here’s my plan, I’m going to- mph!” Not noticing that I’ve already stopped walking, she bumps into me in the middle of a little speech. “Yup. You’ll be a perfect fit at the org.” I say, holding her in place – making sure she won’t drag me falling with her. “Hey! Why’d you stop all of a sudden?! You gotta be more aware of what’s around you, Levi! Don’t just go doing whatever you want whenever you feel like-” I put up a finger to shush her up, sensing an hour-long whine session should I not find a way to stop her mouth. “Aster, we’re here. The café I was talking about. Come on!” I opened the door to the café, gesturing for her to enter first. She just huffed at me again and proceeded to enter the café – dragging me by the sleeves. “Remember, this is your treat, Levi. I’m buying the most expensive drink they have and drain your wallet dry! Haha!”