I was such a genius.
This all started because I decided to take a damn nap and not put the damn bread inside my bag firsthand. Obviously with all of the rushing I had to do this morning, the box would be the least of my worries. Once again, I have to endure another round of humiliation in front of Edward.
Congratulations, you airhead. Give yourself a pat in the back, then a slap in the face.
Well... it was not like staring at my bag would miraculously materialize the lunch box, so there was nothing I could do but to accept my stupidity. I glanced up towards Aly, signaling her to hand over my papers, pencil case and notebooks back.
She cocked her head and blinked, but thankfully didn't shoot me any sorts of questions for now. She silently returned everything to me, and I dropped all of them into the bag without care. Zipping it, I slowly stood up and slung it over my shoulders.
And I was so excited to give him Mom's baked bread...
"Sorry, I f-forgot to bring it. I ran late this morning," I revealed and hid my face within my short bangs, but I continued gazing upon him. He was probably annoyed at me for turning up empty-handed and taking up his time, but... then again, I could not never predict his responses, let alone read him.
He just had the same indifferent face.
"It's okay," Edward said, somewhat loosening up the tension. "I don't expect it."
"But..." My voice trailed off.
"It's alright," he reassured. "I'm not in the mood for bread. I ate a lot yesterday."
Before I could respond, I felt a tapping on my shoulder, and that was where I was confronted with Aly's raised brows and wrinkled forehead; an expression glazed with pure concern. However, she took no hesitation in marching towards her ex-childhood friend and nearly closing in their distance.
"Hey Edward, I don't care if you don't wanna talk to me, but..." she groaned and put her hands on her hips. "Ugh, c'mon dude, didn't you say you don't mind being friends with Rena? I know it's been years, but the best you can do is talk to her!" She exclaimed. "She's really trying her best, and she even brought you bread!"
...which I pretty much failed miserably. The tiny voice in my mind completed Aly's seemingly incomplete sentence.
"...Yeah, I did. I'm sorry, I just had so much to think about," he uttered out, running his hand through his hair, but avoided the strands covering what used to be his left eye. He abruptly turned and had his back on us, but I noticed the protruding outlines of fists in his pants' pockets.
"What do you mean-?!" Aly protested and was about to take another step, but Edward had trudged off back to the crowd. The only reaction I could give was a silent breath out of my mouth as I felt my ribs clenching so tightly. He had said the similar thing yesterday. I guess it's really not a wise decision to get back to him at the moment...
However, his previous acknowledgement of our friendship was quick to deny all of the incoming thoughts. Not that it was wrong though; my best friend and I have come so far to talk to him, and for him to reciprocate meant he was opening his closed doors for us. I should probably try to initiate more of our conversations, and not wait until he does something.
Besides, after all what had happened, his demeanor was... kind of understandable. I could never bring myself to detest him even with his deeds.
Here goes nothing. I shook my head and decided to trail behind him. Thankfully, my best friend followed after me without further comments, although her narrowed eyes were literally digging through his skull.
"Congrats on your team for winning in the preliminaries," I started, placing my arms behind my back. "Are you guys gonna practice for the semi-finals soon?"
"...Thanks," he said as we were stepping down the stairs. "Seb's replacing me for today. I got something to do later."
A huge wave of relief crashed upon me when Edward had spoken more than one word, not to mention a sentence or two. See, it works? Gotta learn how to be patient!
"Hmm..." I nodded. "A-Are you gonna eat lunch alone then?"
"I have Lynn with me," he breathed. Jackpot. This was another opportunity for me to have some time with her too.
"I see... Do you wanna go s-seat with us?" I found myself asking.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Sure."
Never in my life have I had trouble stopping myself from grinning so wide, while my chest felt so lightened. If I wasn't in a public place right now, I would already be squealing like a little pig, continuously bouncing from feet to feet; exactly what a fangirl would do with her idols. Swallowing the desire to laugh, I looked back to my best friend and showed her our plans... finally worked.
Aly sighed, but even her frown flipped upside down as she raised a thumbs up.
Good job, Rena. She mouthed.
***
"Oh yeah, guess what?" Adelynn divulged as soon as she finished swallowing her food. She leaned herself towards Naomi and Samantha, as they were immersed in her discussion. "You know that grumpy Mr. Sturges from our chemistry class? I actually heard rumors that he likes Ms. Hayden!"
Almost everyone-but Edward-had their eyes in perfect circles.
"Yo what, you serious?!" Naomi exclaimed, as she almost leaped out of her seat. "Isn't she much younger than him though?!"
"Damn, and didn't that man just start teaching last semester?" Samantha added, slamming her novel close. "What's this? Some kind of romance story?"
"Yeah no, that dude is too old for Ms. Hayden," Aly shot down as she squirmed in her seat. "Ew, ew, I don't even wanna imagine him being with her."
"They're a few years apart. Chill, Aly..." Mark guffawed before he munched on his turkey sandwich.
And the five of them have already gotten along. I inwardly giggled at the lively gossip spreading all over the group, while I gobbled on the chicken salad, served with mashed potatoes. Especially Aly and Adelynn.
That was expected. I couldn't recall any sorts of complications in their friendship, so there was no reason for them to suddenly despise each other. Just like what she did with me, she warmly greeted her and have conversed with each other.
Then, there was me... eating silently alongside Edward.
With him sitting beside me, his elbow had been constantly brushing against my arm and sending me the shivers. I could not help but to watch as he tackled and tore a huge chunk of his burger, gnashing the food with his teeth. Isn't this like what had happened yesterday, but now it's on my table?
No, I wouldn't let that same scenario happen again. I have to do something this time.
"Um, you brought lunch from h-home?" I pronounced each word carefully as I pointed to his blue lunch box, but my voice ended up sounding pretty hushed. Regardless, I stole his attention. I'm still stuttering a little, but not bad, Rena, not bad. You're doing good.
"Yeah," he mumbled.
That might be a good conversation starter, but the dead-ends were also imminent. I might need another topic to discuss-
"My mother usually makes me lunch when I'm bored of the cafeteria food," Edward went on. Isn't that because you keep on eating bread...?
Even so, he actually continued with his response, not just a one-word answer. I expected him to eat his lunch without any remarks, but... he chose to go against his usual behavior. As my heart warmed with comfort. I mentally pumped my fists. Now this is what I'm talking about. Come on. Keep it going.
"That's fair," I maintained, "Oh yeah, w-what's your next class?"
"Foreign language," he announced as he took a tiny bite of the burger. "I chose Spanish though. What about you?"
Another achievement unlocked like in those video games; he asked me back... It might sound mundane, but for me, it was as if I was receiving some sort of a prize.
"I chose Spanish too, but... well, my next class is physics," I faltered as my heart shrank with disappointment. "I've always found that class hard to understand."
"It isn't so difficult once you keep on practicing problems. Once you understand basic formulas and drawings, you're all good," he explained, before he guzzled his burger by shoving the leftovers into his mouth. His cheeks instantly puffed up and made him look chubby. The fact he's eating with such an unchanged face... makes him look pretty adorable.
For these past few days, Edward never even bothered to produce even a single word, so even a minor change of his withdrawn mien honestly had me flabbergasted.
He's in the mood today... pretty rare for him. Obviously, I was hundreds-thousands even-of miles away from understanding him, but that could be reduced if we resumed bonding like this. It might take weeks or months... probably years, but once Edward removed his facade, it was all going to be worth it.
I just need to pull myself together.