8

Wednesday, 12:12 PM.

"You sure you're visiting them? Should I accompany you?"

Perhaps I should have built up more confidence in approaching the basketball team today. To add more, Aly had been pestering me since the morning. My other friends, on the other hand, had been grinning and giving me pats in the back. Of course, they—mostly Naomi—were already pairing me up with Edward, and that their ship finally sailed into the open seas.

"It's fine Aly... I d-don't need any help." I mumbled under my breath, peering at Edward's group three tables away. Boisterous laughs rang out from them as they seemingly nudged one another. Meanwhile, Edward kept himself low on his lunch and gobbled on his food.

I did not expect much from him when it came to having convos and or showing lively expressions. Ever since that accident, his preoccupied scowl had replaced all of that. And even if there was a smile from him, it was probably a sneer. Not sure if that counts, but... he still looks so cute eating, though.

"Besides," I started, going back to my concerned best friend. "You already helped me so much, Aly. I don't want to depend so much on you. I... I'll do this alone."

"Aw, look Sam, our tomato has grown!" Naomi fawned, staring dreamily at me.

Tomato... I breathed heavily. They resorted to calling me that because my cheeks could literally turn scarlet red in seconds. One time they took a zoomed up video of me without me knowing, and when I noticed them, I felt like I was on fire.

"Well, just so you know, we all got your back!" Samantha tentatively embraced her arms around Naomi, before hauling themselves closer to Aly as if they wanted her to join in a group hug. However, she snuck right out before they were able to tackle her, causing them to whine. Meanwhile, Mark muffled with chuckles as he took a bite of his burger.

"Aly, don't be so cold," he said.

"I don't do hugs," Aly countered before she, once again, pondered upon my decision, before finally, a smile flashed across her lips. "Well, I did help... and if that's what you want, then I'm not going to stop you. Go for it and make these girls' ships sail," responded Aly as she raised her arm and slapped Naomi—who had been inching closer to her—on her back.

"Ow!" She yelped. "Why only me?!"

"Thanks Aly." I smiled back, then turned to face Edward and his friends. Alright, Rena... you gotta take deep breaths, and be brave. Before I started hesitating, I slowly headed towards them. It's going to be just fine. Just one step at a time.

As soon as the group grew closer in my vision, though, all those second thoughts haunted me, costing all the courage I had been trying to gather. At this point, the urge to stop in the middle of the way, return to my friends and regret everything I had schemed was growing stronger. What if they hate me? What if they will just shrug me off? What if they chase me away? What if...

However I couldn't turn back now, because Seb's attention was locked on me.

"Serena, you really did come!" He exclaimed, his face brightening up as he waved his hand.

The group's noises died down when my presence was made known to them, as all of their gazes—including Edward's—bored through my tensed body, as if they picked up the immense fear emanating from me. Yeah, they were probably thinking about how rude of me to randomly walk up to their group as if I knew them well.

The pressure shoving me down was the hardest force I had experienced. Gulping, I jabbed my nails into my sweaty palms while my gaze wandered to the lunches they were having: sandwiches, nuggets, burgers and pastas. I shouted at myself to initiate and break all the awkwardness apart, but nothing was coming out. Come on someone, say something instead...

Well, so much for being independent.

Seb rose from his seat and came over to my side, with stares pursuing after him. He cleared his throat. "Sorry if this is a surprise, but she's my friend. Her name's Serenity, but call her Serena."

You can call me Rena. I wanted to add to his introduction, but my lips were sealed.

Once Seb cleared out about what happened, they addressed me with nods and small smiles, with a few caring enough to give out their names. Edward was an exception, though, as he simply acknowledged me and resumed eating. There was one person, sitting on the opposite side of the table, who had been eyeing me for no reason. Thank God, the team's pretty nice enough to let me sit with them.

All thanks to Seb though. If it wasn't for him... who knows what could happen?

Out of the blue, the staring girl shot out of her chair. Not a second later, she was already standing—she was slightly taller than me—in front of me, but... instead of being disgusted and telling me to leave, her blue eyes were sparkling with might as she exposed her teeth. It was like she was expecting me as well.

"Rena!!" She exclaimed.

"Uh, um... y-yeah...?" My heart practically jumped. The fact that she called me by my preferred nickname, which Seb never specified, meant that we have ever interacted before. Surveying her wavy charcoal hair stopping on her shoulders and the uneven fringes curtaining her forehead, I searched through my past memories far and wide.

Then, not even moments later, a name popped up in my mind. "Adelynn...?"

"Yes! Gosh, it's been so long!" She cried out, but before I could answer her, she gently pushed me onto an empty spot. "Have a seat over here!"

"T-Thanks!" I muttered.

With her new style, Adelynn was hardly recognizable, if not for her signature bangs. Back then, she would often leave her long straight hair to grow as long as she could, even reaching until her waist. Aly would always comment on how she could eventually trip on her own hair, but she would simply dismiss her. I know she's always been so committed to it... Guess times really changed, and so did she.

She might be part of Edward's childhood gang, but I rarely conversed much with her; only a few chats here and there. Once our group broke apart, she would hang out with her own friends, but at other times, she would be accompanying Edward for classes or even after school. As time progressed, Adelynn never really popped up in my observations again.

Did I even notice her? Maybe that's why I don't recognize her as much.

My mind fumbled when I felt my elbow brushing against someone. Lo and behold, that someone was Edward himself.

"S-Sorry!" I squeaked like a mouse, instantly getting my hands off the table. And almost immediately, my face was like a belt of volcanoes that were about to erupt. Geez, this is why you don't let your mind wander around. Just calm down Rena! Why are you making a fuss about this?

"It's fine," he said.

From my peripheral vision, I watched Edward grabbing bread from his lunch tray and chomping on it. He looked like he was savoring his food, so I decided it was not the perfect time to initiate. Is he even comfortable with me being here? I hope I'm not bothering him too much...

Minutes ticked past and here I was, still awkwardly sitting beside Edward. I wanted to snatch the opportunity when he was done, but it slipped out of my grasp once he decided to take another bite of his food. This is not as easy as I thought...

Looking at his lunch tray, Edward was the only one piled with various types of bread, with absolutely no meat or vegetables in sight. There were simply more buns and loaves. The portions were seemingly so endless that if I were to eat them, it would take hours to take all of them in; heck, I couldn't finish them in a day. There's no way I could handle all the carbs...

To be fair, bread was practically Edward's soulmate in terms of food; not even meat was able to take its place. As a child, he had demolished every single bread his mom would make for him in seconds, like what he was doing now.

And while the others returned to their loud conversations, both of us said absolutely nothing. I had been waiting for him to finish his food, but then, I would probably be here forever. There was really no choice but to grab the bull by the horns.

"Edward?"

The way he promptly turned towards me, while his mouth was stuffed with his bread, made me jolt. However, I took a moment to compose myself, so as not to slip my tongue like I did yesterday. Now that I have his whole attention, I swallowed the lump on my throat and said,

"You only eat bread for lunch?"