8/9/2019 Day 1 - Break

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CONTENTS

DAY 1 : BREAK

Contents ............................................................................................................................1

1.1 ..................................................................................................................................2

1.2 ..................................................................................................................................4

1.3 ..................................................................................................................................5

1.4 ..................................................................................................................................7

1.5 ..................................................................................................................................8

1.6 ................................................................................................................................10

1.7 ................................................................................................................................12

1.8 ................................................................................................................................15

1.9 ................................................................................................................................16

1.10 ..............................................................................................................................18

1.11 ..............................................................................................................................20

1.12 ..............................................................................................................................22

By:

The Righteous Notes

http://inkofours.blogspot.com/

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DAY 1: BREAK

1.1

"He is mute." Jake told me while he lifted a big carton box filled with stacks of his freshlyprinted lecture notes. Management Accounting Tutorial and Summary. Typical.

Jake was pursuing the most abnormally boring major ever existed in history of education;Accountancy and Finance. Why? Because it wasAccountancy and Finance. Any furtherquestions?

The fact that one of the lecturers was second to none in terms of killer glare, and mood

swings, and cruelty in making sure every student understand the dreadful subject(Management Accounting; Duh); made it look like it took more courage than intelligenceto pursue this major.

Jake was a winner in both being brave and intelligent. Screw him big time.

This was why he was here right now, at Palmwood neighbourhood Avenue 2, 78B;California, Berkeley. He got admitted into UC Berkeley. I myself had been enrolling in UCBerkeley for almost a year now (Economics and Mathematics, thank you very much), andhis place was just a few blocks down the road from mine. While excitedly informing methrough phone that he was moving to Berkeley right the hell then from San Fransisco, hehad asked for my help in getting him settled.

I seriously could not say 'no' to Jake. Childhood friend and all that. I was not a chick buthey, dudes appreciated friendship just fine.

http://photobucket.com/

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That explained why I was here too, at 9am in the morning. Sipping my tounge-burninglyhot coffee in a take-out container while leaning against the mover truck; parked in frontof his newly-leased house; which carried all Jake's craps, squinting my eyes to half-blockthe blinding sun light as well as to catch the figure of a man picking up a newspaper atthe opposite house of Jake's.

He had been standing at the front yard of his house earlier, looking at us intently. Like,really intently. So I had asked Jake, "who's that dude?"

And Jake had told me he was mute.

And I had raised my left eyebrow in disgust. Because that was just not the first thing youwould normally say about your neighbour and it was kinda irrelevant with the question Iasked.

Jake did not care, though. He went straight into the house - furnished in white paint withlovely painted-in-black framed wooden round windows and straps of ribbon with balloonsall over the roof and the chimney; joke, no chimney and no ribbon, but the windows were

round - carrying his pathetic lecture notes in.

"Seriously, man. Who's that guy?" I prompted Jake again when he came out.

Jake shot me an angry glare and stared at his loads of craps inside the truck. "I have abunch of stuffs in there, man. Will appreciate it a lot if you move them in and not pay toomuch interest in that weird guy."

I finished my coffee, threw the cup into the nearest bin and stretched. "How did youknow he is weird? In what sense?" I asked again. I picked up the lightest box labelled'winter jacket'. Gross. Which grown-up man actually separated; or knowing Jake,classified; the winter jacketfrom jacketor even clothes?

Jake exhaled loudly, "I dunno, man. I came here yesterday morning to view the houseand stuffs. He was already there staring at me like I'd just killed his pet or something.Then I asked the agent about him cos' you know. Creepy, and I need to make sure I don'treside near a serial killer or what, and the agent told me that he wasn't a serial killer."Jake made the thank-god expression before he continued, "kinda weird, anti-social kindof guy, yes. He doesn't talk, mute, and maybe that's why."

I nodded. "You think the agent would actually tell you the truth? What if he knew that youwould not get the house if that guy was really a serial killer and the guy was really aserial killer but the agent had to tell you the guys was not a serial killer you so you'd stillget the house?" I told Jake. The sentence is long I know. Jake hated it and I liked to annoyhim.

Jake rolled his eyes and half-shouted, "Then so be it, Derek! Like I could change my mindnow! School starts in a few days time and if he likes to kill people, well, let's just hopehe'll kill you first before me! Now move my winter jackets into my room upstairs or I'mgonna tell Kelly you think her voice is annoying!"

"Noted." I said. Funny. When it came to Kelly, I just could not do it. Not because I love mygirlfriend too much to hurt her, but because I had had enough her too much to not tellthat to her myself.

So I carried the gross 'winter jacket' box into the house, after I paid a glance to the weirdguy again. He was holding the newspaper with his both hands like it was somethingsacred. His sight still rested on us.

I then noticed he had the bluest eyes ever. Why I said that, well, seriously dude, if you

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could tell one's eyes were blue from this distance then most likely they were the bluestof all blue.

I climbed the stairs and turned to my left, opened the door and set the box down. Theroom was in a mess. Not that I cared. Jake loved to clean and make up rooms. Bless him.

I walked towards the windows, and take a look of the view from there. I could see theweird guy's house. I shifted my sight to the front yard where he stood earlier; near themail box.

He was not there.

1.2I leaned forward to get a closer look at the house. Suddenly, out of the corner of myeyes, I saw something moved behind a huge oak tree beside his house. My eyes quicklyfollowed, but there was nothing. Strange.

I shifted my attention back to his house. Compared to the rest of the neighbourhood, his

house was simply too quiet. There's no sign of life; everything was so calm and still. If hedidn't come out earlier to give us his deadly stare, I would have thought that the housewas deserted.

The walls, like Jake's, were painted in white, but it was already washed out. Other thanthat, the house was in good condition. No cracked windows or anything. The front yardwas totally barren, except for the huge oak tree. Perhaps he loathed gardening. Mowingthe weeds was certainly an easier task.

"Seen any hotties? Or still obsessed with my lovely neighbour?"

I turned around and saw Jake struggling to squeeze a mattress through the room door.

"What, you broughtyour mattress all the way from home? Don't they already provideone here?" I said incredulously. His was an 8-inches full-size futon mattress, forgoodness' sake!

"Yeah, I know that," said Jake, panting slightly. "But it's nowhere like mine. Now, if youplease, unload my stuffs from the truck while I get this shipwreck sorted out."

* * *

Okay, childhood friends or not, I had to say this: Jake's one eccentric guy. I stillremembered vividly the first day we met. It was on a Wednesday morning, at theplayground near my house. I was halfway building a sandcastle when I heard a groan. Ilooked around and spotted a boy holding a plastic container, sitting alone next to the

sandbox. He was frowning. My folks had always told me to avoid strangers - strangepeople (oddballs, that's the term they always used) included - but as always, curiositygot the better of me; and so I approached him.

