The rest of the week went by peacefully.

The head never showed his face to Robert again, and if they do crossed paths, he would run the other way, crying.

"C'mon, you can tell me what happened!" begged Tony.

"Nothing happened, really," lied Robert, "I just asked Danny to talk to him for me."

"Then why does that guy follow you everywhere you go?" he asked, pointing at Boyet.

Robert looked and saw him hiding behind a trash bin.

The kid was so tall, he looked ridiculous in his squatting position. He saw Robert looking at him and looked the other way, pretending to mind his own business.

"Don't know his problem..." said Robert.

Actually, he knew Boyet has been following him since after the incident. He's really starting to piss him off. He took his handkerchief absentmindedly and wiped his face. Boyet looked at him, then quickly stood up and went away.

"Angela was really worried about you, you know," Tony continued. "I wanted to tell her not to, but then, I'd end up telling her your secret."

"It's okay, Tony," said Robert with a sigh, "she's still mad at me, but I'll think of something, besides, there really was nothing to be worried about."

Robert touched his cheek.

He could still feel the sting of Angela's slap.

She's been ignoring him the whole week. She wasn't there in the morning even when Robert woke up real early to wait for her, and she just disappears every afternoon after classes.

"She's still not talking to you, huh?" said the other, reading his thoughts.

"Yeah..." said Robert with a sigh.

When classes were over, Robert went to Angela's desk and waited for her to stand up.

He could feel the rest of the class staring at him.

Angela took her time, the look on her face getting darker.

"Um, Angela, Mia," said Bern, slowly standing up, "I'll be leaving early today too, you guys take care, okay?" she stood up, took her things, and looked at Angela, a little uncertain.

"Ah, wait for me, Bern!" said Mia, "I've got to get home early too!" she quickly took her bag and left with Bern.

"Me too!" Tony said running after the two.

"Hey, wait!" said Angela standing up, but her friends rushed out of the room and ran across the hallway. Angela gritted her teeth. "Some friends..." she muttered to herself.

She took her bag and headed out, but Robert was suddenly beside her.

"Let's go home together," he said.

"Go away," hissed Angela.

"No," replied Robert as he stubbornly followed her out the hallway. "I said I'm sorry you know, you don't need to be angry this long!"

"Who said I was angry with you?" Angela asked, her voice raising, causing some of the students to look at them. "I don't want to hang out with people like you." she said, her voice a bit calmer. "You don't think about what other people feel, do you?"

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, "All I did was hide away for a while, besides, I told you not to worry about me, I really am a good runner..."

"You know what disgusts me more?" Angela suddenly said, looking around to make sure no one hears them. "Here's a good for nothing bastard who calls himself a man, hiding inside god-knows-where because he's too damn 'scared' to fight for himself." Robert looked hurt, but she went on. "And here we are, driving ourselves crazy looking for him, fearing the worst, when he suddenly shows up looking as dandy as ever!"

"But I didn't know you where still looking for me..." said Robert, "I told you to go home, didn't I? I told you I could take care of it by myself!"

"Is that so?" said Angela, her voice rising again. "Then why did you ask me to walk to school with you in the first place?"

Robert was silent.

He couldn't tell her the real reason why.

"Perhaps you're just a much bigger pervert than that Gerbert! Thinking up of pathetic excuses just to follow a girl around!"

Still silent.

Robert took a hanky from his pocket, covered his face and began to breath deeply.

"What?" hissed Angela. "Are you crying now? You think that would work on me?" she gave an exasperated sigh. "Do yourself a favor will you?" she continued. "Just kill yourself and get it all over with. You can't run away forever you know."

Robert slowly slid the hanky off his face.

He wasn't crying.

He was trying to keep his temper down.

He had hit girls before when he was younger. Danny's always been the one who stopped him, but Danny wasn't there right now.

Not now that this girl was lecturing him as if she knew everything about him.

He looked around.

The hall was empty, the rest of the students have already left.

He took another deep breath and faced Angela.

"I've done that, you know," he said flatly. "It didn't work... ended up hurting the people closest to me instead."

Angela looked at him, surprised.

"Besides," he continued, "all I wanted was a scarecrow to ward those bullies away. I didn't ask you to care for me. It was my cousin who put you up to that." He looked at Angela coldly. "I guess you were just too hung up with your infatuation with a sadistic priest."

Angela was speechless.

She felt her face burning.

With an angry snarl, she lifted her hand and tried to slap Robert as hard as she can but Robert caught it, his eyes not leaving hers. So cold, his stare, he seemed to be a completely different person from the cheerful wimp she knew.

Angela didn't know this man, he wasn't Robert; he was someone else.

She tried to pull her hand away, but the boy in front of her wouldn't let go.

