Chapter 8
Pershey just stared at him. He turned his gaze to Pershey's chin for a moment. “You have a wound,” he commented.
"I-it's okay, C-Caleb. I'm fine. I'm okay," she replied. She does not take her eyes off him.
"It's bleeding, I know it hurts, Pershey," he said. She shook her head and was forced to smile.
"It's not hurt, Caleb. I'm fine. The wound on my knee didn't penetrate my intestines," she justified. Caleb smiled slightly and laughed a little at Pershey's answer.
"I'll treat you, Pershey."
"N-no need. It doesn't hurt even though it's still bleeding," she refused and frowned a little.
"But ... okay, fine."
"Yup, I'm fine. Don't you worry about me?" Pershey smiled and hid her pain.
"Get up, Pershey," he said. Pershey didn't hear much of what he said because she just kept watching him. She seems to be seeing an angel coming down from heaven to earth. "Is there dirt on my face?" he asked. Pershey just smiled.
"Y-you're here." Caleb frowned but he was still smiling. "What?"
She shook her head again while still smiling. She was still staring at him as if she couldn't take her eyes off Caleb. It seemed to stick to him.
"Stop staring at me," he said, laughing. He sat down next to Pershey. Pershey's gaze followed him. Mum and surprising. "Are you okay? You've been watching me before. Maybe I'll melt," he joked.
Pershey laughed heartily, and she asked, "Am I dreaming?"
Caleb's eyebrows met with Pershey's question to him.
He nodded, "N-no, you're not dreaming, Pershey," he replied. He felt a bit wired in Pershey's actions.
"Caleb?"
He smiled again, "Why?"
"Can you slap me?"
"H-huh?"
"Can you ... slap me?" Caleb suddenly distanced himself from her. He was confused by Pershey's actions.
"Are you crazy already?"
They are one meter apart now. Pershey nodded, "Can you slap me?" she commanded without even blinking her eyes. Her tone of voice was so serious that Caleb became even more confused with her.
"Why should I slap you? For what? Why?"
"I think, I'm dreaming, Caleb," she answered. "Please, slap me now."
He walked forward to her. He carefully examined Pershey. They were watching each other when Pershey suddenly laughed. Caleb was very surprised by her sudden laughter. She's acting weird.
"Why you're laughing?" he wondered.
"You're too serious, Caleb," she laughed again. "I'm just kidding, duh," she continued to laugh. Caleb soon laughed as well.
"You're hilarious."
They laughed even more. They are no longer aware of the climate or the weather. The rain began to fall.
Caleb sat down next to her while laughing softly. "So what's up?"
"What do you mean?" Pershey looked at him.
"How are you? We haven't seen each other for a long time and haven't been together."
Gradually the surroundings darkened. The cloud was getting darker and began to mist. The cold wind blew and the branches danced as the Narra leaves fell.
"Well, I'm okay. Haha"
"You look so fine."
"How about you? How are you? Where are you studying now?" She heard him let out a deep sigh.
"I stopped, Pershey," he sighed again. Pershey was silent. "Joke," he laughed. She laughed too. "I'm just kidding, Pershey," he added.
"You're hilarious too."
"Slight."
"You're still a joker. You can be a clown now."
"Soon, I'll be your clown."
"Will be my clown? In what? For what?"
"Hahaha. You're getting 18 this year. I'll be your clown in your debut."
"Really? Clown is just for the 7th birthday, Caleb. Hahaha. Stop being hilarious. Hahaha"
"Just kidding again."
Again, silence enveloped the surroundings. Only the rustling and blowing of the wind could be heard. They were still unaware of the weather.
"By the way, I wanna transfer," he shared. "At Forde University."
Pershey did not speak. She knew that Caleb would transfer to the University she was attending. She didn't want to think that Caleb was following her but that was what was pressing through her mind.
"I want to study at UDF."
Pershey is still speechless. She just listened quietly as she played with her fingers. She did not know what to say or whether she would agree with what Caleb said.
She remained tame. Mum.
"Hey!"
Pershey barely looked at him. "Are you listening to me? You became speechless."
"Will you study? At UDF? That's good. Good luck."
"Yeah. I want to study at UDF at the same time, I want to be your classmate too."
Pershey didn't say a word again. She did not know what to say to him. She could not understand how she felt.
"Speechless again."
Pershey looked up when water dripped on her forehead.
