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ORIANA still hadn’t arrived by the time he got to their meeting spot. There were dozens of other students loitering there, however, preparing to set off into the city.
Not that I need to hide myself from anyone, but…
Vincent found a tree to lean against, thinking it might be a pain otherwise if people spotted him. At least over here, he could see the flow of foot traffic while not sticking out too obviously.
As he waited for her in the shade, he realized how incredibly precious this moment was—and how lucky he was to be able to enjoy it. After all, in this moment, he was here waiting for her—the only one waiting for her—and with her tacit approval at that. It filled his heart with joy.
So sweet, he thought as the saccharine taste of the candy in his mouth rolled over his tongue. He hadn’t found an opportunity yet to discard it.
Vincent still lost his composure when it came to Oriana, despite having lived a bit longer than everyone else his age in this timeline. Chagrined by that, he distracted himself by watching the crowd of people milling about, only to be caught off guard when a head suddenly popped into his view from the side.
“Aha. I figured it was probably you, Vincent.”
Oriana—her hair a warm, sweet milky-tea color—peeked in at him as he hid in the shade of the tree. He hadn’t at all been prepared for it, so his heart felt like it might jump right out of his throat. If the surprise wasn’t bad enough, Oriana looked ridiculously cute as well. She was dressed in casual clothes, her hair even curlier than usual. He wasn’t even sure where to begin complimenting her. All he knew was that she was…well, cute.
“Everyone was fussing about how there was a handsome man over here, but you looked so different than normal that I didn’t realize it was you at fir—” Oriana was speaking at a rapid-fire pace as he absently admired how adorable she was, but the moment was shattered when she suddenly stopped. Her gaze had wandered down to his mouth, and as soon as he realized, Vincent started with surprise—because Oriana, too, had the same candy in her mouth.
The air went quiet between them.
Miguel must have realized we were planning on going out together.
Miguel had claimed he was going to the cafeteria, but he’d clearly surmised that Oriana was Vincent’s date and took a detour to the girls’ dormitory.
Confound him. This is insanely embarrassing, Vincent thought.
Both he and Oriana silently sucked on their lollipops, gazes glued to the ground.
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HE’S so handsome. Oriana genuinely believed that very word had been conceived to describe Vincent. I mean, ridiculously handsome.
Vincent had gone for a wild look with his outfit, and it was so dazzling she could scarcely look at him directly. The best part about it was getting to see him wearing something totally different than she was used to.
Amazing. He’s even got his hair down, despite always combing it back. He looked amazing at the opera house in that formal attire, but today, he…looks like a normal boy his age. Young. This is incredible. Like, I can’t even put into words how special this feels. Vincent is so, so handsome.
The two stood facing each other, unable to move an inch. Oriana, gaze leveled at the ground, closed her eyes and twisted her mouth shut, biting her bottom lip.
Oh boy, what should I do? I bet even my ears are red as a tomato!
Oriana knew that he was peering down, his eyes glued to her. She couldn’t even bring herself to peer up at him, and worse, he could probably see how badly she was blushing. The embarrassment was so overwhelming she was ready to dig her grave right here.
“…Are you hot? You could go back and get a hat to—”
“N-No, I’m…quite all right,” Oriana stuttered back. What else was she supposed to say? No, it took all of her willpower to manage that much.
Silence fell over them again. As they awkwardly stood there, the voices of female students heading toward the main gate drifted their way.
“Hey, over there. Isn’t that…”
“What? Seriously?”
“I mean, look who’s beside him—Miss Elsha, right? So it has to be…”
Oh crap. They’ve realized Vincent’s here! Not that it was a problem that he was. Not really, anyway. I mean, we’re just going out shopping, so it’s not like this is a date. Sure, the other students have noticed us, but there’s no reason for us to be secretive about it. Who cares if more people join us? It’s not like… It’s not…
Oriana suddenly jerked her chin up. Despite her sudden movement, Vincent remained stock still, staring at her. She snatched his wrist.
“Huh?” he blurted, confused.
Oriana took off running, pulling him along. She could still hear the faint voices of the girls behind her, but she didn’t bother giving them a second glance as she dashed out the front gate.