Anna didn't think Edwin would be bold enough to show up at her house. Her mother talked excitedly about how the boy had come over and claimed to be her new boyfriend. That the two had been so busy with school that they couldn't spend much time together.

Her sweet mother, of course, invited the bastard to stay for dinner and had asked him a million questions. Edwin had spun quite a tale and Anna was lost for words. He really had weaseled his way into her private property just to talk.

She walked in with her mother to see the boy sitting at the kitchen table. He was talking to her sister, who was patting her nephew's back and laughing along with the teenager. She couldn't deny that her sister was glowing with the woman, having gained six pounds and thick hair post pregnancy.

Nora had given birth prematurely and had been an overprotective mother since. Edwin must have given her a good impression of the worry wart to let him near her baby. The pair noticed her entrance and her baby nephew coughed up spit all over Nora's shoulder.

“Oh, Goddess!” Her sister cried out as she got up from the table and carried her nephew into another room. The baby just babbled and cried. He was adorable. Just looking at him pulled at Anna's heart strings and she tried not to get emotional.

Edwin looked up and paled once he saw that it wasn't just her mother. The older woman hurried over to give the boy a hug. She immediately crushed him in her titanium hold as she talked. “Oh! I can already imagine you as my son-in-law!”

“Mom. That won't be happening anytime soon.” The dark-haired teenager said loudly. She wanted to throttle Edwin for such an outrageous lie. The thought of dating him made her sick, and she resisted the urge to drag him out of the house.

Her mother turned around, the woman's cheeks puffing out as she pouted. “Why not? You're becoming an adult soon and I'd like you to settle down.” She looked back at an embarrassed Edwin and broke the hug to pat his cheek. “A delicate boy who cares about his education and the country seems like a perfect match for you!”

She groaned and watched her mother practically glow at the thought of her being married. She couldn't say that the boy had insulted her, and she found his sudden change of heart repulsive. “I think that Edwin would like to work in his field before we get married.” Her mother was sad as she took in her harsh words, frowning.

“Marriage isn't something we've thought of.” Edwin looked like he wanted to puke at the thought of being tied to her. The feeling was mutual, and he surely knew it.

Anna crossed her arms over her chest and stared directly into his eyes. “Can you come up to my bedroom so we can talk?” Her tone was playful but by the way he squirmed, her disgust was obvious. “We should discuss our future plans in private.”

“Future plans?” Her mother asked, her eyes full of hope that was quickly dashed.

The dark-haired girl sighed and shook her head. “I'm not interested in getting married till I've completed any mandatory field work.” Out of the corner of her she would see the bastard sweating bullets. “Edwin, follow me. Let's go talk this out.”

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The atmosphere was tense as the teenager followed her down a nearby hallway into her bedroom. It was a fairly cozy place with a hammock on one side of the room and her large circular shaped bed on the other.

She wasn't comfortable with him being in her safe space like this, but she had no choice. He already had her mother fantasizing about potential grandchildren and didn't wasn't even ready. Anna wanted to give him a talking to, but the walls were thin. Her sister would hear them if they argued.

Besides, there were more pressing matters at hand besides getting a screaming match. She had to tell him about everything that was going on and the stress that awaited them. If the two strayed further away from each other as they already were, their careers would go into the trash.

She wasn't interested in letting a petty squabble get in the way of her new life. Even if the guy she was forced to get along with got under her skin and drove her crazy. Anna sat down in her hammock, putting a pillow in her lap, and beckoned him to speak where he stood.

Edwin stared blankly as if he were remembering a speech and began to talk. “I wanted to say sorry for how things went the last time we met up. I wasn't planning on coming there to attack you. I just had heard some bad things about you and took them as a fact.” The boy looked genuinely sorry with his hands shaking at his sides.

“Are you only saying this because your priests got on you for your attitude?” Anna could believe he was sorry, but not that he came to that realization on his own.

Edwin looked extremely guilty, unable to meet her eyes. “They did talk to me and I thought of how hurt you looked that night.” He took in a deep, harrowing breath. “The look on your face reminded me of someone I know. The person who made them look that way was a piece of shit. And I don't want to be like that asshole.”

Anna nodded, understanding him in a way. In her past life, she had witnessed actions done to those she loved that angered her a great deal. She tried her hardest in this life to never stoop down to their level. The teenager couldn't fault him for believing those rumors about her, as a lot of people were spreading them around.

The comments about her being a charity case hurt the most, and she wanted a heartfelt apology from the boy about it. Edwin's words had stung, and she had started to see him like a huge elitist piece of garbage. Like the parts of society that saw the lower class as cannon fodder for their pesky schemes and corruption.

“Do you really think I'm a charity case?” She hugged her pillow to her chest and tried not to feel bad. Voicing the insult just made her enraged. “Be honest with me.”

He looked conflicted. “I don't know, I'm sorry.” Her face scrunched and disgust as he stumbled over his explanation. “I've met scholarship students who stick out like a sore thumb at the academy. I used to get angry about them taking someone else's spot, someone who gave a damn. But you get better grades than me, so you obviously care about the school and the cause we are fighting for.”

“I still couldn't get rid of the thoughts in my head. That you have to have cheated somehow to beat kids who studied their whole lives for this. I thought that even after the talk with the priests. But then I heard about your friend and I saw your family. Your mother asked me if it was scary at the academy and I felt like a jerk. Because your family was so worried and I thought you were getting handed favors.” Edwin sounded so conflicted as he tried to plead his case. And she believed his confusion.

From what she had experienced twice now; being a teenager was a weird and turbulent time. It had to be ten times worse for Edwin, as this was his only chance to live a happy and fulfilling life. He wasn't someone who had been reborn like she was, so he hadn't been prepared for the academy’s pressures, environment, and teachings.

She fully bought into the fact that Edwin couldn't wrestle with his prejudice idea of scholarship students being lazy not meeting his new reality. She had no time to lie around and slack for her schoolwork. And she doubted that most of the male scholarships he met could do the same.

They could be taken out of classes and the academy if they didn't keep up their performance level. As the scholarship was merit based, which she honestly didn't think the boy was aware of. He just was believing and repeating the bullshit he had been taught by bitter healing students.

Failures who hadn't amounted to what their parents thought they would. It was going to be painful to deal with his comments and side-eyeing. But she could live with it if it meant that they succeeded as a healer and Koinonos pair.

She shrugged her shoulders and held out a hand. “It's water under the bridge if you keep those thoughts to yourself and treat me as an equal. We're going to be working together for some time, so we need to be cordial.” She nudged him to shake.

He didn't have time to shake as her mother banged on her bedroom door. They looked at each other and Anna quickly retracted her hand back into her lap. She cleared her throat and watched as Edwin controlled his emotions. “Come in!”

Her mother didn't waste a second coming in with a suspicious look on her face. Clearly, the woman thought they were up to no good, which irritated Anna to no end. She wasn't even that type of person. Seeing that the two were a respectful distance apart with different emotions on their faces, she smiled and looked relieved.

“Dinner is ready!”