A Gift of Gratitude

Now, Eli really wanted to know what he's on about and forget about his evasive responses.

She's silently freaking out after processing his words, pondering how a high schooler would afford to hire bodyguards. That didn't really make sense to begin with. Before she could even get a clarification, however, they already arrived at the seventh grade's hallway. There, they found a crowd of students swarming around Zeke and Noah's classroom, giving them the impression that something big was going on.

After taking a peek, the two were able to confirm it.

She's standing there as still as water and as charming as a life-size doll, carrying the air of a maiden in love, or so what Eli thought.

At the moment, Cosette was outside the classroom, a bouquet of fully-bloomed sunflowers in hand. The audience then started to get more boisterous. Only when the person she was waiting for finally stepped forward that the reason for this came to light.

The Student Council Vice President came into picture, a small smile gracing his stunning features.

"Why are we hiding?" Hal deadpanned, narrowing his eyes at her.

Eli suddenly dragged him to hide near the staircase, flummoxing him for a second. She's now watching the exchange with zest and wonder as if spectating a famous opera. He then mustered a straight face at this for he already have a hunch of what's running through her mind. But after seeing how immersed she looked, he only heaved a sigh before deciding to just join her as well.

Hal recognized the blonde girl with Noah as the one they saved back then. He didn't know what's between her and his friend, but judging by their present interaction, they seemed to be acquaintances at most. Eli wouldn't come up with the same speculation since she didn't know Noah that well. While everybody else saw him as an unpredictable fellow, he could read him with a mere glimpse alone since they grew up together.

Scrutinizing Noah's current demeanour, Hal thinks that he just sees Cosette as an upperclassman he respects. Yet, in order to not ruin his classmate's fun, he just chose to zip his mouth and kept this realization to himself. Crossing his arms, he then leaned on the wall and watched her squirm around.

"See? See? I told you there's something going on! They're in love~" Eli enthused in a sing-song voice.

"Seriously, why are you so fixated on other people's love lives instead of your own?" Hal deadpanned, making her look at him with a blank expression.

"It's not like I have one, anyway. Romance is too out of my reach."

His eyes slightly widened at this for a second. Eli seemed to have caught Hal off guard.

Ebony brows then slowly formed thin lines while his profile became inscrutable. She could only blink her eyes in bafflement when he suddenly scooted closer to her and inched his face forward, an enigmatic glint dancing in his amber irises.

"You sure about that?" he muttered, voice low and smoky.

Eli just stared at him, dumbfounded.

It's been a while since she encountered this side of him. Sure, he's always playing around, but sometimes, he'd turn strange and unreadable like this. Unsure of what to react, she only returned his intense gaze with a bewildered one. That's until she suddenly recalled his unexpected gesture in the hallway the other day. Embarrased by the memory, she then abruptly shoved his face away and started acting all flustered.

"Ouch!"

Then out of nowhere, Hal winced in pain. Eli quickly retrieved hands and turned to look at him, concerned if she had unknowingly hurt him. Looking up, she then found Zeke smacking his head, eyebrows furrowed in miff.

"What do you think you're doing? I'll report you for sexual harassment," Zeke taunted with an ominous expression.

"Ezekiel!" Eli beamed in pleasant surprise.

"Don't say such words so carelessly. What do you take me for? And Eli, you should at least clear that up," Hal replied, clearly peeved.

With that, the boys began to banter like pre-schoolers, with the young heir accusing the librarian of doing immoral things. The bookworm only watched them with an impassive look, too stupefied and enervated to side with any of them. Unbeknownst to them, they are making quite a racket that they're starting to garner an audience, including the flock of students in front of the classroom.

Noah and Cosette also noticed the scene. Seeing how intrigued he looked, she decided to finish her greetings.

"Anyway, this is for you, as thanks for taking me to the infirmary the other day. I never thought I'd collapse like that," Cosette voiced out, offering the bouquet to him with a gentle smile.

"You don't have to. The thought is more than enough," Noah replied before reluctantly taking the present.

"I'm also grateful to you since our club's request had been approved, so please do come by to our exhibition tomorrow."

Noah only grinned at her, thinking that he already planned to do so since the Student Council would be roaming around during the event. With that, they exchanged goodbyes before she finally took her leave. He then went inside the classroom and put the bouquet aside before turning to look back at Hal and the others who're still bickering.

"Why on earth were they making such a commotion in the middle of a crowd?"

Noah couldn't help but think that Hal really had a thing for gathering comrades, though. He's now even that close with the Chairman's son. Although he admitted that he'd always been a friendly and amicable guy, he knew that he's doing this while wearing a mask most of the time. He only has companions, but he's still alone all the while. But now, he seemed to be no longer feigning whenever those two were around.

At this realization, he found himself losing his place in the picture, and it rubbed him off to some extent.