Chapter 10 Ten

"Shall we go to the mall?" Divya suggested during their break between classes.

"What do you want to buy?" Elara replied.

"We don't need to buy anything. Just walking around is enough. Come on, El, it's Saturday night! It's time for us to hang out and look for handsome guys," Divya said, waving her hands enthusiastically.

Elara frowned. She rarely went out since moving in with Granny Ada. It wasn't that she wasn't allowed; she just didn't want to worry Granny Ada by going out, and she also felt guilty making Alfred wait for her in the parking lot while she had fun in the mall.

"Come on, call your grandma and ask for permission. Or if you're hesitant, I'll ask her myself," Divya offered. "I'll also tell her that we'll be coming home with Gio," Divya added.

Divya and Gio knew about the driver who always picked Elara up and dropped her off, as well as the reason why Elara 'had' to be escorted. They never teased her about it.

Neither Gio nor Divya had ever seen Granny Ada in person. They only knew about her from Elara's descriptions and their video calls.

Granny Ada had often invited them over to her house, but Elara had not yet felt brave enough to bring them along. Especially now that Rayyan was living there, she didn't want them to know who Rayyan was and what their relationship was.

After thinking for a moment, Elara finally nodded at Divya's suggestion. She grabbed her phone and called her grandmother. Granny Ada's face appeared after a few rings.

"Good afternoon, Granny," Divya greeted cheerfully. The elderly woman responded with her gentle smile. "Granny, can I borrow Elara? I want to take her to the mall so she doesn't have to stay alone in her room all the time," Divya said, earning an elbow nudge from Elara.

"Which mall are you going to? Will Alfred be driving you?" Granny Ada asked, to which Divya shook her head.

Divya mentioned the mall they were heading to and said, "We'll be coming home with Gio later, so we won't need Uncle Alfred's services."

Granny Ada nodded her head. "Don't come home too late," she requested, which Elara and Divya both acknowledged with nods. After a bit of small talk, they ended the video call.

Gio, who had just arrived at the cafeteria after consulting with their academic advisor, was taken aback by Divya's suggestion. "Why are you guys sacrificing me?" he asked, looking annoyed.

"Because you're the only guy among us. So, God has entrusted you to take care of the two of us," Divya explained, as Gio openly expressed his reluctance to drive Elara and Divya home in his car.

"Yeah, I am a guy. But that doesn't mean you can use me as your personal driver. Besides, I'm too lazy to go to the mall, especially if I have to follow you around. That'll just make my legs weak," Gio replied.

"If you don't want to follow us, you can sit nicely in the car and let us wander around together," Divya shot back, not backing down.

"You're such a pain!" Gio retorted.

Then Divya stood up from her seat and whispered something in Gio's ear, causing him to stare at Elara in shock.

"Are you serious?!" he whispered incredulously. Divya nodded enthusiastically.

"What's going on?" Elara asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, really!" Divya and Gio replied in unison. This only made Elara more suspicious.

"Let's go!" Gio urged, making Elara even more curious. "Before the roads get congested," he added, pulling Elara's hand and leading her away from where they were sitting.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching their interaction from a distance.

A little while later, Gio parked his automatic car in the basement of the mall.

"Just leave the bag in the car. Just bring your phone and wallet, El," Divya said as she took Elara's tote bag, pulling out her wallet and phone from inside it and handing them to Elara. "I'm afraid your shoulder will be uneven from carrying a heavy bag all the time," she added with a mischievous smile that made Elara roll her eyes.

Divya then linked her left arm with Elara's right arm and-with enthusiasm that Elara deemed excessive-led her inside.

They wandered around the mall aimlessly. During their stroll, Divya occasionally checked her phone, replying to incoming messages, and got lost in her own world while Gio and Elara browsed the various items in the mall.

Gio, who really loved shopping, was busy buying this and that for himself and often asked for Elara and Divya's opinions on things he liked, only to end up taking everything he picked.

"Stop shopping already! Let's get something to eat; I'm starving," Divya said, to which Gio simply nodded. The man was already holding several shopping bags, making Elara and Divya shake their heads in disbelief.

They entered the open dining area on one of the mall's floors. Divya hugged Elara's arm with her left hand while her right hand held Gio's arm, impatiently pulling him towards the Japanese food section.

