Alonah Charm
There are many things that could make Alonah feel surprised. It wasn’t even that hard to do so. All you had to do was tell her something that you find interesting and you would successfully be able to arouse that feeling within her--may it be the good kind or the bad kind.
Alonah knew that herself as well. She’s probably the one who knows that the most, which isn’t really a surprise considering how those are her emotions after all.
Still, the thing Lu told her right now took her by surprise more than it usually did. Total and utter shock; that's what she felt. She didn’t really seem to mean it but It completely left her dumbfounded and really beyond nervous.
"Uh, could you repeat what you said? I didn't quite catch it..." She mumbled quietly, her mind still trying to wrap around the words her best friend uttered.
"I said that you'll be the one to tour Ian around the city." Lu ordered, an impatient look crossing her face.
Being friends with her for so long, Alonah already got used to seeing that look cross Lu’s face multiple times. However, at this moment, she felt the frightening impact it held for the first time in a couple of years.
It’s really weird how she would be this unhinged just from spending the day with merely one of Lu’s childhood friends. Taking that into account, she started to wonder how she would fare if the rest of their friends will finally arrive. But, she quickly shut that thought down. Just thinking about it would only make her more nervous than she already is and being a blubbering, idiotic mess in front of Ian would most definitely not leave a good impression on him.
"Hasn't he came here more than a few times?" Lu nodded. "Then I'm pretty sure he doesn't need my help anymore." She said, while the latter just sighed.
"Just help him, alright? And besides, it's a great opportunity to get to know each other better." She replied, making Alonah look at her with something between suspicion and surprise.
Alonah already knew that Lu wants her and her childhood friends to get along. She does too, if she’s being honest because she knows that they are an important part of her best friend’s life. The reality of her and them spending time is already inevitable (not to mention a given) so she really does understand the significance of it.
However, it would have been really nice too if Lu just gave her a few times to adjust to them (well, just Ian in this case) before she just went ahead and dumped them together for the rest of the day.
Does that girl really not understand the concept of ‘taking it slow’?
"Well," Ian started, speaking for the first time since Lu’s declaration of Alonah being his tour guide. "I'm up for it. Besides, it's a great idea to get to know Xavier's future girlfriend better."
She really didn’t know--nor would she even want to know--what she looked like right at that moment, but she’s pretty sure that it was something akin to a tomato. She also could have sworn that when she heard Ian say Xavier and future girlfriend in one sentence, her heart fluttered and she honestly felt like it would burst out of her chest.
"Aw, wittle Ally is blushing." Hayes cooed, making Ian and the others laugh at her current state, which mostly just consisted of her being embarrassed.
"Shut up!" Came her lame and instinctive response, which only seemed to amuse them more than they already are.
If she could hit herself over and under, she would have done that already.
“So, Ally, final question.” Lu stared back at her, a mischievous smirk now plastered on her lips. “Will you take the challenge?”
Alonah immediately glared at her best friend. If there’s one thing she knows that Lu would definitely use no matter what, it would be her need to accept any challenge that comes her way. After all, she is unable to say no when you put it that way. She really hates it when her best friend uses underhanded tactics like that to get what she wants.
“You’re a very evil woman.” Alonah replied.
“That’s already an established fact, love. No need to state the obvious.” Lu grinned while Alonah’s scowl just deepened. “Moreover, you don’t even have anything to do today so what’s the harm of taking the job?”
Another thing she hates that Lu does is when she puts meaning into her words that really affects her in ways she wouldn’t expect.
While it is true that she really does have nothing to do, she didn't like how Lu made it sound like her life really is that boring. She wasn’t exactly wrong with that, but she didn’t have to make it so obvious.
“Fine, but you owe me, Newman. Make sure to remember that.”
“Oh don’t worry. I make sure to repay all of my debts.”
The smirk Lu threw her way made her feel unsettled than she already is. It’s that feeling she always gets when Lu is about to cause trouble yet again. She doesn’t know what her best friend is planning, but it would definitely not be something good--that she’s sure of.
Reese laughed. “Give the woman a break, Lu. She really looks like she might pass out any moment now.”
“Your sentiment wasn’t really needed, but thanks anyway.”