"Yo, dude. What's up?"

The boy glanced up and replied with an irritated tone, "Somebody messed with mymarbles."

I peeked into his container; it had several compartments which were filled with shiny,colourful marbles. They seemed perfectly fine to me. Baffled, I asked him what's wrongwith them.

"Can't you see it?" he said, "The marbles are at the wrong places. They're all messedup!" He emptied the thing, picked up a colourful marble and dropped it in a compartment

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with label - which I'd just noticed - COLOURFUL. What the hell? I never knew that anyonewould actually sort out marbles.

For the next twelve minutes, I just stared at him with mixed feelings - disbelief,astonishment, you name it - as he carefully put each marble into its designatedcompartment. Afterwards...

OUCH.

I was walking down the stairs, deeply in thought, when I tripped. I fell forward andinstinctively, I raised both hands to cover my face. Yes, face. Let's just accept it: allhuman beings were vain and those people claiming oh-appearance-is-not-important-at-allwere clearly lying. Of course, physical appearances were crucial only to a certain degree.After the first few impressions, it's the so-called internal beauty that matter. But of noimportance at all? Uh-uh.

Anyway, back to reality. Landing head-first onto the floor from at least six steps of thestairs was not a good experience. I touched my face, nothing broke; both hands stillmoving and I could still feel my legs. I would probably get a couple of bruises by tonight,

that's all. Lucky me. I got up carefully and searched around for the source of my mishap.There it was! A pen, laying just a few feet from me. It must have dropped from one ofJake's craps.

I picked the damned thing up and realised it was an expensive-looking vintage fountainpen.

1.3I observed the pen, wishing hard that it truly belonged to granny Jake, so I had a reasonor two to beat the HOLY out of that particularly retarded retard. It was a beautiful penand to let it rest on the floor like this was not the right treatment the beauty deserved.

Besides, it almost KILLED me.

"What's that?" Apparently Jake was one annoying bastard when it came to announcinghis presence. He startled me quite badly I almost SHRIEKED.

He was standing at the kitchen door; at the end of the hallway on my right; holding a cupof steaming something - must be hot soup, because coffee was not good for Jake's skin,and his world sucked like that - putting on a punch-deserving smirk on his face.

"Well, it's a pen, Mister. Any idea whose is this?" I asked him. I crackled my knucklesmenacingly.

He frowned and approached me. Handing him the pen I tried to stand up and I just

realised how drowsy I felt. Another coffee session needed. So I walked pass him to thekitchen, wanting to boil water and get myself a full mug of black coffee before I realisedthe kitchen was in a devastating condition. Boxes everywhere; half opened or fullysealed, the furniture was dusty, the windows looked kind of greasy -YIKES - and I couldnot spot any coffee pots. Screw this.

"I'm not staying to help you clean up, jerk. And I'm out of here to get us early lunch. NoChinese takeaway. I'm thinking of McDonald." I called up from the kitchen.

"That artery-clogging food will kill you one day. You want an easy way out? Try bangingyour head to the wall." Jake was suddenly in the kitchen, handed me back the pen whilegiving me a patronising look. As if he was challenging me; whether or not I would goahead with the McDonald plan.

What? My boy was all grown-up apparently. Nobody challenged Mr. Derek the Awesome.

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No one.

"Yeah, I am thinking of Double Mac with chicken nugget and some pies. Chocolatemilkshake with extra whipped cream. Coffee with doughnuts for desserts. You wantanything?" I asked him nonchalantly.

"No, man. Whatever, get me subway. Extra veggie with tuna. And this pen isn't mine.Maybe the agent's or previous owner's or whoever."

This sucked. I could not throttle Jake.

I pocketed the pen and went towards the exit. My car was parked just beside the truck.

The oak tree and the weird guy's quite house caught my attention again. It was brightand sunny today. But those stuffs just radiated eerie atmosphere around. I shook myhead lightly to clear my mind.

I unlocked the car door and got in.

Starting the engine, I tried to check the weird guy's house out again.

My heart was weak, children. For real. My sisters' favourite childhood games includedjumping out of some rooms, screaming at me at the top of their lungs while I was havinga peaceful lunch with my red toy cars. My heart was definitely broken a little thanks tothat.

So when I looked up and the weird guy was out there blocking my view - a few stepsaway from my car - staring at me rather THREATENINGLY, I let out a small scream, myright knee jolted unceremoniously and it hit the steering wheel. DAMN. I cursed undermy breath.

I had had enough. This INHUMANE dude had seriously started to get on my nerves withhis staring and glaring and those damn blue eyes were just damn CREEPY from this closedistance. He should have never OPENED his eyes at all! I rubbed my nose in disbelief athow NONSENSICAL the last thought was.

It was show time nonetheless.

I got out from the car, slammed the door shut, turned around and faced the weird dude.Folding my hands against my chest. I stood proudly and gave him my most intimidatinglook.

He did not flinch a bit. His eyes big and all wondering, questioning.

This mad man seriously had nerves issues. Normal people would have teared a bit or alot depending on the mental age, and backed off when I looked at them like this.

"Ok there, super dude. How can I help you?" He tilted his head and continued staring atme. His face read 'YOU LOOK STUPID'.

The hell.

This alien was GAGGINGLY annoying, everyone. And I just realised he did not talk.Jackpot. But sure he could hear, couldn't he?

I cleared my throat and tried my best to ignore his YOU-SMELL-BAD look ; he scrunchedhis nose in a mild disgust but his eyes still rested on me.

Yeah, so I smelled of sweat and shit. Of course I was freaking sweating. It was summer

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and I spent my entire morning unloading Jake's junks.

This whole thing was just creepy.

"Can you hear me?" I tried. He nodded and gave me an insulted look.

"Ok cool, what do you want then, stranger?" I asked again. He frowned.

I rubbed my neck in frustration. What the heck was I doing anyway? Why talked to him tostart with? He did not talk for heaven's sake.

The weird guy produced a tiny note book from his jeans back pockets, flipping the pageto find an empty space. He then dug into his jeans front pockets. He found nothingapparently, so he dug his breast pocket, and it was empty too it seemed. He started tolook disappointed, almost SAD.

JESUS.

I took out the pen I found earlier from Jake's dream house and handed it to him. The

weird dude was still searching for the non-existent writing tools. So I called out, "Here, apen. Think you can use this?"

He paused his searching operation and eyed me questioningly. 'how DID YOU KNOW IWAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO WRITE?'

I let out a choky breath. "Well, you have a book there and it looks like you're gonna writesomething. So I figured you need... a pen?"

