There were two things I looked forward to on a typical school day, and one of them was rather concerning. What were those two things? Seeing all of my friends. And Albert. They operated separately.

I told myself over and over again that I harboured absolutely no romantic feelings for Albert. I mean, it shouldn’t have even been possible. The two of us hadn’t even known each other ten days, and I’d already gotten a lot of questions about the two of us.

I was questioned a lot. Most of the questions weren’t even about Albert. They were about my surname. Pretty much everybody knew that it wasn’t just a coincidence; I was the sister of the Maltor Confussée. I couldn’t have convinced anybody that it was a coincidence if I tried. It wasn’t exactly a common surname.

To say I ‘hated’ my surname was an overstatement. I got asked if I ‘hated’ it quite a lot. And, to be truthful, I didn’t. It was a part of me. Just because my brother wanted genocide didn’t mean that I did. Our surnames connected us by blood, not by ideologies.

Jeremy hated it, too. He’d had his fair share of questioning. It’s like everybody assumed we were the same as Maltor just because we had the same parents.

We weren’t even raised together. Kinda.

Not that it was his fault, but he had spent seven years in The School. And, as much as Maltor was a horrible person now, I hated that organisation. Kidnapping children and straight-up torturing them. It was vile.

But then he had escaped and had ‘lived’ with us. I use the term ‘lived’ lightly. He constantly ran away from home, didn’t speak to even our mom that much, and was practically a stranger. We had no bond. The only thing that bound us was blood.

I kissed my teeth as I took my seat next to Albert that Monday Form. One of the few people I was excited to see that day. For no reason, of course.

‘You okay?’ I asked as I did so. Something about him seemed off. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was different. His electric blue eyes weren’t as lively as usual.

He glanced up at me. Something changed in his eyes as he looked at me. Something so small and insignificant that I thought I might have imagined it. But it was definitely there. A tiny little spark.

‘Yeah, you?’

His voice was low, quieter than usual. It was like he was a moving corpse. I was certain that the beats of my heart suddenly doubled in volume, but I couldn’t be certain. I damn well hoped that he couldn’t hear them.

‘Fine, I guess,’ I made sure to not try to sound too excited. ‘But you look a bit off. You sure you’re okay?’

Albert seemed to take an interest in his feet for a moment. He didn’t say a word as he stared downward, either intrigued by the colour of his shoes or the texture of the carpet on this particular day.

‘Don’t worry about me,’ he said finally, still in the same slack tone. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Gods, make an effort to look it,’ I retorted sarcastically, hoping I didn’t sound sincere. ‘People are gonna think you’re dead if you keep this up.’

Something else appeared in his eyes. When he first looked at me, it had been a positive emotion. He had seemed to have been given a small dosage of happiness, of hope. Now, however, this positive hint in his eyes became mixed with a much worse one: worry.

‘Really? Do I look that bad?’

Then it was I who felt that flash of worry. I had hurt him.

‘No, no, no! I was being sarcastic!’ I exclaimed hastily, my voice uncontrollably rising with worry.

My words may have been heard by him, but they were certainly not registered.

‘Shit…’ I heard him murmur to nobody but himself. ‘And I thought I was good at hiding it…’

‘Oh? So you’re hiding something?’ I taunted playfully, hoping that he didn’t find me rude. ‘Mind sharing?’

He looked at me. The word ‘blankly’ came to mind when considering how he stared at me, but his stare was simultaneously that and about three emotions.

‘I’m fine. Don’t worry,’ his voice was firmer than before. I didn’t find him rude in the slightest, but he did. ‘Sorry. I sound like a git.’

‘It’s fine. Don’t worry,’ I teased, smirking. ‘If you don’t want to tell me, then obviously I’m not gonna make you.’

‘Thanks,’ he murmured.

‘But if you do need to tell me something, I’m literally only a foot away.’

Albert smirked. ‘Thanks, Cecilia. And you too, you know? I’m here if you need a chat.’

Josh, the boy who sat on Albert’s left, nudged him then. Albert slowly turned his head to look at him, and Josh merely nodded at him, smirking. Albert mustered a nod in return. A much weaker nod, but a nod.

