Chapter 11 - A Nonsense Ren

As the afternoon class ended, I approached one of my friends, the one who I was close with. He was known to recognize almost every girl in our grade. What a crazy skill to have.

“Ren.” I called tapping his back. “I’m a bit troubled.”

He turned his head and frowned. “Uh… care to explain it? Surely it’s not about money right?”

“I’m not going to rob you. Why are you looking like I borrowed some cash and never paid it back?” I muttered.

He chuckled softly, standing from the chair. “So what is it, Don’t tell me it’s a girl?”

I looked away and said, “Maybe?”

“You’re finally making a move!?” he said, his eyes lightened up. “Say who is it?”

“No, it’s not like that.” I said.

His shoulders fell. “Oh… I thought that was it.” he said, sounding disappointed. “So what is it then?” he continued.

“Well… I’m a bit lost too, but there’s this one girl I was with a few times already.” I said, trying to explain it slowly. “And the thing is, I don’t know much about her. But for some reason, she knew about me.”

“You’re together with a girl a few times already?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded once.

“And she knew about you beforehand?”

I nodded again. “Yeah.”

“And you’re telling me you didn’t know anything about her?”

“Y-yeah?”

“I can’t believe you…” he said, shaking his head. “That’s not how you do it.”

“I think you’re reading about this wrong.” I commented, seeing his disappointed face. “I was just asking about her. Because there’s something off about her.”

He leaned closer. “Something was off? What does that even mean?”

“I’m not too sure about it. But she was cross-dressing as a guy.” I revealed and continued. “This was not confirmed. That’s why I was asking for her, that maybe you knew a thing about her.”

“A crossdresser? Even if you said that, how could you tell that was the case?” he asked.

“It’s not like it was my first time seeing a guy and a girl, right? The first thing I noticed about her is that she looked way too pretty to be a guy.” I said

“You might be into guys now.” he commented immediately. “I’m not gonna think there’s a chance that a guy looked too pretty to be a guy.”

“No!” I retorted. “That was not the only thing about her. There was her voice too, anyone could guess that she was a girl based on her voice. I haven’t heard any guy with that kind of voice.”

“So… On top of looking pretty, she also has a voice that’s not suited for a guy. Is that what you’re trying to say?” he said.

I nodded once. “Yeah. That’s what I need help with.”

“A help!?” he gave me a disbelief looked. “I don’t think I can help you with that case.”

“I was just going to ask if you knew about her.”

He shook his head. “If there’s someone like that within our grade. I probably catch it up already. But based on your description, I don’t think I’ve seen her. What’s her name?”

“Ari.”

“Ari…” he paused and thought for a while. “Doesn’t ring any bell…”

What do you mean you don’t remember her!?

“Nope. I don’t think I know her. But, I do remember hearing the name Ari before, not sure where.” he added.

“How can you forget that time when someone barged in the room?” I said, pointing out the time Ari entered the room without any warning.

“Ah…” he paused then looked at me. “Seriously? You were talking about that guy?” he said, squinting at me.

“Yes. Now what do you think?” I asked back to him.

“Well… You’re kind of right. He definitely didn’t look like a guy to me either, and he sounded like a girl as you pointed out. But…” he paused then sighed. “I don’t think that was enough to label him as a girl.”

He was right. But then, there are some things you just can’t explain. I don’t think a guy would purposely mess with me like that… Plus, the time when she was talking with my grandma, was suspicious.

I remained quiet, lost in thought. Thinking about how would be able to makes sense of her real gender.

“Hm…” he nodded once, looking at me. “Is there anything else you knew about her?”

Anything else… I pondered, and pondered, finding clues about her identity. But the more I try to find it, the more that it doesn’t make any sense. “I don’t know… It’s not like I’ve known her for a while, but sometimes she appears out of nowhere.”

“I kinda get it.” he nodded as if he really got it. “Those times when someone wanted to see you.”

“Y-yeah?” I muttered, raising an eyebrow. “Good for you then.” I said as I walked away.

“Hey where are you going!” he called, following me.

“You can’t help me, so I’m going to eat something first.” I said, continuing walking.

“You’re cruel…” he muttered. “You shouldn’t do—Aw…” he bumped into my back. “What is it?”

“Yo!!!” Ari greeted.

“Ari…” I muttered. “Why are you here again?”

“Ari?” he peeked from my side and found Ari standing in our front. “What… You’re not lying when you said she appears out of nowhere.”

“I told you.” I whispered to him. “That’s how she usually does it.”

“You’re together with someone today?” she asked. “That’s unusual.”

“It isn’t. It’s just I wanted to be alone sometimes.” I responded.

“You’re right Ari. That’s just how the way it is for him, it’s kinda worrying.” he said, joining in.

She chuckled. “I know right? Every time I saw him, he was always alone for some reason. Kind of sad to look at.”

“I don’t think he is a guy…” he whispered, leaning close to my ear.

“That’s what I told you.” I whispered back.

Ren nodded to her. “You’re right. That’s why sometimes I hang out with him just to make him feel he’s not alone.”

What crap is he saying now?

“If you haven’t noticed it yet, he was obviously lying.” I said to her. “He’s not that good with guys.”

“What do you mean not good with guys? Then what do you think of you?” he asked. “You think I’m not good at you?”

I nodded once. “Yeah, usually.”

She laughed hard.

“I don’t think it’s that funny Ari…” I said to her.

“What’s not funny about your troubled face?” she said as if it was a funny thing.

I took a deep breath. “Seriously you two… One is already hard, I never thought it was possible to have two at the same time.”

Both frowned at me, tilting their head in confusion.

TWO ANNOYING CREATURES!!!