Chapter 26: A confusing day
"Umm... can you repeat that?"
Eiden blinked rapidly, wondering if he’d misheard. "I think I heard it wrong."
"I think Crysty likes you," Sasha repeated without hesitation. Eiden stood dazed, his brain pausing like a poorly-loaded video. Then suddenly, he broke into a disbelieving smile and chuckled. "You almost got me there hahaha, good one." But Sasha didn’t laugh.
Instead, she frowned, stepped forward, and grabbed Eiden’s head with both hands, forcing him to look straight at her. "I’m not joking, and I’m not pranking you. I really do think Crysty likes you."
"Wha what do you even mean by that?!" Eiden flailed slightly in her grip, caught off-guard. "I meant what I said," Sasha replied firmly, letting go of him. "I think she likes you. I haven’t confirmed it yet, but I’ve got this strong feeling."
"On what basis!?" Eiden nearly shouted, waving his hands as if trying to shoo away the ridiculousness of the idea.
Sasha sighed, folding her arms as she explained. "The thing is... whenever I bring up something about you like if I talk about how we hang out or mention something you did her mood shifts. It’s subtle, but it’s always there. She acts jealous. Grumpy. She either changes the subject or distracts me." Eiden blinked. "Seriously?"
"At first, I thought I was overthinking. But just yesterday, she came over for a sleepover." Sasha lowered her voice slightly, casting a glance around, even though they were alone. "She thought I was asleep, but I wasn’t. That horror movie had me too creeped out to sleep." Her voice dropped into a quieter mumble as she recalled, "She got up, checked if I was sleeping, then went to the corner of the room. I watched from the slit between my eyes. She didn’t know I was awake."
Eiden leaned in instinctively, curiosity spiking.