Maze

3

Aly waited while I was tidying up all of my stuff and pushed them into my bag. She smiled at me, but it definitely was forced, especially when her face and green eyes were paler than normally. Perhaps, she should have stayed back home and rested.

"Let's go and meet Chrissy. I need to talk to him," she breathed and I nodded.

When we left the class, neither of us tried initiating a conversation. I didn't even dare to say something; I kept looking at her while she maintained her gaze at the floor. While we walked down the hallway, the screams and footsteps of the other students made up for our silence.

Then, in the middle of the crowd, there he was... barely a few feet away.

Edward stood still by the lockers, with his back facing both of us. Despite being covered by the beanie, his bright blond hair was so noticeable even with all the people here and there. He shrugged his shoulders as though he was adjusting the straps of his bag, with the lightsaber keychain swinging with might. That took me by surprise... but he still looks the same.

Aly's pace quickened as she headed straight for Edward, and I also followed her speed, ignoring the pleas of my mind to slow down. Meanwhile, Lynn and Seb were already there, forming some sort of a barricade, as if they were shielding him from the others. They were all trying to gather around Edward, expressing their relief at his return.

However, the more he became closer to my reach, the more my heart started to flip the heck out, while my hands trembled.

Come on Rena. You don't have to be this nervous, seriously... I kept on encouraging myself, until I was ultimately close to him. Pushing all hesitation away, I reached out, and uttered my first word.

"Hey Ed..."

I thought he might not catch my voice, since it was way too quiet; it could be drowned out by the noises springing all around us. Nevertheless, I didn't expect Edward to acknowledge my response and slowly revealed his expression to me.

But instead of hearing his jolly voice that often had Aly hushing at him, I was confronted with a frown.

And the thing was, it wasn't just a small frown, like when he got upset with his grades or when he lost a game. It was the deepest one I have ever seen coming from him. He didn't bother to utter a 'hello' or anything; he leered at me as if I was a random stranger who never once interacted with him.

This was the Edward I have been friends with for 2 years, but it was like he was someone else. Who is he?

One of his eyes was covered by an eyepatch tied around his head; it made him look like a pirate from those TV shows. The healthy one coldly gazed at me and made my back crawl, but then, there was a flash of pain and bitterness behind it. He suddenly blinked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"How—"

"Hey Chrissy!!" exclaimed Aly out of the blue as she stomped straight at him. "What the hell, why didn't you let us visit you at the hospital?! What's up wit—"