He nodded cautiously at my explanation. He accepted the pen and while giving me a fewlast glances, he started writing on his crumpled note book.

1.4You students?

His handwriting was small and compressed, left-slanted. True-blue anti social. I had toactually squint, even though I was just barely a feet away from him.

"Why should I tell you, dude?" I said, staring back at him. Funny. Who did he think hewas, a police?

He flashed me an annoyed look and started to scribble again.

At 6"1', I was always one of the tallest students in class. In high school, I was kinda

scrawny; but hey, it wasn't my fault that I looked that way. It's in the genes. Myclassmates called me 'pole-y', some thought I was anorexic. Determined to prove themwrong, I ate four meals a day (which explained my huge appetite), joined sports club andhit the gym regularly. Slowly, I bulked up - hell, I looked even better than Brad Pitt - butthe nickname still stayed.

Now, standing beside this guy made me feel gigantic. He was around half a foot shorterthan me, slightly built; but somehow he looked menacing.

As if he knew I was observing him, he looked up and gave me the what-are-you-looking-at-dude glare. God, I really hated those creepy blue eyes.

He eyed me suspiciously for a while and finished his writing. He shoved his notebook

under my nose for me to read:

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You guys better move out immediately. Escaped convicts not welcomed here.

Excuse me? Escaped convicts? He must have had damaged his brain somewhere.

"Hey, hey. Mind your words. What escaped convicts, psycho?" I said, stepping forward as

if daring him to fight.

He didn't move a muscle; just stood there staring at me before going back to hisscribbling. Dude, he's got the nerve.

TV. Two teens selling dopes. Escaped before the trial. You guys looked mighty like them.

This guy seriously had a problem. Problems. He was not only a mute weirdo, but alsomad and paranoid. Poor Jake.

"Alright, dude. I have had enough of your bullshit and wild imagination. We are noescapees, okay? Get it through your thick skull."

I walked back into the house, food momentarily forgotten. I had to tell Jake. As I openedthe main door, I saw the weirdo's reflection on the glass. He was still standing there, onthe pavement.

Really, I had no idea what's wrong with this guy. I turned around to face him and guesswhat he did? He made this famous I-will-be-watching-you movement. Unbelievable.

I rolled my eyes and walked into the house. Jake was about to climb the stairs, carryingtwo cases labelled 'DVD: Sci-fi' and 'DVD: Anime'.

Sometimes I wondered why I was constantly surrounded by weird people.

Jake gave me a puzzled look. "Why are you back so fast?" he said, noticing my emptyhands, "Where is my Subway?"

Lifting the 'DVD: Mystery' case, I said with a sigh, "It's a long story, dude."

1.5Jake tilted his head in confusion. Long story how, buddy? McDonald is just a ten-minutedrive from here.

No, not you too! Dont freaking tilt your head like that psycho dude out there! Ishouted. Jake winced in almost physical pain at that.

Easy there, tiger. Did something happen? He pointed to two rather clean armchairs andI suddenly felt grateful to sit down. I set the DVD: Mystery case down and exhaled.

Damn right something did happen. That funny guy of yours, I answered. Jake wincedagain. He looked utterly displeased at funny guy of yours part.

I dont own any guys, Derek. Jake stated. I flashed him a fierce glare. But of course heis yours. He lives in the freaking house the opposite of yours that seems to be too outworldly quite to be real with freaking spooky-looking oak tree that looked too old to notbe haunted. I was babbling. I knew I was not making any sense at all. But I was way tooangry to worry that I had shown my moronic side to this holy accountant named Jake.

Right, so he is my neighbour. Jake concluded. I gave him a Duh! look. What did he do

to you? he asked calmly.

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Dear mom, this nerdy nerd of tax specialist suddenly wished to play chick-flick momentwith me, the manly man Derek The Awesome. Where had the days of you got a problem,dude? Have beer gone to? I massaged my temple slowly.

Well, Jake, listen carefully. Nobody ever does anything to me. If any, its the other wayaround. People dont mess up with me, buddy. You forget that? So, no. He did not, and is

not capable to do anything to me. He approached me out of the blue, and chanted somenonsense that pissed me off. I reasoned.

Jake nodded solemnly. OK, so he did talk?

I blinked.

What? I asked.

Well, you said, he chanted some nonsense. Jake supplied helpfully.

Oh, yeah. He did, on the tiny little girly notebook that is. And suddenly I got angrier.That pathetically short under-built dude could not even make a noise and yet he thought

he could scare me off by producing some sign language?

No freaking way, honey. No. Freaking. Way. I needed to set things right, on who was todrop threats and bombs. Not him definitely. It would be me. Me.

You mean he wrote some stuffs on a book? What did he write? Jakes words penetratedmy wicked thoughts. I blinked again to clear the clouds that seemed to have hungpermanently distracting my sight almost literally. I needed coffee badly.

Well, he thought we were some teens who sold dopes and escaped before the trial. Itold Jake, enjoying how the words took effect on him. His face crumpled into an ugly knotof crooked nose and all. Full of disbelief and a bit of amusement.

He said, I mean, he wrote that?? Jakes voice had turned high pitched. My boy wasgetting pissed too.

Yeah, imagine that! I mean, teens? We are not teens. We are grown-up gentlemen. Well,at least I am. Jake gave me a warning look. But you are on your way! I quicklycontinued. Jake nodded frantically. He was having something close to panic-attack.

And dopes. Dopes. Dopes. Jake mumbled. Poor Jake. He was so clean and pure andstraight to even imagine dopes existed in the same realm of universe as he.

Yeah, and dopes. Thats a hell of sick joke if you ask me. Dude, I say we buy large coldicy milkshake from McDonald, force it down his throat till he gets brain-freeze. I punched

the air to show how serious I was. Jake looked at me in a mixture of awe and half-excitement-half-fear. I knew that look. Jake was hesitating.

Come on, Jake. Were in this together. We need to knock some sense into his brainlesshead. Besides, we need to let some steam off before school starts! I tried to reason withJake. Jake needed some entertainment in his life, dammit! I am obligated to give him thatbeing his best friend.

Jake swallowed nervously, before abruptly, he looked up from his slumped figure. I saywe can do better than that. Jake said, suddenly smiled ear-to-ear at me. That look. Ohdear lord. It seemed like Jake had come up with a better idea than mine. Problem was,when it came to Jake, the idea was never good, let alone better than mine.

I say, we go to his place, Jake continued fast. He talked fast when he was excited. Likenow. Excited Jake was never a good news.

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And we talk to him. You know, we shall.. chat with him! Well rap! There, he droppedthe bomb. I rubbed my chin in astonishment to prevent my jaw from dropping. I washorribly, drop dead speechless.

Why was I surrounded by weird souls, again?

