Alex

"You don't have to eat if you don't want to, but I assure you, you'll regret it if you don't try them." Char's eyes shrink when they see the dessert in front of me.

It had been a miracle that she had answered the call.

Thinking she wouldn't answer, I called her more out of habit. My surprise was great when her voice rang on the other end.

With luck on my side, I was just walking down the street from her school when she agreed to have lunch with me.

My smile grew when I saw her in her uniform, the same one her brother and I wore a couple of years ago.

My mouth tightened at the thought. Her brother was just like her, only taller and less handsome.

The memories of the three of us are still so palpable, but the parting, the walking away, I don't remember it at all.

Maybe because after my parents' deaths, everything went black. So black that I remember nothing but the day she showed up at my door, wanting to go out and have fun.

Char gets into my car and groans as she feels the air conditioning turn on. The days are starting to get hotter and more sweltering.

She leaves her backpack in the back and greets me with a big smile.

"It's not normal to put salty things together with sweet things," she grumbles, looking at the dessert the waitress brought me a few minutes ago.

My smile widens as I take a spoonful. Char doesn't take her eyes away—the eyes of a person hungry for something sweet. But her pride is stronger, she doesn't want to lose this fight.

"As you wish." I say, enjoying the delicacy. Seconds pass, and the girl doesn't take her eyes off the dessert. "I can close my eyes to avoid watching you lose this." I say, and the girl smiles at me with narrowed eyes. I laugh. " Oh, my eyes, I think something got inside." I close my eyes, putting my hand over them.

I stayed still for a while, unable to help but smile at the sound of the spoon on the plate.

I open my eyes slowly, laughing as I see a bit of the cream on Char's lip. Her face is one of astonishment, she doesn't even want to try to pretend she didn't eat the dessert.

"You were saying?"