Maze

13

03:49 PM.

"Ahh, no!!!"

The fact Aly raised her tone without warning had me wincing just as we were about to, at long last, step outside the school.

"W-What happened, Aly?"

She ransacked the contents of her backpack, and her forehead scrunched up when she could not seem to find what she was looking for. Soon, she murmured something inaudible as she scratched her head and huffed, even pulling some strands of her hair.

"God, I can't believe it... I must have left my phone somewhere!! Ah, this is so frustrating!!" She groaned rather stridently, but she shrugged off those around her, who were giving her funny looks. "Rena, you can go home first!"

"Oh what?" I sputtered. "But I can accompany you-"

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine, Rena!" She interrupted as she had her hands in front of me, as if she was blocking me from reaching her. Her eyes were practically darting all over the place as she smacked her fist against her palm, "Oh and besides, I suddenly remembered I had something to do before I left. It's gonna take a while, y'know. See ya tomorrow!"

"W-Wait!" Before I could chase after her, she had strode off in the opposite direction. I could only stand and watch as she disappeared back inside. Kinda strange, Aly would always ask me to go with her... and she was even so excited to go home.

Surely that was out of the blue. Hopefully she could locate her phone though.

With a faint breath slipping out of my mouth, I decided to head towards my bike in the parking lot. Compared to this morning, it was heavily deserted, with the exceptions of a handful of bikes and motorcycles.

One more day before the weekends... and I can rest! I smiled while I fumbled on my own lock with my key, and it eventually with a satisfying click. Throwing my burdening bag into the basket and stretching both of my arms, I positioned my bicycle until I was comfortable enough to sit on it.

Wait a minute, didn't Aly have her phone with her? A memory crossed through me as soon as I placed my feet on the pedals. She was holding it when she was in her locker...

That was when I noticed a very unmistakable person a couple of feet away, and... he made me lose my own momentum.

Edward! I gulped when I felt a lump molding inside my throat. What's he doing here? Didn't he usually use the bus?

Not even a single distraction hindered him from drilling deep into my soul, as if he was studying all of my features. With my face growing progressively warmer, I bit the insides of my cheeks and pulled my hat down. Regardless, I still could not snap myself out of it; the way he maintained his attention solely on me and not anybody else... melted me into nothing but a puddle. Why is he looking at me like that? What's he gonna do?

And here I was pushing the idea he was here to look for his friend, but that dissipated into ashes when Edward shuffled his hands into his pockets and approached me. The rambunctious thumps of my heart reverberated against my eardrums as I gripped tightly on my bicycle's handlebars.

"Hey Serena."

"Oh, h-hi Edward! W-what's up?!" My hand shook as I lifted it up to greet him back.

I must have short-circuited, as my stuttering became so... borderline atrocious. Heck, my bike almost fell off with me, but fortunately, I was able to bounce back thanks to my reflex. My thoughts were swirling round and round like a tornado, any incoming plans and analysis I tried to formulate turned into some mushy mess. You're an idiot, Rena. Calm your butt down.