[13] Casual date, a little flirting, and close.

Walking towards the Cafeteria Hall as I came from Starbucks across the campus, I was still 15 minutes early. I didn't know what the hell I was so excited about, but there I was, waiting for the girl who I claimed to have despised the most.

Richard, Trish and the others were passing time at a different Canteen—the one that actually looked like a cafe. We were supposed to go to the bar across the street a little later, but I don't think I'll be going there tonight. I was just not in the mood for drinking.

Besides, I had to check on my sister.

"Hey! Sorry, did I take so long?" Felice startles my thoughts as she sat ceremoniously in front of me. To feign nonchalance, I casually let out my easy-going smile without looking at her.

"Why are you always sorry about everything?" I ask her as I turned my head to face her.

I was taken aback. She was glowing today, for some particular reason; she had this recognizable smile plastered on her lips as her eyes were wide open glistening with delight. "Was there something I missed?" Your glasses, I think.

"Oh," She chuckled a bit, bowing her head. "No, no... sorry, I'm just awfully giddy today." She smiles at the table then looks up; again laughter was bouncing in her eyes. "I had my glasses changed yesterday. What do you think?"

"It looks terrific on you." I approved as the glasses were more of this century now. It was a bit feminine and it suits her face well, unlike the older one that was just too big...

"Sorry, I should've not talked to you about that. I'm just so happy about it... getting a lot of compliments and all." She stopped. "Oops. Sorry."

"Again with apologizing. What are you so sorry for?" I cocked my head to the side. "What else have you been up to? Been a bad girl, Felice?" I joked as I gave her one of my deadliest smirks.

"NO! Silly..." She smiled. "Nothing, nothing." As she fixed her stuff, I wanted so much to believe that her happiness was because of me. I wanted to be the reason for her good mood, but I just couldn't let it get to my head. Not when I destroyed her the last time I did.

"Let's just get on with it. So where's your book?" She asked as she picked up a few things from her bag and scattered them at the table. "I brought us some cookies. Here." She smiled and gave me a container filled with some really fantastic smelling cookies.

"I've brought you something too," I said as I brought out a Frappuccino. I bought it a few minutes ago since I realized I was too early to wait for her. I instantly saw that her eyes brightened even more. "For you..." I handed it to her and she smiled even wider at me.

"Thank you! I love frappes!" Her eyes wandered for a few seconds then she gave me a shy look. "Well, it's a pity my cookies aren't that expensive, but does it help that they're homemade?"

"Oh your mom made them?" I said as I took a bite from one. God, they were delicious. "This is really, really good!"

"No, I made them." She smiled as she sipped her drink.

That afternoon went well. Turns out, she wasn't lying when she said that the book was difficult. She knew it by heart. Felice turned and turned the pages to highlight a few important lines to base the analysis from. She was actually giving me tips on how to write my paper so as to make the teacher believe that I did know the story by heart too. I brought my laptop with me, so I began typing a few opening statements.

Felice started dictating what I had to write while she was seated in front of me. But as the sun was setting, and we both got tired of schoolwork, she moved beside me to closely scrutinize my first page of a 15-page long paper. We were loosely cuddled up in the corner of the cafeteria as people were already started to leave. We munched on the cookies endlessly and laughed about the silliness of the whole book.

"I should write your name on this paper too. This is not my paper. This is pair-work!"

"Don't be silly. All teachers know that students ask for help. This is simply me helping you. Now, go on... write some more!" She giggled as she brought out a thin yellow paper and started doing math homework. "You do that, and I'll do this. Have you finished yours?"

"Yeah, last night." I nodded and eyed her paper. She seemed to have difficulty in this subject area.  "Do you need some help with that?"

"Yes, but I'd rather do it on my own first. If I'm stuck, I will not hesitate to ask." She added.

"You know, the long test is coming up soon," I said. I am aware that I'm trying my best to find ways to spend time with her, but I don't seem to care anymore. I'm not even sure what I wanted from her, but all I knew was that she's the most interesting girl I've met, amusing even.

"Yeah, I'll need a tutor for that test. I'm really having a hard time." She said as she bit the end of the pencil. "I think there will be a group study on... umm... Friday?"

"I don't think I can join that." I gave her a weak smile, and she nodded in response. "But we can review together if you want. I can meet you here on Saturday." I proposed.

She stopped to look at me. For a minute I thought I was being too obvious and that she would say no. But apparently, I was mistaken.

"Well, sure. What time?"

With just that simple statement, it made me really happy. So happy that I was ready to erupt with laughter, but of course, I kept it to myself for my own sanity. We scheduled it on a Saturday afternoon; I told her that I'd be taking her to Flames for lunch first before we head out to the library to study. If you look at it at someone else's perspective, it doesn't look much of a study meeting, but rather a date.

I have a date with Felice? Is this some kind of joke?