It was Monday.

Monday equalled hell.

Which meant I had to visit my future college. Alone. It was another holiday for school, so we had one free day for today.

Isis had a family hangout, my brother was occupied as always, my parents were far away and I think I will be alright visiting alone as long as there was a guide somewhere.

I roamed inside the gate and was awed by the sight.

This was my dream college from now on. It was mesmerizing and the staff took great care of the garden and fountain. The garden was separated into two and in the middle of it had a water fountain with small fishes inside. The buildings were mostly beige-themed and looked like in the Victorian era. I strode around the buildings and went to the information area to ask about my major's location. After I gained the information, I took the elevator and landed on the fifth floor. My major was placed on the new building and had twenty floors for I didn't know what. My eyes skimmed at its structure and I peeked inside my class.

There were students laughing and enjoying themselves and I would be in their position a year ahead.

After strolling some more and spending time admiring and smiling at the staff– even the teachers were friendly here– I registered in the office and smiled when I finally accomplished my task.

I couldn't wait to explore my literature major.

My phone buzzed and my mouth curved again when it was my brother who called.

"Hey, everything okay?" I heard rustling papers and people rushing to discuss with my brother.

"Hey! Yes, totally!" I exclaimed.

My brother answered me with a 'good' and he immediately ended the call which I was grateful for.

He knew not to push this conversation about college as our parents pushed harder and it made me go into seclusion for weeks. I didn't like the pressure hanging on my back, I just wanted a free life. That was why I followed my brother here and tried not to be a burden every time I was home.

I almost passed the gate and I grabbed my bag tightly, when several of my stuff fell down as my shoulder roughly bumped into a guy.

I frowned, but not until I craned my neck and it was Cassian as to who I stumbled earlier.

I grinned.

"You're a stalker, aren't you?" He sighed and shot those icy glares on me.

I was baffled by his offensive question, "I'm not! I just applied here minutes ago, how about you?"

He averted my gaze and said, "I was a student here long ago."

I brought my hands around my mouth, covering my gasping yelp. Another information!

"It's not that surprising, to be honest. I'm going to buy a drink, see you around." He walked through the gate and disappeared into a minimarket.

Two shadows covered my body when I took a seat on a bench. I noticed a familiar face and her younger sister cornered me as though they wanted to bully me.

"Hey, you. Don't get really close to Cassian," she scoffed and her sister flipped her hair like a bitchy primadonna. Their arms crossed over their chests that looked like they wanted to intimidate me a lot.

"Yeah! I hate it when girls like you have the nerve to talk to him." One seemed like a high schooler from my class and her sister from middle school who really were Cassian's fans?

"What has gotten into you two? Cassian is not yours, right?" I spoke back.

They were fuming and their faces were so red that they would punch me on the face.

The high schooler side-eyed me, "You're nobody in class, so shut the hell up. You would run back and forth from class to your weird literature club." Oof, she just shot me there.

I was annoyed that she mentioned 'nobody', and I thought that I was just a normal, encouraging student who loved her activity in school, yet I was mad that she stated the literature club as a weird thing.

Oh, it's over for you, classmate.

I reached out for her hair, eager to start a fight that she caused. However, someone grabbed me to stop this chaos.

"Never start a fight with idiots, pea-brained." He pulled me around his side and kind of shielded me away from them. I was touched by the act, but repulsed by the words.

But then, both of them were utterly shocked by Cassian's appearance and his nickname for them. They were gaping and eventually ran away when Cassian rolled his eyes and it oozed a 'You don't even know me' sentence to them.

A warm feeling seeped inside my chest.

"I don't usually offer this, but let me take you home." He pushed me gently towards his jet-black motorcycle and handed me his safety helmet.

He avoided my warm gaze, "Well if you want."

I beamed.

"I'd love to!" I clutched on his shoulders to get me up on his bike, it was a little tall and I was a teeny weeny jealous when he easily got on his bike like a pro. I gripped his sides like my life depended on it, my brother had no bikes and my parents were more comfortable using cars since I was born. I felt like I learned something new from Cassian, even if it was just a small thing. I smiled at my house and thanked him again for the ride home. He told me that there was CCTV around the college so I didn't have to worry about this kind of matter in the future.

Is it me or is he helping me for my sake?

Well, it was a good start, I supposed.

***

The day we dreaded going to school was Monday and so, this was Monday for me.

I had to prepare documents for my lovely Prez Tristan and translate many, many transcriptions that I had been so lazy to work on. Teachers had announced that exams for the term were coming, but it was a busy day because the festival day was near too. My class hadn't been solid enough to do anything, but thanks to Isis, we were all working together to fulfil our dreams and hopes for this year's festival. Even Zen was moved by Isis and I could see that Isis was starting to care more for him. I was glad that Isis was the class President, she assembled many assistants to help her carry the festival. At last, after lots of drawings, votes and ideas, we decided to create a short theatre about a fake dating couple that was determined to uncover their family's secrets buried for years. It was lame, but everyone had fun producing the costumes, leads and sets too. The literature club planned on opening a booth and Prez Tristan said that it would be a success which I didn't trust him. As for me, I was in charge of the cooking booth with five other students. Eugene, a Korean boy, prepared the ingredients that he bought using the class's budget money. Katarin, a pink-haired gyaru, prepped the ingredients and made them as a pre-made dish.