"Come on, choose whatever you want; I'll pay," Divya said, handing them a menu book filled with photos of the dishes.

"I want ramen," Gio mumbled, pointing with his finger at a picture of a bowl of noodle soup. "What about you?" he asked Divya.

The three of them then called over a waiter and placed their orders. Elara excused herself to the restroom, and when she returned to the table, she was surprised to find not only Gio and Divya there, but also a guy she didn't recognize.

"El, meet my cousin, Edmund. Edmund, this is my friend Elara," Divya introduced enthusiastically.

Elara squinted at Divya before turning her attention to the girl's cousin and extending her hand.

"Edmund," the man said with a deep voice.

Elara tried to smile as she shook his hand. "Elara."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful person," he said, smiling.

Elara simply mumbled a thank you in response. She then sat down next to Divya while Edmund took the seat next to Gio.

"Edmund is one of the senior students at our campus. He's pursuing a master's program," Divya informed her. Elara nodded, listening. "A while ago, he happened to see you, and when he saw us together, he said he wanted to get to know you. But since he's busy working and studying, it's been difficult for me to arrange a meeting between you two. So since we're going home a bit later today and he's done with work, I intentionally invited you to meet here," Divya continued enthusiastically. "I hope you're not mad."

Elara didn't say anything; she wasn't angry with Divya. However, she couldn't just nod and say 'it's okay' to her friend.

Although Elara initially felt annoyed at being lied to and introduced to Edmund so suddenly, she understood Divya's good intentions. Especially after chatting for a while, Elara could see that Edmund was polite and friendly.

They spent time talking about various topics-whether it was about school, the working world, or current happenings and trends on social media.

"You're not mad at me, right?" Divya asked as they walked toward the restroom.

"About what?" Elara feigned ignorance.

"I invited you to the mall and introduced you to Edmund without asking for your opinion first," Divya said, her expression a bit shy.

"At first, I was a little annoyed, but then I thought, why be upset? Isn't making new friends a good thing?" Elara replied honestly, earning a smile from Divya.

"I was going to tell you that I planned to introduce you to my cousin, but I was afraid you would be mad," Divya added.

"Why did Edmund want to meet me? And where exactly did he see us?" Elara asked, curious.

"He said he accidentally saw you in the campus cafeteria when he had to change his class schedule. He suspected you were in the same major and wanted to introduce himself, but you were on your way home, so he didn't get a chance to approach you.

"The second time he saw you, he was in a rush to meet his professor, so he gave up on the idea of introducing himself. Then one day, when we were coming home late from campus-remember when I said my cousin picked me up?" Elara furrowed her brow, trying to recall the moment Divya mentioned, then nodded. "At that time, he recognized you as my friend and asked me to introduce him to you. I like both of you, and you're both good people, so I agreed to set you up. I hope you're not mad," Divya continued.

"No, I'm not mad at all," Elara said, smiling.

They stopped their conversation as they separated to enter the restroom. When they returned to their table, they found Edmund and Gio happily chatting.

"Are you going home now, or do you want to keep hanging out?" Gio asked Elara and Divya.

"Hang out doing what?" Elara inquired, curious.

"I don't know, maybe an arcade or a movie?" Gio suggested.

Divya nodded enthusiastically, while Edmund shrugged. Elara felt a bit confused.

"Come on, let's go watch a movie. Plus, we already got permission from Granny Ada," Gio encouraged eagerly. "There's a new film that seems exciting. I'll treat you all," he added, making Divya even more excited.

Gio decided to queue up for tickets for the four of them. In exchange for Gio's treat, Edmund offered to buy popcorn, accompanied by Divya, while Elara was asked to sit and watch over Gio's shopping bags.

When they returned, Gio was smiling to himself, while Divya and Edmund looked a bit overwhelmed with two medium popcorns and four large drinks in their hands.

"Divya said you really like caramel popcorn," Edmund said, which made Elara blush. The handsome guy smiled at her as he noticed she didn't refuse his offering.

"Thank you," Elara replied, and Edmund simply nodded in response. They continued chatting until the theater opened.

The four of them walked into the theater, with Gio holding the tickets. As the guy smiled and handed the ticket stubs to Elara and Edmund, Elara had an overwhelming urge to kick him.