Why Crysty Wouldn’t Have Done It - Part 2

They finally reach the coffee place. Crysty has become very quiet all of a sudden.

-“Crysty, wuddup?” Reef notices something is wrong. “Yo, talk to me.” He says quietly.

-“Oh... Hmm... It’s nothing I’ll tell you later...” She says, seemingly a bit sad. “Oh!” Her mood suddenly changes. “Will you go watch a movie with me after the coffee?” She asks, looking happier than ever.

-“Well... That depends.” He replies.

-“What do you mean?” She asks in surprise. “SAY YES!”

-“Are you going to drink a coffee?”

-“Hmm... No I wanted to drink the hot chocolate drink like you guys...” She replies.

-“Then I’ll go to the movies with you after you drink that.”

The rest of them pick on the fact that he is just messing with her. Albert even laughs a bit, already understood where this is going.

-“Wait... I don’t get it.” She is confused.

-“you are the only one who drinks coffee here. If you order a coffee I could go with you to the movies after you drink the coffee. If you order something else, I will still go with you, but not after you drink the coffee, it’s after you drink what you did order.” He explains the joke.

It’s quiet for a few seconds.

-“REEF!!” She starts hitting his shoulder, laughing.

Reef smiles and asks for 5 chocolate drinks, making sure with everyone that it is what they wanted.

They sit, drink and laugh, having the time of their life.

An hour almost passes. Arney and Albert head to the school. Angelica remembers to give Reef and Crysty space. She gets up and says: “Oh, I’ll go with you guys, I’m going to draw something in the garden.” She joins them, turns back and signals Crysty with her hand, seemingly to “keep on pushing”. She then turns to exist and the 3 of them go back to the school.

Reef and Crysty remain at the coffee shop.

-“Reef, there is something I want to tell you.”

-“What’s the matter?”

-“You know how you’ve never met my family? There is a reason for that.”

-“What do you mean? Is everything alright?”

-“Yea, everything is fine. My dad is very protective of me. Apparently I had a sister before I was even born. My mother is also deceased as you already know. I never had the privilege of meeting any of them. Losing them is probably what made my father so protective, but...” She has a hard time completing the sentence.”

-“I’m sorry, take your time. I’m here for you, you know that right?”

-“Yea!” She smiles happily. “The thing is... You know how Crystalite was discovered by a genius professor?”

-“’Who sent human kind to the next stage! Making Japan the one to take that first leap into the future!’ That professor?” He asks, as he quotes the ads, pronouncing it in a televised manner.

-“That’s my dad.”

They both go quiet.

-“That’s pretty cool. What’s the big deal?”

-“You’re not mad I didn’t tell you?”

-“You just told me. But it’s okay either way.” He explains. “You are Crysty. That is never going to change. Nobody is ever going to take that away from you.”

Crysty sheds a tear.

-“Oof...” She seems to be emotional about this.

-“What’s the matter, Crysty? Don’t cry, I got you.”

He leaps to the chair next to her and hugs her closely.

-“My father didn’t want others to bother me about it so he made me promise not to tell anyone outside of the family.”

-“We are your family.” Reef replies.

-“I know. That’s why I couldn’t hold it anymore. You are the only one I ever told. You think the rest of the group will react like you.”

-“You know they will.” He reassures her.

-“Oof, I love you so much Reef.” She says and starts tearing again.

-“I love you too.” He hugs her again. “And so do our friends.”

They stay like that for a while.

“Did you have anything else on your mind?” Reef tries to dig further.

-“No... I don’t know.” She replies.

-“Just promise me that if something is wrong, you will let me know.”

-“I promise.” She genuinely promises.

-“Like you mean it.” He is poking at her.

-“YES SIR I PROMISE!” She says loudly all of a sudden, grabbing the attention of some of the other customers.

The both of them start laughing. They then get up and leave to the movies.

Reef is holding her hand. He looks at her as they walk. She catches him looking at her, not shying away, so she isn’t shying away either, smiling at him. They reach a sign saying: “Thank you for your stay in Tokyo!” and another one saying: “From this point only cars are allowed.”

They get to a “Nostalgia Ward” right outside of the city through a huge tunnel. They have to wait at the bus station for an old-school kind of bus, standing in line as if it was a water park. The scenery outside is very snowy.

-“Is this anything like the Transpods? Or the moving sidewalks?” Reef asks.

-“Not really.” Crysty replies. “Its closer to the pods but it’s not for individuals. Do you know what a train is?”

-“Oh! Yea, I remember we studied about it in primary school.” He answers.

-“Well, this one is kind of a mini train.” She explains. “Look.” She points at the screen embedded to the station’s wall. “They explain here how people used busses in the past.”

Reef starts reading, as he notices how cold the environment they stepped into actually is.

-“Hey, are you cold?” He asks. “The temperature changed so drastically when we got out of the tunnel.”

Before she answers they hear a horn sound: “Beep, beep!”

The bus has arrived and so Reef doesn’t manage to read the rest of the explanation.

Crysty takes the initiative and steps in first. She offers her hand to Reef saying: “It will be warm inside of the bus. If you will, my good sir.”

Reef takes her hand saying: “But of course, my fine lady!” and enters after her.

They sit down and look out of the window. The area outside the bus is filled with snow all over, as if they are in a different country and it seems much more visible in contrast to before from the inside of the bus.

“Wow, It’s prettier than looking at it from the tunnel.” Reef says. “I wonder why...”

-“It’s because it looks like a picture. From the tunnel, looking outside didn’t look too different from the city. Now it seems like a picture Albert would have taken.” She explains.

-“Oh, so it didn’t look different enough yet.” Reef understands. “It can make a fine scenery for Angelica to draw as well.” He adds.

-“Wait until it starts moving, you will love it.” Crysty says, trying to hype him up.

The bus than begins the ride, driving towards the old school cinema as it’s final destination.

-“Wow, it’s so beautiful!” Reef says, amazed by the scenery of the snowy road and trees outside. “I hope they won’t be mad we went to an old school movie without them...”

-“I got their ‘okay’, don’t worry.” Crysty reassures him.

She then leans towards him, closes her eyes and stretches awkwardly on purpose in front of his face to get his attention. He lowers one of her hands with his, and grabs her other hand at the same time. He then touches her cheek, strokes her hair and kisses her. They keep kissing and then she leans onto him, staying like that for a long while. They enjoy their time together, as relaxing music is being played to the bus’ passengers.

After some time, Crysty says: “We are about to arrive. Let’s stand up so we can be ready to get off.”

They stand up and use the bus’ polls to balance. Reef holds a poll with one hand and Crysty with the other. He holds both very tightly so when the road becomes bumpy - the entire bus moves from side to side, but Reef and Crysty remain stable, creating a human gyro, enjoying it like a park attraction.

“We are almost there.” Crysty says with a smile.

The music then changes to a rhythm that Crysty finds odd. “This song... I know it. But... Something is not right.”

-“What do you mean? What song is this?” Reef asks.

-“I think... It’s mine.”