* * *

Before I knew it, I was already in front of the alien-guys house, with Jake. He had a bagfull of Subways stuffs (all the subs with rabbits food as the filling; you know, vegetables,vegetables and vegetables; and salad with a few dollops of olive oil, no, no mayo orthousand-island sauce or butter or cheese or screw Jake) on his other hand while anotherwas held high to knock on the door.I closed my eyes while reciting some prayers in my head. Why did I deserve this?

The knock-knock-knock noise sounded almost too loud in this quiet neighbourhood. Notto mention this particular house (numbered 79C) seemed to create its own mysteriouslysickening out-of-the-world you-are-gonna-die-here-in-torture dimension.

Mom, truly. I was scared to death suddenly. The air was chilly and it was summer so itshould be warm and it was dark here and it was summer so it should be bright and sunnyand the tension is thick I can cut it neatly with a knife like cutting a block of butter andshut it off, Derek. You were the man and always would be. Now, be manly! I scoldedmyself bravely.

Bring it on you weirdo. I thought.

The door cracked open then. I drew a sharp breath, anticipating the weirdo to appear atthe door. He did of course. He was in bath robe and large reading glasses. He held alarge glass bowl of greens inside. Oh, some cherrie tomatoes to top it all too. I remindedmyself to breathe before I looked at the gleeful, hopeful Jake. Jake looked at the bowl likeit was something precious and rare.

Oh my god! You like crispy and dry salad with cherrie tomatoes too? Jake practicallybeamed with freaking binding light of awe at the dude. Jake extended his right handshakily. He was too astounded it seemed.

Hi! I am Jake! I bring salad too! From Subway!

I wanted to die.

1.6

The weirdo seemed stunned. For a moment, he froze and stared blankly at us; ignoringJakes extended hand.

Jake spoke again, his voice buzzed with excitement, This is my pal, Derek. I just movedinto the house opposite and we brought salad for you! He raised his left hand keepinghis right extended to show the weirdo the Subway bag.

I didnt know that you like salad too and that we actually share similar taste! I thought Iwas the only person alive that actually appreciates the greatness of vegetables! Derekhere is total carnivore; he just can never understand how important food balance is.

Okay, I changed my mind I no longer wanted to die. Not before I strangled geeky Jake.

The weirdo snapped back to reality and peered suspiciously from beneath his oversizedglasses at Jake and the Subway bag. Then he looked at me. I could imagine his brain, if

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he had any, playing scenes from our conversation earlier. This time Id show him whosthe boss here. I stared back at his goddamn blue eyes, giving him the fiercest look Icould muster.

Jake was still talking, completely unaware of the death-glare exchange competitionbetween us. shoulda ban the use of mayo unless they are reduced-fat. But no

worries, I had specifically requested the Subway guy to keep my salad as healthy aspossible. Everything fat-free.

The weirdo glared at me for few more seconds and shifted his focus to Jake. He frownedand without warning, he slammed the door on us.

What? How rude.

I, Derek, would never accept this kind of treatment. Not even from my parents. Or Kelly.Let alone from this blue-eyed dwarf.

The fearful feeling disappeared instantly.

I stepped forward and bang the door loudly. Hey, you! Who do you think you are, huh?How dare you slam the door on me? You want to fight? Come on out! Dont hide inside,you tiny coward!

No response.

Damn. I hurled several more verbal abuses and kicked the door.

Jake just stood there and he said in dismay, He hates us.

I looked at him disbelievingly. Why should you even bother if that weirdo hates us? Jeez,dude, we were supposed to be here to knock some sense into his brain, you stillremember? And you didnt even care about his life-and-death this morning!

He shrugged. I dunno, man.

I kicked the door for the last time. Lets go. This dumbass is driving my blood pressureup. Staying here any longer will only shorten my life span.

* * *

When we were about to enter Jakes house, somebody called out to us.

Hey guys! Wait!

I turned around and saw an attractive woman standing at the pavement. She wasdressed in gray tank top and short.

I glanced at Jake. His eyes were gleaming too. Both of us quickly approached her.

Hi! She said, smiling. Oh, what a sweet smile she had. I felt the anger melted away andreplaced with pleasant warmth. You guys moving in here?

Before I managed to answer her, Jake replied enthusiastically, Yeah! I mean, only me.He is just here to move my stuffs. I will be the one staying here.

I shot him a threatening look.Just here to move my stuffs?

Years of friendship gone at the sight of pretty babe.

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Er- I mean, he is helping me. My buddy, he added quickly, Im Jake. How should I callyou, Miss?

Katherine, but you can call me Kate. What about your buddy here? she said, looking atme with the same charming smile.

Im Derek.

I had wanted to say more, but Jake interjected, Do you stay nearby? Duh. Of courseshe was.

She nodded. Yep. You see that house with rose bushes? Im staying just next to it. Bythe way, do you wanna come over for lunch? Take it as a welcome party, she saidcheerfully. My granny is cooking. No one can top her culinary skills here. Oh, hes here!

Whos here? I asked.

My fianc. She said, again with the same smile. But this time, I felt my heart sinkinglike a stone. No more warmth.

Kate glanced at her watch. Look guys, I need to go soon. Do come over for the lunch,okay?

So not in the mood for it. My hope our hopes were dashed. Freaking fianc.

My granny will be so delighted to have you over. She loves eating in big group, but onlythree of us sisters still staying at home.

Sisters.

Younger sisters? I asked casually.

Yep. One is in her senior year, another just got into college. Shoot. Im running late. Seeyou around, guys. Ciao! she said, half-running towards her fiancs car.

I turned to Jake. He was grinning himself silly. Almost drooling.

I chucked the Subway bag into the garbage bin.

Lunch time.

1.7The first thing we agreed to do was to have a good long bath. Jake enthusiastically

handed me a towel that smelled of strawberry (DUDE! Man up!) and told me I couldshower first while he prepared a nice outfit for himself.

I felt dejected when I realised I had no change of clothes before Jake told me I could wearhis. So I showered with Jake's exfoliating bath gel with lavender aroma. I held my tonguefrom swearing out loud so Jake could hear me when I spotted a shampoo bottle that read'soften and condition your hair like no other'.

I knew Jake was a girl inside, but to shamelessly bathe with these shits was too much.Ok, I will spare you guys from the detail, because this, this was just sad. I finished mybath and quickly jogged a bit to neutralise the overwhelmingly sweet smell that radiatedfrom my own body.

When we were all set and ready, I took out my car keys and jiggled them in front of Jakewho grinned stupid.

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"Ready there big boy?" I whispered. Smirking like a big fat idiot.

"Oh yeah." He nervously laughed and rubbed his palms in glee.

