March 2006, 11:19 AM.
"Alright class, we're finally here! Bring all of your belongings with you, and stay close!" Ms. Flinders shouted as she stood up.
Once our bus came to a stop, my classmates' voices racked up the air as they shot up from their seats, stretching their arms and legs. Aly stuffed her leftover snacks into her backpack as she turned towards Samantha for a chat, who sat on the other side of the aisle. Meanwhile, I quietly zipped my bag, packed with some stuff Mommy had prepared for me.
"Remember to always be with your group or at least Aly, okay?" Her advice rang inside my head while she had dropped me at school. "And don't forget to have fun!"
With a silent breath, I peeked out of the window, watching the boys already jumping out of the doors, as grins spread across their faces. One of them then tripped on his foot and bumped into one of his friends, followed by a series of muffled laughter. Yeah, I shouldn't be worrying... and just have fun. It's not like we're going to study, anyway.
"Come on Rena, everyone's leaving!" exclaimed Aly, snapping me out of my thoughts. She snatched my wrist before I could say anything, forcing me to be on my feet, dragging me as we hopped out of the bus. Sunlight instantly hit my skin and warmed me up, but luckily I brought my straw hat, protecting my head.
"Did you all remember your assigned teams?" Ms. Flinders asked. Her eyes carefully scanned through my classmates as their screams of joy and impatience pierced my ears.
"Yes!" They all chanted... except for me.
"Y... yes!" I squeaked out at the last second, pulling my hat down into my face. Some of the boys chuckled at my response, but Aly crossed her arms and glared at them.
"Awesome, now go and form the groups!" As soon as Ms. Flinders commanded, people started scurrying all over the place to find their teammates. Meanwhile, Aly and I stood still and watched the uproar, while Samantha disappeared with her other friends.
"Thank goodness we're one group," Aly mumbled under her breath, clenching her hand around mine. "I don't want either of us to get separated!"
"I'm fine being alone..." I blurted out and peered at the ground. Lies.
"We're in the same group with that one smarty-pants," I snapped up and glanced at Aly, who had ignored — or that my voice was too weak to be heard anyway — my previous comment. She was too busy searching for someone, most likely for the 'smarty-pants' she mentioned.
"Oh, there he is!" Aly cried out, and once again, she chose to yank me along.
"H-hey, I can walk by myself!" I complained, but she did not take notice and came way too close to a neighboring group of girls. I was immediately sandwiched between them, with some of the girls casting dirty looks as my best friend knocked them off without realizing it. With shaky laughs, I quickly muttered out an apology. Gee Aly... at least be careful—
And not even seconds later, she abruptly stopped in her tracks, causing me to collide against her back. I gasped as my nose shot out in pain.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" She shrieked as she quickly whirled around, facing the unlucky me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, it's all good...!" I dismissed her with my hand. Ow, that hurt...
"Well, well, well... What do we get here? Alyssa being stupid? That's new!" Someone interrupted, snickering right behind me. It wasn't Aly, because her voice was definitely not that low; it sounded like it came from a boy. However, the way he appeared out of nowhere made me jolt.
As I glanced over my shoulders, there stood a boy, clearly taller than me. He had bright, fluffy blond hair, and his broad smile made him appear as though lips could be that stretchy. His blue eyes contained nothing but pure excitement. And just like me, he was wearing a head covering, but his was a black beanie. Um, who is he? One of Aly's friends?
"How about you speak for yourself, Chrissy?!" She scoffed.
He made a funny face, but that didn't stop him from grinning even more. "At least I'm smart enough to tell when someone's uncomfortable!" He pointed at me.
With Aly's mouth zipped shut, the boy, Chrissy, chuckled right at her face. With a naughty grin, he poked her shoulders while her ears started to become really red. "Better step up your game, Buttercup!"
Buttercup? I blinked, turning towards Aly. Well, from the way her short dark brown hair was curled upwards on its ends and how fierce and sharp her green eyes were... perhaps she did look a lot like Buttercup from Powerpuff Girls.
"Hi there!" Chrissy suddenly greeted me, waving his hand in front of my eyes.
"Oh! Um..." I was scrambling to address him back. "H-hello..."
"You're scaring her, you know," barked Aly as she placed herself between the both of us.
