They went past the town square, towards the marketplace.
Throughout the journey, Rey kept bringing up random topics, and Alicia didn't quite understand why.
For example; things like her dreams, her thoughts on certain guys in their class.
The breaking point for Alicia was when he asked about what she thought about Billy.
She actually considered him to be an imposter at some point—maybe Justin disguised as Rey.
But on their way out of the Royal Estate, they saw Justin hanging out with his friends.
It couldn't have been him.
Stil, Alicia wasn't sure this was really Rey.
To exercise caution, she asked him questions that only Rey would know—questions involving things they discussed in the Library or in his room.
"How many cats do I have in my grandparents' house again?" Was a good example.
And every time… EVERY SINGLE TIME…
"Over thirty-seven, right?"
… Rey knew the answers to her queries.
It had to be him!
'So why is he being so weird?' She wondered to herself.
Perhaps this whole surprise thing had him all worked up. That was Alicia's excuse for him.
The two of them eventually went to a shop that sold "The best Fruit Juice around!" according to Rey.
She didn't know he had been exploring much of the city, especially since he never told her about it.
'I would have liked to know… or even come…' Alicia's thoughts trailed.
But she quickly shrugged it off.
The Shop was more like a restaurant, with tables and chairs set in multiple places.
For a place meant to be the best, it was scanty at best. A few men were seated in certain corners here and there, but there weren't more than seven of them.
They all had big jugs of juice in front of them, but the liquid contents were almost full to the brim, showing that they had barely been touched.
'Is Rey really sure about this place?' Alicia wondered to herself as she scanned her surroundings.
She saw a few men taking sips, but they were hardly making pleasant expressions.
Instead, their hardened faces seemed distracted.
Some even stared at her a few times.
"U-um, Rey… I don't really feel comfortable here…" She whispered into his ears.
She just had a bad vibe about the place and worried for the safety of both of them.
However, he just casually shrugged it off.
"Don't worry. It's always like this. There's really nothing to be uncomfortable about."
The way he waved off her concern felt unlike Rey.
… Almost too insensitive.
But Alicia decided to trust his words. They had come all this way for the surprise anyway, so she decided to get it over with.
Although she didn't think she was in much of a mood for anything.
They got a table pretty easily, and once they sat, someone came to attend to them.
"What would you like to have?" The woman who asked this had a plain face and a somewhat shabby appearance.
She held a piece of paper in one hand and what appeared to be a pen in the other.
Once Alicia focused on her hand, though, she noticed her hands trembling.
"Hey, are you okay? Your hands are trembling." Her voice echoed concern as she asked the waitress.
The lady in question expressed shock. She probably wasn't expecting Alicia to notice, talkless of asking.
As a result, she was too stunned to speak.
"Oh, she's fine, Alicia. Let's just make our order and—"
"I wasn't asking you, Rey." She quickly shot him a distasteful look.
This was the very first time she had felt this way towards him. It almost felt like repulsion—the kind she felt for certain kinds of guys.
She didn't think Rey was such a person.
'Could I have been wrong? Is he finally showing his true colors after all this time?' She asked herself.
No… no, she didn't want to believe that.
"I… I just have a cold, that's all. Nothing too serious."
The waitress' voice woke Alicia from her thoughts, prompting her to return her gaze to the nervous-looking woman.
'Maybe she's shy, or it's her first week working here…'
Alicia was still concerned, but she didn't want to cause more of a scene since most of the few men in the shop were already looking in her direction.
"Alright then. Get well soon."
"T-thank you…"
Alicia smiled sweetly, but that expression quickly died down as she turned to Rey who was smiling intently at her.
She might have felt some measure of bashfulness if she saw this a few hours ago, but now she felt a little annoyed.
"Why don't you pick something for me? You know this place best." Alicia sighed, taking her gaze away from him to look around once again.
"O-okay! Then you should try their strawberry shake! It's the best!"
"Really…?"
"Yep! I just tried it out yesterday, and it was fantastic…"
'Yesterday, huh…?' Alicia's thoughts trailed as she reigned her gaze to Rey
"You seem pretty excited about this place and what you got yesterday, yet you didn't mention it to me at all when we spoke last night…"
"A-ah, well… I… I was eventually going to… really…"
Alicia could see from Rey's expression that he was lying.
'Why? Is it because of the surprise?'
Either way, she didn't like it one bit. She never expected him to lie to her, even under these circumstances.
'That's why he's the one I trusted most among everyone here…'
He was someone she could be honest with, and she thought he saw her as the same.
But now, Alicia didn't know anymore.
"H-here you are. Two strawberry shakes."
As the waitress brought a tray that held two medium cups of the same liquid, Alicia felt it was too fast.
'Don't they take longer to make these things…?' She pondered.
She gave Rey his own strawberry shake, to which he didn't respond to with any smile or words of courtesy.
He just kept looking at her like a creep.
'I really don't like this…'
Alicia had the mind to leave the place and return to the library to finish her book, but she decided to simply wait for the surprise.
Perhaps this was simply a manifestation of the vestiges of feelings that she still had for the boy before her.
The waitress proceeded to give Alicia her cup when, all of a sudden—
"A-ah—!"
The waitress slipped, causing the cup to nearly topple over and splash its contents all over Alicia's casual outfit.
Before it could do so, though…
~WHOOOSH!~
… Rey swooped in like the wind and caught the cup , shifting Alocia's chair so not even a drop of the splattered juice reached her.
The waitress, unfortunately, wasn't saved.
"A-ahh… I deeply apologize. I'm sorry… so so sorry…" She nearly sobbed as she remained on the ground.
Alicia thought she looked pitiful, and her powerless state struck a chord within her.
"N-no, it's fi—"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Rey's voice suddenly echoed, exuding sheer rage.
Alicia had never seen him this way.
"YOU NEARLY SPILLED THE CUP! YOU NEARLY STAINED ALICIA! ARE YOU RETARDED?!"
Hearing those words proceed out of his lips, Alicia found her heart in a deep state of shock
And then, the thought surfaced in her mind again.
'I-Is that really… Rey?'
*
*
*
Thanks for reading!
I'm sure a bunch of you must have figured it out by now, so I will not pretend anymore.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
