Whisper of the Silencee

11

Clover extended her hand, immersing it within the swirling, colourful glow in the air. Her two fingers jerked back a little when the chilly thrill of the glow crawled on them. But when she tried to grasp it again, the glow purled further away. Letting it slipped away from her view, Clover glanced around and realized that nobody else was there other than Kyle and her. Mini wishing glass bottles were placed everywhere. Some contained the messages, wishes that came from the silent voices. While, some had hundreds, thousands of handmade stars in them.

One thing for sure,

Level 21 was not a floor.

It was a transparent-top, roomless, empty land.

But also a wonderland.

Seeing the tiny twinkling objects on the ground, she crouched down, folding her arms on her knees. She wouldn't have expected them to be stars. Maybe some kind of animated creatures. But they were. Well-portrayed sharp edges along the sides of their bodies. Grinning widely to herself, she flashed her palm up and slowly, like a pet, they began hopping on her, forming a straight line along her bare arms.

"Kyle!! Kyle!!! " She screamed excitedly. "Look at this!!"

"I was like you too when I first came here," he chuckled, walking hurriedly towards her from behind. "I even thought they were real until Brandon told me that they were man-made decorations."

"Oh, you came here before?" Clover asked in her high-pitch tone, toying around with the artificial stars.

"Yeah," He sat down beside her, legs fully stretched out. "Here was where I first celebrated the success of being an idol."

"Wow.. It must be really nice.."

"But it was also where I shed the most tears."

That somehow suddenly dimmed the lights that were illuminated by the stars.

Focusing wholly on him, Clover tottered her arms, shifted her position and stared right into his Asian eyes, ".. DreamMare..." She paused, hesitating if she should say.

Smiling pathetically, "You heard about it?" he asked, blinking away from her to keep his wall from cracking.

Clover nodded, "Yesterday."

None of them continued the conversation and let their minds wandered off. Those 'magic' were so real and alive, making everything felt so simple. Leaning her back against the gigantic, magnificent tree with Spanish mosses hanging down, Clover tilted her head and looked at the see-through top. It was already night, the real stars were up, and there were the two of them, wishing lives could be as simple as abc.

Holding her hand high and looking at the blinking creations of God through the gaps between her fingers, "Let the stars in the sky, erase the scars in your heart," she said.

"Huh?"

Clover laughed lightly, "Nice quote, isn't it?" she uttered softly.

"Sure it is." Kyle smiled, lifting his palm next to hers, "Where did you get it?"

"Here." She answered, pointing to the beating prop protected by her ribcage.

"I see," He patted gently on her head, "...Good one."

Somewhere at the corner, there was someone peeping at their entire gestures and intimacies. Evil grin formed on his face as he snapped photos of them being mysteriously together. One click not enough, another click, and another, and another...

Enough to stir up a rumour.

"Sorry guys, but I need to," he whispered, keeping the phone guarded deep in the pocket of his pants.

And off he went, without causing nor attracting any unwanted attention.

"Let's head to the lobby," Kyle got up, patting his back, "Danise must be nagging already."

Clover nodded and they left nothing but their footsteps in the magical land.

Tapping the room cards on his hand, Danise turned his head everywhere, looking for the shadows of the two figures. He was sitting on the sky-blue round coaches placed in the middle, together with Stella. She was twirling the edges of her long wavy beige hair, leg crossed on another. Kenny walked over to them with two cups of iced lemon tea and clipped one softly in between his body and his arm. Danise gulped down almost half of the tea in his cup to drench away his thirst while Stella sipped in, elegantly.

Well- that's Stella for you. Always elegant and stylish.

Maybe because this place was meant for rich or high standard people, there weren't many people checking in or walking around in the lobby. Sunglasses were all they needed to pretend to be normal citizens.

"There they are," Danise said as he snapped his fingers to get their attention, "finally."

Kyle and Clover sped up when they saw them waiting. Sense of immediate jealousy rose in Stella the moment they appeared together, side by side. Though she tried to convince herself that Clover was just a personal assistant, though she forced herself to not have any bad feelings on her, but none of her efforts seemed to pay off.

She didn't like her.

"How many rooms?" Kyle asked. "There's six of us, including Brandon."

"Brandon's joining us too?" Danise arched his brow.

"Yeah," he said, "Guess he'll reach early next morning."

"Oh, okay.. But I could only get us two rooms... So... you, me.. and Stella in a room?"

Kyle shook his head, snatching one of the cards from his hand. "Clover, Brandon and me in a room."

"Kylee!!" Stella stomped her feet childishly. "This vacation was originally meant for you and me."

He took a huge step, extended his arm and rested over her shoulder, "Aww, Stella. Don't be angry. It's not good for a pretty girl like you."

"I thought this was a good time for us to reunite properly," she said, arms crossed on her chest.