Chrissy completely disregarded her menacing eyes and continued focusing on me as he introduced himself, "Name's Christopher, but call me Edward!"
"Why use your middle name, that's so lame..." Aly butted in once more, "Just call this boy Chri—"
"Not Chrissy," he snapped his head towards my best friend and gave her a glare.
"Then stop calling me Buttercup." In return, she pulled down one of her eyelids and stuck her tongue out.
Aly was never this annoyed before; usually she would just shrug it off and act like it was nothing too serious, but now... here she was, going straight for the battle. Also, both of them looked so cute together, so I found myself giggling at their little fight. However, I quickly stopped when I noticed Aly and Chri—Edward had turned their gazes at me, blinking at the same time.
"Sorry..." I murmured. Okay, now this is embarrassing...
"Alright, boys and girls!" Ms. Smith called out, clapping her hands. "Let's quiet down, please!"
All of the kids, who had gathered into their groups, went silent after a couple of hushes.
"Now that everyone has their own groups, we're gonna head to the museum one team at a time. Your teachers are going to pass you all of your tickets once we are at the entrance. Make sure to stay within your teams and don't wander off, okay?"
"Yes, Ms. Smith!" They cried out, and this time... I found myself in chorus with them.
***
03:18 PM
I really have to tell Mommy and Daddy about this museum once I get home.
It was so huge that it could fit all of our classes, and even those from other schools. There were lots of colorful and vibrant paintings hanging on the walls, and I was blown away by how people managed to make all of these works with their own two hands. Aly and I also played with illusions on some of the exhibitions, which really twisted our minds.
Not only that, we were also shown some paintings of the past, created way before our teachers were even born!
Now that everyone had their time, the teachers had us rest in a nearby park. Although it was pretty far from the museum, the trees and wind refreshed all of us. There was also an ice cream stall, and of course, Aly never passed the chance to get some and tagged me along.
"I'll go with vanilla. How about you?" She asked as we both walked to the very long queue.
"I think I'm good for now," I declined. Ice cream might be one of my favorite snacks, but it almost always makes my head freeze a lot of times.
"Oh..." Aly frowned. "But please accompany me!"
It's not like I have anything else to do but to be with her. I thought, trailing after her.
As we waited, I caught sight of the boy from this morning, Edward. With his golden hair and black beanie making him stand out among the others at the park, he was alone, looking at something within his hands. He raised his head and noticed us, the wrinkles in his forehead vanished. His face brightened up as he strode towards us.
"Buttercup, just what I need! Just wondering if you can spare me some coins?" Edward begged and gave a shoulder bump to Aly, who was quick to roll her eyes.
"Seriously, again?" She groaned. "You're always borrowing my money!"
"I'm just a quarter short this time," he said between his laughs and scratched his head. "Don't worry, I'll pay you back tomorrow!"
"Ugh, fine... but next time, don't ask from me again." She narrowed her eyes as she slapped the coin onto his open hands.
"We always paid for each other's snacks, geez, don't be so cold..." He pouted. "Besides, I can't just ask from... uh..."
He paused when his gaze wandered towards me, and at that moment, I realized that I hadn't even introduced myself to him at all, so obviously he would not know what to call me. My cheeks flushed as I tried my best to face him. "I-It's Serena, but I go by R-Rena."
"Rena, huh...?" Edward repeated my name, as if he was trying to remember it. He then grabbed both of my hands and shook them rapidly. "Nice to meet you, I hope we can be friends!"
I said nothing, and simply stared at him. Even though we just met this morning, he continued keeping his energetic attitude towards me. This was the first time a boy barely commented about my stupid stuttering and talked with me like every other friend he probably had. The other boys usually tease about it... and Aly will just shoo them away.
"Don't scare her like that!" My best friend cut both of us off.
"Well, she didn't seem scared to me. Geez, Buttercup, calm down!" He smirked as he placed his arms behind his head, as he earned Aly's mean look. I almost burst out laughing, but thankfully I controlled myself.
Sighing loudly, she placed her arm over my shoulders and pushed me away, leaving Edward behind to continue the line for the ice cream. Even so, he still came behind us while he whistled some random song, and for some reason, he kept his eyes on me.
"Hey, how long have you known Rena for? How come I never saw her before?" The blond boy tilted his head, throwing a lot of questions towards Aly. "Did you just get together?"
