Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Sunny

Sunday came, and we were here in the Rendezcah's residence. Mavin called Grandma to ask if we could clean the house because he had invited some of his employees to their home in the afternoon. Grandma and I went to their house early in the morning. We also headed to the nearest market to buy ingredients for them to eat later.

"Boo!"

"Ahh! Mavin!" I yelled at him and hit him. Luckily, he was able to avoid me. "You almost killed me." I added, clutching my heart and tap it to calm down.

I felt like my heart had just gone out of its cage. Mavin will kill me.

"Sorry," he said, laughing. "Do you drink coffee too much? Tone it down. Look at you." He added, trying to blame me.

This time, I managed to kick his foot. "Do not ruin my day first thing in the morning, Mavin," I told him and returned to wiping the plates with a clean cloth. "What do you need? If you are just here to bother me, then go out. I would not hesitate to kick you again." I warned him.

Mavin raised his arms. "I am announcing my defeat. Calm down. I want to ask you some questions," He replied before he put his arms down. "What happened when you guys went out?" He asked, finally going straight to his motive.

"If you are curious about what happened, you should have just asked your brother. It's been days, and here you are asking me about it?" I asked him curiously.

Like, why can't he ask his brother? Why is he so curious?

"You know who he is? He won't share things like that." He defended himself.

"If he won't, then you should have asked me that day when you asked me if I was with him. Or you can also ask me that night. Why do you have to ask now when it's been days?" I asked him again.

"Because I am curious," He simply replied. "I can't ask you that time because I hate doing it on chat or text. I want you to tell me in person." He added.

I shook my head. "You are so into gossip. No wonder Steven was mad at you that night." I told him.

My sister won't do that much. She won't push me to tell the story if I do not want to. Instead, she will wait for me to say to her. And that is what I am doing back to her as well. We respect each other's privacy. But this man in front of me? He is too curious about his younger brother.

"He even told you what I did?" He asked excitedly. "I can't believe him." He added, clapping like a seal. As if what Steven did was very unusual or whatever.

"Why are you curious about your brother? Why does it feel like you are stalking him by using me?" I told him. "You look like one now. Promise, no joke included." I added.

He laughed. "It is just because I am happy," He shared. "And it makes me proud somehow. He rarely does those things! He is almost like a robot who always reads and watches in his room. But now, look what he can do now. He gained new friends, talked to your classmates, and did more that he never did back then.

Grandma and I asked him that day where he was going because Grandma was making our lunch already. He just told us that he would go outside for a while. I could not believe him. Steven? Will go out alone? No way! And then, when grandma and I finished our lunch together, Grandma was worried that Steven would be unable to eat. I texted him and tried to call him, but he was not answering them, so I decided to chat with you," he explained.

"Then we learned that you guys are together. You also told me that he is the one who invited you to go out, right? It was the first time he did that. Initiating first? No, he is not like that, even to his friends. I am not lying. He would rather stay at home rather than go outside," He added. "That is why I wanted to ask you. Please consider this my assignment, which I must report to our parents. When Mom and Dad heard about Steven making friends, if you saw their smiles, you would feel what I felt. It was happiness."

Hearing it makes me curious about Steven. "Did something happen to him before? That is why he is like that?" I asked.

Mavin nodded and smiled after that. "Yeah, unfortunately. He was sociable before. Not very friendly, but pleasant enough to talk to someone and make friends. He loves going out as well. After what happened, he changed into what he is today." Mavin responded.

That explains his behavior. "I think he asked me out that time because he saw my state that morning. My eyes are still puffy from crying," I started sharing. "We did a lot when I asked him why he asked me to go out when he did not even know where we were going. Although I know that he is just worried about my condition, he wants me to wind up. I suggested things we could do, and he agreed. We watched a movie at the cinema, and he told me he found it fun. We also talked last night. He said we would watch a movie later." I even told him.

His eyes widened. "Watch? We will have our meeting at the living room. Where are you going to watch it?" Mavin suddenly asked.

"Maybe we won't." I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"So what happened next?" He asked again.

"After that, we headed to the game zone. We bought coins, and, oh, we also tried the photo booth. We took many pictures too. I managed to force him to do that!" I shared it excitedly.

Remembering that moment was fun. At first, he did not know what to do, and he was still awkward, but I managed to calm him down and pose for the camera.

"Can I see?" Mavin asked.

I nodded. "Wait," I replied and put the plates back. I also put the clean towel on the side of the table. "Come with me. I will get it in my bag." I told him, and we walked out of the kitchen.

I got my bag from the cabinet. I opened the small part of my bag and got the small envelope. I handed him the envelope and let him open it. Most of the pictures we took that day were of my hand. Steven only got one and said I could keep the others.

