I guess that the time has finally come.

As I was sat in the dining room, twiddling my thumbs together, I continuously stared at my smartphones screen and counted down each passing second. I looked over towards the date indicated on my phone to check if all of this was in fact real. Indeed, the day was most certainly Saturday. Whilst I glanced upon the clock times and times again, I felt the anxiousness grow throughout my body once it became more and more clear that my supposed friend could arrive at any time.

One thing that didn’t make sense to me however was why this stress came rushing back so suddenly today.

Once I woke up from my sleep yesterday morning and noticed my alarm clock flashing the numbers 10.30, I felt so happy when I realised that this was my first day off in what seemed to be forever. It was simply the best feeling ever. Just the thought of being able to relax at home while the other kids would be suffering in the hellhole that is our school had awoken a small sense of rare privilege in me.

I mean, I felt a little guilty too. Did I really deserve this break ? Oh damn it, of course I did ! I went through so much this past week, the least I can have is a nice relaxing day at home ! If my own mother told me to take the day off, then it meant that I had deserved it, right ? Ah crap, maybe I’m thinking about this too much.

Just when I got up from my bed I felt like going for an early swim, but as I thought about it I immediately rejected that idea. What if I got discovered again ? What if this time someone found me out and really went to tell the world of their discovery ? I would be so screwed !

So with those ruminating thoughts, I decided it was probably a better course of action to spend the day at home. And it wasn’t too bad, it definitely managed to calm me down.

For the entirety of yesterday I binge-watched my favourite movies and snacked on anything that I could find in the cupboards. Mira had texted me at some point asking where I was, but once I explained that my mother granted me the day off, she replied by wishing me a good day. I mean yeah, I do love Mira. But if she really thought that I’d sacrifice my mini vacation just to hang out with her at school, then she must’ve been out of her mind. Besides, she's able to come over and meet me anytime, so I couldn't find the problem there. And with all that being said, I did manage to keep the anxiousness at bay.

Well, that is until this beginning of afternoon.

Once my mother and sister had left the house, those feelings came back to me like a hurricane. And it all lead to me now feeling so stressed out that my hands and limbs were shaking like a crazy panic attack. I looked down from the table to my legs and realised that I was still wearing my shorts. Crud.

I definitely did not want Owen to see my scales, not now. So, I quickly rushed to my bedroom and grabbed the same pair of Levi’s that I had been wearing two days ago at school. Would it be too suspicious to wear the same pants than last time ?

Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door.

Oh my god, no ! Not now ! I’m still not ready !

I jumped into my pants as fast as I could and ran towards the entrance. As I was standing at the front door only a few feet away from the person outside, I felt all the panic that I had accumulated from this past week tearing and shredding my head to pieces. I slowly approached my shaking hand towards the knob, ready to open the door. My palms began to sweat more and more, and there I knew that there was no turning back. Okay, calm down Akari, you can do this !

And on those words of encouragement, I swung my front door open.

As you would have expected, I was greeted with Owen’s keen and smiling face. I looked up into his eyes and my mouth gaped wide like the fish that I was. Wow, he looked stunning.

It was now that he was only bare inches away from me that I noticed how tall he was. The boy was towering completely over me, it was insane ! He measured what seemed to be a little over 5’9, which may seem average to a normal person's eye, but once you compared him side by side with my small figure, it became clearly visible how much difference we both had in our stature.

Though it wasn’t only his height that paid homage to his perfect physique.

Every strand of his jet-black hair was well kept and styled in a way that complimented his facial structure perfectly, which in itself gave off the friendliest and most attractive aura that anyone could possibly wear. His dark green eyes seemed like they were sparkling like stars as they glanced towards me, while his smile was nothing short of breathtaking when it pulled into a kind grin with teeth as white as snow.

And his body, oh my god... his body. Describing his body with words only was something that seemed impossible to achieve. The shirt he weared was clenched tightly around him, looking like it wanted to rip itself off from his firm and muscular chest that pressed onto it. As my eyes travelled down, I noticed him wearing some classy exerciser shorts that came right above his knee height, giving me a full view onto his long and athletic legs. The little of clothes that he wore exposed his tanned skin to show off for all the world to see. Well, by the world I meant me, since I was the only person standing beside him right now.

I swear to god that if he suddenly tells me that he'd never even thought about modelling, I would personally dig his own grave and forcefully shove him right at the bottom of it. Damn it, I feel so pitiful standing next to him. I made absolutely no efforts on my appearance while he seemed to have spent his entire morning preparing for our encounter.

“Hey there Akari ! Thank you for letting me come to your house today !” He said in an eager tone.

As soon as he had greeted me, I stopped spacing out and gave him a timid smile.

“H-hi,” I shyly waved. And once I had done that his expression changed to one of confusion. Why the hell was he pulling that face ?

“Akari, are you okay ?” He questioned.

“Y-yeah, why are you asking me that ?”

“Well, your face is all red.”

Wait what ?! Since when did I start blushing ? Oh my god, this is embarrassing !

“I-it’s the h-heat, dumb-butt !” My voice cracked. Oh great, now you look so convincing Akari.

As I was mentally slapping myself, Owen’s expression pulled back into a kind smile while he turned and faced the direction of the sun, putting his hand onto his forehead to protect his eyes from the light.

“Yeah, you’re right ! It sure is hot outside !” He exclaimed, then panning his face back at me.

“Wouldn't you mind giving me a tour of your house ?”

“S-sure,” I murmured.

I have to keep it together. This is not the time to admire his hot body, I must stay on guard with him. Remember what Mira had told you before. His acts of kindness might just be there to put me in a disadvantage later on. Well, maybe she was slightly exaggerating last time, but I have to trust my friend above all in this situation, she was smarter than me after all. Besides, I promised her that I would be careful around him, and that's exactly what I was going to do.

At first I showed Owen around the garden, pointing out to him the surroundings and the small lake that was situated downhill from my yard. I turned my head and observed Owen as he was admiring the place in awe. He looks like a child on Christmas Eve with his eyes that were sparkling in a million lights, and I must admit that it made him look pretty silly, but also cute at the same time.

After exploring the garden, I led him into my small one-story house, showing my visitor the kitchen and dining room along with the different bedrooms, finishing off the tour into my own room.

Owen turned around with amazement riddled around his face.

“Your house is amazing Akari ! I have never seen anything like this before ! It totally looks like the kind of house you’d find in a fairy tale book, I love it !”

I stood there in the frame of the room, watching him and analysing his reaction. You would expect the rich boy who lived in a mansion to criticize your house on whichever aspect they could pinpoint, but Owen's happy face didn't showcase that in any way. This is annoying. The fact that he would always compliment everything and try to get on my good side just got more and more suspicious, and I didn’t like that. In response, I suddenly blurted out the first thing that came to my mind without thinking twice.

“Are you really here just to talk about my house ?”

Owen’s face turned serious the moment I had said those words. The smile he once wore disappeared and was replaced with a straight neutral line, looking like he was seriously tending to the subject of our future conversation that lead him here in the first place.

“You’re right,” He stated as he scratched the back of his neck.

I went over to my bed and sat down onto my mattress. Since Owen was still frozen in the middle of my room, I patted the place next to me and signaled him to sit with me. He nodded and followed my request by slumping down on the previous spot I'd designated for him.

It was then I knew that from here on out, this future conversation would either make or break the fate of my kind. However this would play off, I knew I had to do this.