My class would be serving various menus; spaghetti carbonara, fish and chips, takoyaki, gimbap, fried rice, savoury dumplings and sodas for the drinks. As for Genevieve and Augustine, they were an art-addicted couple and made posters and banners for the booth and class together with others. It took us five days to sort this all out, we were all at our own pace doing our roles for the school. But I kept going back and forth to the cooking booth and literature booth to do what I could to help.

On my way home, I saw Cassian playing on his skateboard and I waved at him. He averted my gaze but raised his arm to wave back. It was progress, I guessed.

I strolled on his way and sat in a safe space near him, he grimaced a bit and eventually sat down beside me. He drank his water and cleared his throat.

"Why are we always meeting?" He asked annoyingly.

I pouted and playfully glowered at him. I peered around and spotted a crowd forming around a big tree.

"It's probably fate," I said.

Cassian looked up to the sky.

"Fate? Fate, my ass. It is because I am an immortal that–"

Cassian stopped talking and I urged him to continue.

He immediately moved on from the subject when a bigger crowd was around the street.

I sighed, wondering when he would open up. I tried to replace the subject, but the bulldozing feeling of still trying to pry his past was on my back.

"Hey, what's that?"

He followed my finger pointing at the crowd and his mouth formed an 'O'.

"It's a walking poem writer, it's trending nowadays," He stated.

I hummed and I yanked him out of his surprise and we ran into the crowd, circling the poem writer. The writer was old, probably in his sixties, but could still walk and open a business alone. I saluted him if only I could create my own writing business these days.

Finally, it was our turn and the poem writer faced us. He was setting up another sheet of paper and a black marker for the poem.

"Hello, I'm Sam," We said 'hi' in unison.

"What would you lovebirds recommend I write?" Sam gave a smooth smile and I frowned a bit.

"Oh, sorry, we're not a couple." I quickly shift our status in mere seconds.

Sam was surprised, "Oh no, so, you youngsters are friends?"

I bobbed my head, "You could say that, Sam."

Sam chuckled.

"Alright, what would you two like me to write?" He inquired.

Finally, Cassian chose to introduce his voice.

"Weather... please." He looked like he was coerced on coming here.

Cassian was definitely insane.

"Weather? No, no. It's just a trivial issue! What about you two? I could make something up!" Sam was eager and he started to write.

I felt sorry for Sam that he had to handle customers like Cassian, and Cassian was... doing his own thing. Crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes wandering around like a hawk and those green eyes which somehow shook my whole body.

I gave Sam coins for his poem and he kindly received it as he was doing it for free. I brought the poem home, as Cassian seemed like he was uninterested by it.

We walked home together and Cassian was by my side accompanying me. Maybe he made a deal with my brother to always accompany me whenever I was alone? Impossible, right?

With this chill evening vibe and windy weather, of course I had to ruin the mood.

"What are the side effects of your immortality?" I blurted.

I gasped and closed my mouth hard.

Should have kept your mouth shut, Rheanne.

Cassian's eyes were almost out and he seemed shocked by my question.

"No."

"No, what?"

Cassian glowered.

"I don't want to answer your question, so no." Cassian walked further, my short steps following him like a puppy.

"Why?"

Cassian looked at me, "because it's dangerous for mortals to know."

I couldn't pry more today, but I knew that I had to make this deal before I lost myself.

"Then, you don't mind if I spill your secrets to the world right?" I asked carefully.

He grabbed my hand tightly and my back was onto the walls as he gently pushed me.

"You are kind of dense, you know."

I became confused.

"What?"

He sighed.

"Never mind, I'll do it." He agreed.

I became more confused.

"Do what?" It was not the time to pretend not to know his meaning, Rheanne.

"Your stupid deal. I know that you want to gain information about my immortality and ask more about it, so I"ll do it. Dumbass." Cassian replied.

What? Was it that easy? Why didn't I ask him earlier? I guessed he didn't give off a kind of friendly vibe months ago? Or I didn't want to threaten him with this option? I was that desperate, huh?

I felt like I won the battle, but lost the war.

"Okay, deal. Promise me that you will be my inspiration for my novel in exchange for a mouth shut of your immortality forever." I smirked, feeling like I won the lottery.

Cassian huffed, "Fine, so be it. But I only accept five questions, any more and I will bail on this."

Oh boy, he won't.

"Deal." I closed our deal and voila, I got the advantage now.

"Hey, I'm a bit curious, but what's your major at uni?"

Cassian walked to his direction and we separated before he briefly said; "Engineering, and that was one already."

I yelled, "What? No! I took it back!"

Cassian just smiled and shook his head.

Progress was progressing, I thought.

I walked back home with a smile on my face. Even my brother stared at me weirdly and ignored me playfully when I laughed like a maniac.

Little things could make you happy, I thought.