remember when I knew

CHEN AZALEA

 "AREN'T YOU leaving?"

Sasha looked up at her and for the first time, Chen Azalea saw her eyes look straight in her own. They were brown. Deep. Big. Full of knowledge and sorrows. And warm. "My brother was supposed to pick me up."

"He's late?" She guessed.

Sasha just shrugged. "He probably forgot. He's never late. He hates being late."

"I'll walk with you then," Azalea decided. "You can show me the way."

She took her bike and walked next to it, following the kid's small steps. "Do you live far from here?" She asked when they reached the hospital.

"Just a few minutes left."

"All right."

Azalea's eyes wandered around her. A ball bumped on her feet, making her jump and drop her bike.

"Sorry," a small girl cried out, running towards them. She took the ball and smiled slightly. "It was an accident."

"RORY!" A boy called.

"I'M COMING!" She answered. "Have a good day."

She ran and they started playing again. Two seconds later, Azalea saw the ball bump an old lady on a bench.

"We're there," Sasha commented when they reached a block of flats. She opened the door and a tall, blonde, woman stopped in front of them.

"Sasha! Wasn't Jai picking you up?" She asked.

"He was not. I walked here with Azalea."

When she mentioned her, the woman seemed to realise there was someone else with her child, and she chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't see you. You work at her school?"

"Yes."

"Don't leave!" She stopped her. "Please, come in to eat something. I can't let you go like that after you walked Sasha home!"

Azalea tried to think of an excuse. "My bike..." she just trailed off.

"You can put it here. No one will take it," the woman waved her 'problem' away.

"Ah."

She put her bike down and followed Sasha in. "Shoes go there," the girl told her, taking off her own. "Coat on the chair."

Azalea just awkwardly stood there.

"You can sit," the woman, probably Sasha's mom, smiled at her. "Tea? Coffee?"

"Just water, thanks."

"Sasha, call your brother. He's been in his room all day."

The child sighed, stood up, and left the room, leaving them alone. Azalea started counting the seconds, hoping this would soon be over. If that was the way she was paid for being nice, she was definitely being a 'bitch' the rest of her life.

"I'm Tina, by the way," the woman frowned, giving her a glass of water. "I maybe should've started with that. But oh..."

Sasha came back in and sat on her chair, taking a spoon in her hand, starting to eat her yoghurt without a word.

"Azalea?"

 Azalea jumped, and turned around to see a boy standing next to the door. "Jai?"

"Oh, so you know each other?" Tina grinned happily, resting her head in her hands, looking at them curiously.

"She's- Yeah," Jai just muttered, taking a chair.

Azalea studied him quietly. "You cried," she said when no one was listening.

He looked away. "That obvious?"

She shrugged. "I often see things others don't."

"You must think I'm pathetic."

"Everybody hurts. People are weird. The world is upside down. Crying is pretty much everyone's reaction. If crying is pitiful, human being's drowning under pity."

The ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "True. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I walked Sasha home since you weren't there to pick her up."

"You work at her school?"

"Yeah..."

He nodded, an unreadable expression on his face.

"It's extraordinary," Tina squealed, smashing her hands together. "Think of the odds that you and Jai knew each others! And are friends! And Sasha seems to like you!"

Azalea just smiled slightly at her, not really knowing what the right answer was.

"Oh! You should stay for dinner!" The adult gasped.

Jai rolled his eyes. "Mom."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "That's right, mister. Roll your eyes. Maybe you can find a brain up there." Then, she turned to the girl and grinned brightly again. "So?"

"I'd love to but my parents need me at home," she lied smoothly.

"Oh," Tina's smile fell. "I understand." She stayed quiet for a moment and then, her face lightened again. "Next time, then!"

"Sure," Azalea replied. She stood up. "I should go."

"See you tomorrow, then?" Jai asked.

Tina took the magazine laying on the table and hit him with it. "Walk her to the door," she snapped. "Geez, what kind of boy did I raise?"

He stood up too, grumbling something she couldn't hear, but complied.

"See you tomorrow," he repeated when they were in front of the door.

"See you tomorrow," she agreed.

And then, she left their warm, cosy home to go to her lonely, cold flat.

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A/N: I was bored, couldn't sleep, and in result, you got a bonus chapter.

I kinda wrote it with half of my brain's capacity and knowing that my brain's already worth 5% of a normal brain... Well, let's say it's probably a mess.

Question: which book made you laugh the most?

Hard to say but I guess it's either a french comic called "Mortelle Adèle" or "Arte" .

So goodnight and thank you so much for following Jai and Azalea's journey!