Maze

14

Friday.

This time, I would never let the reminder slip through my mind.

I watched with great intensity as I dropped the lunch box with Edward's bread right into the confines of my bag. Now that it was wedged between my notebooks and my gym clothes, never to be forgotten, I beamed with satisfaction before zipping my bag all at once. Tossing it over my shoulders, I tidied my hair for the last time before grabbing my phone and leaving my room.

The noises of my slippers announced my arrival in the living room, as I was quickly met with a pair of chestnut eyes belonging to the one and only Jordan. Not surprisingly, he was sprawled out on the couch, immersed in games on his phone, but he was kind enough to glance at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Good thing I don't have to wake you up again," he scoffed. "You almost made me get detention yesterday."

And he acts as if he's the only one getting the consequence... Even the early hours of the day did not stop my lovely brother from pricking my nerves. I exhaled with exasperation and shook my head, but I never bothered returning his remarks while I set down my bag on the empty side of the sofa.

Ungrateful boy. I drove you when you're too lazy to take the bus. Mom was even the one driving and dropping him at school, so he should not even be complaining at all.

When my nostrils picked up a strong scent of cooked food propagating from the dining room, Jordan was shoved to the back of my mind. A deep growl emanated from inside of me as I beelined towards the source. Yes please! I'm starving.

A plate of toast filled with scrambled egg and lightly seasoned with leek, sat on the table. The yellow, puffy appearance of the eggs had me swallowing my saliva that attempted to sneak out of my lips. Settling on my chair in less than a second, I grasped the fork and the knife, chopping through the crispy toast and stuffing them into my mouth.

"Good morning, Rena!" Mom shouted beside me like she manifested out of thin air. Her sudden voice had me biting on my tongue and spewing on my water.

"Mom!" After a series of painful coughs, I gagged and narrowed my eyes at her, but she guffawed her ass off as if it was an average day.

"Sorry, sorry!" She said between her chuckles, like she was trying to sound sinister, "Did I almost kill you?"

"It's not funny, Mom, I could have really choked!" I complained while I wiped my mess—thanks to her—with the napkin. Because Mom was being Mom, she disregarded all of my protests; she merely wiped her hands with her apron and flipped on her ponytail.

Her and her amazing pranks. I rolled my eyes and continued devouring my breakfast until it was all resting in my stomach. Once done, I left the clean plate on the sink before I headed back to grab my backpack.

"I'm going," I announced to Jordan. I should have left this boy to tend to his own needs, but I would rather not have him fussing all over me. "Do you want me to drop you off?"

"Nah. I'll take the bus," was my brother's curt response as he waved the back of his hand, barely making the effort to at least look at me. He was too attached to his own gadget as his fingers punched the screen, probably texting his friends. That's even better.

"Au revoir! Don't rush in traffic!" Mom yelled from the kitchen as I slid on my shoes and went for the garage.

I couldn't help but to smile at her signature move. Now that was a new one out of all her foreign farewells. One day it was 'sayonara', and the other day, it was 'adios', then it switched to 'selamat tinggal'. Glad she's learning more and more languages.

Rolling the garage doors and slowly backing up my bike to avoid Mom's car, the driveway was completely vacant. Well, Dad said his restaurant had been getting stock deliveries, so he probably left before the sun managed to peep out.

Alright, here goes nothing. I stretched both of my arms and legs, before I began cycling.

Dawn never failed to express its beauty.

The sun might be low in the skies, but its vibrant rays illuminated the town from its deep slumber. It helped saturate the horizon with a mixture of bright amber and lavender hues, casting away the shadows of the night. As I continued moving through the streets, my whole body relished the blast of cool breeze and cleared off my drowsiness. Fall weather is pretty much the best!

I pushed my brakes at a red light and put one of my feet on the ground. While observing the cars and the other cyclists wheezing through, a memory of Edward crept into my sight. Not only did my brain conjure an image of him looking fixedly at me, but also his accompanying voice as he uttered out a hard pressing inquiry.

"Why do you still want to be friends with me?"

I gulped as I lowered my gaze to the asphalt below. That question... It was not like I had no answers behind it. It was not a convoluted math question requiring numerous formulas and some ridiculous techniques. It only required a couple of phrases here and there, and that was it. If I remember correctly, even Lynn asked something similar and I replied properly, but the fact that it came from him...

It doesn't sound like him at all...? Why would he ask that, anyway?

An abrupt honk of a car behind me knocked me sideways and my heart practically skipped a beat. Seeing that the green light had flashed on, I raised my hand in apology and before I went out of the way into the side of the road, allowing the others to pass.

Maybe I should tell Aly about this. I peered up. Or maybe not. She's really gonna go ballistic on him, then all of our reconciliation plans... will take a very long detour.

After all, Aly wasn't here for me every single time, so... I should be facing this problem all by myself. Next time, I have to keep my guard up just in case Edward asked again, and I would be explaining every single thing.

Drowning in my own contemplation, I perked up when my school finally came into view. Passing through the gate where there were still only a couple of students, I veered towards the parking lot, where there were numerous spaces to choose from. This is why I better be early rather than being late.

Once I locked my bicycle, I grasped my backpack and sauntered for the doors. Now that I have so much time under my hands, it would be best for me to go and rest elsewhere before my gym class started. Although the doors were wide open, a couple of students continued sitting on the grass... perhaps waiting for their friends.

One of them was Edward. He was looking around, and then was quick to notice me.

Great, my insides were already performing somersaults as if they were desperate to win the Olympics or something. My legs stiffened, causing me to halt on my tracks while he stood up and brushed off his pants. As he approached—a definitive progress—the light-headed me, he promptly pocketed his hands.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Oh! Um, h-hello!" I found myself grinning. "Y-You came early."

No shit, Rena.

Edward was the ultimate early bird, of all people, even as a child. He was always the first to arrive, waiting in a similar spot like right now. When I watched him from afar like the creep I was, he would then catch me on the act. Then, I immediately skittered off, pretending he never noticed.

"Yeah." My new friend nodded, before we were back full force with our awaited silence, because of course we did. It would not be a moment with Edward without the lengthy, wordless atmosphere. He never once alluded to anything about that certain topic, sending waves of relief through me and slackening my body... at least for a while.

However, this was the perfect opportunity for me to spend even more time with him. Every Friday, Edward, his friends and I would both have PE class as our first period. Unfortunately, the same could not be the same for Aly, although I got Naomi, who would smirk, bat her brows and nudge me whenever I was watching him from afar.

And despite Edward and I recurrently crossing paths as we did sports, both of us had chosen to go on without regarding each other's existence.

But now, things are about to change.