Something must have happened. I hadn’t the slightest clue what, or who, but something had happened to Albert over the weekend. Maybe it was an experience. Maybe he had had to sign a lot of paperwork. Maybe it was something to do with Maltor.

It almost hurt me to see him upset.

I tried not to let the issue press me any further as Form went on. Albert and I did continue to make conversation, but it was still ever so clear that something was bothering him.

There was a positive, however. The longer the two of us spoke, the more that glimmer of happiness in his eyes appeared to grow. I am not entirely sure why, but talking to me seemed to make him happier.

After a while, it looked like Albert got rather fidgety. He shuffled in his seat as the two of us spoke, and he was giving me less eye contact. He either desperately needed a piss, or he needed to say something.

I found out rather fast.

‘Have you been to Madam Sweetheart’s café yet? The one across from The Tower?’ he asked, not looking at me. I was certain that his face was slowly turning pink.

‘Natasha mentioned it a few times, and, you know, you showed me it,’ I thought back to all the times they had mentioned it. They made it out to be one of the highest luxuries in the city. ‘But we didn’t go. So, no, I haven’t.’

‘We should go sometime,’ his voice was the quietest I’d ever heard it. I almost had to ask him to repeat himself.

A rather peculiar feeling arose in my chest. Although I did not formulate a response immediately, the effects of his words were immediate.

What did he mean? And why was he so awkward about getting those words out? It was a normal question, right? Why did it seem as though it meant so much to him?

A possibility crossed my mind for a mere fraction of a second, but I dismissed it. There was no possible chance of it being the truth. It mattered not that there were multiple more hints of this possibility being a reality. That meant nought. It was just a fake image created by my own mind. There was no chance.

I told myself that maybe I should test the waters. Try a safe response. Something that would not arouse too much suspicion, but something that would tell me clearly whether or not this possibility was the truth or not.

‘We should,’ my voice was quiet. Barely louder than a whisper. ‘But when?’

Albert’s head shot up so fast that I was quite surprised it did not fly from his neck. The bored, deadpan look in his eyes had been replaced by one of pure, unfiltered hope.

‘I can make time whenever,’ he said quickly. Despite the fact that his words came out hasty, his voice was still extremely quiet. ‘I’ll make it fit into my schedule.’

Ignoring the rather warm feeling in my chest, I responded, still making an effort to keep my voice at the same volume as his. ‘Today after school? That works for me.’

The sides of his mouth began to gently lift. ‘Works for me too. Deal?’

‘Deal.’

‘Just the two of us, though, right?’ he added, an inkling of worry creeping into his voice. ‘Or were you planning on inviting someone else?’

‘No, no, just the two of us,’ I reassured him, smiling. He looked faint. ‘Should be fun.’

He smiled at me. ‘Yeah, it will be.’

‘What’s last Period?’

Albert never usually volunteered to be the one of the group to check their timetable, but on this certain occasion, he had it in his hand before I’d even had time to blink.

‘DT. We have that together,’ his voice now suggested pure elation. ‘That’s perfect. We can go straight from DT to the café.’

‘Works for me.’

Albert seemed happier by a large margin. He sat straighter in his chair for the remainder of Form, and he spoke with a lot more liveliness than before.

The two of us had every single lesson together that day, so I hoped that I would be able to see that happiness remain throughout the entire six hours. In fact, we had IT first. I did not sit next to Albert in that lesson, instead, I sat with Natasha. Albert was, unfortunately, on the row in front of me.

Our IT classroom was larger than our Form room, and that was because there were a lot more tables. Each one could only seat two people, which meant there were a whopping sixteen tables in total.

The blue walls were plastered with famous businesspeople, and some were even stuck next to a supposedly inspirational quote that they said. The colour of the walls matched that of the carpet to some degree, though the carpet was a fair bit darker.

Natasha and I sat on the fourth row, on the leftmost table. Albert and Ethan took their place in front of us. The teacher had yet to arrive, and I pondered for a moment whether to tell Natasha about my previous conversation with Albert.

As much as I almost didn’t want to admit it, that feeling in my chest had not yet disappeared. I was unsure as to what it actually was. Perhaps it was excitement at the thought of a nice time with Albert at the café. Perhaps it was…nothing else came to mind. But why?