"Heh, I've known her for as long as I remember... maybe even longer than you," Aly snickered, crossing her arms and holding her head up. "You've always been in different classes anyway... or maybe you're just that dense not to notice her." Or maybe it's the fact that I never try talking to anyone else other than Aly and Sam...
"Hey Rena," whispered Edward as he drew close towards me, completely ignoring all of her explanations. "I really wanna show you something awesome. Buttercup can suck it!"
"Idiot, you think I didn't hear that?!" Aly yelled.
Before I could say anything, a hand abruptly grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of my spot. I squealed while everything just turned into a blur. The world seemed like it was spinning so fast, but even so, I managed to see Edward sprinting in front of me... and that I was running alongside him as Aly's screams echoed throughout the area.
***
"Haha, we lost her!"
Edward snickered between his huffs and puffs as he had his hands on his hips. Now that I was able to see the proud boy much more clearly, I was trying to process what the heck just happened by checking around me. Then, that was where I noticed... not only Aly was not here, but the rumbling noises of our classmates and teachers were also gone.
"We're here!"
There was no one around, except Edward. My heart started to beat louder than I thought it could and my tummy felt really funny. I tried my best to adjust to the new surroundings, and everything was so unfamiliar to me. As I scrambled to at least see someone I personally knew, there were even more bushes and trees. Where did everyone go? Where's Aly... or Sam?
"W-where are we...?" I whispered softly and my body began to shake.
"Oh, don't worry! We're still at the park, it's just that we're much further away!" Edward instantly answered. I wanted to speak out again, but my lips were trembling so hard, and I felt something moist in the corner of my eyes. I tried blinking it off, but it was still showing up.
"Please don't cry! We're fine, see?" Edward tried calming me down, frantically waving his hands. "I'm just gonna show you something, then we're gonna go back to Buttercup, okay?"
I remained silent. There were some moments where I was separated from Aly or Sam on school trips, but as long as I can still see them, I went along with it. The fact I don't have someone to hide on right now, made the growing fear loom over me, but I tried my best to shrug it off. After all, Edward was one of Aly's friends and he seemed like a nice boy. I really have to get used to being with others that aren't just Aly or Sam. I can't be like this all the time.
Edward didn't stop holding my hand as we resumed walking through the park, before we stopped at a certain spot.
"Look, Rena!" He shouted as he pointed at something, and that cheeky grin was back on his face again. I blinked, before following to where his finger was pointing at, and from there... all of the anxiety I had been carrying went poof in a snap of a finger.
It was the large blue ocean sparkling under the sun, with a lone Ferris wheel standing in the distance. I could hear the loud, distant noises of the waves as a flock of chirping seagulls flew past me. I... really couldn't help but to admire this wonderful scene with a dangling mouth. Wow... how did Edward manage to find this location?
"See?! Told you it's gonna be cool!" He said as he ran towards the railings.
"Y-yeah, it's really beautiful..." I didn't care that I was stammering; I just wanted to focus on this and nothing else. However, I took the courage to look back at him and questioned, "B-but why are you showing this to me... and not Aly?"
"That's because when we were back at the museum, you kept staring at the nature paintings, so I was thinking... why drawings when you can see them in real life! I've known about this spot for a while now, but no one seriously appreciates it." He snorted. "And besides, Buttercup's not the type to admire the trees and sea anyway, so might as well ditch that dummy!"
He... paid attention to me?
Now, instead of admiring the ocean alongside the jolly Edward, I kept stealing glances at this boy. There was something about him that just pulled me towards him; perhaps it was his cheerful energy that never died down, or the way he seemed to be so excited about everything.
He was so confident with what he was doing, but not to the point of arrogance and making me feel weird. Even with all the fights with Aly, he didn't seem to be that bothered. He doesn't care about what people think of him... he keeps on smiling and just being himself.
I never thought of a boy trying to befriend me, as I would always hide behind Aly or Sam when they talked to me. After all of the conversations I have with Edward, however, interacting with them... was not as bad. My cheeks felt warm when I threw a tiny smile at him, but it was such a relief he never saw it.
When Edward took me back to Aly, who had called Ms. Flinders, he kept his smile intact even when she rebuked the heck out of him. My best friend was seriously about to strike him down when she yelled at him, but he still managed to give me a thumbs up.
My thoughts were all about him after that day.