"Hey girl, you are messed up today"!! Vivvi said with concern. I let out a frustrated groan as she touched my forehead to see if I had a temperature.

"I have my homeostasis process, you don't have to worry"!! I barked out in a cold sharp voice.

It was a little mean and as the words slipped out of my mouth, I regretted them. Vivvi was only concerned about my health, I shouldn't act like a pathetic freak or a psychopath!! I took a deep breath and started to apologize when she interrupted saying,

"No, I know how you are dealing huge traumas right now, I mean after your dad just disappeared, I shouldn't be that tough on you"!!

She let out a weak smile and I struggled hard to smile back. We walked towards the cafeteria, our class was going to start at 8:30 and we had at least 30 mins left. Most of my classmates were seated so it was a little more crowded.

"Hey, Anna wait..."!! As I heard this familiar voice saying my name with so much passion, I rolled my eyes and turn back to see Ben, as expected.

He ran towards us, his footsteps echoing loudly in the noisy room, his heavy glasses escaped and landed on the floor. He hurried and applied his emergency brakes before smashing his glasses, settled his glasses in its place, brushed his hair through his hands, and walked slowly towards me. His huge curved smile greeted me as he stopped in front of us. By now, my jaw was aching as I tried to smile back. By seeing me smile, he got a bit more encouragement and move more closer towards me. In the head, I was spitting curses that why did I give him a chance to be that frank with me??

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Hi, Ben"!! I greeted him in return. His eyes twinkled as I said his name. His lips spread out in a smooth curl which was now so stuck on his face that there was no chance of it going down!!

"Hi Anna, can I sit with you"!! He asked me with utter innocence.

I let out an imaginary sigh in my mind and nodded in return. In my agreement, his smile turned into a mischievous grin. We three settled in the cafe table and then Ben started to tell how his summer vacation holidays were spent in surfing and how his coach praised him. Whenever he told his praises, his eyes always first met mine as like he was sending me some hidden messages.

Bored, I looked around other tables, trying to eavesdrop some girl's conversation. I turn my ears in hypersensitive mode and turn my head sideways to pick up any interesting conversation. Finally, my ears found an interesting discussion. Ruby was saying to other girls that one more mysterious painted canvas was found by a local, same exact like the previous ones. The canvas was utterly beautiful and was presenting a great scenery. I moved my ears closer to listen to what she was saying but Vivvi interrupted my precious moment.

"Eavesdropping isn't your style, girl"!!

Surprised, I looked towards her and saw her disapproval. I settled my self again. Ben and Vivvi both were staring at me. To divert the attention of the table from me,

I asked Ben, "So you were telling about your coach"!! Vivvi let out a laugh and when I stared at her, she closed her mouth, her lips twitching, clearly showing she was trying to control her laugh. Ben cleared his throat and replied,

"Actually I was talking about my grandma farmhouse"!! OH SHIT!! In my mind, I slammed my hand on my face. As Ben replied, Vivvi snorted and then started to giggle. I brushed my hair through my palm and said,

"Yah yah....., um I guess it's my class, meet you soon"!! I waved goodbye and hurried to escape. As I came out of the cafeteria, I let out a sigh of relief, that Ben boy was as stubborn as a gum. Well after all I succeeded but I had already known that success was not for long.