The sarcasm laced in Alonah’s tone of voice as she uttered her reply wasn’t lost on Reese. If that glint in his eye wasn’t what made it obvious, then she doesn’t what is. Still, he didn’t react in the way she expected him to. Instead of throwing a fit like he usually would, he just laughed harder in his place and continued looking at her with a smirk on his lips.
Alonah wondered right at that moment what’s wrong with the guy but decided not to dwell on it too much since she knew it would bear no fruit in the end anyway. Reese is extremely hard to read like that.
"Well, let's get going." Ian said, offering his hand out to her.
She honestly felt like an i***t at that moment because all she could was stare at his offered hand a foreign thing, threatening to kill her with just one touch. For Alonah, that wasn’t really far from the truth, but there’s no way she could ever voice that aloud.
But, of course, Ian is not the type of person to give up—at least that's what Lu told her. "Come on, take it. I don't bite. Well, my hand that is." He said with a grin, and she can't help but crack a smile a little.
It's really hard to look annoyed when you're around Ian. The guy just looks like an absolute angel, you can’t even think of being annoyed by him.
After a moment’s hesitation, she slowly and gently raised her hand and placed it on top of his cautiously and hesitantly. She felt like a child holding a parent’s hand for the first time.
"That's it, it wasn't hard, was it? I told you my hand doesn't bite." He said, making her laugh a little.
Strangely, Ian’s way of making him come out of her shell was oddly comforting.
"See, the two of you are already interacting. That's one step ahead, don't you think?" Lu asked, making Alonah look at her and the rest of their friends. She was trying to suppress a smile, and so were the others.
She’s really starting to regret looking over at them. Obviously, it was the wrong choice to make. Even if they said no words, she could already see them teasing her to no end until her ears would fall off because of their incessant noise.
"Go along, my child. Your mother and I are very proud of you. Just call us if you need anything, okay? And be safe, our dear Ally. Your mother and I will be waiting here upon your arrival." Ashton said, as he wrapped an arm around Lu. She just looked at him with a raised eyebrow before she shrugged Ashton's arm off her.
Ashton looked at her and frowned. "Why did you shrug off my arm, babe? Don't you like my affection?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her again.
Alonah honestly didn’t know how Ashton could do that as if nothing was even happening. She already knew the fact that he doesn’t hold any feelings towards Lu, but the feelings of affection and longing must still have been present, right? After all, it wasn’t really that long ago when Ashton claimed he no longer liked Lu that way.
She really thinks it seems unlikely but maybe he did manage to get over her like he said. If he did, then that's great. But if he hasn’t, then he really needs to work on it and take the time to start his process of moving on. He already probably knew what would be the end result anyway.
Lu laughed and pulled away from Ashton. "Ash, are you alright? You don't exactly act like this. It’s weird." She stated, making Ashton grin up at her.
"I'm just in a good mood."
"In a good mood to make fun of me?"
"Yeah. I mean, no. I'm always in a good mood to make fun of you."
"Ashton."
"What? I’m just stating facts. Everybody here knows that that’s true.”
“I wonder why.” Kobe chorused with a smirk plastered on his lips.
Everyone in the room probably knew what Kobe was referring to because they were all quick to laugh at his statement and look at Ashton with a knowing expression. Ashton immediately grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at Kobe’s face afterwards.
“Shut up, you lousy moron.” Ashton told him, a slight trace of pink tinting his cheeks.
Alonah laughed and turned to look at Ian, who was eyeing Lu amusingly. "Come on, Ian. Let's leave the two lovebirds alone, and so that we could start on our tour."
“I can already tell this is going to be fun.” Ian stated.
Dominic let out a snort. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Ally’s a terrible guide.” Hayes added. “You’ll get lost before you even know it.”
Alonah gave them a glare. “I am not!”
Still, everyone decided to ignore what she just said. Reese turned to look at Ian and told him, “Lu just led you to a trap you know.”
“Maybe she isn’t that bad this time around.” Ian replied, a bright smile on his lips.
Alonah honestly thought if Ian was the angel that was sent to her. The guy just seemed so innocent and good that she can’t help but feel like she wants to keep him as her guardian forever.
“You’re way too enthusiastic about this.” Dominic chuckled.
Alonah rolled her eyes before she finally pulled Ian towards the front door and said, “We’re going now.”
“Aw, it was starting to get really fun.” Ashton replied.
“Shut up.”
