25

"We had an exam last week and now he's already giving us a research project? That's nice, this week can't get any better..."

Aly complained as soon as Mark and I came across her in the lockers to swap our books. Spacing out to the distance, she looked as though most of her life force was forcefully sucked out of her—fair enough, this was only Monday and we were already hit by another barrage of assignments.

"I mean, it's basically just you explaining the topic in 5 pages, that's it. You can even have a partner too!" Mark explained, "Just go to the library and the internet, do some searching and you're done!"

"I guess, yeah..." Aly snorted, forcing out chuckles before she loosened her shoulders. "You make it sound like a piece of cake..."

"Dear, oh dear, someone's being cranky in the morning."

And that drawling voice instantly thrusted her out of her melancholy. With twitching eyes, she gripped her jaw and furrowed her brows. With no second thoughts, she spun on her heels, making a perfect turn as she confronted her sworn arch-nemesis.

"Well, well, what do we have here? A man who thinks he's so smart but in reality his head's far up his ass," she scoffed. Placing both of her fists on her hips, she puffed up her chest like she wanted to make herself look bigger. I don't think he's gonna be intimidated by that, Aly.

"Lady, it looks like you're talking out of your ass as well." Seb smirked in return, gesticulating his finger guns at her.

While Aly laughed derisively, my gaze gravitated towards Edward, standing—no, slightly wobbling beside his friend. Observing the cacophony without a comment, he sighed exasperatedly and ran his hand through his hair, before I was the center of his attention.

While he typically had his poker face, his complexion... was paler than usual. He fought in keeping his dreary eye open and his balance. His lips were not only trembling, but they were cracked and peeling off, but he instantly moistened them with his tongue. He subsequently rubbed both of his eyes with his arm, but jerked back when he brushed over the bad eye beneath his hair.

"I'm fine."

I haven't even asked him anything, already he blurted out his response. Even his voice came out lethargic and was hoarse, blatantly contradicting his statement. Not that he seemed concerned though. Did he even sleep last night...? I don't think so...

"I know a friend in the library who can help us with research papers." Seb turned his focus on Mark and I, simultaneously ignoring Aly's glare. He offered, "She's usually in charge during breaks, and she's really good with them. We can always refer to her."

"T-Thanks, that would be great," I replied while Mark bobbed his head, biting his cheeks when Edward was merely inches away from him. He looked like he was preparing to flee in case he made a move. Like I said, he's not mad at you, Mark. It's just how he looks.

"Let's go visit her during lunch, maybe she has clues of what we're supposed to do," Seb then sneered at Aly. "I prefer it if this woman don't come, but—"

"Heh, I never asked for your help," she interrupted. "I don't need it. I have Samantha anyway," she bragged. Poor Sam...

With some leads on our research assignment, Edward became my next scrutiny; this guy looked like he was about to collapse any time soon. However, he would just refuse my help adamantly; an expected attitude of his since we were young. And as far as I knew, it took huge amounts of energy to get through him.

***

While none of my friends were in my classes before lunch time, Adelynn was on my last one.

She was merely a couple of seats away, but thanks to some tall guy blocking most of my view, she was oblivious of me. To add more, when she came in, she was more interested in frowning and staring at the floor.

I tilted my head. What's going on?

When everyone rejoiced upon the arrival of lunch time, I mustered the courage—or at least some sort of courage— to reach out to her and see what troubled her. Unfortunately, she had thrown her bag upon her shoulders and belted out of the room before I could even stand up.

Yeah, something was going on... and it was far from good news.

Surely it took me some time to process Adelynn's actions, but I found myself running after her, especially when my peripheral vision caught her retreating figure in the hallway. The curiosity pouring in me had caused the crowds to be the least of my concern... until my elbow bumped into something hard—or someone, because they yelped straight into my ears.

"Hey, watch it!" They snapped.

"S-Sorry!" I apologized, but with all of these people swarming all over the place, there was no way I could tell which person I crashed myself into.

