The Youthful You Who Was So Beautiful

Nine

"It's none......of your concern."

Sebastian froze on the spot, the metallic gates still trembling with the remnant force of his kick. The breeze drifted past the two of them, causing the petals from the roses grown on the surrounding walls to swirl in the air, and ultimately land on his shoulders.

Eliza lowered her eyelids, and stuffed the vocabulary book into her bag. As she descended from the stairway and walked past Sebastian in her attempt to get to school, she wondered whether he had grown taller since the last time she saw him.

Sebastian turned his head and stared at her. After she had walked some distance away, he suddenly raised his foot and began to chase after her.

Eliza quickened her pace. The moment she saw Patrick's figure appear beyond the corner, she ran over to him with lightning speed.

Sebastian, on the other hand, came to a sudden stop. He squinted at the both of them from a distance away. Ah, her cold attitude was now rather self-explanatory.

"Seb –"

His friends, Will and the yellow-haired Lucas, caught up with him. Lucas grabbed him by the shoulders and began chatting to Sebastian. However, Sebastian didn't respond to any of Lucas's chatter. Puzzled at Sebastian's lack of response, Lucas followed Sebastian's gaze, and ultimately saw Eliza. After scrutinizing Eliza for a period of time, he raised his voice in excitement, "Hey! Isn't this the girl......" Lucas suddenly recalled something, and pushed Sebastian in a playful manner, "Do you know her?"

Sebastian staggered slightly under Lucas's push. Turning away from Eliza, he began walking in the opposite direction. When he saw the white rose petals that had fallen on his shoulders, he brushed them off in an annoyed manner.

"Hey, so tell us – how did you get to know her?" The ever-curious Lucas grabbed Sebastian by the shoulders once more, and persisted in his relentless questioning.

"I owe her money." Sebastian replied in a clipped tone.

"How much do you owe her?"

"So much I can't even count." Furrowing his brows, Sebastian shrugged off Lucas's arm.

When Sebastian caught Will still staring in the direction Eliza had left, his brows furrowed even further. He chided, "What are you looking at?"

Will unwillingly turned back, only to see the yellow-haired Lucas making eyes at him, hinting for him to keep his mouth shut. However, Will simply took Lucas's hint as an indication that Sebastian wasn't in the best of moods, and didn't delve further into the Sebastian's puzzling behavior. After all, Sebastian was the coldest to girls amongst their group of friends – perhaps because of his mother, Sebastian always had an inexplicable hatred for females. Through the years, Will had already lost count of the number of pretty girls who abandoned their pursuit of Sebastian after receiving his disgusted gaze.

Eliza ran to Patrick, and raised her head to look at him.

After the constant journeying to and fro from school, the two of them had managed to cultivate a certain degree of tacit understanding. Without Eliza needing to open her mouth, Patrick could already understand what she wanted to ask. "I have already informed your form teacher in advance that we're going to be late, no worries."

Eliza nodded her head, and quickly walked ahead. When she turned round the corner, she turned back and glanced behind her in a seemingly unconcerned fashion; only to find that the alley was now empty. The youth was no longer there.

Patrick passed Eliza the breakfast which he had purchased for her. Today, it was a freshly baked waffle. Eliza accepted the waffle, and began munching on it as she walked to school.