‘You and Albert looked like you were having fun in Form,’ Natasha taunted once she had finished fumbling with her bag under the table.

‘Oh, stop it,’ I retorted jokingly, knowing exactly what she was implying. It’s what she always implied whenever she spoke about me and Albert. ‘Stop right there. We’ve known each other nine days.’

She raised a rather accusatory eyebrow at me.

‘What? It’s not like anything has- Well…’ my would-be deflection of the accusation was interrupted by my incapability to keep my mouth shut.

Natasha’s reaction was instantaneous. Her eyes flared with excitement at the prospect of teasing me over him once more. She swivelled in her seat to face me properly, a sly grin growing on her face.

‘What? What happened?’ she asked hastily, and if popcorn had been present, I am certain she would have been eating it. ‘What did he say?’

I wasn’t immediately sure how to turn my thoughts into words. I was sure, however, of the fact that I could not, under any circumstance, reveal to Natasha that I had been dealing with a strange feeling in my chest ever since Form.

It was only a trip to a café. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

‘Well, uh, we kinda- We’re kinda going to that café after school,’ I managed, my voice surprisingly hollow.

Something changed in Natasha in that moment. Her smile went slack and her eyes slowly widened. If she had been holding something, and I thank the Gods that she wasn’t, she would have dropped it.

‘Just the two of you?’ she begged for confirmation, her voice barely even a solid sound, it was more like a loud whisper.

All it took was a nod from me for her malicious grin to return.

‘So…you’re going on a date with Albert?’

‘No!’ I snapped, glaring at her. ‘It’s not a ‘date’!’

I must have been a tad too loud, as Ethan and Albert turned in their seats, their attention caught by my rather sudden outburst. My cheeks flared; I could feel them turning slightly redder.

The two of them stared blankly at me and Natasha for a moment. Ethan appeared amused, but it looked like there was a drop of fear in Albert’s eyes. Maybe I’d hurt him by exclaiming that it wasn’t a date. No. That would mean that Albert harboured some sort of romantic attraction to me. No.

‘Sorry,’ I mumbled, staring at Albert. His cheeks appeared to be changing colour, too. ‘I didn’t mean to be so loud.’

Ethan, like Natasha, seemed to find something rather comical about the situation. Their shared smirks told me all I needed to know about how they found the predicament.

He nudged Albert, his smirk growing. And, unless I was seeing things, he wiggled his eyebrows. Albert cut him a rather nasty look before the two of them turned around again.

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‘He heard that, didn’t he?’ I groaned, suddenly wishing that my forehead and the desk would have a swift meeting. ‘Now he thinks I’m a right bitch.’

Natasha patted my shoulder, but even through my despair, I could tell that it was a sarcastic pat.

‘I’m sure he thought nothing of it,’ she tried, but my mood was not lifted. ‘And, hey, you can make him feel better at the café.’

If looks could kill, I hoped in that moment that my glare would have smitten Natasha.

‘Don’t give me that,’ she retorted playfully. ‘I’m trying to help you. I’m a granddaughter of Aphrodite, I naturally know a thing or two about love.’

‘I’m her granddaughter too.’

She grinned at me, but if she had been about to make an attempt to resume the conversation, she had no choice but to let the desire die, as the teacher walked in at that moment.

Now, as much as I tried to pay attention in lessons, it was immensely difficult when I sat next to Natasha. It was made especially difficult due to the fact that it was an IT lesson. Albert loved IT and excelled in the class, but I found it too boring to even put into words.

The only major thing that happened in that lesson, keeping in mind that I did not consider Natasha’s taunting ‘major’, was that Albert turned around to talk three times. He did not turn around to talk to Natasha. He wanted to talk to me. Something about that made the feeling inside my chest expand tremendously.

On the inside, I was eagerly anticipating English, which was the lesson we had after IT. I sat next to Albert in that lesson.

That is why, for no particular reason, I found it extremely difficult to stop myself from grinning as I took my seat that lesson. Albert was already sitting down and talking to Asbel and Peter, who sat on his right. Upon seeing me sit down, however, he stopped talking to them and turned to me.