"And this time we don't even need to drive cos the babes live nearby." I stressed the last

word and set my keys down. Jake almost drooled again.

I was about to open the main door when 'Beep beep beep'.

We blinked.

"That's your phone, Derek" Jake pointed out. He looked at me impatiently, wanted me tojust call it off so we could hurry the hell up to lunch at the goddess' paradise. I rolled myeyes and checked my phone. The monitor spelled out 'Kelly =)'.

I groaned. Man, I forgot I was still friggin' attached!

I answered and attempted to sound calm, "Yeah, babe?"

"Derek! Where the heck are you?" I looked at Jake apologetically. Jake seemed to get itand he went to reach the door knob. Looking at me, he moved his lips that seemed tosay "well, buddy, I'll leave first."

I grasped Jake's shirt's collar to prevent him from doing that, of course. Jake the littlebuddy should never date the girl that Derek was about to set his eyes on before Derekgot to know the girl and decided that Jake could date her after all.

That's the rule and Jake knew it. Jake rolled his eyes in surrender and folded his armsagainst his chest, his face read, now what, jerk? I gestured with my finger,just a second,dude.

"Listen, Kelly. I am in the middle of something. Can I call you back later?" I told Kelly.

"What? in the middle of what exactly, Derek? We are supposed to lunch together today! Itold you days ago I wanted to visit this new chinese restaurant! You said ok. You said ok,didn't you?? How could you do this to me. You are supposed to be here already.blah..please...blah blah been so long blah blah.." Kelly went on and on with herdisturbingly hurting whiny voice. I looked at Jake helplessly.

Jake's face was an ugly purplish red rotten fruit or something. Oh oh, Jake was fumed.Shit.

He snatched my phone, then. With a dangerously rough voice he said, "Hello there, Kelly

dear." I flinched a little at that.

"Derek is here with me, Jake. We are about to expand our social circle of friends, bygoing to lunch with these three chicks that are supposedly smarter than you 'cos they goto college, and arguably hotter than you cos we agreed the eldest one is literally burningwith heat. We have faith in their voice being heavenly pleasant too. Now Derek needs totell you somethin, hold on.."

Jake handed me back the phone and whispered, "Tell her, her voice is outrageouslyannoying."

I collected my jaw that had dropped to the floor earlier thanks to Jake's speech, and toldKelly in - hopefully- sure tone, "Kelly, your voice is outrageously annoying. I want to

break up with you."

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Jake gave me a thumb-up and pat my shoulder in sympathy when the phone speakerexploded in Kelly's screech. I called it off. "Come on, dude. We're late!" Jake said. Well, Iwas freaking proud of Jake today.

* * *

Jake and I were crossing the front yard of Jake's house when we saw the blue-eye alien-guy standing at the end of the yard. Glasses and bath-robe off, just normal boring jeansand T-shirt. As usual, he stared at us like nobody's business.

We groaned in unison.

Before I knew it Jake was already stomping towards him and blurted "What the heck doyou want?!"

This time the weird dude looked a bit stunned and - well, that's new - fearful. He quicklytook out his notebook and a pen, and wrote. I approached Jake and was just in time toread the writing; "Lunch?"

Jake and I shot him a disgusted stare in unison, again. He seemed to get how offendedwe were and nervously wrote again, "Pardon me just now. I just had my shower when uguys came. Not proper to welcome guests like that. Wanted to open the door again. Youcursed."

Jake looked at me and I him.

"Oh well, that explained the bathrobe. But I didn't curse. Derek did." Jake said. I huffed inannoyance.

"Yeah, thanks buddy. I'm outspoken like that. Now, can we go already?" The weird dudeproduced another set of text again that read; "I've checked the pics of the convicts. Youguys aren't them. Sorry again. Lunch on my treat?"

Jake gave the little dude a soft smile. Soft smile dammit!

"No, you can't, you... you...." I really hated calling him dude, alien, or psycho again. Ineeded new vocab that hurtmore.

"Name's Gabriel. Gabe." He wrote. I rose my eyebrows.

"Yeah ok, notnice meeting youjerk-ish Gabe. If you please, my friend here and I have abusiness we need to attend to. You can treat your alien troops to lunch instead." Igripped both of Jake's shoulders and guided him away from the salad guy and closer tothe hot babes' paradise. Ignoring the hurtful look Gabe threw at me and disapproving

glare Jake gave me.

"I feel bad, Derek. He did apologise." Jake started. He genuinely looked touched. "Hesincerely felt bad and wanted to make it up." He continued. I acted deaf.

"I feel bad, Derek!" He insisted. Damn accountant!

"Yeah, me too. I feel bad a little, but good a lot! Focus, young man. We have three chicksto conquer here!" I snapped.

Suddenly Jake turned around and kind of shouted at Gabe who suspiciously had notmoved an inch, "Why not you come with us to lunch with our new friends?"

I thought the sky had finally collapsed on me.

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I smacked Jake's head with all my might. I honest-to-god need to slaughtersomeone.

From afar, Gabe's eyes lit up to true blue and he jogged towards us, shoving thenotebook with "sure!" written on the page.

1.8Man, I wished the ground would swallow him up at that instant. Or more realistically, lethim fell into some drain hole.

I grinned evilly at the thought of that. Of course, as usual, evil wishes were nevergranted.

He stood behind Jake and I sadly, alive and kicking and smiled widely at us.

Jake smiled back and said brightly, Okay! Lets go!

I rolled my eyes and strode across the road; I was not going to walk side by side with thatguy. Gabriel. The archangel. I snorted. Hes more like the fallen one, Lucifer.

Jake burst out in laughter. I turned around and saw him in laughing uncontrollably whilereading Gabes note.

Holy crap.

Totally uninterested in whats written on there, I walked even faster towards Kateshouse.

I stopped behind the rose bushes. Take a deep breath, Derek. Remember the firstimpression list?

Feeling nervous, I popped a couple of Fishermans Friend into my mouth. Fresh breath,done.

I took out my iPhone and looked at my reflection. Hairs cool. Awesome, in fact. I checkedmy teeth. All clean; nothing stuck in between. Good.

Next, outfit. I stared down and realised I was wearing Jakes shirt. Duh. If only I knewsome hot chicks lived nearby. I got loads more impressive shirts than him.

I glanced at my reflection on a car parked next to me. Hmm. His shirt was plain, in navyblue colour; but still, I looked good. Well actually I looked fabulous in everything.

As I mentally checked off the list one by one, I felt confidence slowly surging from within.

I stepped forward with chin up in the air; sticking out my chest at the same time.

Everybody, roll out the red carpet and make way for Derek the Awesome.

