shall we?

chapter two

Angela's POV

"Class dismissed." 

Cynthia and I immediately packed our bags and headed over to our lockers to retrieve some materials needed for our studies, as well as our cell phones.

"I don't understand why teachers need us to place our phones in our lockers." she mumbled. "It's not like we would use it during lessons anyways."

"Yeah, and the policy itself has a grey area. People could still use their devices to gain access to other social media platforms during lessons. So it's pretty pointless if you ask me." I answered.

At the same time, a baby blue sticky note landed onto our feet. 

"Meet me at the gate after school! :) - Eddy" 

"Yo!" said Eddy, smiling and waving jazz hands at us once we arrived. "How's my wife and her best friend?"

"Don't make it sound like as if we're married!" protested Cynthia, lightly punching him on his arms. 

"But we ARE married spiritually." said Eddy. Cynthia ignored his joke. 

"Maths is boring." said Cynthia. "Questions on permutations and combinations are so hard, and I'm having a hard time understanding it." 

"Same here." I said. "Thank goodness we have some time to relax ourselves after this boring lesson. Or else our brains must be cooked up by that."

Eddy laughed. "Same, except my last lesson was Physics. I'm not good at it either and I still have a ton to catch up on. But anyways, we should go and meet up with Brett, and I can't wait to have you guys meet him!" We agreed as we hopped onto Eddy's car. 

-

Because of the Darius incident, I feel really nervous and tensed up whenever I talk to, or meet a boy. I was always nervous that he would be the same as Darius, because I couldn't really trust boys after that incident. He hurt me too much. 

I couldn't help but worry about how Brett would be like. Is he someone friendly and caring, just like Eddy? Or is he someone two-faced and deceptive, just like Darius? Is he someone talented and empathetic, just like Eddy? Or is he someone sluggish and ignorant, just like Darius? Most importantly, is he someone promising? I couldn't help but wonder. 

At the same time, I made a mental note to myself. 

Okay, Angela. You got this. Just keep calm, as your geography teacher often say. Keep calm, keep calm, keep calm. Don't chicken out, don't freak out, just stay calm and be yourself. Just remind yourself that he is unlike Darius, since he's someone Eddy's close to, then I assume that he's someone trusting, right? Or not? Ugh I don't know. That's so confusing. But anyways, do not fall for him so you won't get hurt again. Ever again.

-

After the long car ride, we got off at the nearby mall and waited for Brett. "You girls can sit down for a while first." said Eddy. "I'll go meet him up and meet up with you guys here. He's just a couple of stores away." 

"Sure."

"Cynthia, I can't help but to worry if Brett's a nice person or not. I'd never met him before, and you know my attitude towards boys right now. I can't easily trust them because of what Darius did to me." I said as Eddy left.

"Don't worry, it's alright. Although I did not really know much about him, I could assure you he's someone really nice and fun to get along with, albeit he's kind of shy." said Cynthia. "His deadpan face may make you feel skittish at first, but once he warms up to people around him, he could be really goofy." 

"I see... perhaps he's not that bad. You've met him before?" 

"Not really, but I always overhear Eddy talking to him through FaceTime. I can tell he's not a bad person, but I could see the reason why you're so worked up against this. You didn't want to be hurt because of a guy again, right?" asked Cynthia. "I understand this. So, it's okay. But I can promise you, he's completely different from Darius."

"Really?" Cynthia nodded. 

"If I'm lying, then I will practice the violin for 80 hours!" 

"You said that!" I tickled her. "I've marked your word. Cynthia will practise for 80 hours if her assumptions against Brett is wrong."

"nOoOoOOOoo!" wailed Cynthia. "And wow look at you Angie, asking SHIT TONS of questions before you even meet him. Are you in love?" she asked teasingly. 

"No what the fuck? I'm just nervous!" I said. 

"Oh really? Nervous about what?" asked Cynthia as she attacked me back. "Should we make a deal? If it's just you overthinking, then you will treat me bubble tea every day and if it's me who made the wrong assumption, then I will practice the violin for 80 hours." 

"Deal." I said. 

Suddenly Eddy reappeared, and this time, with a boy next to him, who must be Brett. He has messy black hair with bangs which slightly covered his eyes, and a round-framed spectacles nicely rested on the crook of his nose and has pale skin, just like milk. He was also wearing a nice black shirt, with a blue flannel over it. He was also wearing a pair of black jeans. When he saw us, his expression is kind of deadpan and expressionless. Only then I found his deadpan face kind of cute.

He's kind of cute... or is it my problem again? But anyways-

"So Cynthia and Angela, this is Brett." said Eddy. "Brett, this is my girlfriend Cynthia, and Angela, who is next to her is her best friend." 

"Hey, nice to meet you." said Brett as he shook our hands a little. "You must be the famous Cynthia Eddy kept talking about." 

"Yes, I am. And next to me is Angela, my best friend." said Cynthia. 

"Hey Angela, I've heard a lot about you from Eddy too." said Brett. 

"Really? And likewise too! Eddy always mention you to us. And it's indeed wonderful that we could finally meet you in person." I answered.

"Same." he said. 

Brett and Eddy are just like Cynthia and I. I guess this is also one of the reasons why Eddy introduces us to Brett? I don't know. 

But five minutes in, we were already talking to each other happily and learning about each other. Perhaps Cynthia was right. Brett is not as bad as I thought of him to be. He's kind of cute when he smiles, or when he was simply just standing there, spacing out. 

Okay, you got a problem, Angela. You. Can. Not. Fall. For. A. Guy. Ever. Again. Remember the mental note you made for yourself?

However, every happy moment passes by, I seem to have slowly forgot about it, because it was so fun, talking to them.