‘You…still up for going to the café?’ he asked, his words slow.

‘One hundred per cent,’ was my hasty response. His question had cemented the worry in me that I had upset him with my outburst in IT. ‘I’m actually really looking forward to it.’

The corners of his mouth lifted immediately. ‘So am I. I can’t wait.’

And, just like with the previous English lesson, the two of us entertained ourselves by engaging in hushed conversation throughout the entire hour. Even if it was risky, it was miles more interesting than whatever on Earth we were supposed to be doing.

Albert, like Natasha, was a hindrance to my desire to focus in lessons. I found myself trapped by his words, listening intently whenever they left his mouth. It seemed as though I had the same effect on him, but that may have been wishful thinking.

In fact, the rest of the day followed a similar formula. Even in the lessons where I was not sitting directly next to Albert, I found myself distracted by him. Halfway through the work, I would pick up on my sudden interest in the side or the back of his head. His hair was blond, but not as light as Maltor’s. It was a dirty blond. It was kinda nice.

It was during Charms that I found myself particularly distracted by him. Due to his lack of a wand, he really struggled in magic lessons. I would have hated to be in that situation, but he regularly made light of the topic.

Apparently, he had broken his wand during his fight with Amy Wright nearly two years ago. I wondered if I’d ever come face to face with Maltor. I wasn’t too sure how powerful he was, but I damn hoped that I’d beat the shit out of him.

Not only did I find myself distracted by him, but the ‘excitement’ of going to the café. I use the word ‘excitement’ lightly, as I am not too sure if that is the correct word to use. It was a positive feeling nonetheless, but it felt a lot stranger than typical excitement. It felt better.

All throughout the remainder of that day’s lessons, I found myself daydreaming at the thought. I pictured it in my head. I imagined what I’d say, what I’d do, how he’d react, what I’d order. Everything. Everything had been thought through by the end of the day as the two of us glanced at each other, our faces pink, at the end of DT. It was time for our little trip.

‘Good luck with your date,’ Natasha whispered to me, elbowing me gently in the side. ‘And you better tell me all about it.’

‘You know I will,’ I hissed. ‘And stop calling it a date.’

‘What is it then, huh?’

‘Shut up.’

‘Thought so.’

She grinned at me as she left the room, and I once again hoped that looks would one day be able to kill.

Albert appeared at my side, looking sheepish to his core. He was about an inch and a half taller than me, and something about the way I was forced to look up to him suddenly made me feel something other than excited.

‘Ready to go?’ he said warmly, keeping his voice low.

I smiled back at him, and I tried to keep the tone of my response as warm as the tone of his question. ‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’

‘I’ll warn you now,’ he began as the two of us began to walk through the school’s corridors toward the exit, ‘I’m a really disgusting eater. Being part bird means I need more calories, so I’ll devour anything I get my hands on.’

‘Part bird?’ I inquired, my interest piqued. ‘What do you mean?’

His face lost a bit of its colour.

‘You know The School?’ he mumbled. ‘The pricks that took Maltor?’

‘Yeah?’

‘They took me, too. Experimented on us. Tortured us. It’s how we both have our wings. They fused bird DNA into ours. I’m only ninety-eight per cent human.’

I wasn’t too sure what to do with this information. Of course, I knew something had to be up to cause Albert to have massive wings on his back, but I hadn’t really foreseen that he could’ve had avian DNA within him.

‘And it gives you stuff other than the wings?’ I tried. I found myself genuinely interested, but his tone suggested that this was a sensitive topic, so I had to be careful. I didn’t want to hurt him.

‘Loads of stuff; the wings are only part of it,’ came his light-hearted response, and some of the colour had returned to his face. ‘Enhanced eyesight, better hearing, needing more calories, increased strength, a built-in sense of direction, and more stuff.’

‘That’s so cool,’ I breathed, with true meaning behind my words. ‘But isn’t it difficult, needing more calories?’

‘A bit, but I don’t let it bother me. I can survive on the same amount as a regular teenager, but I need more to thrive.’

‘How did you get like that, then?’

He stared at me, such a look of horror coating his face that I wondered what I could have possibly said wrong.

‘Cecilia, I was tortured.’