And as a consequence, Adelynn slipped out of my sight, leaving me in a series of pants and a basket of questions. Geez, what's up with her? Why did she look agitated? And what's she running for?

Edward then emerged out of the class in front of me, where he acknowledged my presence. "If you are looking for Seb, he's gonna come here," he informed me.

The fact he appeared so conveniently... made it as though he was the answer. Well, if I couldn't talk with his friend, then I could just turn to him.

"Oh no, um, I... uh..." Where did my courage go? I was already breaking into stammers! "I just... um... did you know what happened to Adelynn?" I gulped. "She looks upset."

Although Edward said nothing, his postures helped him do the talking. His entire muscles instantaneously stiffened, before his right foot started shaking. Breaking his tensed gaze off me, he withdrew his lips, sealing it from muttering any responses.

He must have been directly involved too. Perhaps some kind of conflict or something? They were fine the last time I saw them. Needless to say, he wasn't open for discussions. Divert the topic, Rena.

"Oh um, well..." I scratched my cheek. "H-have you thought of anything for her birthday...?" I had the urge to let out some terribly forced laughs, at least alleviating the suspense hanging between us. But I think that's kind of good enough?

"No," breathed Edward while he leaned against the wall with his legs shifting all over. However, he loosened in the instant Seb waved his arm towards our direction. You came at the right time, Seb. Don't want this to be super awkward.

"Ah, where's Mark?" He questioned.

"He's in chemistry."

"Well then... let's get after him," he suggested. While I nodded and the three of us headed for the lab, the thought of my best friend flashed inside my head, and had me stopped in my tracks.

"Wait, how about Aly? Are we—"

"Huh, her? Don't even bother." Seb dismissed, waving the back of his hand as he snickered. "She doesn't want our help right? Let that girl be."

Yeah, why did I bother asking this guy? Of course he was going to shove her aside and disregard her entire existence; Aly would have done the same. Not that Edward any better either; the moment I turned towards him, his empty stare greeted me. All I hope is that Seb didn't influence Edward to hate her as well... especially when they used to be inseparable.

When we got into the lab, Mark was already finished and was buttoning up his blazer as he ran towards us. "We're going to the library, right?" He blinked twice. "How about Aly? I thought she said sh–"

"No need to worry about her, she's fine," Seb cut Mark off as he tapped his shoulder. "She's paired with one of the smartest people in the class. She won't be having problems."

"Yeah, but she's gonna who look for us—"

"Let's go," Seb shamelessly ignored his concerns, speeding his pace up. He was soon joined with Edward.

Mark lifted one of his brows at me, but with a silent sigh, I helplessly shook my head. Everything was self-explanatory; he could already have figured the relationship out from the diversity of their bickers as they threw each other under the bus.

Our childhood group is very interesting...

***

Stepping into the library, we were welcomed by the freezing air. It easily sliced through my uniform and pricked against my skin like millions of tiny pins. As my body started shivering, I wrapped my arms around my chest as if it was going to do anything. On the other hand, the guys were not even fazed by the drastic drop of the temperature. Well then, I'm probably just weak to cold...

And with Edward giving me glances for no reason, it did not help in the slightest.

The library, though, was a getaway from the rambunctious vicinity outside. Noises were reduced to sole whispers as many people gathered between the spaces of numerous racks of shelves to immerse themselves within the novels. Some of them were scribbling notes, and a few were sharing books.

"I've rarely been here... but damn, I never knew it's this huge," Mark mumbled in my ears. "No wonder why Sam likes it here."

"Y-Yeah, me too." I nodded and murmured back. "I u-usually accompany her here or when we have other research stuff to do."

"Sebby?"

A girl's head popped out from behind a shelf, bringing an end to our hushed chats. As Seb acknowledged her, she headed back to her table cluttered with countless books. A golden globe and a mug sat beside the stacks while she held a chocolate bread close. And as for Edward... nothing else mattered to him other than the pastry.

