Dedicated to TaurusV8

05.

lunchtime

LUNCHTIME WASN'T MY FAVORITE time of the day.

It wasn't just because of how plain the food was, but because of the cacophony of loud chatters in the cafeteria. Although I was used to sitting alone, watching the other students joke and tease each other, or sing and gossip over the over-salted fries, never failed to remind me of how lonely I was.

Today was going to be an exception.

For the first time in a long time, someone had asked me to sit with them at lunch. Oh, the joys of not being lonely.

After getting my lunch, I gripped my tray tightly as I made my way to Emery's table. She wasn't alone though. Clara, the dark-skinned girl from Saturday, and another blonde-haired girl I recognized as Melanie, from one of my classes, were with her. I plopped down on the empty seat beside Emery, placing my bag on the floor beside me.

"Hi," I greeted all three of them.

"Hey," Clara and Emery responded at the same time.

"I'm Melanie," the third girl introduced herself, grinning widely. "You're Daesyn, right? I know."

Having nothing to tell her, I smiled and nodded before digging in.

Turning to my left, I saw Caelum leaving the cafeteria; his drawing book in one hand and his bag hoisted on his shoulders. I didn't know I was still staring at the door until Emery interrupted my thoughts.

"He's going to warm up to you," she said. "Eventually."

From what I'd learned over the years, being unnecessarily rude was like a huge sign of weakness. It showed how weak a person was to control their insecurities, and I wasn't putting it past Caelum.

Even though he tried to hide whatever was wrong with him under that façade of his, I could already feel my curiosity meter rising.

Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures, a wise man had said.

Although my last attempt to find adventure had been as useless as doing nothing, I knew it was going to be different this time. Caelum was different, and I liked different.

When I got home, I laid down on the couch after changing out of my school uniform and pulled my vibrating phone out of my pocket. A new text flashed across the screen, and I wasn't surprised to see the sender, but the details made me cringe.

Emery:

Caelum tld me abt ur proj and he wants u to come over. r u sure ur coming over for d proj or u av other plans, eh eh eh? ;;;)))

Daesyn:

Em, why did you have to text like that??? I'll be there in 10.

Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I picked my bag up from where I'd thrown it after school and walked to my car.

I arrived in ten minutes, as I'd promised, and rang the doorbell. A middle-aged woman opened the door, not who I was expecting to see, but she didn't need to know that.

She was dressed to the nines in a long white dress that complimented her blue eyes, her makeup was flawless and her blonde hair was styled to perfection. Damn, I didn't think I could ever look that pretty even if I tried.

"Did you need something?" the woman, which I assumed to be Emery's mum, asked.

"Yeah, um, I'm friends with Emery?"

She narrowed her eyes before letting me in. Once again, I took in the shiny equipment in the living room, and I was in awe. Emery came down the stairs minutes later, dragging me to her room. It was my first time climbing the stairs, so I counted them. Thirty in total.

"Sorry about my mother," she said. "She can be a pain in the ass sometimes." I giggled because Emery rarely cursed and hearing it from her sounded funny. She glared at me playfully before giving me the direction to Caelum's room.

Caelum's room was the last room on the other side of the dimly lit hallway. After mentally preparing myself for his attitude, I rose my fist to knock. Slowly, I dropped it when I heard an unfamiliar song playing on an acoustic guitar. I didn't want to distract him, and I wanted to hear the song too, so I quietly leaned back and listened intently.

Boy, was he good.

When he stopped playing, I didn't want him to know I was listening to him like the creep I was, so I stood outside for about two minutes before knocking on the door.

"Hi," I greeted, expecting him to make a rude remark or send a glare my way, but he moved aside for me to enter. The faint smell of honey and chocolates engulfed me as I stepped into the room, and I let a small smile slip at the sight in front of me.

Caelum's room was so clean!

There were no clothes on the floor or strewn across the room, so I assumed his clothes were organized in the closet on the right side of the room. The bed in the middle of the room was neatly made, and there was a television set with his own personal Xbox hooked up.

Off to the corner of the room, an acoustic guitar was leaning against a desk and I assumed that was the guitar he used. On the desk, there was a closed laptop, a bunch of CD racks, and a pair of headphones. The walls of the room and the ceiling were painted a navy-blue color, and a big arrow was painted onto his walls in white.

"I love your room." I complimented, running my hand over the arrow on the wall. "It's so...you."

"Okay," he said.

I gestured towards the guitar. "I never knew you played."

"You know nothing about me," he muttered. "So, stop acting like you do."

I didn't mean to annoy him since I was only trying to make conversation. But since my attempt wasn't appreciated, I decided to do what I came for and get out of his room as quickly as possible.

Nodding, I brought out my books and laptop from my bag before sitting and placing them beside me.

"Since we have a month to work on the project, I guess we can get the basic things out of the way today, and focus on the more important things later," I said, not bothering to look at him. "If you're not interested in doing this project with me, I completely understand. I don't have a problem doing it alone, and I won't tell anybody that you didn't take part in it. It could be our little secret."

Caelum was silent for a while before grunting. "We'll be doing it together."

"Umm, okay then." I shrugged, all the while flipping through my notes. "Let's get started."

Four hours into the project, I was exhausted. I knew Caelum was too from the look on his face. I stretched my arms out with a yawn. "I feel like my brain is going to explode."

"We're done for today, so you can leave," Caelum said.

I thought we were making progress, but still, Caelum was unpredictable. The only thing I could do was just brush off his rude comments towards me.

Father used to tell me to kill the rude ones with niceness, and if that didn't work, the results from a baseball bat could vary. So, if my beautiful behavior wasn't working with him, I knew what to settle for.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Caelum quirked a perfectly carved brow. I swiftly ducked my head to hide the growing blush on my face.

"Daesyn!" Emery called from downstairs. I was surprised she didn't check up on us, even once, during the four hours. But regardless, I was thankful for the interruption. Grabbing my things from the floor, I placed them back in my bag before standing.

"It's late," I said, instead. "So, I best be going."

When I got downstairs, Emery was lying on her stomach on the couch, lazily skimming through the channels on the TV. "Emery?"

"Oh my, God, Daesyn." She winked. "I thought you weren't coming out of there again."

I forced out a laugh which probably sounded like I was choking. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Yeah." She chuckled. "See you at school tomorrow."

I waved back, making my way to the door, only to be pulled back into a hug.

An awkward hug.

First, I wasn't expecting it, so my hands were limply at my sides. Second, I wasn't used to getting hugs from people, except my father before he died and my mother, which was rare because she was never at home. Third, I was sure I was the only one she gave those hugs to regularly. I was surprised she cared about me, a stranger, that much to give me hugs, but maybe I was being paranoid.

Yeah, I was being paranoid and Emery genuinely wanted to become friends with me.

Maybe.

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Author's note:

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