Laughing, the others bid their farewell as the duo walked out the door and towards the pathway. Now that they’re outside and the feeling of comfort she got from her friends have finally subsided, the nervousness she felt came back tenfold.
"Okay, so where to?" Ian asked, making her avert her gaze from the trees to him.
"Yes?" She replied, making him laugh uncontrollably.
“God, Ally, you crack me up.” Ian said in between laughter.
"What?" She asked confusingly, while he continued to laugh really loud.
She honestly doesn’t get what she did that made him laugh this much that it almost seemed scary to her.
"I asked you where to, and you replied with 'Yes?'" He explained.
Hearing those words, Alonah is pretty sure that her cheeks are burning already. It was just impossible not to.
"Oh." Came her embarrassed reply.
"You totally weren't listening, were you?" He asked and she grinned sheepishly at him.
"Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind." I replied and he smiled at me.
"It's quite alright." He said, using a fake British accent.
"Huh." She started, a thoughtful look plastered on her face. "For an American, you sure are great with a British accent."
He smirked at her and told her, "Having two half Brits, and a one-fourth Brit for a childhood best friend comes in handy, you know."
She gave him a laugh. "I'm sure it does."
"So, what do you like to do during your spare time?" Ian queried as they walked down the sidewalk.
Alonah took that time to assess him silently and gauge what kind of person he is. To her, he seemed like the laid back type--the type she gets along with the most. It made her feel relieved that he seemed that way because she really doesn’t know how to survive this tour if he wasn’t. She would either be too shy or too frightened to even start anything.
"You're really up for what Lu told us?" She asked and he shrugged.
"Could be. I mean, it's always been a tradition to the ten of us. You know, getting to know the person who's going to be the future girlfriend or boyfriend to one of us." He explained further, when she looked at him in confusion.
"Oh. But what if one of you, falls for the person who's one of you? Does it make any sense?" She asked, quite embarrassed on how she worded her question. She honestly could have done much better than that.
He laughed and replied, "Yes, it does. And, it's an excellent question by the way. But actually, that already happened."
"Oh my gosh, really?" She asked and faced him with anticipation.
"Yeah. But it's not actually hard to fall for Lauren, so I wasn't exactly surprised when the truth came out."
Her heart thumped hard in her chest and a burst of disappointment washed over her. She doesn’t really know why, but all of a sudden, his words disappointed her to no extent. After all, why would she feel that way? Maybe she was just influenced by how great he is that it made her feel delusional all of a sudden. It’s scary how Ian could have an effect over a person that easily.
Still, there's a possibility that it's not himself he's referring to, but there's also this alternate one where it really is him he’s referring to.
And just why is she so interested about that?
"Really?" She asked, trying her hardest to hide the disappointment in her voice that she couldn’t stop.
He gave her an odd look, but it diminished all so suddenly. He smiled at her and said, "Yeah. Xander is a really great guy, so I guess he deserves Lauren after all."
Relief overpowered her emotions in that instant that she smiled so big, it's starting to get freaky. She still found it so weird why she’s feeling this way when she even just just met the guy. Heck, this is even the first decent conversation they have where she wasn’t feeling all sluggish and tired due to lack of sleep.
"Oh, so you're referring to Xander." She replied and he nodded.
She really wanted to hit herself.
"Yeah. You know him?" He asked and she gave him a half smile and half grin.
"Not personally, just by his name and by the things Lu has told me."
Ian shook his head in amusement upon hearing her words. "Really? What did she tell you about him? Lu tends to exaggerate a lot of things most of the time."
"That, I do know." She paused to laugh. "But you know, the usual. All good things, don’t worry."
"Elaborate on the part where you said, 'the usual'." He ordered and she gave him a small smile.
"She said that Xander has a height of five feet and ten inches, he has light brown hair and sea blue eyes." She told him, listing off all the things that she remembered from the ones Lu told her. She just hopes that she didn’t mess that up and mistook Xander for another one of their friends. Pausing to think of other things that she might have forgotten, she thought hard about her previous conversations with her best friend but came up with nothing. "Yeah, that's all I know."
He laughed and asked, "How many things has Lu exactly told you about him?"
"A lot, actually. That's why I can't remember all of it."
"Some of it is exaggerated, I'm sure."
Laughing at his reply, Alonah couldn’t help but let a grin take over her face as she told him, "Probably. I mean, she told me that Xander literally fell and skipped all the way to Lauren's house because of how giddy he is of seeing her."
