Until July *COMPLETED*

Chapter V

A few days have passed.

Briella walked outside with both Nadia and Liam. They sat on a bench.

While Nadia and Liam were in their own small conversation, Briella took this to her advantage. She took out a folded page and a pen from her pocket.

From there, she recorded anything that came to her mind, just like she did a few days back.

She was hoping that once she gathered all of her random scribbles of words, some will stand out and thus would be used in her song. It's the melody that she was still due to write up.

"Briella? What are you doing?" Nadia asked curiously, scootching closer to Briella. Liam did the same on the opposite side of the bench.

"Is that your homework or something, Briella?" Liam questioned.

Briella looked up from her page at them both. "It's not my homework, no. It's a song.".

"A song?" both Liam and Nadia spoke in unison.

"Yeah. I was in the music room yesterday and... it was while I was in there that I had a wish to write a song or something. So, it's kinda like I am giving songwriting a shot, if you like.".

From there, silence ruled the conversation for a few moments.

"Is this song going to be about... Dylan?" Liam broke the silence. Once more, silence descended upon the conversation.

To say the least, Briella didn't expect such a question to arise all of a sudden.

At first, Briella took in a deep breath. A sympathetic smile grew on her lips. "Yeah... this song is going about him. I just thought it might be a good idea, it might help me forget him quicker through music, you know?".

"Mmm," Nadia responded, nodding her head.

"You far in the song, or?" Liam inquired.

"I guess you can still say I'm at the very beginning. I'm currently writing down any words or ideas that come to mind, anything that reminds me of Dylan. Then, after that, I'm hoping that from all the words, if be able to mix and blend most of them and incorporate them into the song," Briella replied.

"Have you thought of a melody yet for the song?" Nadia asked.

"I'm planning to do the melody next. But it's got to be here at school then... since I don't have a piano at home...".

"Sure, you can get those piano apps and whatnot, where you have like piano keys on your screen?" Liam suggested.

"Mmmm..." Briella began. "I'd rather not... I prefer to sit behind an actual, physical piano if you get me?".

"Yeah, I understand you. That's totally fair," was Liam's response.

"But yeah...". Briella wrote a few more words, all while Nadia and Liam spectated her. Then, Briella stopped. "I can't think of anything else..." she whispered under her breath.

Giving the page on overall review, a small smile of contentment grew on her lips.

With that, she folded the page away, and along with her pen, she packed them back into her pocket.

"So anyway..." Briella started. "How are you guys? What have yous been up to recently?".

Just as they were about to answer her question, someone approaching interrupted Liam, Briella and Nadia - cutting the conversation short.

The sound of footsteps brought everyone's attention on the bench to the person coming closer to them.

Briella looked up and widens her eyes when she saw who it was. It took her a mere millisecond to recognise that the person approaching them was the guy she crashed into in the hallway only a few days back.

'Looks like the odds are in our favour... we meet again,' Briella thought to herself.

She noticed the slight surprise spread across the guy's face. He recognised her as well.

"Hey..." He began, "sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I need to ask you something, Liam.".

"Ryan, hey! Is everything okay??".

"Yeah, yeah. All is good, it's nothing urgent," he reassured Liam.

"Oh, well then.". A small smile grew on Liam's lips. "I want to briefly introduce you to my good friends.". First, he turned to Briella, "Briella, this is Ryan, and Ryan, this is Briella.".

With the mere mentioning of their names, they both gazed into each other's eyes.

A small smile developed on Ryan's lips. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Briella.".

With that, a smile grew on Briella's lips too. "It's very nice to meet you too, Ryan.".

Ryans' eyes move off Briella, but she still kept hers on him. 'The... the way my name rolled off his tongue...'.

Liam proceeded on introducing Ryan to Nadia too, "Alright, and this here is Nadia. Nadia, this is Ryan.".

Ryan greeted her with a smile and a gentle nod. "Nice to meet you.".

"Likewise," Nadia replied.

"Alright then, shall we get going?" Liam inquired, and with and nod, they both walked off.

But right before turning away, Ryan sneaked a look and returned his gaze back to Briella. His gaze stayed on her for an extra second or two. She noticed this.

It was when their eyes met for the second time, that made Ryan make his decision and look away from her, breaking their very short eye contact. He turned around and walked away, making his way to the building right behind Liam.

Briella found herself looking at Ryan's back as he walked further and further away from them. It was also here that she got that bit of time to digest their full interaction.

The way he gazed at her. The feeling she got from his gaze... it felt like... like something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Nor did she want to.

Briella coped on the silence that descended upon both Nadia and herself.

She broke it by clearing her throat. "So his name was Ryan... he must be a new student... I don't recall seeing ever seeing him," Briella speaks. 'Except for the time when you crashed into him, Briella!'.

Hearing no reply from Nadia, she looked up at her. A small smile was developing on Nadia's face. It was her smile that caused Briella to smirk too.

"W-what's the smile for?" Briella asked.

"Don't, for a second, think I didn't notice the final look he gave you. Not to mention the way his gaze stayed on you for a solid second or two.". Nadia's smile could practically be heard in her voice.

Briella raised an eyebrow. "Just... just no. Please, just no.".

Nadia giggled at Briella's reaction. "What?? I haven't told you anything specific, have I? I just told you the way he gazed at you.".

"That alone is enough to give me - I'd say - accurate suspicions as to what it is you were hinting towards...". Then, silence.

Suddenly, the smile on Briella's lips dropped. She took in a deep breath.

"If it does turn out that he... has some sort of liking for me, or that I may have piqued his interest. He would just be wasting his time if he thought about trying anything with me...".