"You're not really that strong are you?" the boy said in his flat tone. "You just know what to hit where it really hurts." He finally loosened his grip, Angela pulled away. "Is that what my cousin taught you?"

Angela rubbed at her wrist.

She didn't know what to say.

"He liked you too, you know," Robert continued. "He wanted to tell you that, but you were too busy sulking about your rejection."

"T-that's none of your business!" she said angrily, her eyes filling up with tears.

"Yeah that's right, you just go ahead and sulk your life away," he said, turning around. "Me, I'll just keep running away, and it's none of your business either."

Angela watched as Robert left, her temper still rising. She took hold of the nearest thing she saw in the vicinity – in this case, an empty can of soda on the ground, and she sent it flying at Robert. "Stupid idiot!" she yelled.

Robert turned around.

The look in his eyes were no longer cold.

They were blank.

Emotionless.

Suddenly memories flashed back to Angela; of a hot summer day and a boy beneath a mango tree.

They had the same eyes.

The can rushed towards Robert.

'You just don't know when to stop,' he thought deep inside. 'I don't want to loose my temper...'

Suddenly, the can collided with something before it ever reached him.

It snapped Robert out of his trance.

He looked at what it hit and saw Boyet on the floor, rubbing his head.

"W-what are you doing here?!" asked Robert, surprised to see the freshman in the seniors' part of the building.

"You were taking so long, sir, I decided to come up and fetch you," said Boyet, still rubbing his head.

"I'm going home..." said Robert after another rub of his hanky.

"Wait for me, sir!" Boyet scrambled to his feet.

He suddenly stopped and looked at Angela who stared at them, dumbfounded.

Boyet went to her and bowed his head.

"Miss Angela," he said respectfully, "please forgive sir Robert, he didn't mean to make you worry."

"Wha–" replied Angela, still speechless.

"And please don't make him mad," continued the boy, "he's got enough problems as it is."

With that, the boy left, calling to his sir Robert.

Angela watched ''til he disappeared down the stairs.

She looked at her wrist; there was no mark left of Robert's hand. His hold was strong but gentle. She shrugs to get the thought off her head and decided to leave as well.

Outside, the campus was quiet.

Most of the students have already left and only a couple of them were still hanging around. The large gate was already close. Angela passed the small service entrance and saw Robert leaning on the wall outside.

He looked at her, his face flushed. Their eyes met for a while, then he looked away.

'His eyes are back to normal...' thought Angela.

"Sorry..." he mumbled, "Sorry lost m'temper...."

"I'm sorry, too..." replied Angela. "Friends?" she asked.

Robert looked at her.

Angela reached out a hand to him. He took it and gave it a friendly shake.

"Friends," he said with a smile.

"So where's that guy a while ago?"

"Sent him home."

"He called you sir."

"Yeah, really troubled kid..."

With that, the two went home together.

The next day was a Saturday – a rest day, so it was a chance to wake up late.

Robert held a pillow over his head. Someone moved his drapes aside, letting the morning sun shine in the room and disturb him in his slumber.

It didn't bother him during school days for he was up before the sun rose, but today was a Saturday, his Saturday, and he was too lazy to pull it back in place.

He turned the other way, the pillow still covering his head and tried to sleep some more.

There were voices downstairs, calling him. Something about late and here and ready. He was too sleepy to pay any attention.

There it came again.

It was his mother calling.

Robert pulled the pillow tighter to cover his ears.

"...still early..." he mumbled.

She called yet again.

Robert took the pillow off his face and threw it across the room. "Hmngr..." he mumbled, loosing his temper early in the morning.

He sat up in bed and saw Yang sleeping peacefully on top of his slipper. He took a deep breath and smiled, picking the kitten up and placing it on the bed. Yang had grown a bit, he was bigger than Robert's hand now, heavier too.

Robert wore his slippers and went to the toilet.

"Robert!" called Mrs. Cordero in the kitchen. "Really, that boy, he sleeps like a log during weekends!" She held a colander in one hand and a whisk in the other. Beside her sat Angela, watching her eagerly. "Honey," she said, looking at her, "why don't you go up stairs and wake him up?" she asked.

"Me?" replied Angela, surprised.

"Yeah," she said mixing the batter. "Just bang on his door or something, tell him to come down."

"Okay," said Angela, she left her stool and went up the stairs.

Angela hummed as she went, her arms swaying to and fro.

Yesterday's fight seemed long ago, and she was glad that Robert and her are friends now.

Not that she didn't consider him as a friend back then. But what really made her happy was what Robert said about Glenn.

'He liked you too...'

Angela smiled despite of herself.

Thinking about Kuya Glenn liking her was really lifting up her spirits. She finally reached Robert's room, Glenn's face still lingering in her mind.