At that precise moment, something caught my attention. I turned my back towards thecar and stared at my reflection in horror. There was a slogan on the shirt:

Da smartest n3rd EVER.Bet yall MORONS dunno the value of pi, eh?

I almost fainted on the spot.

Oh my God. OH MY GOD. What the hell was wrong with Jake, buying this idiotic shirt? And

why, oh why, didnt I check the shirt properly??

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Okay, do not panic. You still have enough time to rush back and pick another morenormal-looking shirt.

I would run at the speed thats gonna make all Olympian look like fools.

I turned around, preparing to sprint; but luck wasnt on my side. Must be karma from all

those evil thoughts. The dwarf be damned.

Kate was leaning over the fence and said in a cheery tone, Hey Derek! Glad you canmake it! Come on in. Wheres Jake?

I reluctantly turned back to face her. Oh, hi Kate, I said. I felt my face blushing a bit.Did she see the slogan? This whole things so crappy. I pointed my thumb over myshoulder. Jakes right behind.

Speak of the devil.

He appeared from behind the car with his new-found vegan buddy.

Kate gave us a puzzled look and whispered, Whys that dude doing here? She darted aglance at Gabe.

Er- We just kinda invited- No, I mean- We bumped into him just now. I muttered.

Oh. I thought he never talked to anyone. She added thoughtfully, Not literally talking,but you know, making any contact with other people. Id never seen him with friends.Hes such a loner.

Both of them stopped beside me. Hi Kate! Do you mind if I bring another friend along?Jake said, grinning widely.

Now hes a friend.

Yeah, sure. The more the merrier. She replied with a tiny smile. I could see that shewas hesitating to let the weirdo enter her house.

Gabe walked towards her and showed his notebook: Im Gabriel. Gabe. Nice meetingyou.

Hi there, Gabe. Kate said, with a friendly tone. She shook his hand.

Jeez. I took my hat off him. His blue eyes seemed to be multi-faceted; one momenttheyre cold and psychotic, now they transformed into doe-eyes, softening everybodysheart.

Those bloody eyes reminded me of Puss-in-boots, except that his was blue. The catsblack.So sickening.

Kate gestured towards the main gate and said, Well, what are we standing here for?Lunchs waiting inside. Come on in!

1.9Yeah, freaking yeah. Lunch was ready and my stomach had been making a lot of noisesince forever.

"Ok, since you asked so nicely." I replied while giving my best flirtatious smile to Kate.

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Screw the fianc.

So I went into the house, followed closely by the annoying duo; Jake and Gabe. Jesus,even their names almost rhymed. The hell.

Kate's house was definitely homey. The living room was spacious with mostly pieces of

wooden furniture (cabinet with glass door, trunk-shaped book shelf, twin light brownnight-stand at each end corner), some classy ink paintings and plain cream-colored sofaset. I could smell the roasted beef and fried onion already. The kitchen must be in there, Ithought to myself while exploring the hallway that led to .. yeap, kitchen and diningroom.

SWEET lord.

My eyes quickly settled on a thoroughly pleasant looking young woman sitting on thedining chair, reading some sorts of novel.

Soft curly red hair that dropped shapely to the shoulders, I could tell the soft pale skinbeneath the soft-cotton sleeveless top she was wearing, with a hint of smooth thighs that

were half-covered by woolly shorts. I could only see her face from the side view, but thatwas good enough.

Long eye-lashes that framed her soft-coloured eyes and strong jaw line.

DUDE.

Screw the stupid prints on this shirt. I didn't give anything a damn right now but thischick over here.

"YEAH, TOTALLY DREAMY." I read the letters written on a notebook that was shoved intomy sight.

You know what? Maybe not. Maybe I still gave a DAMN to this irksome Gabe. I woulddefinitely got some ice blocks enough to build an igloo and force them down his throat tillhe got full body-freezy. Or I could just bury him into the toilet bowl, much faster andmore efficient. Or...

"That one is totally my type, dude." Jake was on my side suddenly, gripping my leftshoulder real tight it would leave some bruises.

I ignored Gabe for a second and hissed at Jake, "Whaddya mean, your type?"

Jake blinked innocently, "Well, I mean exactly THAT. Sussie right there, is totally myTYPE." He grinned like Joker from Batman.

At that moment Kate clasped my right shoulder and announced happily, "Sussie, meetour new neighbours!" Kate winked at us. I guessed that was a cue for us to start showingour talents and muscles and abs.

Or not.

Sussie looked up and smiled shyly before she "hey!"-ed us.

"Hi, I am Jake. Nice meeting you." Jake practically hopped like a rabbit to grasp Sussie'shand and shook it long and earnest. Sussie beamed at him with all her heart. I melted alittle.

I was wiping my palm onto my jeans; didn't want it to be sweaty; before I extended it.But Gabe slapped away my hand and thrust his ridiculous notebook to Sussie. I was THIS

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close to bite his head off when Sussie accepted the notebook, and wrote something inreturn. She flashed a toothy smile this time.

Gabe totally shivered from excitement and adoration. Jake approached him, read thewriting, and together with Gabe, they almost CRIED right there and then.

FREAKS.

I left them alone and set my eyes solely on Sussie. She looked at me with her bigcaramel eyes.

Dear DEARIES, Yeah, I totally deserved this.

"Hi, I'm Derek." I gave my YOU-ARE-SO-FREAKING-BEAUTIFUL-DO-YOU-KNOW-THAT?expression to Sussie that regularly weakened girls' knees, while preparing to support herwhen hers gave her up too.

But she did not buckle an inch. She just smiled politely, "Hi, I'm Sussie."

Everything was just wrong suddenly. She did not find me charming it seemed. Thissucked full force, dammit.

"Sussie is just like your buddy Jake. She is starting her college days in a week time at UCBerkeley. Taking accountancy too." Kate hugged her sister from the side, slightly shiningwith light of pride. If such thing even existed.

I silently whined. Another accountant? This was not even funny. I looked at Jake andconcluded from his look, that he was totally certain Sussie was his other half. Gabe wasstill hugging the girly notebook lovingly.

Great. AWESOME.

"Yo folks!" A thunderous voice came from the kitchen. A stern yet friendly looking grannywith her hair tied into a bun, walked out.

"The lunch is ready, so girls if you may, help me set the tables and boys, get your buttssettled on the chairs." She commanded us while putting on back her glasses that Irealised she had been holding earlier.

"The beef is roasted to the medium doneness so those with weak stomach shall get thehell out of my kitchen right now. I don't compensate your sickness that may follow afteryou choose to consume my half-cooked cow."

I love this granny already. Then I realised, where was the other SISTER?

1.10I pulled out a dining chair and sat down. Jake and Gabe had already unceremoniously satdown across me, leaving the seat in between vacant for their Sussie.

