Ice Prince: Rewrite The Star

After struggling to help Ashley get to the oasis, Chleo laid limp under a coconut tree after satisfied drinking water in the lake. Walking under the scorching sun and going back and forth just to pick up Ashley was exhausting.

Ashley was still playing with the water to quench her thirst and moisten her dry skin. After she started to feel refreshed, she shifted her gaze to Chleo, who now closed her eyes while leaning against the tree.

Ashley got up and walked over to Chleo to sit next to her.

"Why did you come back? You could have left me there."

"You want me to leave you?"

"I thought you don't like me?"

"Isn't it the opposite? You're the one who hates me to the point hired someone to kidnap me?"

Ashley cleared her throat and coughed as she glanced the other way. She shifted to sit against the tree with her back to Chleo and decided not to talk anymore. Both of them stretched their legs to rest their muscles that had been walking for hours without stopping.

After a while, Ashley no longer could contain her curiosity. "Chleo, who are you? Why would anyone want to kill you?"

"…"

"Never mind. I don't want to know either. I don't want to deal with you, but why did I have to end up here with you?"

Chleo just rolled her eyes lazily but didn't respond to the girl's complaints sitting behind her.

"I'm hungry."

Chleo bit her lip in frustration at Ashley's last complaint. She was also hungry, but there was nothing to eat here other than the water in the lake. The lake was small, and there were no fish or anything to eat.

While this coconut tree…

Chleo looked up and saw a coconut up there. But… how do they get it?

"Can you climb trees?" Chleo asked Ashley.

"I am Ashley Grey. Do you think a spoiled daughter like me would be able to climb a tree?"

"You just admitted that you were a spoiled daughter?" Chleo quipped sarcastically.

"All girls of my society will react like me. What's wrong with that? Besides, why did you mention climbing trees?"

"There's coconut on top. Maybe we can eat it."

Ashley lifted her head to look for the fruit in question, and there was indeed one there. Then she glanced at the other coconut trees, which were not too tall and easy to climb, but unfortunately, there was no fruit on the tree.

They didn't have any choice but only this tree that had the coconut. But, they had never climbed a small tree, so they couldn't climb the coconut tree, which was among the most challenging trees to climb.

In the end, they could only stare at the fruit with desperate looks. For now, they could only soothe their stomachs with water alone.

"We have to keep going if we want to get out of this place."

"Where to?"

Chleo herself didn't know either. She felt scared, panicked, nervous, and strangely she could hide it well. Is it because... Ashley?

Brrr!!

Suddenly they heard an engine car sound nearby. The two of them looked at each other, and then both ran towards the sound source.

"Finally, help has arrived. HEY!!! HERE!" Ashley shouted, waving her hands to the air as she saw a large jeep rushing toward her.

Chleo was also relieved that they finally didn't have to walk in whatever place this was, but she couldn't help but worry whether their helper was a good or bad person.

Well, for now, it was better for her not to be prejudiced about it and hope that the jeep was indeed their savior. Chleo would try to borrow their computer to send an email to her father. She was sure her father would immediately act upon receiving her email.

The jeep stopped in front of the two of them, and two bulky, dark-skinned men got out of their car. In unison, Ashley and Chleo held hands while slowly stepping back.

It's the first time they've seen black people… really black, not like the niggers living in America, but it's blacker and darker.

"@$%^*&%$?"

Chleo and Ashley looked at each other as one of the black men asked a question.

"Does anyone speak English?" Chleo ventured to ask.

The two of them looked at each other and then looked back at the two girls trying to hide their fear.

"Follow." said the man while pointing to his car. It seemed that the man had asked Chleo and Ashley to get into the car.

"You think it's safe?" asked Ashley, whose hands were now in Chleo's hands were sweating.

"It's better to be with them than to starve to death in this place."

"I guess you're right."

In the end, the two girls complied and got into the car in the backseat, where it turned out that several men of the same dark skin were also sitting in the backseat.

Chleo and Ashley were a little hesitant to go up, but when they saw room for two, Chleo went up first, followed by Ashley. The two girls sat close to each other, and for the first time, they didn't keep their distance from each other.

Even though they both dislike each other, both of them were giving support and courage for some reason.

What a ridiculous situation. If they were with their friends and going camping from the tourism orator, they would not be close like this.

Chleo and Ashley both felt uneasy when they noticed that many pairs of eyes were looking at them with probing eyes. In contrast, the two men who had come down to talk to them seemed to be chatting casually in the front seat.

They would laugh or joke every now and then, but the people sitting in the back room looked very tense, and their stares were horrifying.

"They're looking at us."

"Shhh. Don't look at them." Chleo whispered back. She lowered her head into her lap, and her eyes fell on her grip on Ashley's hand. She smiled amusedly, realizing she didn't want to let go of her grasp as well as Ashley, who didn't seem willing to let her hand go.

"What's funny?"

"I know I shouldn't think like this. But I'm a little grateful to have you in this unknown place."

"You…" Ashley was about to argue, but when she glanced at their intertwined hands, she swallowed her refuted words and revealed her true feeling. "Me too."

Chleo glanced at the girl next to her in disbelief. Who would have thought that Ashley, who used to harass her, slandered her, and even kidnap her, has now become one of her sources of courage in this place?