"This usedd to be kuya Glenn's room," she said to herself. "I remember he brought me up-stairs here once to play video games." She lifted her hand and was about to knock when the door suddenly swung open.

Angela's fist went 'thump' on something soft.

"Ow!" said Robert.

Angela looked up and was face to face with Robert.

He held a towel to his damp hair, his face still wet. The water trickled down his chest and he smelled of soap and mouthwash. He was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and looked just as surprised at she was.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Angela stared at him, then at her hand that was still on Robert's bare chest.

"Gyaaaa!" she screamed, backing away, her face turning bright red.

"What?!" asked Robert, stepping out of the room.

"What's going on here?" said Mrs. Cordero.

She ran up stairs after hearing the scream, the whisk still in her hand.

"Don't know, she just screamed!" replied her son.

"I-it's nothing..." said Angela, feeling silly. "I just got caught by surprise..." she looked down on the floor and averted her eyes from Robert. Her heart was racing inside her chest.

"Robert!" said Mrs. Cordero, noticing her guest's reaction. "Where are your manners? How can you wear something like that in front of a visitor, a lady even!"

"What?" asked Robert, a little confused. "What did I do?"

"Just go wear something decent!" With that, she pushed her son back inside his room. "Sorry about that," she said, turning to Angela, her face still red. "Did I just expose you to something horrible?" she grinned.

"N-not really," replied Angela with a weak smile, "it's just that... I've got 12 sisters... and my father's the only man in our family and..."

"Oh, don't worry," said the other, cutting her short, "You'll get used to it soon."

They went back to the kitchen.

There where trays on the table lined with wax paper, ready for the batter. "Would you like to help me with the cookies while we wait for Robert?" asked Mrs. Cordero.

Robert sighed. "That's right, she was supposed to come over today, how could I forget?" He looked at Belle's picture and sighed. "You girls could be sush a handful sometimes!"

He took a shirt from his closet and started to dress up.

"That's it, just a spoonful," said Mrs. Cordero as Angela placed a lump of cookie batter on a tray. Her first try was a little too big, the batter lumped in the middle of the tray, as big as a ping-pong ball. "There, that way the cookie would cook nice and even, now try again."

"Okay, I think I've got it now!"

Angela took another spoonful and slapped the batter down on the tray, patting it flat. She was really enjoying herself. She never did learn how to cook back home, and she found Mrs. Cordero to be a very patient teacher. She was going for another spoonful when Robert slumped down the kitchen, yawning.

"What's for breakfast?" he asked.

Angela felt her heart racing again.

"There are eggs in the breakfast table," said his mother, "hurry and eat it before it turns cold." She took another spoon and placed some batter on separate tray expertly. "When you finish eating, why don't you and Angela go up stairs and sort things out in that extra room?" she continued. "I think there are still some furniture we could use in there."

"Mmm, 'kay," replied Robert with a piece of bread in his mouth.

Angela snatched a fleeting glance at him.

"Why am I feeling nervous?" she asked herself. "Was he really that scary back there?"

She took another glance.

Robert rolled the scrambled egg and popped the whole thing in his mouth.

"He seems to be as stupid as ever," she thought, "but just a while ago... I was really... scared...?"

Mrs. Cordero looked at Angela, then at her son who ate in a corner, oblivious of their stare.

She smiled and went back to her cookies.

"That one's still bigger than the others," said Robert, pointing at a big lump of cookie batter on Angela's tray.

He had finished his breakfast and helped out with the cookies. His tray was already full and he kept criticizing Angela's work. "That one's too small," he added, pointing at another.

"Hey, mind your own tray!" said Angela annoyingly. She pats at the small lump with a spoon until it was as big as the rest. It looked thinner though.

"Now that's gonna get burned while the others get half cook!" said Robert, pointing at the flat batter.

"Oh, get off my case will you?" said Angela, hitting him with her spoon.

Mrs. Cordero smiled, "Why don't you two head up stairs? I'll go finish up here and follow you later," she said.

"'Kay, mom," said Robert, placing his perfect looking tray on top of the stove. He washed his hands and wiped it on the jeans he wore. "C'mon, better get it over with before lunch time."

Angela looked at the clock.

It was already past 11 and they haven't even started with the room yet.

"Ah, I almost forgot about that!" she said as she washed her own hands and followed after Robert.

She found him waiting on top of the stairs. He looked at her and smiled. "You really want that room that badly, huh?" he asked. "Different room though, my cousin used to sleep in the room I'm currently using. That other room belonged to our Grandfather."

"Yeah, I know," replied Angela, avoiding his gaze, "I was up here once when I was a kid."

They went to the end of the hall and turned left to the spare room. Robert opened the door and led her in.