Ugh, I wish I hadn't seen this.

Aster's enthusiasm to see Calix had quickly faded the moment that he opened the door and saw what was happening in the room. Calix and Lila were sitting at the piano, side by side. They were looking at each other, singing and smiling. The air was filled with blossoming romance, and Aster felt like heaving.

Damn. They look like such a good couple already.

That was what Aster envisioned in his head. Calix's charming voice had transcended Aster to another plane. He pictured himself sitting at the piano with Calix, looking into his galaxy purple eyes. Aster continued to live vicariously through Lila as she sang with Calix. His imagination ran deep- he was once again under the night sky with Calix. This time, his vision brought him to a flowery garden, similar to the one they were in earlier. Somehow, Calix was still the prettiest thing there, despite the plethora of alluring blooms present.

"Aster, what did you think of their song? Aster?"

Hazel's question stifled Aster's imagination, sending him back to the sad reality of the situation: his crush had just sung a loving duet with a girl. Hazel tapped him lightly on the shoulder, trying to get his attention.

"Aster?"

Aster tried his best to look nonchalant, equipping a deadpan face akin to Calix's typical choice of expression, but he simply could not. His face still blushed with the shade of a rose, deep enough that everyone would definitely notice.

"Oh yeah, uh it was great…"

It would be better with me by his side.

"Yeah! It was! You both sound so good together! I wanna hear more!"

Hazel gave a thumbs up as she continued to hand out an endless stream of compliments to the duet that Calix and Lila had sung. Aster noticed that Calix had a cheeky smile plastered on his face after receiving them, when he had previously always acted nonchalant towards Hazel's sometimes overenergetic personality.

Everything about Calix is different when he's around Lila. Ugh, why am I even feeling this way? 

***

Aster sat on his bed, hugging his almost metre-long yellow duck plush toy. He stared into blank space, processing everything that had happened that day.

I guess today was nice.

It was the first time in forever that he had hung out with someone outside his usual group of high school friends. Classes in school did not leave much time for socialisation outside Central Crew. All his coursemates seemed to have their cliques, while Aster already had trouble upkeeping the friendships that he made during university orientation. Central Crew, and Hazel especially, were Aster's only current social outlet outside of Ash.

I really enjoyed my time with Hazel…

Hazel was truly a breath of fresh air to Aster. A platonic friendship was something he lacked, thanks to his time being occupied largely with either daydreaming of Calix or dealing with Ash. The warmth that she brought to Aster had allowed him to slowly start processing his family situation, and while he definitely had a long way to go before he fully came to terms with everything, at least it had got him started

The thought of Hazel in Aster's mind morphed into Calix. Why couldn't they form a similar connection? Aster felt that interactions with Calix were still awkward, albeit not as bad as the initial blunders. What he was unsure of was whether Calix was naturally introverted or if he acted that way because of something that Aster had done. He let out a long sigh.

While he was fretting over his lack of friendship with Calix, his phone emitted a loud ding. He turned on the screen and was astonished at the notification he had received: calix_frost has followed you. Aster sandwiched his phone between himself and his duck as he embraced them in a tight hug. Almost as if it intended to ruin Aster's bliss, the phone started ringing. Despite being buried in his duck plush toy, the shrill ringtone still managed to escape at an almost blaring volume, startling Aster.

Boyfriend. What does he want now?

Aster sighed and resigned himself to picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Can I spend the night? I just had the worst day of my life and I-"

Spend the night? No way. Dad might just show up again.

"Sorry, I’m too tired tonight, but we can talk on the phone, and…"

"What’s gotten into you? It seems like you have barely any time for me nowadays! "

"Listen, I’m just not up for meeting in person at the moment, but I’m happy to talk to you on the phone!"

There was a short pause, about five seconds long, before Ash responded.

"Bah, forget it."

The call was put down. Aster could feel his blood boiling thanks to that short exchange. He groaned and lay down on the bed, sinking into it slightly. Attempting to drift off to sleep, he closed his eyes and tried to shut everything out till tomorrow, but his attempts were futile. Ash was increasingly getting on his nerves, but he did not know how to handle the situation he had found himself in.

Ash calls me, then has the audacity to put it down after I don't give him exactly what he wants? Why does he always have to pop in and ruin my happiness?