HIS FAVORITE GINGER ✓

ELEVEN.

A WAVE OF RELIEF SWEEPS Grayson onto the shore of reality. The project is soon to be completed and within a short period of time. This one is tougher, nonetheless, he has engaged a lot of time and effort. In addition to his good luck, it is pitch perfect, unlike the last which he admits he was playing around while Alejandro did all the work.

Grayson is lost in staring at the ginger as he types away on the laptop with adamant eyes and ambidextrous fingers. Grayson can only wonder how Alejandro is going to get if he did something much worse. He shivers, the memory of Alejandro pounding a locker with his fist claws into his head like a persistent tick. He likes boys, has eating disorders - he's not sure yet but it seems so - and severe anger management issues.

Alejandro Bale is a riddle wrapped up in an enigma.

Not that Grayson wants to unravel shit. It's not his business and he has his own fair share of life that he needs to deal with.

Alejandro's fingers comb through his ringlets. This innocent action immerses Grayson into his carrot hair and Grayson mentally smacks his impulsive self for following him on Instagram that day. Grayson never wanted him to see that drawing till I was ready to show him - which was never because, come on that'll be hella weird - but when he followed back in that instant, Grayson knew it was already too late. Alejandro even liked it. Sooner or later, he will ask about it.

Nevertheless, it is still the very best of Grayson's work so far and he adores it with every fiber in him, just like he adores Alejandro. And his brilliant maroon eyes that are currently gazing into his soul.

"Gray!" The blonde blinks thrice. He realizes he's been caught staring at him like a creep, again. Grayson is dreading the turnout of them alone in a room. In most teenage fiction novels or some movies, awkward staring in an isolated place yields bad fruits, always.

"Sorry sorry." Grayson splutters which is very rare of someone like him. He's always brighter than a button and cooler than a cucumber. "I was just thinking, that's all."

"Really? About what?"

Yes, they've been talking, Alejandro has been talking to him now and that, he is glad about. Grayson is still surprised by the sudden change of attitude because the last time wasn't so lively. Alejandro never uttered a single word other than the project shit and Grayson did the same, keeping a blank face and making sure he didn't provoke the ginger more than he already was.

"Uhm, never mind. It's nothing you need to know."

That was a little too harsh, right? Grayson can tell by the momentary look of hurt that flashed across Alejandro's face that he is an asshole since birth. Could he really be serious about the question? Does he even care? Of course he doesn't.

Don't get your hopes too high, young man.

Maybe Grayson is just seeing things. Eureka! Delusions caused by desire, yeah maybe; he's unsure. So he flings the matter into the trashcan and diverts his attention towards the project on the Macbook's screen.

"So now all we need to do now is to insert those diagrams into the document and also don't forget to maximize the diagram of the scales. It needs to be large enough or should I do it? Because it -"

Grayson's face flares like the sun's corona when an upsetting noise echoes through the large room. Alejandro tilts his head in amusement, the smirk on his face is so condescending that Grayson feels his body forcefully shrink like heated camphor. As if the embarrassment isn't enough to sublimate his entire being, he feels like jumping off a cliff or crawling into a hole forever, never to step on the face of the earth ever again.