|| Arabella ||

Even though I ran as fast as I could, it turns out that my short legs would never be able to outrun Theo's long ones.

After not even three minutes, he caught up with me. I was going to holler out some meaningless apologies when he tugged me by my wrist and yanked me backward, making my chest collide with his.

"Now, where will you go, Annabelle?" He locked both of his arms around me. Our chests were flushed together, while I panted from my short run.

Why was I running again?

"So what? What will you do to me? You won't hit a girl now, would you?" I instigated. I kept my head tilted back as far as possible to not have his hot, distracting breath fall on me.

Just then I felt my left cheek being stretched. "But I can do this." He pulled my cheek even more as I winced. "This doesn't count as abuse, does it?"

"But I didn't abuse you—"

"That would have been better, but you chose to embarrass me in front of all those people," he said, squeezing my body tighter as if it was supposed to be some sort of punishment. But somehow it was, I was hyper-aware of all the places that our skins were in contact with, and those places were tingling.

"Oh, c'mon, those people don't even know you," I reasoned, trying to keep my tone brash.

"But now they know. I'm that boy with the moaning ringtone in the shopping mall." I tittered, and he glared at me, continuing to speak, "And they will tell their friends and family all about me while gossiping over dinner."

"You will be famous," I let out, suppressing my laughter.

He let go of my left cheek and pulled on my right one, but not in a painful way. "Infamous, to be precise." With that, he let go of me all at once as if he had run out of his use for me.

I was confused as to why he did that, but when he motioned his head at the many people gawking at us, I understood.

"Isn't that the boy with the moaning ringtone?" someone commented, pointing at Theo.

Theo scowled at me as if screaming at me that it was all my fault and now he would never come back to this mall again.

I looped my arm with his, flashing him a big grin. I had my fun, now it was time to let him have some too. "How about we watch a movie to let things cool down?"

He narrowed his eyes on me.

"C'mon, we have plenty of time left. I'll let you watch a movie of your choice, and of course, I will pay," I insisted since I had some leftover money from my hair, which I wouldn't need anymore as I had a part-time job now.

"Okay," he agreed skeptically and brushed my arm away, walking towards the elevator. The movie complex was on the fourteenth floor, so it would be easier to use the elevator than the escalator.

Once we entered the elevator, I felt like the escalator might have been the better choice because it was so crowded inside. Lump of meats and sweats flushed together.

I somehow got pushed to the corner with Theo beside me. It was hard to breathe in this cramped place, and it only got harder when a shocking ringtone rang up and my purse started buzzing at the same time.

Everyone's eyes widened in the elevator at the sound of high-pitched moaning.

I snapped my head at Theo who was grinning right now. It definitely wasn't his ringtone because he changed it right away, and my purse was buzzing, which would mean—

But when? How did he change it—

That's when I remembered. He squeezed me in his arms earlier. He must have switched it then. God, was he a ninja? Or was I too much of an airhead? How did I not sense a thing?

Instead of taking out my phone to cut the call, I lowered my head, feeling myself drown in shame before the grunting, annoyed people finally found the source. This was how Theo must have felt. Boy, was it embarrassing...

But the worst was yet to come.

The elevator opened up on the seventh floor, and the last people I wanted to see entered. It was Michelle and her two minions—the bitches from school who tried to slander me over the rumored kiss.

If they find out that the moaning was coming from my phone, I would never be able to show my face at school. This was a huge mess. I wanted to cry—

Theo turned himself around and covered me from the three girls' view, showing his back to them. "What- what are you doing?" I asked in a low voice.

"Covering you?" he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

I blinked in confusion.

"Whose ringtone is it?" Michelle asked with a frown, and I ducked my head so that she wouldn't be able to see my face over Theo's shoulder. At her question, everyone started spinning their heads around to find the source.

"Pretend-kiss me," Theo whispered all of a sudden.

"What? How?" I asked with my mouth gaping.

