34

Thursday.

Thankfully, the weather forecast today predicted no single drops of rain, so obviously I switched back to my lovely bike. I would rather get myself exhausted than have my uniform drenched in sweat, making my skin sticky all over.

Cycling through the streets and letting the breeze rejuvenate me, I chewed on a cookie Mom baked for Edward and his family, with the rest of them stowed in my bag. Immediately the explosion of sugary sweetness filled the insides of my mouth, the rush chasing away my lingering drowsiness; such an awesome boost for the morning.

I was focused on licking the food's remnants wedged between my teeth as I entered the school's gates. However, I nearly crushed my tongue-even I nearly flung out of my bike because I abruptly pressed on the brake-when Edward's zooming gaze suddenly became the center of my attention. He was leaning against the wall, his arms folded but he briskly uncrossed them as he approached me.

He really did wait for me...

"Hey Serena," he addressed me as soon as I finished parking and securing my bike in place. Pulling out his earphones and stuffing them into his pockets, he brushed his disheveled fair forelocks, allowing them to drape his forehead and shadow his thick brows. Even with such asymmetrical bangs, I did not mind marveling at just how perfect it encapsulated his facial structures.

"Hi Edward!" I greeted, twitching a smile as I smacked my bizarre thoughts off my mind. "H-How are you feeling now?"

"Better." No hesitation in that response. "I slept more than I expected and took meds this morning."

I begged to differ though; his features were slightly pale, bags adorning his dark blue eye. However, I knew the moment I pointed these features out, Edward would brush it off and insisted he would be all good and kicking. I silently let out a deep breath at his potentially high response, matching my pace with him as we walked towards the entrance.

"Are you still gonna work after school?" I asked, gripping my backpack straps.

"Yeah, of course," Edward said overtly, as he was back to folding his arms. "Remember the machine I told you about? They said it's all ready and they're about to pass it to the client today. I have to be there."

I slightly cocked my head. "Did they not perform the tests first?"

"Yesterday night my co-workers said it passed all the verification checks," he answered, now gazing deeply at me-which had my heart promptly pounding against my ribs-while his blue eye hardened. "I bet those inspections are cursory; they did not really observe it."

I nodded in silence; there was nothing I could bring against his concerns, even with his condition and all. "J-Just be careful... you've not recovered fully."

"Don't worry. I've been there. Handling headaches is an easy feat," claimed the good ol' headstrong Edward while he was massaging his temples. Of course, that was his answer; why would I be anticipating something else. Downplaying his own pain and whatnot was always his speciality, which awfully sounded like my childhood friend, alright?

While another sigh slipped off my mouth, he suddenly stopped, causing me to halt in front of the school's doors. With one strap dangling off his shoulder, he rummaged through his bag until he pulled out an empty container. "Here, I got your lunch box."

"Ah, um, t-thanks..." I whispered.

"It's delicious, your bread that is. It's not that sweet and it's soft too," Edward went on, gushing on that one simple pastry that had me stray into my own fantasy. "I know you said you helped your parents with their restaurant, but did you ever make your own food for them to sell?"

"Hmm, n-not really, I only pitched in to help." I had the need to stroke my brows and bangs. "But... perhaps when I get much better at cooking, I would."

He firstly glanced at me, giving me some kind of look I could not decipher. "You're already good at it; you should. Hobbies are always the best to cultivate, the rewards will be stunning."

I opened my mouth, but not a single word formed out. abruptly paused on my tracks. To be brutally honest, I never expected him to say something like that-not that I was complaining, but I was so unprepared for it. Maybe his formerly sanguine self would, I could imagine his child self doing it, but considering how Edward was now, his mindset had drastically flipped since then.

Or so I thought.

"Serena?" Edward called out, his brow arched upon realizing I was dawdling behind him. He did not wait for me to catch up with him, rather he quickly strode towards me. "Are you sure you didn't catch my cold?"

"Oh, um, no, I'm good, sorry!" I exclaimed, breaking into sheepish laughs and thumped my fist on my hand. "Now that you talked about it, you're right. I'll definitely ask my dad if I could add my recipes to his menu. M-Maybe starting with pastries first."

"...If you managed to, let me know. I'll be your first customer."

Even in the midst of the boisterous horde, in some way or another, I could capture Edward's faint remark as he stretched one corner of his lip. In addition to the warmth from the morning sun coursing through my veins, I could not stop beaming so widely as I placed my hands behind my back. I was literally on cloud nine-no questions asked-with all kinds of joy blooming all inside of me like flowers, and I felt as though I could conquer the whole world, like right now.

I did not even understand what I was describing... but not that it mattered.

"Of course, and you'll be the first to know!"

Not only was he hatching out of the shell he had trapped himself in and I was witnessing it in real time, but now... I was grinning from ear to ear right at Edward and I didn't have the need to hide it from him anymore.

***

As I was meeting up with my friends before class, Edward chose to follow behind, and that was why Mark, Naomi and Sam promptly maintained their space so as not to be a third wheel-in their own words. They were smirking, batting their brows and whistling which had Aly smacking Naomi in the back of the head, and her whining why she was always targeted.

Color me shocked...

My first class was physics with Edward and Lynn, and I could not be anymore grateful the girls were not here to make me turn into a puddle of mess. Nonetheless, the moment Lynn noticed her sick friend had returned, she was definitely far from amused.

