16

As hours dragged by, gym class finally came to an end. All of my limbs felt nothing but jellies, and the idea of snuggling myself underneath my duvet and going to dreamland never left me alone.

Sure, there was a short break in between, but obviously that was not enough to fully replenish my lost stamina. Well, at least there was still a benefit for all of this. Not only did I get more time together with Edward, but I watched with a grin as he and his friends dribbled and breezed through the basketball activities like a child's play.

And as for Aly... once I rushed to the locker room and opened my phone, a series of text notifications from her whipped out all of my uneasiness.

Aly: SKNLMKDKSJD RIP IM LATEEEEE

Aly: MY GODDAMN ALARM CLOCK DIDNT RING THIS MORNING T_T

Aly: ILL SEE U LUNCH TIME

A profound sigh rocked through me before I found myself chuckling. Nothing was better than the relief slamming upon me as soon I saw that red dot on my message app.

Entering my last class before lunch—the fact I actually survived through the other classes was a talent itself—I picked my seat and tossed the thick physics book onto the table. The booming thud sent my neighboring classmates to turn towards my direction, but made no comment. I slumped down on the chair and planted my face within my bed of arms, before I roared out a yawn.

Even with such a fatigued brain, simply a pinch of curiosity had me picking up most of the lingering conversations. Titles of video games and movies, sport competitions or trends were passed all over, throwing in insights to their daily lives. Perhaps it might get me some great topics to talk with Edward, but what did he like nowadays?

Transformers? He didn't seem to show enough interest in them anymore. Star Wars? Bingo, if not for the fact that it had been ages since I touched the last movie. Music? Well, he used to gush a lot about rock songs, but considering him now, it might be something else, but... there was no harm asking.

A heavy thump and squeaks of a chair sounded from right beside me, breaking me out of my contemplation. Pulling my head up, there was definitely a figure standing adjacent to me, but with all of the cloudiness taking over my vision, I rubbed my eyes.

Saluted with Seb's silky silver hair as a small grin flashed across his face, I requited his greetings and straightened myself up.

"How are you doing?" He slightly leaned towards me. He had his arm on the table, while the other one dangled off the chair.

"S-So tired... I wanna go home and just be done for the d-day," I muttered as I stretched both of my arms. Way to go Rena. Come on, keep stuttering like the airhead you are.

"I feel you," he grunted. "Like holy shit, I really can't focus right now. I've been wanting to take a nap." He fiddled with his tie, as if he was trying to position it correctly. "Mr. Thomas was so harsh with his physical tests, he didn't give us enough time to play... but to be fair, when's that dude ever chill?"

"Fat chance... p-probably never will," I said. 'Chill' never existed in our PE teacher's dictionary, heck he would have thrown it far away. Not only did he force Edward with push-ups, he further made him jog twice as many laps as the others.

Mrs. Summers, our physics teacher, swayed in, carrying thick sets of worksheets as her tote bag dangled off her shoulder. Everyone promptly went silent as she slammed the huge pile of papers on her desk.

"Oof, now that's something..." she huffed. "Well, let's start our class, shall we? Don't want me to take your lunch time." Sneaking a rather sly smile, she nudged her thin glasses.

***

"Okay class, please work on the assignments with a partner beside you." Mrs. Summers explained as she clapped her hands. "Let's get this done quickly so I can have lunch too. I'm really starving as you all..."

Screeches of dragging chairs pierced my ears as everyone simultaneously stood up and started moving towards their respective partners. Soon the murmurs began, although some of them contorted their faces at each other. Meanwhile, Seb's colors brightened up as he pulled his seat towards me before I could say anything, so I moved aside and left him some space.

"Is there anything you don't understand?" he asked as he began writing our names in all of the worksheets one by one.

"I think I-I got most of them." I hovered over to the equations I have scribbled, then reverted to the questions.

If these problems required direct substitution, then I would have swept through these in a heartbeat. Alas, 'easy' was a word Mrs. Summers wasn't so fond of, so long-winded questions have begun appearing even on the first worksheet.

"Well... I think I'll t-take that back." My brain was not in the mood of getting itself twisted.

Seb chuckled. "Honestly, I don't really get much of this either, but let's see how much I can do," he pointed to the words with his pen. "So the first question asks about the net force of this cart as it slides down an incline, but it accounts for the friction." He licked his lips. "Hmm okay, I'll draw all the forces out."

I silently watched as Seb flawlessly sketched—something he excelled back then—the diagram out, dismantling each of the forces acting on the cart. Yes, this was coming from someone who claimed he did not have a single clue. This guy virtually converted every sophisticated equation and word into something I could digest.

"T-Thanks... that makes sense..." I said.

"Sure thing."

Did he make it so easy, or is it just me being a dumbass?

