How did she know about the book? Thought Michael.

Was she there that night? Did she see me take it?

For now, he decided to forget about all these complicated questions and focus on his date with Anya. He was sitting on the couch, a tub of popcorn on his lap and a glass of coke in his hand. Anya sat beside him, holding the remote. It was awkward because this was in fact his first real date. Their friends came along and dropped the two of them in the room, wishing them the best, didn't help.

"What do you want to watch?" asked Anya to break the silence.

He looked at her peach dress and silky hair. She was in heels and had worn proper makeup. She had made the effort. He looked at himself, who showed up in just a t-shirt and blue jeans. Was he under dressed for the date or was she overdressed for a movie? He couldn't decide.

"Whatever you want to watch, is fine by me," he shrugged his shoulders.

Nodding her head, she opened her Netflix and started browsing through the movie list. She then noticed him holding onto the popcorn and coke.

"You can keep them on the table. You know, be comfortable," she said.

He followed her suggestion, and then said, "You could have worn just jeans. Why a dress?"

"It's a date," she smiled at him.

"But we are just watching a movie."

Anya turned her attention back to the screen. He could see a hint of frustration on her face. After a moment of silence, she turned to him and said, "Would you rather I show up like you? In an old jean and t-shirt?" It was clear that she was upset how he hadn't made the effort for the date like she did.

"As long as it makes you comfortable," he replied.

"In that case, why watch a movie? Why call it a date? We could have just studied," she placed the remote on the table and grabbed a random book that was kept on it. He watched her as she flipped each page with force.

"Let's just sit and read then," she said.

Suddenly she cried. Immediately she sat upright, holding her finger. That's when he saw. She had a paper cut and blood was slowly coming out. He pulled the book out of her hand and pulled her closer to him. She watched him observe her cut with high concentration.

"The cut looks pretty deep," he said. By this time, blood had started oozing out.

"I wonder if they have a first aid kit in here," he said as he looked around. She was however, mesmerized by his actions and liked the lack of space between them.

"You can suck the blood," she said suddenly.

His attention turned towards her words immediately.

"What?" he asked, uncertain if he heard it right. With the low amount of breath in her lungs, she said in a faint voice, "You can suck the blood until we find the kit."

'Suck it.'

He watched how her eyes were gazing into his own, how she was low on breath, and how she expected him to do something. Though confused at first, he decided to give into what any man would have done then.

He put her finger in his mouth and sucked the tiny drops of blood, all the while maintaining eye contact with her. Soon he felt her tugging on his t-shirt collar as she pulled him towards her. He gave in to the pull and leaned in, as he felt her other hand slip inside his t-shirt to feel his bare back.

**

It was a bright sunny day, and James, Grace and Sia had decided to spend it indoors discussing the first project assigned to them. They sat in one of their empty classrooms waiting for the others to show up. Soon, Thomas walked in with Leila. "Where are the other two?" asked Sia.

"They are on their way," replied Leila. She then shot a glance towards Thomas. Sensing a hesitation, James asked, "What? Spill it."

"I think it's better you see for yourself," replied Thomas as he turned one of the chairs and occupied it. Soon, Anya walked in followed by Michael. Anya straight away took a seat beside Leila, and Michael went to stand by Thomas. There was a tension in the air.

Grace cleared his throat and asked, "How was your date last night?"

"It was good."

"It was okay."

Both replied at the same time.

James burst out laughing, "What the hell happened last night? By any chance, did you two already...?"

Michael and Anya refused to meet eyes and remained silent. Anya however had turned a shade pink.

"Oh my! Are you serious?" Leila asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

Suddenly Mark walked in and everyone went silent.

"We can discuss about this later. We have duties to assign," said Grace taking up the role of a leader, as usual.

In an hour, everything was decided and most of them had left. Only James, Sia, Leila, Michael and Anya stayed behind. Soon Leila grabbed her things and walked out, followed by Anya. Michael sped up and caught her from behind.

"Anya, we need to talk."

They moved to a more private location to talk.

"About last night, I'm sorry for what happened," said Michael, "I don't know what was going on in my head, and everything happened so quickly."

"Look Michael, what happened has happened. If all our dates are going to end this way, then I don't know if it can be called as a 'date' at all," said Anya.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she replied, "But I think it's pretty clear what you want."

"That's- "

"Let me finish. You have never shown any interest in me. You have never said that you like me. Technically, you have never even exactly asked me to be your girlfriend. Even our first date was planned by others, to which you showed up looking like you came to class."

Michael remained silent, looking away. Anya continued, "See, you aren't even denying it. Talk to me, Michael."

She walked closer to him, putting her hand around his waist and said, "But I still like you. So, let's not tell the others about last night, partly because even I'm not sure what happened. Let's try and see where this goes. Okay?"

Michael didn't know what to say, he just looked at her silently.

"Guys!"

The two were startled when they were interrupted by Grace. He said, "Sorry to interrupt your little romance. But there is bad news." Michael and Anya exchanged glances waiting for Grace to say it.

And then Grace said, "Thomas's mom passed away."