"You should be back home," Lynn retorted, narrowing her eyes. "We just visited you yesterday and you're literally looking dead."

"I'm fine now, Lynn. I already took enough rest and meds." Edward grunted, gripping his jaw and dismissing her concerns by waving his hand, as he plopped into a seat beside me.

She groaned, profoundly sighing in defeat and inclining her head, finally accepting that he was not going anywhere now that he showed up for school. Sitting in front of us, she turned her body towards our direction.

"Oh, just a heads up, the boys' team will be practicing for the tournament during break and after school today," Adelynn announced and immediately, Edward's shoulders tensed up as he bounced one of his legs. "I know those seniors are a pain in the ass, but just ignore them. Seb and the others will help you."

"...yeah sure," Edward forced himself to murmur under his breath.

And with that, Mrs. Summers sauntered into the classroom, her brown ponytail dancing from side to side as she sipped her cold, iced coffee. Humming some random song, she slumped some worksheets and handouts, along with her physics book. Her eyes beneath her glasses gleamed when the entire class started greeting her, but blinked when they traveled towards Edward.

"Oh Edward, welcome back. I hope you're doing well," she noted and smiled rather unsettlingly. "Because there are so many things you have missed in class."

I could already sniff her ulterior motives from miles away.

As happy-go-lucky as my physics teacher was, when it comes to assignments and whatnot... well, I would let Edward's reaction explain.

As soon as she finished with her lectures, four missed worksheets were stacked on Edward's table, and he was gawking at the papers with a twitching eye. He further stiffened when she casually added two more worksheets from today, making it a total of six.

Surely she was massively admired for her lively, animated vibes, but she loved bombarding everyone with instant migraines, including her golden student himself.

Everything comes with a cost.

Edward's mortified expression remained as he shoved all of the papers into his folder.

"You need some help?" I offered, sensing some urgency from him.

"It's hella lot, but I can do all of this. Don't worry Serena," Edward objected.

"Man's a real god when it comes to physics," Adelynn chimed in. "In fact, he always aces this class. That's why Mrs. Summers favors him so much."

That was right. As a matter of fact, I was the one who tremendously needed his help instead. Why the heck was I extending my extremely useless support? I would end up burying myself out of sheer embarrassment, anyway.

"If you guys don't want your worksheets to be your chores, better do them now," Mrs. Summers announced as she tossed herself into her chair. "Homework sucks, I know. I've been there too. You're allowed to discuss them with your friends... family even. Ain't gonna penalize that."

It would be much more relatable-and also wiser-statement had only she could give fewer worksheets or extend deadlines. Well, better do it here than back at home, I'm always procrastinating, after all.

While everyone started clicking their pens and begrudgingly commenced their worksheets, a myriad of mumbles broke out throughout the class as people started discussing. Countless mumbles poured into my ears-mumbles of what was the angular momentum of a spinning disk, the rotation speed of pendulums, the centripetal acceleration of... what?

Seconds turned into minutes, and my hands were doing anything but writing; they were pulling on each side of my face. All these jumbles of jargons now my aching brain was the one spinning in an infinite circular motion, showing no signs of stopping. Even the formulas I have scribbled were simply there to mock me out of my stupidity-

"Serena." It was Edward's voice pulling me out of the sea of thoughts I was suffocating in, my chest jumped and my nerves tingled when he gradually slanted towards me. "You seemed distressed... do you need any help?"

"Oh um..." Gulping, I stared at the worksheet once more, where out of all the questions... only one part of it was resolved. And earlier, I was flaunting my non-existent skills with so much confidence by offering the pro of physics, Edward, my assistance in his works. Great, now I made myself look like a mere dunce.

Good job. You deserve slow claps.

"I do... yeah..." I breathed, nodding excessively, my fingers fiddling my pen. "But how about your own worksheets though? I-I don't want to trouble you..."

"I'm finished with most of them," he said as he dragged his chair towards me, his gaze surveyed over the sheet. While so, his rather wide shoulders kept brushing against mine, and heat never hesitated to crawl into my reddening cheeks. "Which part of the question do you not understand?"

"Kinda everything?" I squeaked out. "Yeah..."

"It's fine. Here, I'll try to explain."

Putting all of my misfortunes aside though, I have lost count on how much I have smiled and washed with giddiness today-Edward had been consistently delivering so many surprises each day, fluttering my heart and turning my insides into mush. He could have chosen to ignore me and go on about his day-something he would most likely do.

God, he doesn't know how relieved I am when he doesn't find me obnoxious or pushy.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his notebooks as he slowly tore apart the subject into bite-size pieces of information my brain cells quickly absorbed. He then pointed to each formula, using them to solve such problems in a heartbeat. Oh how much I wish to have his intelligence...

As he sketched his explanations, the beads of his bracelet jiggled at every abrupt movement-my attention quickly subverted towards my scarlet one. Come to think of it, they looked like those kind of bracelets a couple would wear together-yet another fragment of my stupid fantasy. Friends can share and have the same things too. Aly and I always do that.

Regardless, words could not describe how high my spirits were flying as I leaned against my backrest, nodding at Edward's explanations while I started jotting on the worksheet.

Right now, I'm just gonna relish this moment.