Kate came out from the kitchen, holding a huge bowl of salad. Appetizer, she said asshe put the bowl on the table, I hope you guys like salad!

Of course we do. I love salad. They are yummy and good for our health too! I repliedwith a bright smile.

Jake and Gabe threw me a disbelieving look. I stared back at them defiantly. What?

People do change.

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Good! I was worried as none of my friends liked salad. They said its for rabbits, nothuman. She said with a shrug. Oh by the way, Sussie, wheres Eddie?

Sussie was arranging the forks and knives. Probably out in the backyard. She said sheneeded some inspiration.

Hmm. Curious.

Eddie! Lunchs ready! Kate yelled through the door, at the back of the dining room.

Eddie? Your younger sis? I asked.

Kate nodded. Yeah. Her name is actually Meredith, but its kinda too long for us, so wecalled her Eddie instead.

Meredith. Derek and Meredith.Just like Greys Anatomy. God, this must be a sign thatwere made for each other.

Eddie! Kate shouted again. Wheres that lass? Always disappearing, she muttered to

herself with a hint of impatience.

Why dont I go get her while you busying with your stuffs? I offered.

Oh, why not. Thanks a lot, Derek. She said gratefully and entered the kitchen.

I got up and headed towards the back door; suddenly I saw a shadow flitted by, to myright. It was Gabe. Dude, he sure moved fast for a shortie like him.

Making sure that none of the girls were in the dining room, I chased after him. I managedto grab his collar just before he reached for the doorknob.

I pulled him back and shoved him against the wall. Dream on, dude. That girls mine.Jake gets Sussie. And you, Gaby, nothing. Zilch. Now, back off before I break your nose. Iwhispered into his ear.

Gabe looked at me scornfully and walked back to the table.

Good. No more hindrance.

I turned the doorknob and yanked the door open.

The first thing that I saw was flowers. Bushes of flowers unknown to me. I stepped outand saw a beautifully decorated mini garden; filled with vibrant colourful plants. To myright was another huge oak tree, surrounded by pots of orchid. It reminded me of Gabes

spooky tree - minus the orchids, of course. Seemed like oak tree was a popular choice inthis neighbourhood.

I swivelled to the left; there was only an outdoor swing set.

Wheres Eddie?

I searched around for her. How does she look like? Images of Kate and Sussie appearedin my brain. Hmm. Yummy. And oh, shes out here to get some inspiration! I wonderedwhat inspiration was she looking for.

I was lost in my thoughts, trying to picture Eddie, when I heard a female voice. Hey!

I jolted and glanced around. Nobody elses here. Surely ghosts didnt appear in broaddaylight?

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Relax, dude. Maybe it was Kate. Or Sussie.

I walked back towards the door. The voice yelled again, Hey!

The voice didnt come from inside the house.

I felt my legs turning into jelly. Be brave, dude. Theres no ghost in this world. At leastnot during daytime.

I took a deep breath and turned around. Everything stayed the same.

It must had been a hallucination. Yes. Its hot out here and I was dehydrated. Thatexplained why.The rational part of me reasoned.

I shook my head in amusement. I was just scaring the hell out of myself.

To reassure myself, I strolled around the backyard again and stood near the pots oforchid. Nice orchids, I thought. All of a sudden, something dropped from the sky, right in

front of me.

Oh my God! Holy crap! Jesus Christ! Somebody come save me! I shrieked.

Told you guys I got weak heart.

I slipped on the recently watered grass and fell backwards. Without even looking at thething, I scrambled frantically for the door.

Hey dude, chill! The voice said again. Are you okay?

A pair of legs wrapped in long jeans appeared in front of me. I stopped halfway throughmy escape attempt. The legs looked solid; werent ghosts supposed to be transparent?

I glanced up timidly and saw a lovely face staring back at me. An angel?

She reached out a hand to me and said, Are you okay? Need my help?

As she said that, her eyebrow rose slightly. She seemed both amused and concerned. Iblinked a few times to get myself out of daydreaming.

I took a closer look at her and noticed that she bore a resemblance to the granny. Samedeep-set emerald green eyes and strong jaw line. She must be Eddie.

Damn it. First impression totally ruined. What a day.

1.11I accepted the hand Eddie offered me, and she pulled me up effortlessly. Well, someonewas sporty here. I stole a glance at Eddie and my heart melted to a puddle of goo. Forreal? Kate was classically beautiful and nice, Sussie was seriously superb-looking and sovery kind, but Eddie?

She was DOWNRIGHT angelic. Perfect in every possible way. Her ash-brown hair wastrimmed short in a bob style. Freckled nose and cute rosy hue on the cheek emphasizedher well-structured cheekbone. Emerald green eyes that shone with intelligence andcuriosity, full and slightly pouty pink lips, and never mind. I was getting to obsessed withher. Not good.

I noticed she was just slightly shorter than me. And she was wearing boots with a layer or

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two of thick heels. So, she might as well be quite tiny. CUTE.

"So, mister." She started. I jumped a bit. She chuckled and her dimples showed.DIMPLES. My soft spot. This girl hit them all.

"Pi's value is 3.14159265, isn't it? Correct me if I'm wrong. My brain gets rusty already.

Not really into science you see. I'm more of an art student, but I still deal with Maths onregular basis" She winked.

And yes, the world had come to an end.

Why was I even hesitating to change my shirt earlier? I should have just STRIPPED it offand be topless. My abs were work of art.

I cleared my throat and answered, "Oh, you are totally right. Dun worry 'bout this stupidshirt. It isn't mine to start with."

She did a subtle cute head-tilting.

"It's not stupid, it's a unique shirt if you ask me." She said. My jaw dropped and suddenlywished this shirt was mine so I could brag about HAVING A UNIQUE SHIRT ANDWEARING IT.

"Hmm, yeah well. I borrowed it from a friend 'cos for some reasons, I didn't have a cleantop." I finished lamely. I mentally sobbed. I had never been lame before.

"Well, good for you. Is the lunch ready?" She smiled. Lunch? Even a Star Cruise could bereadied for her if she kept the smile on like that.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here, to inform you that is." I answered breathlessly. Then she didsomething that bewildered me completely. She held my right hand and started walkingus into the house.

There was GOD after all. And cupid.

"So, Mister..." She looked at me searchingly.

"It's Derek." I told her.

"Well nice meeting you, Derek. You can call me Eddie." She told me in return. "So you goto college?"

"Yeah. A sophomore now. UC Berkeley. You?" This was getting great!

"Berkeley High School final year." Eddie answered. I whistled softly.

"You must be brainy. That high school is pretty popular." I said. Eddie shrugged, "Maybe,but it was the small learning communities that keeps me going." She continued.

"What's that?" I wanted to know.