"It's misting, Caleb. Maybe we'd better go home," she recommended. Caleb looked up slightly and waited for the rain to fall on his face.
"No-" he interrupted when the heavy rain suddenly fell. They ran fast but they were already wet from the rain.
They kept running while laughing. Their hands rested on their heads.
Pershey ran first while Caleb was a bit slow running. Pershey's attention was focused on the road so that she would not stumble again, meanwhile, Caleb watched her as he ran headlong, as he was in the back.
"You're running slow," Pershey commented as she continued to run. The rain gets even heavier as they run. There was still a long way to go before they could even take shelter.
"Of course not. I'm just slowing down on purpose," he insisted. Pershey stopped first and waited for Caleb. She smiled when their eyes met.
"Run faster," she said while softly laughing. Now, they were running together while he kept his gaze on Pershey. He even took off his jacket and put it on Pershey's head so that she wouldn't get too wet in the rain.
Again, Pershey stopped because of what he did. She looked at Caleb, she felt detachment.
"W-why?"
She smiled, "Thanks," she chuckled.
"Run?"
They laughed before they even ran briskly. Even before they took shelter in the waiting shed, they were so wet from the rain that they both bathed in the rain.
They stood in the waiting shed and waited for the rain to subside. They hugged themselves because of the cold.
Pershey looked at him for a moment and noticed that he was shaking. She gasped before she take off Caleb's jacket. She passed it on to Caleb.
They even looked at each other as Pershey unbuttoned his jacket.
"You're shaking," she joked.
Caleb immediately removed the jacket that Pershey had wrapped around him and tremblingly returned it to Pershey. "Use it, Pershey," he said.
Pershey stared at him first before she shook her head and smilingly returned the jacket to him.
"You're shaking, Caleb. You should use it," she said. Caleb even tried not to accept the jacket but eventually, he also pinned it to him.
"Thanks."
The strong wind blew which made them tremble even more. They both hug themselves to soothe the cold. The rain was still pouring so hard that they could not leave right away.
"It's getting cold here." */ blowing.
Pershey sighed deeply.
"I can't feel the coldness of the wind," Pershey said.
"So, you're numb?" Pershey laughed with a mixture of shaking in her voice.
"P-perhaps." Pershey continued to laugh.
"Hey!" Leighden shouted. She patted Pershey's shoulder. "Pershey," she whispered. Pershey slept soundly in the library. Earlier she was asleep. "Hey! Wake up!" She shouted in Pershey's ear. Pershey was immediately taken aback. "Are you dreaming?" Leighden asked.
Pershey didn't even pay attention to her. She rolled her eyes before Pershey looked at her.
"W-what did you ask?"
"I asked, are you dreaming? I woke you up earlier, Pershey. You're laughing and smiling to yourself."
Pershey stopped talking and immediately stood up. Before she could walk, she first asked, "Have I slept before?" Then, she stepped away while waiting for Leighden's answer.
"M-maybe? It's already noon. Lunchtime."
"Really?" she wondered. "I didn't go out of campus? I've only been sleeping since before?"
"I don't know? Hehehe."
"I haven't been out of the library yet, right or wrong?"
"I don't know yet? Hehehe."
"Seriously?"
"I don't know!"
"Why are you shouting?"
"You have a lot of questions for me! All I know, you're sleeping and you're calling someone. I think, hmmm Caleb?"
"No, it's not real."
"Pershey! Are you crazy?"
She walked closer to her and says, "Slap me, Leighden."
She chuckled and whispered, "Crazy woman."
"You don't want to slap me?"
"Why would I do that?"
She forced to smile."Well, as you said." Pershey stepped closer to Leighden and slapped her lightly.
"Why do you slap me?" she complained while holding her cheek.
"Oh, I'm not dreaming," she said with a slight chuckle.
"Why did you slap me, Pershey?"
"You don't want to slap me, so I slapped you. Easy."
"Crazy."
Pershey was already at the door when she stopped.
"Wait!"
"Why?"
"Did I already eat?"
"I don't know to you, Pershey. Such a forgetful."
She turned and sat down again. She tries to remember what happened and what he dreamed about, but, the only thing that comes back to her memory is the meeting she had with Caleb.
"You're thinking too deep. You're going to drown, Pershey."
"I'm just wondering how it happened."
"What?"
"I mean, how I dreamed? How does he come into my dream? How it happened?"