The Elusive Prince

Chapter 31: Avoidance

Merideth

The rest of the half-day was spent with us playing different songs that we already knew how to play before. Our music teacher actually dropped by to check up on us and witnessed an impromptu play from Helena and Luna while we play them their "background music". The moment their eyes landed to our music teacher, who was looking amused by the door, we stopped playing. She just waved us off and told us to have fun then went out. We were silent for a few moments before we burst out laughing. Today was a calm and chill day and it alleviated the heavy mood yesterday. When you compare yesterday from today it would be polar opposites which makes me smile because it feels nice to go back to normal after that exhausting chain of events.

One person in particular though, seems to be slipping in and out from calm to miserable and said person was Cassian. After what I said to him during the break, I didn't talk or approach him again. I threw him a couple of short glances just to assess his reaction and in one moment he looked genuinely happy then as if remembering something, he will fall back to that hard and guarded expression. In short, I was concerned and I wanted to talk to him but seeing as I was pre-occupied with pouring myself into playing, I couldn't. And now even when we were in the mess hall, I was seated away from him because Levine dragged him to their seat, seemingly talking to him about something. He seemed distracted however but to the naked eye (aka oblivious people which in this case, is the majority of the class) he seemed fine and was paying attention.

I was so focused to trying to decipher what was wrong with Cassian that I didn't notice that I was staring and someone caught up on that. I only snapped out of my trance when I feel someone nudge me gently on the side and I turned around to look and saw Sumire looking at me with a strange glint in her eyes.

"Hey don't be so jealous...he literally spends half his time with you." she teased and I looked at her incredulously when it sunk into me what she was implying. She just cackled a bit and I almost smacked her but since we were having dinner and I was taught better on table manners, I just pinched her arm hard instead, which made her yelp and glare at me while rubbing the spot I pinched. I gave her a smug look and went back to eating. 

She just pouted and wanted to try and tease me more but stopped when she was me narrow my eyes at her as warning. She pouted even more before going back to eating, dejected. I huffed a little before going back to eating and let my thoughts wander on what Sumire just said.

First of all, I was not jealous about Cassian spending time with someone else, he has every right to do that. Secondly, we were just friends so why should I be jealous? Thirdly, I was concerned not jealous okay? I don't know how Sumire got that into her head but I wasn't jealous, understood?

Settling in, I joined in to some conversations going around the table. I can still feel Sumire looking at me though but I just ignored her. Cassian also didn't glance at our direction even just once and I don't know if it was because he was distracted or he didn't want to see my face at the moment. Or he just doesn't look at his classmates during meal time. We could never know.

After dinner, they decided to go on a walk like the last time. This time however, I didn't decline and so did some of those who didn't go that night. We were complete and we just strolled around the campus, sometimes bursting out laughing to the banter of Kellen and Luna, the sharp remarks of Helena, and Kairo making a fool out of himself.

The calm and almost cold night breeze washed out all of our fatigue and sadness from the past few days. If you look at us now, it looked like something didn't happen to us at all. Well if you look closely, there was something off and different within our class, but you would also see our bond go even deeper than before. In a way, that experience helped us become closer, although I'm sure that if we were given a choice, we wouldn't want that thing to happen again.

Around 30 minutes of our little stroll we decided to head back to the dorm since the wind was getting a little cold and Levine proposed that we should play a card game tonight. That got very enthusiastic response from the rest of the class as we hurried into our dorm.

Reiss and Layla went to grab the cards while Reagan and Spie set up the pillows and blankets on the floor to form a circle. The others were helping with setting up while some were in the kitchen, helping Helena with a fresh batch of macaroons and other pastries for the snacks. At one point, Sir Hexford checked on us and was even invited by Amity to play with us but he just scoffed and told us that he will catch on some rest instead. He also reminded us not to stay up too late and keep the noise to a minumum. We nodded and he was off to catch his beauty sleep. 

Meanwhile I was sitting on the couch, just scrolling mindlessly on my phone. I was currently texting with Freida, who was checking up on me. I just smiled at her thoughtfulness.

When Freida said goodbye, because it was already their bed time and the lower levels had a strict curfew, I put down my phone and looked at Yuma who was beside me, reading a book. I asked her what she was reading and told me it was a new series and I asked her if I could borrow it when she's done. She agreed and went back to reading while I lounge around, waiting for the "baking team" to finish on the kitchen. Hailey was currently glued to my side while looking at the Ipad, maybe memorizing my schedule or possibly scrolling on her lessons, I'm not certain but it was nice seeing her like her usual self.

After a couple of minutes, the macaroons were finally done and Reiss and Layla collected enough cards while the pillow circle, as Luna called it, was done. We decided to split it into two groups because I'm pretty sure we wouldn't finish till morning if we played together. We decided that we should split the group at random so we had to draw lots. After that was settled, we finally got into our respective positions, with me sitting beside Hailey and Kairo. We were all huddled up on the circle, already starting the game.

As one may expect, things got heated. Especially since Reagan thought it was a good idea to drop the plus four card and he must've calculated it because the last card made its way to Kairo who didn't have a plus card and thus was forced to get the amount accumulated by the cards that we had put down. He cried that we were all ganging up on him and judging by the way Reagan was hiding a smirk behind his cards, he planned it all along. Kairo narrowed his eyes at us and swore that he will get revenge as he drew the large amount of cards into his hands. He laid it all out in front of him and huffed while we laughed. The other side also got into an argument and it seems as if their target was Luna who had the same reaction as Kairo.