"Put your fingers in my hair and bring your face closer as if we are making out," he explained, resting his hands on my waist.

In a panic, I did what he told me to instantly without another thought. I just didn't want to be caught by Michelle with a moaning ringtone.

I slid my arms over Theo's shoulders and threaded my fingers through his silky black hair. Damn, his hair is so soft and smooth. I can keep running them forev—

"Stop enjoying it so much," he reminded me, and I jumped out of my fallacy.

"I'm just trying to make it more believable," I lied.

"Sure," he snickered lightly and brought his face down. Now, our lips were only an inch or two away, and I had conveniently forgotten how to breathe. My heart was thumping so loud, if it weren't for the high-pitched moans from my phone, my heartbeat could be heard like a saxophone. "Breathe, Annabelle."

I swear I could feel the phantom of his lips on mine as he spoke. "I- I am b-being suffocated," I reasoned.

How could Theo not be affected at all? Or was he affected?

But I couldn't meet his eyes to confirm because I was too scared that the slightest movement would make our lips brush.

"Just a few more floors," he mumbled.

Stop talking! It's getting too hot in here!

"Okay," I managed to reply.

Thankfully, his plan seemed to have worked. Everyone just assumed that the moaning was coming from us, but they couldn't see our faces, so it was fine. And I swear by God, whoever was calling me, I was going to bury them six feet under the ground. Because they didn't seem to get the hint that I was intentionally not picking up their calls.

As soon as we reached the fourteenth floor, which felt like an eternity of holding breaths and proximity, Theo and I squished our way out with my face buried in his maroon jacket.

I released a huge breath once we were out of the vision of the elevator. Fortunately, Michelle and the others had gotten off at the thirteenth floor.

"That was so... humiliating," I breathed out.

"Never doing this prank again," Theo said, and I nodded.

I took out my phone and checked who had been calling until now. It was Coral. This fucking dimwit!

Fuming, I called her back and blew out on her for calling four times in the last six minutes. All she wanted to ask was, what I was going to wear to the Halloween party the day after tomorrow.

After I finished scolding her, I looked for Theo who went off to buy the tickets for us. I wished that our seats wouldn't be together. Because I didn't want to meet his eyes. But with my fantastic luck, our seats were right beside each other.

However, the awkwardness dissipated as soon as Theo started bitching about the movie. I joined him in the criticism. I was grateful for the diversion since we had a great time after that—as great as it goes for us, that is, without yelling at each other's faces.

After buying the trainer gloves, we went to grab takeout from a nearby restaurant for dinner and headed back home. When we got back, we found Wyatt sprawled out on the couch with his face buried in his books. As always, he made a mess of the living room, which I would have to clean up.

"Hey. welcome home," he greeted with a smile, dropping his book briefly on the table. "What did you guys get?"

"Halloween costumes for you and us," I said excitedly and went to sit beside Wyatt to show him his costume.

"Wow, you got one for me?" he exclaimed, examining the wizard outfit. But then his excitement died down. "It's all great and amazing, but I don't think I can attend the party."

"C'mon, Wyatt. Annabelle bought it for you with so much hope. This will be your last Halloween with her. You don't want to crush her feelings, do you?" Theo chimed in, sitting on the armrest after slinging a hand over my shoulder.

I glared at Theo sideways and he winked at me playfully.

"Ara, that's so sweet of you. I'll definitely wear it. It's okay if it's for an hour, right?" Wyatt asked.

I nodded with a genuine smile. "You really need a breather. We don't want you collapsing on exam day, now do we?"

"Aww, thanks." He gave me a short hug. "What are you guys dressing up as?"

"I'm dressing up as Pikachu and Theo's doing Ash," I chirped.

"You guys will be so cute. I wish I had a partner like that too," Wyatt responded gleefully.

Theo and I shared a look and smirked, knowing that Wyatt won't be without a partner soon enough. After all, Theo and I partnered up for this. This plan ought to go well.

★★★