Chapter 28 | A Date With Your Enemy's Boyfriend

Elena's P.O.V.

"What do you mean you want to kill Terry?" Hazel asked as we entered a clothing store, "Who is she and what has she done? If I'm going to help you with whatever you're planning, I would like to know what I'm getting myself into." Her words were a bit too loud, considering that an old lady gave us an agitated look before storming out of the shop.

"It's the older girl in my singing lessons - the one with the black clothes and piercings and stuff," I explained, popping another grape into my mouth. "She is very. . . mean, especially towards our new teacher and Emil."

"Are you talking about that mute guy who plays the guitar and doesn't like applauses?"

"Yes, that is Emil." A smile bathing in esteem displayed on my lips, but it quickly twisted into an apprehension one upon thinking about his silent, jittery behavior. "I think something is troubling him - something awful and. . . severe."

We left the shop to continue our mall trip, but I still caught Hazel's worried eyes, "Do you think it's connected to his home?"

"No, I don't think- or maybe," I shook my head, trying to organize my thoughts. "I don't know. The only thing I'm sure about is that he- is here?"

What?

"What?" Hazel followed my gaze, trying to see what had caught my attention so abruptly.

Outside of the music shop stood a familiar boy with a dark green beanie. His brown, kind eyes were fixated at the instruments modeling behind the glass, and I watched him bury his hands in his gray pants pockets that matched his t-shirt.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," I muttered under my breath, looking at Hazel before I walked towards the boy. With the fact that something was troubling the boy in mind, I approached him carefully. "Hey, Emil."

Despite my attempt to keep my words soft and light, it still made the dark-haired boy jump. It wasn't before our orbs met that his body finally released the grip of fear.

He smiled and it almost reached his eyes. As usual, he didn't say anything, just nodded and put on a gleam on his face.

The curly-haired girl gave me the elbow, silently telling me to introduce her.

"Emil, I don't think you've met Hazel before," I looked between the two of them, trying to keep everything light in the air. "Hazel, meet my friend Emil - the guy from my music class."

Something changed in the boy's eye. I'm not sure what triggered the little glint in the warm iris. Maybe it was my words? Or perhaps something I could not fathom - at least not at the moment.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Emil." Hazel smiled, holding her hand out for him to shake. "Elena has talked so much about you and your - what did you call it again? Guitar power?"

"Something like that, yes," I confirmed, glancing at the boy who furrowed his eyebrows. Although he was bewildered over Hazel's statement, I still caught the small smile that curled in the corners of his mouth. "So, Emil, what are you up to?"

He shrugged his shoulders and pointed at the music shop he was standing in front of.

"You're looking at instruments," my words were too firm to be a question. "Did you find anything you liked?"

And once again, he nodded without saying a word.

I'm not gonna lie. It's quite difficult to keep a conversation alive with someone who doesn't talk. It's not like I can talk about the weather when I'm empty of topics to use as firewood.

"I wish I could play an instrument too," Hazel butted in, stopping the silence from growing. "When Elena and I were younger and took piano lessons, I quit at an early stage. It wasn't that I didn't like to play, I just couldn't understand notes. No matter how many hours I read and studied them, I just couldn't get a grip on those damn symbols."

And then something unique happened - a progress even. Emil pointed at me before his finger landed on Hazel.

I was more than thrilled about this small gesture, because it meant that he was preventing the conversation from dying. It meant that we were getting somewhere, that I wasn't stuck on a one-way road.

He wanted to contribute to the conversation, which started the evolution to a stronger friendship. To trusting people even.

However, the only problem was that I had to decipher the code. His actions were talking and it was my job to understand the silent words.

But this time, Hazel came to the interpretation before I could. "Oh, no, Elena couldn't teach me about notes either - she barely understood them herself."

He made a small 'O' shape with his mouth, replying with a single nod to the curly-haired girl's answer.

"But I know now-"

"Well, it would be a shame and an embarrassment if you didn't know notes after six years of piano lessons," Hazel cut me off, looking at me with an irked expression.

"Yeah, you're right," I started and pushed the shopping bags up to my elbows. "You could say it would bring dishonor on me, dishonor on my cow-"

"Please, ignore her," she stopped me from continuing, sighing as she had to explain the reason behind my today's behavior. "We had film marathon last night, and. . ." Hazel gave me a long look, "She chose Mulan."