‘No! No! No! I didn’t mean that!’ I hollered, feeling my eyes widen. ‘I meant so…you know…big. And not like that! Like…you know.’

He smirked. ‘Everyone said it once I got back from training. You remember Josh’s reaction, right? Everyone thinks I’m some sort of bodybuilder now.’

‘You sure damn look like one.’

Albert suddenly became very interested in the floor. Initially, I worried that I had once again accidentally said something to upset him, but it quickly became clear that that was not the case. His face was bright red and his lips were squirming from the effort of not smiling.

The two of us continued our chat until we took our seats at the café. It was quite a nice place, in fairness to everybody that had told me it would be.

The two of us found a table for two by the window, and that is where the two of us sat after placing our orders at the counter. Madam Sweetheart herself seemed like a really nice lady, even if Albert stubbornly refused to tell me her real name. His stubbornness was strangely admirable and caused the warm feeling in my chest to grow.

‘It won’t be long before we get our stuff, so don’t worry,’ Albert said warmly after we sat down opposite one another. ‘Madam Sweetheart is great like that.’

‘But you’re sure you can’t tell me her real name?’ I taunted playfully, taking great pleasure in watching the smirk grow on his face in response.

‘Absolutely certain,’ he replied, furrowing his brow jokingly. ‘It would disrupt what’s left of this world’s balance.’

‘‘What’s left of’?’

‘Forgive me for sounding too philosophical,’ Albert began, evidently embarrassed, ‘but, yes, I believe this world to be unjust. I find it wrong that the innocent always seem to fall before the guilty.’

‘Okay, but when did you become Socrates?’

He scoffed. ‘Sorry. I get carried away easily.’

Madam Sweetheart chose that moment to arrive with our teas and cake slices. We had both gotten a small slice of chocolate cake.

‘Thank you, ma’am,’ Albert smiled, pulling out a few more coins from his pocket. ‘And here’s the tip. I feel bad for just leaving it on the table every time.’

Madam Sweetheart smiled at him in a way that one would expect a grandmother to. She gently took the coins from his hand, squinting at him as she did so.

‘You and your tipping,’ she scolded gently. ‘You’ll run out of money if you keep giving it to me.’

‘It is a worthy cause,’ Albert retorted, smiling at her. ‘There is no greater café owner I know.’

‘Cheeky, cheeky boy,’ she teased as she began to slowly walk away. ‘Speaking to me like that when your pretty girlfriend is right there.’

It took not half a second for Albert’s face to become bright red, and it was safe to assume that mine did the same. When he spoke, he fumbled over his words and they came out a lot quieter and slower than when he had been speaking to Madam Sweetheart.

‘Uh…what were we- uh, what were we talking about…again?’

In truth, I could barely remember, and that was shameful in itself. Something had changed in me since meeting Albert. And yet another thing was off now that I was being mistaken as his girlfriend.

‘Well, uh, she’s not wrong,’ he tried, taking a sip of his tea.

‘I beg your pardon?’ I breathed, not daring to let the thought of what he could mean cross my mind. ‘She was incredibly wrong! We’re not dating!’

‘Not that part.’

Now, I want to make it clear that it was quite unusual for me to have a ‘blank’ mind, especially on that day. All day, my mind had been troubled with multiple different thoughts at once. The mere suggestion that it was possible for my mind to go blank was absurd. That was, until he said that.

I strangely felt as though my brain had just…shut off. Just…off. Like a computer. Like a light switch that had been flicked by an impassive human as they went to bed.

Was he…calling me ‘pretty’? Is that what was happening? It was either that or he was saying she was correct in calling him a ‘cheeky, cheeky boy’. And, even though I hadn’t even known Albert ten days, I would like to believe that I knew him well enough to know which of the two options he meant.

I cleared my throat, trying to regain myself. ‘O-Oh.’

Taking a sip of my own tea, I stared at him. His eyes were different once again. They changed so quickly. Now they appeared to be full of a sort of joyful confidence, with maybe even a sprinkle of pride.

Then, something changed yet again. Something dark appeared in his eyes. A few seconds before, I had heard the door of the café open behind me, but I had taken no notice due to the fact that I was immensely flustered. But now, Albert stared darkly at the spot behind my head, right where the people that had just entered would now be standing.