Such an Edward thing to do.

The girl Seb referred us to had a petite stature; her height did not even reach mine. Possessing earthy eyes, it complemented the dark green shades of her hair, reminiscent of the woods. She then tied some of it into a high side ponytail, further flaunting her youthfulness. Her fringes were trimmed evenly, perfectly framing her forehead.

"God, I'm shocked." She feigned a gasp. "You came to the library of your own accord?! Are you sure you're Sebby?"

"Now, now, let's not do me like that, Florie," Seb chuckled.

"I'm not wrong though." She shrugged.

"Never said you are." Clearly he was playing along. "Reminds me of when you tried forcing me to read books, and I would legit fall asleep on the first paragraph."

"That's because you're seriously dumb," Florie sniggered before she tore open the wrappings of her bread and practically took a massive chomp of it. I thought you're not supposed to eat in the library? And she also eats like Edward...

After she finished chewing, she set the half-eaten bread aside. "So, who are these friends you tagged along with? Except Grumpy."

Of all names, she called him Grumpy...

"Mark, Serena, this is Florence. She's my friend and somewhat the librarian here," Seb introduced, pointing his hand towards the green-haired girl while we both bobbed our heads. "Florie, this is Mark and Serena. Well, basically we're all here because we need your help on the—"

"Serena?" The way Florence muttered my name made me jump, "Oh hey, you're the clumsy one who knocked me over!"

"Ye... yes...?" That came out like a question, but yikes, she was the person I had unintentionally ran myself into. What a way to make a first impression, Rena.

"So this is the Serena you've been talking about, huh..." Florence shot up and strode towards me with arms on her hips. She proceeded to ogle at me up and down, noting all of my stupid, tensed features like I was some test subject. What's with me? Are there pimples on my cheeks? Is there anything weird with me?!

"I guess you're pretty, but you seem very jittery—oof!" Florence's comments abruptly stopped when Seb suddenly chopped her head with his hand.

"Stop that. She's jittery because of you," Seb warned. Rubbing the spot where he had hit her, she pushed her bottom lip forward, before she slumped back down to her chair.

"Um, so t-there's a biology project coming up and we have to write a research paper. I-Is there any way you can help?" I managed to pull myself together and speak up, although I ended up squeaking like a dying mouse.

"Oh, that project? Lots of sources on the internet to cite, especially when it's science. Be specific as best as possible and use outlines," said Florence nonchalantly as she rested her head on her hand. "I can help reviewing it, but if your writing's good, then it should be fine for you..."

Her voice trailed off, and instead of resuming with her explanations, she nudged Seb, "Yo Sebby, is Grumpy okay? He looks like he's dying inside and he's... creeping me out."

Creepy? Far from it. Concerning? Yes, and down to a T. Edward had been rubbing his eye for the umpteenth time, as if he was trying his best to stay awake. Seriously, what was he doing yesterday?

Seb did pause briefly, but then he sighed. "Give my man a break, dude's really tired. Don't judge him like that." Regardless of how gently he slapped his best friend's back, Edward winced hard, snapping him out of his trance and scowling in return. "Also, Ed and I need your help for the research too, maybe a couple of revisions here and there."

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing, Sebby." Florence gleamed before she grabbed on her bitten bread, and the next thing I knew, it was already gone within the confines of her mouth.

"So you both did come here!"

Aly! Her unexpected voice from behind us had Mark and I quickly whirling around to greet her, but Seb and Florence shushed her down. Shunning her rival, Aly and the green-haired librarian eyeballed each other as they sized each other up, but no remarks arise... not even one introduction.

"Turns out you do need some help, hmm?" Seb taunted. "Changing decisions already?"

"Whoa now, tone down that ego, you little prick. Not everything's about you," Aly huffed, before she pointed her thumb behind her. "Hey Edward, I believe you got someone you really need to talk to."

She then stepped aside, revealing the person whom we were all familiar with.

Adelynn.