Warfare Between Lost Hearts

EPISODE THIRTEEN: Catastrophe

It was a very pleasing Saturday and the birds were chirping and the sun was shining at its full radiance. Not a moment later, a sound of alarm awakened a young lady who was covered with a blanket and a facial mask for her daily skin care routine. She brushed her hair and headed to her shower room to start the day. It was the most exciting day for Rhianna —she never dated any man ever since she was in junior high. Because of her obsession with science and her nerdy aspects, she was often called a weirdo back then.

Although her appearance and personality was never the reason she’s bullied; after all, there should be no reason to bully. One is just an asshole for making an excuse to ruin someone’s life, therefore, a bully is a bully.

After all those setbacks and bullying, she was encouraged to do her skin care routine and daily exercises. She got her braces removed and started to wear contact lenses. With her massive weight loss, guys often drooled on her when she completely transformed into a very beautiful woman, your typical beauty and brains. But all of this was done for the sake of other people’s pleasure and satisfaction. All she did was to conform to the society’s beauty standards. Although she was still an introverted girl, she never had anyone else to date with. Now that she had one, she put extra effort on her clothes and make up.

On the other hand, the lover boy was getting ready as well. He put on the best shirt he got as well as his favorite jeans and white shoes; getting nervous about the upcoming doom. Shino tended to get really nervous around Czar and couldn’t focus on his work.

“So the reason why he didn’t tell us about the incentives was because he knew I would fail the experiment. Sneaky little Zhackary. But… I guess I should thank him”, Shino told himself while staring at his reflection in the mirror. 

They both got out of their rooms at the same time as early as 3:00 pm while the meeting time was at 4:00 pm.

“How pathetic of you, you so excited you can’t even wait until your meeting time”, Rhianna let out a smug smile while looking pretty in her blue dress and in a white sweater. She took off her eyeglasses and decided not to wear them for the rest of the day. 

“What about you? I never saw that shade of lipstick before. It must’ve been your most treasured matte lipstick”, examined Shino who was obviously annoyed by the girl’s greeting. 

“Oh shut up! You don’t really know me.” They took more time as they observed each other.

“Well… I think you look good”, Shino said as a compliment to his best friend but with a bit of a sarcastic tone to piss her off during the day. 

“Oh geez thanks. You as well”, Rhianna was fond of the greetings and was more proud for her to meet Nix; also answering ‘normally’ to cheer up her buddy.  

They smiled at each other and decided to head on to each meeting place. Rhianna meets her crush Nix on the southern side of the base. They decided to meet at this place because it was safer and there was no open restaurant in the whole city. Nix set up a blanket on the grass fields for them to sit down. In the distance was the sun setting surrounded by its crimson aura.

He stood up and assisted Rhianna to sit down holding her hand. Rhianna flustered under the makeup blush covering her bare skin as she witnessed her gentleman prepare some sandwiches.

“So, uhmmm… I heard that you did an exceptional job at your faction. Do you mind sharing it with me?”, Nix asked as an opening for the conversation. 

“Oh about that, I really think we should keep it to ourselves to keep everyone safe. It's not because we have trust issues but safety precautions”, Rhianna immediately replied as she was glad for Nix’s praise. 

“Ohh okay okay. No biggie. But since you did really well, here… this is my gift for you”, Nix handed a personalized bracelet with Rhianna’s name written perfectly. “I made that myself… I hope you like it.”

Rhianna examined the bracelet. It was made up of colorful yarn with a reasonably-sized prism in the middle. “It’s so beautiful. Is it really for me?”

“Yes. And if you let the sun rays hit it, it will reflect a rainbow”, He said as he raised her hands and let the sun ray hit then a colorful ray was reflected. 

“Oh my gosh, is this a prism? How did you manage to make it as small as this?” Rhianna was so surprised that she thought it was a regular crystal shaped bead. 

“Well... I think I put in a lot more effort than usual…” Nix said after a little realization that just lit up inside his head. He turned to the girl’s direction with a subtly fazed expression.

“Eh???... Thank you!”, she gave her warmest smile and at the same time, Nix flustered. He suddenly felt the need to put a little distance between them.

“Why is your face red?”, asked Rhianna who noticed his reaction. She knew what she did and was happy that she made a little opportunity to get a lot closer to him.

“N-No… It’s not.“

Rhianna blushed as she noticed his sudden change in way of talking. This was far more than the independent cool gentle man she met at the meeting day. But somehow, these characteristics made him more appealing to her eyes.

“Well, it’s just that… You were the first one to appreciate my little hobby. I was once considered a typical nerd when I was a child because of my obsession with different rock materials”, confessed Nix who was looking a bit troubled. “I kind of stopped doing these kinds of hobbies in high school.”

“Oh, tell me about it. I am also called a weirdo because of my appearance… not my whole personality.” Rhianna said to make Nix feel better. 

“Impossible, you were like the most beautiful girl I ever saw”, he giggled softly and looked at her straight in her eyes. 

Rhianna moved a lot closer to Nix and opened her phone. “Look, this is me three years ago. After all these work out and skin care routines, I became more beautiful.”

He examined the whole picture of her old self. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the picture. A little thought came to him, he frowned and face became a bit pale seeing it. However, he brushed it off to compliment her more, “You know what, I prefer you more on eye glasses and chubby cheeks.”

“Eh… you do?” Rhianna flustered that her blush blended with it. She couldn't believe his reaction. She was really nervous and scared that Nix would leave her after what he saw.

“Why did you show yourself just now… now that I look more different.” She felt a little down about it and at the same time, she feels more happy knowing that there is one person accepted for who she was. She felt a warm sensation on her chest and that made her mind in peace. 

“I am sorry I am late then. Hey, on our next date, can you wear those round eyeglasses of yours?” Nix asked with his heart skipped a beat asking for a request. 

Rhianna blushed out of embarrassment. She never met someone that appreciated her the most in her flaws. “Next date… you mean you want to hang out more?”

“Why not… I am enjoying this day, why not do it again? Of course, only if it's okay with you.” Nix suddenly felt uneasy as he thought that he was getting ahead of himself. 

“Yes, I would love to go on another day out with you.”

Their hearts raised so much that they could almost hear it. Both were beating in sync as well as the redness on their cheeks.

Suddenly, Rhianna felt a little bolder and tried to ask Nix if it's okay to lay her head down on his shoulders. As she rested her head, she couldn’t believe herself from being too comfortable around him. She felt tranquility, almost like there was no war happening right now. Nix began caressing her head, making her fall into a light slumber so fast. Nix looked out for her and didn’t move until she woke up.