The game continued on into the night and currently I was positioned behind Hailey who was struggling with the amount of cards on her hands as she also became a target of the plus cards. I finished already and was therefore coaching Hailey, who despite being smart, just couldn't play this game well. Reiss took the task of shuffling the cards while the rest battled. After a little while, I got bored with watching their struggle so I decided to watch the other side struggle. I plopped myself behind Ava who was anxiously biting her nails as she decide which card she should put down. Laughing a little, I glanced at the remaining players and my eyes landed on Cassian who only has one card on his hands. It seems as if he will finish soon but unlike Kairo earlier, who you can read easily, he didn't look at all fazed when Ava switched the colors. When it was his turn, he calmly put down his last card, which as it turns out was for color change and smirked victoriously as Ava whined when he chose a color she didn't have. He just smiled before shrugging and standing up.

He went to the kitchen and I didn't know what possessed me but I followed him there. When I reached the now empty kitchen, besides me and Cassian, I went to the fridge and pulled out my secret stash of cookies, hidden under a layer of peanuts. Cassian may not have noticed me come in or he was deliberately avoiding me but I didn't like that so I decided to be the one to make a move first.

"Hey you look like you need a cookie." I nudged his arm with the cookie and he turned around surprised that he was not alone. Ah so he really did not notice me, that or he was surprised I actually talked to him.

He accepted the cookie before mumbling out a thanks. I just let out a breath and munched on my own cookie while looking at him, waiting for him to say something. He didn't look like he would however so I sighed and spoke first.

"Hey...about earlier...I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way. I know you said I could talk to you whenever, but it seems as if I went past the line earlier. I'm really sorry." I said sincerely and he just looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face that I didn't know what he was thinking. We just stared at each other, awkwardly munching the cookie and none of us said anything.

The silence that followed was deafening and definitely awkward. I shuffled a little and swallowed the last bit of the cookie and excused myself. Clearly he still didn't want to talk to me so I won't push him and also given the fact that if I stayed any longer it would just make things even more awkward between the two of us.

While I was scolding myself in my head about opening my big mouth earlier, I suddenly felt a gentle tug on my arm and turned around, surprised that he did so. We stayed in that position, with his hands clasped on my arm, while I was waiting for him to say something. When he didn't, I grabbed his hand on my arm and wanted to tug it off before his voice rang out on the empty kitchen.

"I...I'm sorry." he said and I almost told him what he was sorry for if not for the fact that he continued before I could.

"Sorry...for distancing myself like that. I know you just wanted to talk and all that and I was just...I just had a lot on my mind and...just I'm sorry." he said weakly before letting his hand drop to his side and lowering his head. I looked at his bowed head and couldn't help but feel bad for reacting this way. Clearly he doesn't want to talk to me but since I was bothering him so much about not talking to me, he was feeling guilty. I swallowed suddenly at that thought.

Was I being too pushy? I mean we weren't in any sort of relationship besides being friends, and also we just became friends recently so did I really have to react like that? I didn't know that reacting like this would make him feel guilty for not telling me anything and avoiding me. He probably thought that not telling me anything would make him come off as rude but what he did was a normal reaction to someone who invaded your space. Meanwhile, I was the one clearly in the wrong here but why do I keep on pushing?

While I was once again spiraling in my thoughts, over thinking this whole thing, I didn't notice Cassian looking up and was now staring at me. I was too lost in thought that I didn't see the look of horror pass on his face before it faded away and I felt his hands grip my arms again, returning me to reality.    

"Merideth, Merideth...are you alright? I'm sorry." he said suddenly and I looked at him, confusion swimming in my eyes.

"Look, don't think too much about it okay? I didn't think you were being pushy or anything...it's just that...I wasn't ready to talk yet that's why I was avoiding you." he said. I finally regained my sense and answered him.

"And I told you, you don't need to force yourself. If anything I should be the one saying sorry here. You were clearly avoiding me for certain reasons and I was being insensitive by trying to talk to you and-" before I could continue however, I suddenly felt his hands on my arm, tighten its hold which made me stop mid-sentence.

"No that's not it. I wanted to talk to you, tell you all about it...but I just needed time to do...so." he said and upon noticing his tight grip on my arm, he let go like it burned him. He fisted his hands on the side and I couldn't help but look at it.

I was about to retaliate before we heard shouts and screams from the living room and someone giggling heading our way. Cassian met my eyes and I stared right back at him before closing my secret cookie jar and putting it back on the fridge just in time for Layla to come in with Helena in tow. They were rambling about something before their eyes landed on us, standing awkwardly there.

"Hey I was wondering where you both vanished! The games finished now with Kairo and Ava losing. I swear those two cannot play at all." Helena giggled while taking out two chocolate cakes from the fridge. When she had the time to bake that, I don't know.

"Yeah and now they are deciding how to punish them ahaha. Hey you two, let's head back to the living room. We'll be sharing the cake while deciding how to punish the losers." Helena snickered while Layla carried the other cake and heading back to the living room where I can clearly hear Kairo whining about a rematch.

I just nodded and she was off. I sighed and looked at Cassian beside me and gave him a weak smile before moving to step outside the kitchen. I was close to stepping out of the arch dividing the kitchen from the hall when I felt Cassian beside me.

"I'll talk to you later." he whispered before striding to the living room. I was a little dumbfounded until I felt a small smile on my lips at that statement. Well I guess I was worried for nothing.