Maze

31

Edward returned with his basketball and another leaf, and now, he was way more drenched than before. Even with the stormy weather wearing down on him, he was still shining brightly like the sun. And that aura of his was so contagious, it made my tummy feeling so odd and my heart flipping.

"Let's just go to my house and play some games!" he said as he gently took my wrist, and I shivered at the touch of his cold fingers. If I remember correctly, he got sick easily, and with him being in the middle of the rain...

"A-Are you okay though?" I murmured as I let him take me anywhere with our natural-made umbrellas. "Y-You're wet all over, y-you're gonna get sick... Let me—"

"Geez, don't worry, Rena! It's just rain, I'll be fine!" He tried to assure me between his chuckles, although his body was clearly shaking so hard.

***

And just like what I had feared back then, his words came back to bite him hard.

Edward not only ended up catching a cold, but also bedridden with a bad case of headaches and fever, just like right now. Adelynn was practically scolding him when we visited him after school, and guilt had devoured me inside out for getting him sick. Never once did he show an ounce of regret. Instead, he threw a feeble grin; both ecstatic of our hangout and that I was all fine.

And without my control, a surge of heat prowled into my reddening cheeks, so I hung my head low. My hands started groping the lump bulging off my bag, the lunch box containing the pastry meant for Edward.

I flashed my phone on, relieved to be met with an empty notification board. Thankfully, I already informed both Mom and Jordan—not that he cared—I would be going home late so that they would not barrage me with their wall of texts. Mom was already aware of it though; she was the one who helped me with preparing the bread.

"Oh, and Seb said he actually tried getting to school yesterday, if not for his parents forcing him to back down," Adelynn announced, pulling me back from my thoughts as she scratched her head. "For the love of God, that guy seriously never gets it. Like, at all."

"Wow, look at how shocked I am. Ain't that a breaking news," Aly added with a deadpan look and shrugged. "He always thinks he can handle anything, but turns out to be quite the opposite. I wish I was that passionate with school though."

"Only if he could channel that energy into something else..." Adelynn let out one deafening sigh, throwing her hands and shaking her head in defeat. I could only smile helplessly, unable to deny their claims; he always said he was fine, even when he was clearly not. Just like when he was soaked and shivering in the rain that day.

The cascading rain continued thrumming in my ears, showing off its fanatic dance on the roofs of houses as we stepped down at our stop. The thick, tacky air pressed down against my skin; my school's thick blazer was definitely not helping at all. Moreover, I was confined to a merely small space Adelynn's umbrella provided. What was worse, my shoes absorbed the puddles I was stepping on, it felt like a thousand needles pricked me.

Well, at least it was worth it.

Aly and I both found ourselves ogling at Edward's house up and down—and as Naomi had said, built like a mansion—as if we have never been here. Every of its concrete walls were painted a gorgeous white, despite the blemishes from natural causes, with tall windows and small balconies adorning almost every corner. As we silently walked through the driveway, I noted the black sedan parked on it.

"Feel old yet?" Adelynn whispered with a playful hint in her voice, and we nodded with no further words exchanged.

And for someone who would almost always throw a remark in return, Aly was busy scouring around the area, as her softening eyes went adrift in the sea of nostalgia. She was not the only one; streams of sentimentality from this particular house alone flooded into my vision without warning.