"Well... it' just a number apart," he explained, comparing the room numbers printed on the cards. "Our friendships aren't going to be hindered just because of you not being in my room nor me being in yours."

Stella parted her lips to argue but Danise dragged her away before she could do so. "Let's just get to the room first," he said.

Kenny followed right behind them after bowing to the remaining two as a sign of goodbye. Clover wasn't in a rush. Brandon was not here yet. In fact, he would only be here tomorrow. Meaning for tonight, there would be only two of them. It might be nothing for Kyle but it was definitely something for Clover. How could she feel nothing if she was to stay in the same room with a hot, rising superstar?

Feeling the heat stimulating in her body, Clover immediately changed her focus to her surroundings. The lobby of the Starry Land. It wasn't as magical as Level 21. More formally designed. The security guards in red and white suits by the glass door were standing firmly on their feet, sending off smiles as they opened the doors for the people to enter. Gold-colored luggage cart trolleys were placed at a few corners. Red carpet was displayed throughout the walkaway from the outside and it branched out to reach the registration counters. Several deluxe fibre optic chandeliers were hung from the ceiling, lighting up the dimmed lobby.

"Clover," he called, "let's get to the room."

"...Do you really.. think this is fine? Brandon is not here yet.. " she stammered as her black eyes scanned the existing people around. Though none of them paid any special attention to them, she still felt worried and insecure.

"Maybe I shall just go to the other room," she said, getting up her seat. "See ya, Kyle."

"Clover! Wait!" He slid down his sunglasses a little to meet her eyes. "I thought you are my friend.." His voice sounded hurt.

Her feet hovered for a second before placing it on the ground. "Well, of course we are, "she turned to him. "But that doesn't mean that you and I can stay in the same room.."

"Why not?"

"What do you mean by that? Danise or even Stella deserve to be in the same room with you better than I do."

"But I want it to be you," he whispered softly under his breath.

"Hmm?" Clover asked, bending down to place her ear closer to him.

"Please, Clover." He cupped her palm, "just once." There was this weird, lingering feeling in him that wanted her to stay with him in the same room.

Sighing heavily, she shrunk her shoulders. The puppy look on his face had totally stolen her strength to reject his request. The warmth of his touch was increasing the adrenaline in her. She didn't know why Kyle insisted for her to be with him. Maybe because.. her life story touched him and he wanted to comfort her more personally? But his was not any better than hers either.

Suddenly, she heard a loud honk outside the entrance and few of the hotel employees immediately rushed over to welcome the presence. From where she was standing, she could see figures of many youngsters hopping down from a red bus. She drew in her brows to pull her focus to the words displayed on the body of it.

International School of Elite Aces.

School trip? Clover spoke in her mind, glancing at her watch that was showing 9:30 p.m. Sounds of their brown Chelsea boots tapped richly on the ground as they walked in with their roller luggage. They were in the same outfits, white coats, black middle-length skirt and.. they looked very young. Around 16 or 17 perhaps? A few of them asked for the luggage trolleys while others preferred to carry on their own. Chatters and waves of laughter were getting stronger in the lobby as time ticked off, which only rose the uneasiness in Clover. Her instincts told her that youngsters as such were very likely to know who Kyle Lee was.

"Come on," she said, pulling Kyle up from where he was sitting.

"Where?"

Using her index knuckles gently to push up his sunglasses, "Room. Quick," she muttered.

Clover glimpsed at the room number on the card in Kyle's hand before pacing off the soon-to-be crowded area. 1804. She kept looking at the back while waiting for the lift. She could hear their footsteps approaching.

Surprisingly, they were very fast with their checking in procedures.

"Hurry up..." she urged, pressing the up button multiple times.

Ting.

The door separated just in time their shadows came into her view. Quickly, she jumped into the lift, bringing Kyle along. The girls automatically sped up when they saw the lift was opened. They even held up their hands, to gesture Clover to wait for them. When that didn't help, one of the girls in bun immediately pushed the button on the outside, to 'reopen' the doors of the lift. However, Clover kept pushing the closing sign on the inside, giving the lift no chance but to head off to where they wanted to. She pushed Kyle to the corner when the girls tipped on their boots to look at the humans inside. Irritation and annoyance were displayed on their faces. Their lips could be seen mumbling that Clover didn't care to know about. Definitely not something nice when she had just been a b*tch to them. All she managed to do was to flash an apologetic look before the doors were shut completely, rising to the 18th floor.

"Wow, Clover.." Kyle leaned his back against the wall of the lift, clapping his hands. "You passed as my personal assistant."

"You weren't worried at all, were you?" Clover glared at him, panting.

He laughed, hands tucked in his pocket. "Why should I be worried? I trust your abilities."

Clover rolled her eyes, tired of pulling up with him and his jokes.

