Chapter 21: His Fluttering Heart -- She's so Cute!

'Can she get any cuter?' he thought to himself. A light tint of red appeared on the apple of his cheeks.

"So, Rei, what are your future plans?", Alena asked, her eyes looking ahead at the path.

The sudden question startled Rei, he was distracted by Alena's cuteness earlier. He was a bit embarrassed being caught off guard and ended up stumbling upon his initial words, unable to form a proper sentence. "Huh? M-my future plans? Ahh! Yeah -- I am not very certain yet but I have picked out some possible options for myself, although my dad wants me to join our company but I'm still keeping my options open and weighing them. W-what about you?" he asked looking at Alena's face expectantly. Their eyes met again, his heart skipped a beat and he was nervous again.

He gulped a huge lump down his throat. His throat felt dry and he was sweating a little bit.

Alena suddenly dug her hand inside her pocket to search for something. She took out a handkerchief and offered it to him, she had noticed he was sweating. He was surprised by her ationand trie dto deny her, "N-no no, I don't need it. I have mine with me, here..." he started to check his trouser's pocket but couldn't find his handkerchief.

"It's okay, take it. I can she you need it," she smiled politely as she stretched her hand towards him.

"No, need. I meant it," he said as his hand waved it air trying to brush her off.

A drop of sweat trickled down his face. She giggled a little. 'Damn, I had to go and embarrass myself,' he blushed. 'I guess I should take it...' he decided and grabbed the handkerchief from her. He wiped his sweaty forehead as his heart beat ran faster, making him feel very self aware.

'I've never ost my resolve like this in front of others. What's wrong with me today?' he questioned himself inside his head.

"I haven't decided yet", Alena spoke suddenly, answering his question from earlier as she brushed away a few strands of hair away from her face. Her eyes were staring forward.

"Oh. It's… alright," he smiled at her to reassure her. "It's okay if you haven't decided yet. You will eventually figure it out," he said with a bright confident smile to cheer her up. He could sense a little bit of sadness from her.

"Thank you. That's very nice of you to say," she smiled, rubbing her nose lightly. "I hope so too," her soft smile faded into a bittersweet sigh. She looked at the sky, watching how the clouds kept passing slowly.

"Hey, it's alright," Rei raised his hands to touch her shoulders to comfort her but stopped in the middle, his hand was still in mid air before he retracted it. He thought it would be a little rude and could make her uncomfortable. "Hey look!", he focused his eyes on the bridge of his nose and stuck his tongue out, making a really silly face.

As soon as Alena saw it, she burst into laughter. His face looked silly and funny to her.

He felt a sense of reassurance as he heard her laughter thinking his plan worked. then he continued to make more weird faces. He pulled his eyes from the corners and pulled them up and stuck his tongue out. "Look at me! I'm a weirdo!" he declared, enjoying himself a little too much to start feeling at ease around her.

They both kept laughing at it, it was as if one had infected the other, spreading the laughter around. Rei repeated the silly face a few more times before Alena tried to make the same face as well.

She failed initially but eventually learned from Rei who taught her how to make it. They kept on giggling as they finally arrived at their lunch spot. Both held their stomachs and supported themselves by keeping one hand on the tree.

Once they got a grip of themselves, Alena and Rei together set up the spot under the huge oak tree for sitting. They lay a bedsheet on the ground and placed all the lunch boxes in the middle.

Rei was sweet enough to help her out. After setting up the place for their lunch, they were waiting for the others to arrive before they started with their respective lunches.

When Natasha, Aiko, and Yuki arrived with the refreshment drinks, they saw Alena and Rei standing and waiting for them. A cloth was already set up to sit down upon along with all their lunch boxes set in the middle.

Natasha smiled and waved at them. Alena waved back with a smile and Rei also smiled back at them. Natasha thought Rei looked quite handsome. No wonder he's a school crush. The boy never failed to charm the girls with his looks, personality, well-managed behavior, and manners.

Actually, Natasha knew about Rei ever since he had entered high school. Natasha's family was one of the oldest investors of the Sakura Educational Group of Institutions.

They all settled down on their spots, with Rei and Natasha sitting on either side of Alena and Yuki and Aiko sitting next to Natasha.

"Well, then what should we all talk about?" Aiko asked the group, catching everyone's attention. "Yuki, why don't you suggest something?" she urged.

"Umm, guys, I don't know what to talk about!" answered a puzzled Yuki.

"Says the one who has the most to say!" remarked Natasha in a fun manner as she smirked at Yuki.

"Hey! that's not fair! As if you're the one to talk, miss gossip queen!" retorted Yuki with a smirk.

"Ahhh, now aren't you becoming a loud mouth?" Natasha leaned towards Yuki to pinch her cheeks.

"Owww!" squealed Yuki. "That hurts you know!" she shouted with a pout and puffed her cheeks.

"Ah, you guys not again. I don't want to be stuck with you two idiots," remarked Aiko.

"What did you say?!" spoke Yuki and Natasha in unison as they both leaned towards Aiko to pinch her cheeks. "Owwww!" Aiko cried. "Take this!" Aiko pulled Yuki and Natasha's cheeks with each of her hands.

"Stop it, you guys! You're all acting like kids!" interrupted Rei in between the girl's banter with a sweat drop on his face.

"Hey! you don't get to tell us what to do!" said Yuki and stuck her tongue out but was immediately stopped by Natasha who pinched her shoulder to make her stop, "Yea-ouch! Na-Natasha!" cried Yuki.

"Hey! He's right we're acting like kids. Ahem," Natasha cleared her throat.

"Guys, 15 minutes have already passed," reminded Alena. None of the girls in the trio had even finished half of their lunch boxes.

"Aahh! Oh no, you're right," replied Natasha as they all hurriedly started to eat their lunches. They were literally gobbling up their lunches.

"Guys, you can slow down," chuckled Rei.

"Yeah, guys. You shouldn't eat food so hurriedly. Food can get stuck in your throat," Alena reminded them to slow down and not rush.

"Hey Alena, tell us about yourself. Which school were you in before?", asked Aiko with curiosity-filled eyes. It was about time they all initiated a conversation with each other. So, this was supposed to be some sort of way to start a conversation and break the ice.

Alena noticed how expectant everyone's eyes were. They were all looking at her and awaiting an answer.