Sensing that I had been about to turn around, Albert whispered gently, ‘No. Don’t. Pay them no attention.’

I nodded slightly, instead taking a small piece of my cake with my fork and guiding it to my mouth. It was good cake, in all fairness to Madam Sweetheart. It was much better than the ones at school.

Albert, too, took a piece of his cake, but it didn’t matter. Our joint attempt to pay the newcomers no attention was pointless. Because they took an interest in us.

‘Oh?’ I heard a voice say from behind me. ‘Has the PM fallen in love?’

Albert’s eyes shot from his cake up to the person standing behind me. But still, he did not say a word. I suddenly found it incredibly challenging to resist the urge to turn around.

‘Don’t ignore me,’ the voice said again, much colder than before. ‘Just because I caught you fraternising with the enemy-’

‘Oi, bastard,’ Albert interjected, his voice low. ‘Watch what you say, you ugly prick.’

I heard footsteps gradually get closer, and Albert rose from his seat quickly. Things were escalating.

It was now that I found the desire to turn around too powerful for me to resist. I swivelled in my seat and found that the people standing there were people from school. I only recognised one of them as he was in our Form. Daniel Turner.

His hair, a slightly darker blond than Albert’s, was, unfortunately for him, styled in a bowl-cut fashion, which, when paired with his small brown eyes, made him look like a rat.

This rat-like appearance was further pushed by his head shape. It looked as though it had been forced under a hydraulic press and kept there for quite a while. His chin was unnaturally close to his forehead.

Daniel was about the same height as Albert, which made the inevitable standoff even tenser.

The boy on his left was slightly shorter, with curly black hair and dark skin. His greedy brown eyes watched the scene before them whilst conveying what can only be described as manic glee.

The boy on Daniel’s right was slightly taller than he and Albert and had ginger hair shaved into a buzz cut. These people needed better barbers. His beady blue eyes stared at Albert with a sort of cocky excitement.

‘Watch the language, freak,’ Daniel spat, and even I found the insult rather rude. Albert’s eyes and nostrils flared. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be trying to look like a gentleman?’

Albert took a step toward him, a silent rage building in his eyes. Looking at them made me realise how rather stunning they were. Under the atmospheric café lights, his blue eyes sparkled marvellously, and this, combined with the anger now present within them, made him look a mixture of charming and intimidating.

‘Think twice about who you call a freak,’ Albert growled. ‘That hairstyle of yours separates you from humans.’

‘You’d know about being separated from humans, wouldn’t you?’ Daniel fired back immediately. ‘With the ugly black wings and the way you act.’

Albert stared at him with such a level of anger that one would have been safe to assume that Daniel was Maltor himself in disguise.

‘And here you are, going on dates with the enemy, while trying to convince everyone you’re normal…’ Daniel taunted, and with each word Albert’s anger evidently grew, as did my embarrassment. ‘What would your people think?’

I was causing problems for Albert. The fact that Daniel had referred to the outing as a ‘date’ didn’t even bother me when compared to that. I was going to get Albert in trouble.

‘You need to learn to shut your fat mouth, I’ll tell you that,’ Albert shot back, his voice still low. ‘I-’

‘I’m trying to help you, Albert,’ Daniel said, in a tone that clearly conveyed that he was not trying to help. ‘I don’t want you getting hurt when this whore betrays y-’

It looked like his hands teleported. There wasn’t even a flash. One moment his hands were by his sides, and the next they were tightly grasped onto Daniel’s collar.

I prayed that Albert didn’t actually hit Daniel. It wasn’t that I didn’t want Daniel to get hit, but I didn’t want Albert to get into a fight over me.

‘Listen here, you ratty son of a bitch,’ Albert snarled, his face inches from Daniel’s. ‘If you don’t learn to shut that fat gob of yours soon, I’ll give you the ass whooping of your life.’

‘A-Aren’t you so scary?’ Daniel taunted. His attempt to sound cocky was betrayed by his evident stutter. ‘Your words don’t mean sh-’

‘Stop talking,’ Albert growled, shoving Daniel a few steps back. ‘Spare us all from having to smell your breath. My pegasus smells better.’

