Stay in low key for the moment. As hard as it seems, Delano actually desired to live a peaceful and quiet life here, and Austin was making himself look like a fly, buzzing around wherever Delano went. 

'Where are you off to?' Fletcher asked when school ended for the day. It had been two days since Delano last sat with his friends, and he definitely missed them. He was putting some books back into his locker, and looked at the photo he had taped up on the inner wall of his locker. When did simple moments like this become so hard to grasp? He thought, as his eyesight fell onto himself, his mother, and... his father. It was his twelfth birthday, the day his father gave him the... then he lowered his gaze to stare at the Pegasus dangling a few inches below his chin. 

'Hey,' Fletcher knocked Delano on his ribs until he flinched at the sudden jolt of pain.

'Oh sorry, I'm going to the bakery,' Delano said, closing his locker with a soft thump, not wanting to bring back the memories, both good and bad. 

'Mind if I tag along?' 

'Yeah, no, sure. It'll be nice to have company.' 

As they walked out of the school grounds, they were blinded by a sudden flash of reflected light from the shimmering Lantana Purple body of a McLaren P1 sports car, which stopped in its tracks right in front of them. The window rolled down with Austin on the driver seat, Max the co-driver, and two other guys on the back seat. 

'Cadieux, hop on,' Austin said, taking off his shades with his right hand. 

'Where to?' Delano asked. 

Austin looked at Fletcher, turned back to say something to his boys, and laughed as if he had just heard the joke of the day. 

'Away from this loser, duh.' He tossed a quick glance at Fletcher, who was wearing a not-so-trendy T-shirt. 

Delano's breathing became heavy, his heart was pounding like drums in his thoracic cavity. He raised his hand to give Austin a little punch, but was held tightly by Fletcher, whose eyes told Delano to let it go. 

'Hey man,' Austin said again, tempting to push Delano over his limits, 'You got the looks, you got the guts, now let's make you one of us.'

Delano snickered. 

'Austin, how do I say this nicely, but isn't it rather dangerous to use your entire vocabulary in a single sentence?' 

'A sharp tongue is no indication of a keen mind, Delano.'

'Your inferiority complex is fully justified, Santora.'

Austin's fake kind eyes finally revealed their true colours from under the mask. 

'You-' He started. 

'Now,' Delano cut him short. 'I actually like your approach, now let's see your departure, shall we?'

There was a little laughter from the back of the car. And before Austin could think of a greater comeback, Fletcher pulled Delano away from the road.

'That. Was. Remarkable. Delano.' 

He smiled. 

***

'Good afternoon, I'm looking for Miss Bellerose,' Delano spoke to the old woman at the counter. His mother had decided to use her maiden name to apply for the job. It reminded her of the beautiful memories she had when she was still single, and those which she has yet to cherish. 

'Boyfriend?' The woman asked, looking up from the magazine on her hands.

'I'm sorry?' Delano coughed a little.

'Are you Miss Bellerose's boyfriend? Or fiance? Oh, but you look too young to be married,' She started trailing off. 

'Son. I'm her son, madame,' Delano laughed it off, feeling a little awkward to be mistaken as his mother's boyfriend. Fortunately, Fletcher was busy drooling over the soft gingerbread tiles with rum butter glaze and blueberry lemon icebox cake. 

'Oh, dear me, I apologize. Your mother is in the kitchen, boy,' she said, and shooed him off before returning to her articles. Delano tossed a quick 'thank you' and led his friend to the back of the bakery. 

Corinne stood by the counter in the shoe box-sized kitchen, preparing whatever-it-is that was beautifully decorated in various colours from dark to light. In her hands held a round pink plate, which she was placing the cookies on. 

'Mother, what's that?' Delano asked, peeping over Corinne's shoulder. 

'I call it Ombre Rainbow Cookies. What do you think?' She turned to smile at him, revealing a just-finished plate of hot cookies.

'They're so colourful,' Fletcher said, coming into the kitchen, his mouth still munching on the soft gingerbread tiles he had been given by the women at the counter for free. 

'I used matcha for the green ones, raspberries for pink, blueberries for purple and coffee for brown,' Corinne said satisfactorily. 

The three of them talked for a little while before Delano decided to head home. 

'Del, your mom is gorgeous,' Fletcher exclaimed, the little bells ringing in the background as they walked further from the bakery. 

'Don't even think about it, Lewis,' Delano squinted his eyes to send Fletcher a little warning, which the latter waved off in a quick laugh. 

***

That night. 

Delano was lying with his chest facing downwards on his bed, the glowing screen of his laptop inches away from the tip of his nose. He was re-watching Thirteen Reasons Why on Netflix, and he was on episode ten of season three, almost at the end of the thirty-nine-episode-long series. The yellow light of his table lamp and the starlight from the window had a strong effect on Delano, making him struggle hard to keep his eyelids from drooping down, though he had decided to finish the series that night. 

'Delano,' Corinne appeared by his door, which was around forty-five degrees open at the moment. 

'Mother, I thought you were already asleep,' He said, his finger shifting on the mouse pad to put his laptop on sleep mode. 

'I just... I can't wait till tomorrow to tell you this,' She said, her tone positively chirpy, as she held up a flash drive -- the one she always uses to save all her written books. 

'Is it--' Delano opened his mouth, his face surprised and happy at the same time, '--your new book?' 

'Yes, it took me four days to regain my inspirations, and I've been trying my best to finish it for the past five days,' Corinne said confidently. Delano had always admired his mother's determination and imagination, and he had and will always be proud of her. 

'That's wonderful news, mother! When will your book be published?' 

'I'll talk to them tomorrow.' 

He walked over and gave her a hug. 

'Finally.' She said, breathing out, with an ear-to-ear smile. 

The past few weeks had been cruelly hectic for her, with the publishing companies calling and texting and emailing her every minute of every hour about the deadline for her new book. Her dreams were even haunted by their frustrated faces and bad-tempered scolding. But now, as soon as the publishing of this book starts, all of this will finally end and all that's left will be the publicity and sales. 

Her hard work was paying off beautifully. 

***

'You look awfully cheerful today,' Belle exclaimed. 

'Am I?' Delano asked, his naughty eyes looking upwards as if to say that he wasn't 'awfully cheerful', though he couldn't stop himself from smiling. 

'What's the occasion?'

'Everything is finally falling into place.' 

They stared at the stars at infinity, twinkling every second like a thousand beautiful eyes, the night sky like a puzzle that no one could ever make so perfectly.