Stella was crouching outside his room the moment they reached their desired floor. She had changed her clothes, into a black plain T and a loose cut off maroon shorts. Despite her simple wear, she was still flawless. The elegance was born within her, she didn't need to care about it being affected by the way she presented herself. Furthermore, her bare face wasn't that much of a difference other than it being a little pale and slight hint of eyebags under her tired eyes.

"Stella!" Kyle called from few steps away.

Flashing the widest smile that her lips could make, "Hello, Mr.Perfect," she greeted.

Her smile wavered when she saw Clover coming up from behind. But of course, she couldn't let it interrupt her mood to be with Kyle. She had a plan in her mind before making her move to come over to Kyle's room. Though it was wicked and she didn't like to be wicked, she had no choice but to commit it.

Kyle was hers.

Only her.

Nobody else could snatch him away from her.

"What you doing out here?" He asked, scanning the key at the door lock. "Where's Kenny?"

"Out to explore, with Danise," she said, "And I told you that I wanted to reunite with you."

"You were serious about it."

"I am serious with everything that's related to you."

"Okay okay. Enter first. We'll 'reunite' inside." Kyle said, holding the door open for the ladies to enter.

Stella stepped in first and blocked the entrance fully before Clover could enter. Turning to the back to face her, "..Erm.. Clover.. could you please help me to get the tea at the lobby?" she asked shyly, pointing her index fingers into one another gently.

"What? Oh Stellaa. Just call for room service!" Kyle nagged, extending his head to look past Clover.

"....But.. but.."

"It's okay. I'll go get it. You guys head in first. I'll come back up in a short while." Clover said, retreating back, as though she understood what Stella was trying to hint.

"Thanks, Clover," Stella said, closing the door soon after once Kyle was wholly in it.

Clover took her time to walk over to the lift. She knew that Stella wanted to have a private moment with Kyle and of course it wouldn't be really nice of her to get back here fast. Standing by the large, slider glass window, the night view of Guilin was so scenic and breathtaking. The reflection of the lights on the buildings across the hotel shone in her eyes. The lights were dancing, swaying, and they looked like bright stars enlightening the dark streets out there. She was desperate for more of those elements. After eyes circling around for a few moments, she pushed open the knob of the windows without any hesitations. A gust of breezing wind escaped through the gap and blew on her, shoving her silky hair to the back, exposing her entire face.

"Waaa..." she said, holding her arms like Rose in the Titanic movie. "Lovely..."

"If I could stay here forever.. then perhaps life would be much better..."

The sound of the lift reaching her floor tore her attraction away. She didn't press any buttons though but there were people exiting. Quickly, not wanting to miss the chance to board the lift, she pulled back in the window and locked it securely before dashing off.

The beverage containers were still there, on the rectangular table. However, no more teas. Only left with lime juices. It wasn't going to look nice if she entered back to the room with nothing in her hands. Hence, putting the glass under the one and only filled container, she let the iced lime juice flowed into it.

"Where's Kyle?" Clover asked, handing the juice to Stella, who was waiting alone in the room.

"He got a call, shall be back in few moments," Stella answered. As she was about to gulp the liquid, her gesture wavered, pausing the juice from sinking into her mouth. And behind her waviness, there was something else. Something.. that didn't seem quite right.

"What's wrong?"

Stella shook her head, put on a slight smile and sipped the lime juice down her throat.

And it didn't take very long for the next 'expected' incident to take place.

"Ouch..." Stella lied on the bed, hands squeezing her stomach and sweats could be seen dripping from her temple.

"STELLA?!" Clover immediately rushed over from the bathroom, "Are you okayy???!"

Just then, she heard the door being clicked opened and a familiar figure appeared. "What happened?!" Kyle asked, flapping his feet in the air to shake off his shoes.

"...Kyle...My stomach hurts..." Her voice was hard to be heard, "like hell..."

Running to the bed, Kyle held her in his arms, "Stella??! What's wrong?"

"...I just... drank that thing that Clover brought for me.." She pointed to the empty glass on the table weakly.

And even though Clover knew that it wasn't her mistake, her muscles tensed involuntarily.

"The tea?" He stared at his personal assistant.

Panic arose in her. "... There wasn't any tea left when I went down just now... only.. juices..." Clover bit her lips, hands clenching on her jeans.

"What juices?" Kyle's voice was dead cold. It was the first time for him to speak to her that way.

"Lime.. juice.."

"WHAT?!" He shouted, almost jerking the entire floor. "LIME JUICE?! Don't you know that Stella is allergic to limes?!!!"

"I...I didn't know.. really.. I'm s-sor--"

Before she could finish her sentence, Kyle cupped Stella, hugged her the princess way and left the room without saying anything much.

He was angry.

With Clover.