Daniel hastily straightened his tie as his face went a slight shade of pink. I thanked the Gods that Albert wasn’t resorting to violence.

‘What are you gonna do if-’

‘Clear the fuck out,’ Albert’s hands appeared to now be covered in small bolts of lightning that were running over their surfaces. ‘And don’t try this shit again.’

‘So long as you don’t try and hook up with a clear enemy,’ Daniel retorted immediately. ‘I could destroy your reputation, Albert. Falling for someone like her. I could spit on you.’

‘Go ahead. Try and ruin my reputation, you little bitch. See how many people care.’

Daniel smirked. ‘Come on, you two. Let’s get outta here.’

‘Finally some sense coming out of that fat gob,’ Albert breathed as Daniel’s group left the café.

He sat back down as though nothing had happened, but somewhere deep in his eyes, I could see pure resentment.

‘Sorry about that,’ he mumbled. ‘Gods, I hate that bastard.’

I nodded. ‘I can see why. Anyway, the cake is nice.’

He perked up instantly. ‘Told you. Madam Sweetheart’s café is simply different. Nothing else can compare.’

The two of us became so drowned in conversation that neither of us seemed to remember that Daniel had even entered the building. We laughed, we ate, we drank. We had fun. Together.

It was about five o’clock when the two of us thought it would be best to head back to The Tower. For reference, school let out at ten past three.

We exited the café after Albert had given Madam Sweetheart yet another tip, our cheeks rosy either from the cold or the feeling that I hoped he shared with me.

Albert chuckled, as he had done many times that afternoon. A sound that made my chest swell and the corners of my mouth lift uncontrollably.

‘Well, I had fun today,’ he said happily, smiling down at me. ‘You?’

I tried desperately not to let out a girlish giggle. I had made the mistake of doing so countless times already.

‘The most fun I’ve had in ages.’

I meant it, too. I really enjoyed those two hours with him. It made me question something that I previously thought unfeasible.

The two of us smiled at each other as the gentlest of winds wafted through our hair. I stared into his electric blue eyes, something that I felt like I could do for days, maybe even weeks, on end.

Neither of us noticed that a car had stopped, waiting for us to cross.

Albert awkwardly presented his hand as thanks before the two of us hastily shuffled over to The Tower.

‘Wonder how long he was sitting there waiting,’ Albert joked as we walked into reception.

‘Don’t really care. We were having fun.’

His smile grew.

‘Thanks for today, really,’ he continued as he pressed the button for the tenth floor. I hadn’t even realised that we were in the lift. ‘It means a lot.’

I wasn’t sure if he was trying to convey a secret message, so I responded as though he wasn’t.

‘Any time. And, hey, I got to see what was so great about the café.’

Albert let out a light chuckle. ‘Yeah, you did. Hope it didn’t disappoint.’

‘Oh, it didn’t,’ my response was light-hearted, and I wondered whether my cheeks were still as red as his.

The lift doors opened to the tenth floor, and the two of us walked to the end of the corridor, pausing outside of my room.

I didn’t want us to part ways.

‘We’re seeing each other tomorrow but this feels strange,’ Albert commented, and I had never connected to a sentence so much in my entire life.

‘Yeah, it does,’ I mumbled, shuffling my feet. ‘But goodnight, Albert Santrrer, today was great.’

He smiled. ‘See you tomorrow, Cecilia Confussée. And I look forward to going to the café with you again sometime.’

‘I’m free whenever.’

He grinned at me.

When the two of us finally moved past the goodbye, it felt wrong of me to close my door on him. It felt rude; improper.

We were just friends. That was it. To suggest that I held any sort of feelings beyond ones of friendship toward Albert would be absurd. He was just a friend of mine.

So, what was the feeling that was so persistently sitting on my chest as I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling, a few moments later? It couldn’t have been excitement, and it certainly wasn’t exactly friendship.

Was Natasha right with her taunts? Was it possible that I did have some other feelings for Albert? What in the names of the Gods was it?

I sank deep into my bed, my mind overrun with a storm of thoughts. Maybe Natasha was right. Just maybe.