"And I don't regret it."

This actually cracked the boy. The exchange between Hazel and I made Emil chuckle. Although it was brief and contained more air than a voice, it was still a laughter.

Emil held up his finger again, and I could interpret his motion right away, understand his voiceless words.

"Oh, we watched it more than once - at least three times," I answered, which made the boy's eyebrows raise. "It's a great movie, I mean-"

"Oh, no," Hazel muttered.

"You're the saddest bunch I ever met

But you can bet before we're through

Mister, I'll make a man

Out of-"

"Hey, guys!" The familiar voice cut me off in the middle of my song, which made me turn my head to the source along with the others.

"You?" I finished with a bewilderment tone hanging after my word, the melody shadowed by the turmoil.

Adam gave me a perplexed look, his eyebrows knitted in a mess of confusion. "What?"

I have no regrets.

The curly-haired girl shook her head, sighing and rubbing her forehead tiredly. I'm surprised she hasn't left me already, I mean, look how quickly I twisted this encounter in an odd angle.

"Nothing," I quickly replied, putting on a smile to hide the fact that I had been singing a Mulan song. "So, Adam, what are you doing here? I didn't know you liked-" My eyes traveled to the Victoria's Secret shopping bag he was carrying. "-Women's clothing. Did you find something you liked?"

He laughed and scratched his neck afterward. "No - I mean, yes, but it's not for me. It's for Annie."

Her name sounded foreign. It has been a while since I last heard it - since I last heard anything about her actually. She has literally disappeared into thin air - heck, even the school seems to have forgotten about her.

"Oh, that's nice," Hazel commented, sharing a silent look of communication with me. "Where is she by the way? I haven't seen Annie for a long time. Is she alright?"

Adam furrowed his eyebrows again, nodding slowly to the questions my friend was firing. "Yeah, she's doing fine," he answered before he glanced between us. "Don't you guys have her in PE class or something?"

This conversation is going in a queer angle. Maybe this is the reason why Emil doesn't talk.

"Yes, we do but we haven't seen her. Is she still going to our school?" I continued the interrogation, trying to fill the holes in the conversation.

"Well. . ." He was beyond bewildered now, his voice lacing with confusion. "Yeah."

Hazel and I ignored the distance between his words, focusing on the picture instead of the frame.

How can Annie still be going to our school without us noticing her? The last time I saw her was months ago.

"Is there something-" The star player began when my friend and I were filling the air with silence instead of words, but his sentence was cut hastily off.

"No, not at all- hey, Adam, I don't think you've met my partner in music class," I quickly gestured to the silent boy who was standing as still as a moonless sea. Although Emil wasn't engaging in the conversation, he still had a great overview of it. "He is our school's best guitarist - it's almost as if he's Mozart's lost cousin or something."

Emil's hand was trying to conceal the smile that shone like a star in the night. I felt gruntled to see him like this.

There was obviously a shadow stapled from the bottom of his feet and towering over him like a falling skyscraper. And therefore, the fact that I made him happy and amused felt like I was installing some supports on the broken structure.

It's a silly idea, I know. I'm aware that you can't fix everyone's problems nor heal the deep marks.

But even if the star is millions of miles away, it's still strong enough to shine across the distance. So, maybe I'm not entirely foolish to believe that my actions can create a spark.

"Hey, Elena, I was just wondering about something," Adam looked at me after he and Emil shook hands.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to the prom next Friday?"

To be honest, I had almost forgotten about it. When you're traveling from one century to the other, it is destined that your ability to keep track of certain events lacks.

"Ehh. . ." I plucked out a grape out of its family tree, glancing at Hazel who ghostly shrugged in return. "Sure."

Adam gleamed, "Great! I was wondering if you would like to go with me?"

The grape was shot out of my lips like a ball in a canon. I had no idea how strong the muscles in my mouth were before I saw the purple fruit fly across two escalator and over a family of seven.

"What?" I coughed, ignoring the impressed looks from Emil and the kids standing close by, heck, even Hazel's jaw was hanging.

All that I needed now was three judges holding up signs with point scores written on the cardboards.

"Do you want to go to prom with me?" Adam repeated with nervousness following his strong voice. Although his confidence was thrown down a couple of notches, his cherry mode did not fall as badly.