Most likely the latter, because as time ticked by, the only contribution I did was to be stuck on a particular question. Then, Seb rushed to the rescue and cleared things up, even if confusion tried distracting him at some point. I hung my head in utter shame as he really had to explain all the topics one by one. Gosh, he makes me feel so stupid.

As a result, we finished the worksheets the moment lunch time commenced. We both submitted the papers before we cleaned up our stuff. The fact that I did nothing to take part in the work, especially when he seemed tired of all the teachings he had to do, made my heart clenched rather tightly.

When we left, we darted through the hallway to our lockers before students from the other classes began piling up. There was no way I would want to be sandwiched and knocked over between them, especially when some of the guys have larger bodies than mine.

"Hey Seb?" I gulped.

"Yeah?" He was quick to respond.

"S-Sorry you have to do everything." I stared down at my sports shoes. "If you can't already tell, I was never good at physics."

"Hey no, what do you need to apologize for?" Seb nudged my shoulder, "It's group work. We're supposed to help each other out."

"...but, I didn't help..." I murmured.

"It's fine, really," Seb reassured as he raised both of his hands. "Besides, I'm no genius either. It was Ed who taught me, I was simply following his ways. You gotta thank him."

Edward, huh...?

Why was I not surprised? When I shared physics class with him, Mrs. Summers constantly picked him to solve problems on the board. He would rub his hands off dirt, while everyone gawked at his work of deconstructing even the complex problem, while she would be there beaming like a proud mother. I mean... I would be too.

Both of us parted ways as we went to our respective lockers, and just as I was about to unlock the padlock...

"Rena!" Upon catching that one unmistakable voice—the one that I had been desperately wanting to hear—all of the weights I have been harboring vanished into thin air.

"Aly!" I exclaimed as I came across her rather crooked grin and heavy breaths, "God, where have you been?"

"Well like I told you, I overslept. Thank God my mom managed to get me to school." Her chest went up and down as she snickered forcefully, subsequently pulling out a slip of pink paper from her blazer's pocket. "And now, I can't wait for my after-school detention on Fridays, yay!"

Seriously, this school loves giving away detentions like free meals.

"Well... at least you're here now." Even so, even her presence was enough to alleviate the heck out of me as I opened my locker. "Geez, I thought you're sick or something."

"Heh, sick? You know me, Rena. I'll never get sick," boasted my best friend, folding her arms and cocking her head up. I shook my head and chuckled, but died down when her trademark, the star-shaped hair pin, was nowhere near her head. For her to forget about it... that was so not like her.

It must have been that bad.

We quickly strolled towards the cafeteria, which was nearly jam packed with nothing but students all around the vicinity. Naomi, Sam and Mark probably had picked up a table, so nothing of our concern.

My stomach flipped as I discerned Edward's golden streaks of hair among the crowd. However, my smile dropped when he was not surrounded by his basketball team. In fact, they have gathered a couple of tables away, leaving him alone. They guffawed heartily and slapped each other's backs, acting as if one of their team members never existed. Neither Adelynn nor Seb were anywhere near the team or him as well.

"Rena?" Aly stepped backwards.

I didn't answer her, so she followed the trail of my gaze. She raised her brows as we both glanced at each other, her expression was glazed with nothing but concern. She probably has the same thought too.

Let's get to him. That was what her expression read as she beckoned towards him, and I nodded without a second thought.

Not a word came out of him as we edged closer to him; he merely acknowledged us and then peered off into some random space. However, needles stung against my skin as I made out his stiffened shoulders, folded arms and the way he vigorously bounced his leg.

"Hey Edward... um, do you mind us sitting here?" I began, my nerves jolted as soon as his darkening eye bored through me.

"Yeah, go ahead," he spoke brusquely, his typically flat tone sharp and jarring.

And so, suspense continued to flaunt its presence between the three of us while Aly and I were setting up our lunch boxes. Meanwhile, Edward had not prepared any food at all; he might have eaten, but lunch had just started. I promptly pulled out Mom's bread I promised from yesterday and pushed the box towards him.

"H-here, I got the bread..."

He immediately ogled down at his awaited pastry, and his eye flashed. It was not the kind making my insides flutter, but the one giving me instant chills. Grabbing the box and opening the lid, he snatched the food, grasping it hard within his fingers.

"So, why are you sitting out?" Aly questioned, twirling on her pasta. "Some kind of conflict?"

"Go ask those assholes. They know more than I do," Edward said brusquely before he took a rather large chomp on my bread, shredding it apart like a predator on its hapless prey.

"Yikes... rather not." She recoiled.

I paused on slicing down on my chicken breast and looked at him. Even if I never added to the conversation, I pondered all the possible reasons floating in my mind. Was it something to do with Jason from this morning? Or perhaps another conflict I didn't know of...?