Erina Tashi

—Erina had just carried Lex’s drunken body into her car; now her vehicle reeks of alcohol from Lex’s breathing.

ERINA : “You’re a stinky.”

—Erina began to drive to her apartment. It was dark out and pretty late.

—She parks her car in one of the parking slots that is covered by a roof.

—She gets out of her car, opens the door where Lex was sitting.

ERINA : “Okay, buddy time to get up. There’s no way I can carry you, big guy.”

—Lex doesn’t budge; he’s still slumped over on the passenger seat.

ERINA : Sigh, I’d better be getting paid to do this, Jayce.

—She tries to get him to stand up, but he is heavy; somehow, she manages to do so. She carries him while having Lex’s one arm wrapped around her neck, dragging him towards the elevator.

—They got onto the elevator, and she struggled to click the 5th floor on the elevator panel.

—They arrive at the 5th floor, and she’s still struggling to drag him as he is very heavy. She gets them both to her front door, and she slumps Lex over onto the floor by the wall for a little bit.

ERINA : “Gotta get my key-key~”

—She inserts the key and opens the door, before she pulls Lex from his foot. Once he was in, she closed and locked the door and continued to drag him along the floor by pulling one of his feet.

ERINA : “Now, how do I get you onto my bed..?”

—She struggled to lift him over, making him stand up for a bit before she dumped his body onto her bed.

ERINA : “Sleep-tight, big guy.”

Morning, 7:13 AM. Lex wakes up in an unfamiliar room, which was tidy, but also had some pink girly stuff on the walls. He was lying down, confused, awake, with a mix of a hangover from all the drinking last night.

LEX : “What barbie girl did I sleep with…?”

He looks around as he sees a picture of Erina.

LEX : “No way I slept with Eri.. right?”

Erina walks into the bedroom, wearing some at-home shorts and a long-sleeve shirt, with some glasses on her face.

ERINA : “Oop! Drunk-man is awake!”

—Lex sees Erina in her fit, his eyes widen a little, seeing how cute she was in it.

LEX : “…There’s no way I slept with you, right?”

—He said with a morning-drunk voice.

ERINA : “Okay, so what do you mean by that? Like that I slept with you in the same bed or we did the shabang-boing? cause if it’s the first one, then yes, I did slept with you.”
LEX : “Can you not say word it like that?”
ERINA : “Even if you do think we did the shabang-boing, you still have your clothes on! or are you drunk, hallucinating that you’re naked in my bed?”
LEX : Grunts “Can I just have some water please? This hangover is killing me.”
ERINA : “You’re kinda bossy for sleeping in a girl’s bed, grumpy-drunk man.”

—She leaves the room to go get Lex some water.

—Lex sat onto the bed he was lying on, trying to lessen the headache. He sees a book lying by the bedside table, and curiosity hits him as he takes it and begins reading it.

He opens the book on the 10th page.

“I genuinely despise myself, why am I such a pathological liar?”

“I only become noticed or wanted whenever I lie and pretend I’m someone else I’m not.”

—Lex’s eyes widen, reading the first few words he saw on the 10th page. He moves onto the next page.

“Why did I get involved again? People will never love the real me, I have to lie and get under a mask to be liked.”

“I’m starting to fall again, even when I know it’ll just end up badly.”

—Lex moves on to the next page. The handwriting on this page progressively gets more messy as he reads through it.

“Why? Why? Why? Why? Why did I get so attached with people knowing they’d hate me the moment I reveal who I really am?”

—Some of the text was too messy to even read. He moves on to the next page with panic, seeing the messy handwriting.

“Today, I spent some time alone on the park!”

—The page included a photo card of her alone in the park. Lex looks closely at the picture as he sees scars on her wrist.

Suddenly, Erina walks into the room with the water.

ERINA : “Here’s your water, boss.”

—She said jokingly, as she then saw Lex reading her diary on the page of her first writing after the tragedies. She drops the glass of water onto the floor as it spills.

—She rushes over and takes the diary from Lex.

ERINA : “W-.. Why are you looking into my things, hu- huh?”

—She said with a sassy voice, with slight stuttering as her voice was lower than usual.

— Lex looks at her, with shock in his eyes, but it wasn’t as noticeable as he was still a bit hungover.

LEX : “Sorry, my bad. I got curious.”

—Erina looks at him with a slight nervous look on her face. She wonders what Lex had seen; she hopes it was only that one page and not the ones before it.

ERINA : “Wha- what did you- did you see in there…?”

—She asked, with nervousness in her voice as she hugged the book.

ERINA : “Be honest.”

—Lex looks at her with a sense of awe in his eyes.

LEX : “The few pages… before the one I was at.”

—Erina looks down. She didn’t reply, but instead walked away and tried to step out of the room.

LEX : “Wait-…!”

—Lex exclaimed as he grabbed onto her shoulders. Erina stopped in her steps as she looked back at Lex.

LEX : “I get it, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snooped into your diary, I’m sorry.”

—He said as he looked down.

—Silence. Erina didn’t reply; she just stared at Lex.

ERINA : “It’s okay! I don’t mind! you’re probably still a little drunk from last night, so you’re drunk-ass maybe thought it was the dictionary or something.”

—She quickly changes her expression, her voice, and tone. It sounded more like the normal Erina that Lex knows.

—Lex stares at her, with shock in his eyes. He was speechless, but also slightly concerned.

LEX : “Y-… yeah, I guess I was.”
ERINA : “Okay, enough sady-sad, I’ll get you your water again~”

—Lex is shaken by how quickly she changed her expression.

—Erina walks out of the room, she went to the kitchen to get Lex’s water.

”I didn’t mean to see her entire past through a single book.”

—Lex stands still by the bedroom doorway, still stunned and concerned for Erina.

—He walks to the kitchen to see Erina cooking up breakfast for both of them.

—Erina notices as she looks at him, with a wide smile on her face.

ERINA : “I’m cooking-up a chicken’s baby egg.”
- She said calmly, in a humorous way.
LEX : “Omelette or sunny-side?”
ERINA : “You look like the kind to want omelettes, soo~”
- She said while flipping the egg on the pan.
LEX : “You got that right..”

—Lex takes a seat at the kitchen counter. He sets his head down on the counter using his arms as a pillow.

ERINA : “Does drunk-man still need the water?”
- She said while cooking.
LEX : “Yeah.. and maybe some hangover pills?”
- He asked while his head was still lying on the kitchen counter, with a drunk and tired voice.
ERINA : “I don’t have any hangover pills, cuz' I’m no alcoholic.”
- She walks over to the fridge, grabs a jug of water, and a glass cup from the dish rack. She places the cup on the counter and pours water into it for Lex.
- Lex notices as he grabs the glass of water on the counter and drinks it.
LEX : “Thanks..”
- He spoke before chugging it all down.
ERINA : “Does a hangover cause dehydration or something?”
- She said while walking back to the kitchen stove and continued cooking.
LEX : “No, it lessens the headache.. I guess.”
- Lex looks at her while she cooks.

Erina finishes cooking, and she plates the two omelets on a plate for both of them to eat. She places it on the kitchen counter for them both to eat.

ERINA : “I hope eggs helps with your hangovers.”
- She spoke while placing the food onto the counter in front of Lex, with a cheerful voice and a wide smile on her face.

Lex notices the food in front of him.

LEX : “Thank you.. I’m starving too.”
- He said with a tired voice.

The two ate together at the kitchen counter, sitting across from eachother.

Lex stared at her eyes while she was eating. It was beautiful, shining; her face only made it a lot more beautiful with her pale skin.

—CHAPTER END

“A pretty face, with a tragic past.”