"Ehh. . ." My eyebrows were furrowed in a mess of bewilderment, and I tried my best to not share my silent words with Hazel. "Aren't you going with, I don't know, Annie? You know, your girlfriend? The person you're currently in a relationship with - Annie?"

Adam laughed, finding my reply amusing rather than rational. "I know who Annie is, Elena, and I also know for a fact that she isn't going to prom."

She isn't going? That must be a mistake. I have known the red-haired girl well enough to know that whenever there is an opportunity to wear shiny, expensive, long dresses then she will certainly not miss that day.

She could be dead and still show up in a designer outfit.

"Are you absolutely certain that she isn't going?" Hazel asked the question that seemed to only swirl around the two of us.

The blue-eyed boy nodded, a sad smile painted on his defined face. "Unfortunately, yes. I have already talked to her and. . ." He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know why she doesn't want to go, and neither do I unless someone would like to accompany me."

"Well," I started after the silent pause, glancing at the smiling guy before my attention landed on the quiet boy. "I don't know, Adam because I was maybe going with Emil and-"

"No, I'm going with Emil," Hazel cut me off, concealing her tiny, sly smile that only I could see. "Right, Emil?"

Considering that the mute boy doesn't often interact with people, I had no idea how he would react and respond to the situation. He was placed in the middle and forced to choose a side.

I would have felt guilty for doing this to him, had it not been for the gleam twinkling in his eyes.

Emil nodded in response to Hazel's statement, beaming at her before he gave me a small, apologetical smile.

Disbelief made my jaw fall to the floor, and I could do nothing more than to look at him with surprise filtering my eyes.

Traitor!

"So, Elena," Hazel slung an arm around my shoulder, turning her and my body towards the athletic boy who smiled when our eyes locked. "That means that you are free to go with anyone now. And I don't want to scare you or anything, but most people have already found a date now, so. . ." She tilted her head towards the team captain, giving me a silent smirk through her sly words.

"Yeah, Adam, I guess I'll accept your quest considering that my own friends are ditching me." Only half of my smile managed to follow my words, and rest of it disappeared when I glanced behind me. "Thanks for that one, Emil."

He gleamed with amusement reflecting in his eyes, shrugging as if he was saying: 'Sorry not sorry'.

Although my answer was a bit rude and almost forced, Adam's smile did not falter. "Great! I'll pick you up at-"

"Actually, I can just meet you there," I cut him off, feeling slightly bad for the colorful kindness he was showering me in while I responded with gray tones.

It's not that I don't want to go with him or have anything against him, it's just that the entire thing is plain weird. Sure, we know each other better now than we did a couple of months ago, but just because we're not strangers, doesn't mean that we're best buddies that discuss Harry Styles's hair.

He's like a school friend - a person you don't hang out with outside of the school.

"Nonsense! I will pick you up on Friday with my new car," Adam gleamed, his indirected words implying that I must see his newly bought vehicle. "I have to go now, so I'll talk to you later. It was nice meeting you guys, and I'll see you around, Elena."

And then he was gone like a running football player on the field.

"Did that just happen?" I thought out loud, looking at the blue-eyed boy's fantom steps that were still warm.

"Yeah, you just agreed to go on a date with your enemy's boyfriend." Hazel's statement made Emil shake his head in a silent laughter. "I wonder how much time you have left to live."

Her comments did not amuse me. "This is your and your fault," I pointed at both of them, aiming my sharp annoyance on a certain curly-haired girl. "Since when did you guys decide to go together? I was actually going to ask Emil if he wanted to accompany me and then you were born."

Hazel rolled her eyes with a magnificent smile, "What has been done cannot be undone. You're going with Adam and I will go with Mozart's cousin." She softly put her arm around his shoulder with delicate and slow movements, giving him a warm hug.

Emil's eyes and smile brightened, shining like the sky on New Year's Eve. To see him like this made me feel happy, and I enjoyed to see this sunny side of him instead of a closed and flinching boy.

Before I could dive deeper into the different hypothesis of how Emil's character was built, I saw something behind my two friends who were still hugging.

My fingers picked up the ends of my hair locks, feeling and almost tasting their strength and material.

That's when a smile returned back to my face. "Hazel, I have a job for you, and Emil, you can come as support."