"Dang," That is the only thing I can hear from him as he looks at the photos. "What is the secret, Sunny Clyde? This is so rare. Look at him copying your poses here. This is so rare!" He exclaimed. "Can I take a picture of these?" He added that he started taking photos.

"Make sure not to tease him about this. He might not do this again with me. I will kill you if that happens." I warned him as I put the pictures in the envelope and returned them to my bag.

He shook his head violently. "No, just keep doing this. You have the right, and I would not stop you from doing so," He replied. "I am just happy. Mom and Dad will be happy about this. Thank you very much!" Mavin said and hugged me.

"You are making me shy, Mavin. But I promise I will do more things like this." I told him as I patted his back.

"Disgusting," We heard someone comment that made us break the hug. "Grandma, Mavin is taking advantage of Sunny Clyde!" Steven yelled.

We followed him after.

"Is it wrong to hug Sunny? We are just happy!" Mavin was trying to explain. "Grandma, I am not doing anything bad to her. We are just hugging. Steven is just jealous." He also teased Steven back.

Steven glared at me as if we had done something wrong. "Why are you getting mad at me?" I asked him. "A hug is just normal. Can't we do that?"

"Tss." He only replied by walking upstairs.

"Steven is so weird." I complained.

"He is," Mavin also agreed. "And then what did you do afterward?" He asked again.

We sat on the bench. "We played games together, and then we tried the claw machine. We almost spent our coins there, and we could not get anything. Then suddenly, a man asked us if he could play for us. He was holding the toys he got. So, Steven gave him the last two coins we had. And he was able to get them for real. I kept the hamster stuffed toys, and he kept the cat reading a book key chain. The one in his bag," I told him. "After that, we ate and roamed around the mall." I added, finishing the story.

"Interesting," Mavin only replied. "Thank you. Do not forget to message me and share it with me afterward, okay? I will be happy to hear the stories. You are the only human I trust here." He added.

Lunch was leisurely, and Mavin's visitors came. Grandma and I assisted the visitors and let them eat first. We ate a while ago, except for Mavin. He said he would be eating with them. We just hid in the kitchen.

"I cannot even believe that Mavin is working on an important job, grandma. He does not appear to be the person who would work in that industry. He looks cool now." I shared with grandma.

"He tends to keep the cool stuff." Grandma commented.

I was interrupted when I received a text from Steven. "Steven is asking us if we are done preparing." I shared and typed my reply.

"Maybe he needs something." Grandma suggested.

Nodding at Grandma's suggestion, I received another message from him. "Ahh, he asked me to cook popcorn. He is inviting me to watch a movie in his room. He also said you can come so we won't be bored waiting for them to finish." I said, reading his reply.

Grandma prepares the popcorn and the pan. “You two can watch it. I will stay here so that I can attend Mavin," She replied. "I will cook it. You can make juice for the both of you." She added.

"You know what, grandma? Mavin shared that something happened before, so Steven is like that. When I heard it was the first time, he went out with me, I was happy we could help Steven escape his comfort zone again." I shared as I made the juice.

Grandma smiled at me. "He is comfortable with you. It's good to know that he is trying. He is a nice kid. People will like him," Grandma said. "Mavin and Steven are good kids. They are raised well by their parents too." She added.

I can't say no to that because they are. They have flaws, but that makes a human, human. I can't say anything wrong about them, literally. After Grandma cooked the popcorn, I put our food on the tray and went upstairs.

"Steven?" I called him.

"Come in." I heard him reply.

"Okay." I responded by pushing his door lightly using the edge of the tray.

Steven quickly helped me get the tray from me and put it on his study table. Looking at his room is neat and full of white and black motifs. He also has an extensive library on top.

"Have you read the books already?" I asked.

He nodded and pointed to the books beside his study table. There is a small cabinet with some books in it. "They are the books I still have not read," He replied. "Sit with me. What do you want to watch? Is grandma going to watch with us?" He asked.

I shook my head. "She said she would just stay there to attend Mavin," I replied. "Let's not watch horror today. I am afraid I might scream and disturb Mavin's meeting." I added.

"Action? Comedy? Romance?" He asked.

"You should try romance. I have a lot of lists that we can try." I recommended.

"Okay then, go and search for it." He said and motioned to his laptop.

I sat on his bed and searched for the drama we could watch. I decided to watch a Korean drama, although there are a lot of episodes in it and we can only finish it in a day.

"Next time, I will bring my mini projector here. We can watch it bigger." I said and clicked on the drama's first episode before pausing it.

I positioned his laptop on his study table and put our popcorn in the middle while our juice was on the table. I clicked the play button and sat, leaning against his wall.

"Why is it in a different language?" He asked.

"It is a Korean drama. Let's watch the first episode together and tell me if we should continue it. If you find it boring, we will watch movies. Okay?"