"Welcome to my room!"
Maine tentatively stepped inside Alden's room. It was a simple room; the desk with his PC occupying a space by the window, his bed and the three Star Wars Trilogy posters on the wall above the head board, he has a three-layered hanging bookshelf beside his desk, with the top two layers filled with books and the third lowest level has his CD player with a bunch of CDs neatly stacked horizontally. And much like what Alden did in her room, Maine zeroed in on his book collection. Alden sat at the edge of his bed while Maine checked out the titles of the books he usually reads.
They were done with Maine's required exercise for the day and for the passed week, her excitement of actually going out to work-out had not diminished, but instead made her look forward to the afternoons. It had been a routine for them. Alden would be coming home from school and they would walk for 2-5 minutes as required by Maine's doctor. Afterwards, they would head back to Alden's house for snacks and proceed to do their homework together (Maine being homeschooled due to her condition). But that was the first time Alden led her to his room. He had always been reluctant to have someone in his room, even his mom. With Maine though, he didn't think twice when she asked. They took a break from doing their homework and Alden led her upstairs to his bedroom.
"How many times have you read Harry Potter?" Maine asked she browsed through the titles.
"Twice," he answered. "I read it again after completing the whole series."
"Only twice?" She giggled which sounded so pleasant to Alden's ears. "I think I'm on my sixth."
"You should know the book by heart now," he remarked as she sat beside him on the bed.
She just laughed at his statement.
They continued to talk about the titles on Alden's bookshelf with Maine asking about the series that she didn't have. It wasn't much as her book collection was far larger than his. But she got curious of "Hardy Boys", "Legend of the Five Rings" and "Dune" as she never got to read any of them.
"Your bed is a bit hard," Maine observed as she suddenly lied down and reached for the pillow underneath the bed cover. She pushed herself further towards the center and placed the pillow under her head. He heard her sighed in contentment. Alden just watched her with curiosity and amusement.
He cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow. He said, "for someone who just said that my bed is a bit hard, you seemed to be too comfy."
"It was an observation, Alden," Maine stated. "I never said I didn't like your bed."
That earned a laugh from Alden and Maine joined him. She loved to hear him laugh. It eases her anxiety and it relaxes her. She noticed that it also made Alden relax more, as he seldom push his glasses up the ridge of his nose, a mannerism he does whenever he's nervous or anxious. She hoped that they would be like that always, even on days when she wasn't feeling well.
She realized at that moment that she hasn't used her oxygen since that day when they arrived and it made her smile some more. Maine was determined to keep the oxygen away. She will get better. She has to, for Alden's sake.
"Actually," she continued as she pushed herself to a sitting position. "I like your room, Alden. It's better than mine."
"Give your room a chance, Maine," Alden remarked. "You've only been here a little under a month. You'd get used to your room. One day, you won't even realized it has become your sanctuary of sorts. It took some time before I've gotten used to my room when we first moved here."
"You moved?" Maine asked, her curiosity peaked. She had always thought that Alden was born and raised in Laguna.
"We moved from New Manila," Alden explained. "When my parents got separated. Mom and I moved here while dad and...well they moved back to the US."
Maine just nodded as she saw the sadness in Alden's eyes. She didn't push for more information. She looked about the room once more and suddenly asked.
"Where'd you hide your guitar?" She asked.
"My what?"
"Guitar," she repeated and found it curious to see the sudden change in Alden's face from confused, to shocked then unease. He bit his lip and pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose before answering.
"I, uh," he stammered for a reply. "Lent it to a classmate of mine."
"That's too bad," she said. "I would have wanted to hear you play. The other night, it sounded like you were playing from far away."
"Well," Alden chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "I was next door. So in a sense, it was far away."
"Would you just sing acapella for me?"
"Not today," he answered as he stood up from the bed. He turned and held out a hand for her. He continued, "break's over. We need to finish off our homework. And I still need to study for a history test tomorrow."
Maine reluctantly took his outstretched hand and let herself be pulled up to stand. Alden overestimated and Maine lost her balance as she stumbled towards him. She immediately wrapped her arms around his waist for balance and he held her shoulders to steady her. They kept at that position for a few moments, each one relishing their closeness.
"You okay?" Alden asked, breaking the silence, as both of them slowly disentangled themselves from each other.
"Yes," Maine replied as she reluctantly stepped back from him. "Thanks."
He smiled and led her outside his room. As they headed back to the living room to continue with their homework, Maine suddenly said, "do you think your mom would be fine with us having a sleep over in your room sometimes?"
"A what?!?"
"A sleep-over," Maine repeated matter-of-factly as she stopped at the landing of the stairway, Alden was two steps ahead. He also stopped and looked back up to her.
"First of all," Alden replied. "I think your parents would be the one who wouldn't agree to the sleep over. Best friends we may be but I think both our parents would draw the line there."
He saw Maine's face fell and felt bad for her, he quickly added in jest, "secondly, I don't do nail painting and hair braiding."
That earned a giggle from Maine. She took two more steps so she was a step above Alden, making them eye-level. Alden raised an eyebrow at her waiting for her to say something.
She remarked after she regained her composure from giggling, "too bad then. I would have loved to see how you look like with your hair braided."