"Well, basically those with same interest group themselves into one community andexchange knowledge and stuffs, organise an event and study together." She explainedearnestly.

"There are six of such communities, and I belong to Art and Humanities." Then sheflashed the brightest smile I had ever seen in my life. She looked damn proud of this

community thing it seemed.

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"Wow. That sounds, sounds really great. So, you're out here looking for some artsy-fartsyinspiration?" I asked. Eddie chuckled prettily, then nodded.

"That reminds me, did you jump down from the tree just now? or from the sky?" I askedagain. Because seriously, I was almost sure something (before I knew it was Eddie) felldown from the sky. Just checking. No harm. Besides, she might think this was a silly cutie

joke I cracked.

Eddie gave me an almost teasing smile at that. She winked again and whispered at myleft ear.

"I fell down from the sky." She pointed upwards and when I looked at her, she was nolonger smiling.

1.12In fact, she looked dead serious.

I felt a lump rising in my throat. She must had been joking. How could a human possibly

fell off the sky?

Except you cant prove that she is human, said the voice in my head.

Oh, shut up.

Hey guys. Kate poked her head through the door. What took you so long? Were dyingsoon from starvation. She glanced downwards at my soiled pants and frowned slightly.What happened?

Ah. I had a minor accident. All her fault, you see. I said, jerking my head towards Eddie.She gave me a terrible fright; apparently by falling from the sky. I let out an almost

hysterical laugh.

But neither of the sisters laughed.

Kate glared at Eddie and said coldly, So, you told him that you come from the sky?

Eddie gave an indifferent shrug.

The three of us stood frozen in silence for what seemed to be eternity. They were glaringat each other. I was half-expecting Third World War to happen when Kate suddenly said,Whatever. Lets go in. Foods getting cold.

She turned on her heels and strode into the house.

I darted a glance at Eddie. She looked annoyed; her eyes fixated on Kates back.

Just whats going on here?

* * *

The lunch went well. No, it was fantastic. Id never enjoyed a meal so much in my life.Mrs Cole the hippie granny was a superb cook. Her roasted beef was so juicy andtender; the mushroom soup thick and creamy, it tasted so flavoursome.. Even the saladwas surprisingly delicious! Jake and Gabe were practically fightingover it.

The Coles were very friendly and entertaining. The dining room was constantly filled with

laughter. Of course, it wasnt all jokes and silly stories. They told us a bit of their familyhistory too. Turned out the three girls were half-sisters. Mrs Coles only daughter, Tanya,

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divorced when Kate and Sussie were still toddlers. Her then-husband disappeared rightafter signing the papers; he didnt even bother about the kids. Tanya later fell intodepression and had to quit her job. To help her start afresh, Mrs Cole encouraged Tanyato pursue her childhood dream: work as a volunteer in a wildlife preservationorganisation. She promised to take good care of the girls while shes gone.

And so Tanya left. She travelled all over the globe and called home frequently. She nevertalked much about her work; most of the time she would ask about home, is everythingfine, are the girls behaving themselves, blah-blah-blah. After two years or so, they lostcontact. Tanya stopped calling. It was until few months later, when another volunteerappeared at Mrs Coles doorstep with little Eddie, that she found out her daughter wentmissing somewhere in Africa. The Jeep she was on slid off a rocky ledge, straight into thedeep valley. Her body, along with two other volunteers, were never found. They werepresumed dead.

Mrs Cole took in Eddie, the last gift from her precious daughter. Nobody knew who herfather was; as far as Mrs Cole knew, Tanya wasnt in relationship with anyone in theorganisation.

Thats it. Mrs Cole then brought up the sisters single-handedly. What a tear-jerkingbackground they had. Tears were welling in my eyes when she finished her story.

I stole a glance at Eddie, who was sitting next to me. She was gazing blankly at hercrme brle. Is she wondering who her father was?

A wave of protectiveness rose up in me. Its alright, honey. Ill make up for all the lovethat you deserved.Mypoor, lovely Eddie. I will be

A loud clang interrupted my thoughts. I looked across the table and realised Jake haddropped his spoon.

Sorry, he said with a muffled voice. His eyes were slightly red and puffy. He flushedand quickly dived under the table to retrieve the spoon.

Dude. How sentimental.

Gabe was scribbling furiously on his notebook. A moment later, he showed it to Sussiewho beamed instantly. Aw.. Thats so sweet of you, Gabe, she said adoringly.

Yikes. Not at her, but at Gabe and his stinky notebook.

I looked at Eddie again. God, I couldnt take my mind off her. Im officially obsessed.

She was talking with Kate in low voice. They seemed to be arguing. I leaned a bit towards

her, trying to catch what they said.

not supposed to tell anyone! Kate hissed crossly.

Not supposed to tell what?

Eddie hissed back, her voice slightly higher. So? Nobody would believe it anyway.

Are they talking about what happened in the backyard?

I was hoping to hear more, when Mrs Cole entered the dining room. Earlier, she had wentto the living room to pick up a call.

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Okay, folks. Sorry to interrupt, but the lunch has to end now. She glanced at clock.Ive got approximately one and a half hour to clean up the mess and doll myself up.Dancing class at 4 pm sharp. Lots of hunk there, albeit all wrinkly, she said with a wink.

Everybody burst into laughter. The three Miss Cole giggled in same angelic voice.

Oh my, Im so in love with this whole family.

After everything was cleared, we thanked Mrs Cole and prepared to leave.

Well, boys. Youre welcome. Same time tomorrow? she said brightly.

Yes, of course! chimed Jake and I in unison. Gabe thrust his notebook towards her, withthe words of course written in huge capital letters.

Wonderful. Girls! Come and see the guests out. She hugged each of us and added, Ineed to rush now. See you around, young lads.

Mrs Cole headed to the stairs with extreme agility. Man. Shes ber cool.

Eddie came out first. She flashed a cute smile at me and said, Sorry to frighten you justnow, dude. Didnt mean too.

Nah, its okay. That was nothing. I wanted to add Did you really fall from the sky?, butI decided against it. Perhaps some other day.

Kate is in the front yard with Dean, she said, gesturing at the window.

I turned my head towards the window. Next to me, Jake and Gabe were gawking at thegiggling Sussie with their mouths slightly opened, looking thoroughly retarded.

I rolled my eyes. Eddie was looking at them too and she chuckled.

My angel.

I felt my jaw drooping and quickly clamped it shut before Eddie noticed.

The girls walked us out to the front door. We bade them goodbye (sadly, no hugs) andwaved at Kate and Dean, her fianc.

Strangely, I didnt even care for him anymore. My mind was totally filled with Eddie,Eddie, Eddie.

I cant wait for tomorrow to come!