It seemed as though Alonah guessed correctly about it being exaggerated because Ian laughed so hard at the information she just let him hear. "Yeah, totally exaggerated." He replied once his laughing fit was over, but a grin was still glued to his face. “So Lu likes to brag about us then?”
“Oh you have no idea.”
“Well, I’m glad.” Ian smiled.
"So what else should I know about you?" She asked, facing him with a smile.
He turned to look at her, clearly shocked about her question (which she honestly doesn’t understand why) but he covered it up pretty quick.
"Me?" He asked, pointing to himself with his mouth slightly agape.
She laughed. "Yeah."
"Oh." Came his short reply.
"Yeah. So what else should I know?" She asked again, and he tapped his chin, pretending to act thoughtfully.
She laughed once she saw it was just a facade. "Come on, Ian. I'm being serious. What?"
He let out a low chuckle. "Nothing, really. I think Lu already told you everything."
"Come on." I whined, but he just laughed.
He shook his head in mere amusement and pointed up ahead. "Look! We've already at a bookstore! Let's go inside." He said and dragged her all the way to the bookstore he just saw.
She knows it was merely to distract her from the topic they were having, but decided to let it go. After all, there’s still more time to get to know him aside from this one.
The little bell above their heads dinged when Ian pushed the door open, and a gush of cold wind met her face. We walked inside with Ian still holding her hand and went to the first genre they saw, which just so happened to be "Classic Fairy Tales".
She looked at Ian to question him about it but immediately decided against it when she saw that his eyes were shining with delight. She resorted to chuckling instead and followed him to the said genre. He released his hand once they reached their destination and pulled "The Lion King" out of the bookshelf excitedly.
"Look!" He exclaimed while holding the book in front of him for her to see. She laughed once again and saw a romance section across the one they were in, prompting her to go there. She immediately saw the book "Romeo and Juliet" and pulled it out with a smile.
"Now that's just boring." She heard Ian complain near her and looked up to find him in front of her.
She shook her head, still smiling as she examined the book. "I didn't know they still sell it here."
"That's probably just a revised version. I hardly doubt that they still sell the original version in bookstores."
"Yeah, it probably is." She returned the book back to the bookshelf and looked at him with a smile.
He smiled back. "Come on, let's go to the counter. I'm gonna buy this." He said, holding up "The Lion King" book. She laughed as a reply but still followed him there nonetheless.
When they reached the counter, the cashier was around twenty something, and smiled warmly at them. Ian placed the book on top of the counter and the cashier smiled.
Once the cashier saw the book that Ian placed, she said, "Aw, how cute. You still read these things?"
Ian only smiled. "No, I bought it for her baby cousin." He said, pulling her closer, making her feel beyond surprised
"Aw, the two of you are such a cute couple!" She gushed and Alonah ended up blushing profusely in her place.
"Oh, no, we're not—"
"Thanks."
She looked at Ian in shock, but he only smiled at her. "Well, cheers to the both of you." The cashier said and opened the cash register as Ian handed her the money. "Thank you, and please do come back soon."
Taking the book and the change, Ian smiled at her one last time, before they went out of the bookstore.
Alonah couldn’t take the silence and the curiosity. "Uh, what was that?" She asked, but he only let out a low chuckle.
“Just something I thought would be fun.” He handed her the book, and she looked at it in astonishment.
"Come on, take it. I wasn't kidding when I said I bought it for your baby cousin. Lu told me about your baby cousin. Her name's Skye, right? Well, give it to her. Tell her it's from Uncle Ian." He said, and she laughed but shook her head at him.
"Ian, that's really sweet, but I can't take this." She declined and started to give him back the book, but he stopped her and shook his head while laughing.
"Nonsense! Just take this and tell her it's from me." He insisted and she smiled.
"Well, alright." She replied and took the book from his hands. "And really? Uncle Ian?" The amusement present in her tone prevailed.
"Well, we're friends, are we?" He asked, as if he were stating the obvious.
She chuckled "Yeah, we are."
After a couple minutes of deafening silence, Alonah faced Ian and told him, "Thanks, Ian."
He waved her off and said, "It's nothing, really."
She only smiled at him and continued on walking down the sidewalk as she hugged the book close to her.
Aksara