Maze

40

As we left the school premises, the sun had finished its diligent work.

Its diffusing rays bid the day farewell and caused a huge fluff of clouds to catch on fire. With nothing standing on its path, bright orange flames ferociously strewn across the skies—a painting only mother nature could achieve. Crows were merely reduced to black dots, but their distant but reverberating caws informed their kind that it was the time to return to the safety of their homes.

Beneath all of the dynamic nature, here I was, ambling alongside Edward. He had volunteered to carry my bicycle, the noises of wheels hitting against the pavement and the clatter of our bags made up for our silence. The fact he insisted on helping me bubbled up all sorts of euphoria, and it felt like I was in paradise or something.

I wonder where he's going to take us. He had not given out any clues of the location we were currently heading to. He simply asked me to follow him and that was it. "You'll see when we get there," he had said.

While he craned his head to gaze into the heavens, my eyes could not help but to gravitate upon him. Perhaps it was just me, but not only his blond hair shone brighter, but had grown longer than I thought. It completely shrouded the back of his neck; his ears were barely noticeable.

Jordan's freakish comments regarding his hair suddenly intruded into my head, but as fast as it had appeared, I shoved it back to my head. No one shouldn't be judging Edward solely on his appearance, especially when they had no clue of his backstory. He's more than that.

Nothing wrong with "emo" hair either. After all, Edward's haircut perfectly stood out from among most of the boys in my school, perfectly encapsulating the rougher edges of his face. It even accentuated the cool and the reserved vibe he had given off. Seriously, what's so emo about it? Is Jordan blind—

"We're here."

Not only Edward finally revealed, but he abruptly stopped midway. Forcing myself to surface out of my thoughts, I winced when I nearly collided against his back. Well, I just stopped myself from all the imminent embarrassment, that was new. It must have been hard since he is kinda muscly... not that I want to feel what it's like.

However, the piercing scent of salt had all of those intrusive thoughts evaporated—thank God. I further piqued distant roars of what seemed to be crashing waves reverberating in the distance; this was way too familiar. The wind grew in intensity, gyrating numerous strands of my brown hair.

Don't tell me...

Peering behind him, my lips twitched on his corners; why did I even have to question it? It was the same park where I had visited alongside Aly and Adelynn; the park drowned with laughter and the shenanigans of our childhood selves, acting as if ignorance was bliss. The same place where everything began.

There laid the sleeping sun, its lights rolled across the glistening ocean. The iconic Ferris wheel flooded the darkening horizon with its flamboyant ornaments. Just beside the wheel, the flickering red and blue ornaments originating from the roller coaster tracks joined in. What a dazzling scene...

I chuckled and placed my hands behind my back. "Of course you brought me here. Used to be our hangout spots after all."

"You've always loved it and never complained once," said Edward, which made my heart pound harder than it should be. He then brought the bicycle to the nearest parking lot, where I locked its wheels. "A perfect place where we could talk... just the both of us."

Both of us. Yes, yes, both of us. No one else. I did not know why the heck I was reaffirming that statement all over again. Nodding with no comment, the tempo of my heartbeats became irregular. This could, at last, be the chance where we could catch up with each other's lives with no limit.