033 | all settled

Natasha was a little bit sad that she couldn't walk with Liam in the morning today. Liam informed her that he was assigned to clean the classroom, so he should be early than anyone. She assumed that Liam should be done cleaning the classroom by now.

She double-checked her backpack earlier, so she didn't need to worry about if she brought the cookies she baked or not. She, Diana, and Bryan had a taste of the baked cookies and it was decent, comparable to a typical cookie, not so good, and not so bad either, so she hoped that Liam would find it good at least. Now that she was certain she didn't leave anything important, she started to walk to reach the school.

**

Liam finished what he had to do in the morning. He planned to take a nap when he was done since the drowsiness lingered and washing his face nor brushing his teeth didn't help. He assumed that he must be feeling this way because he lacked sleep when he answered his school assignments and was mostly tired of the club activities.

He found academics to be difficult, but for the sake of not getting scolded or removed from the team, he needed to keep up with his academic grades as well. He thought of the upcoming first quarter school test all of a sudden. He shook his head, wanting to remove the worries from his head, so he would be stress-free.

He sat down on the chair and was about to lie down on the desk when he heard the voice of Natasha. "Good morning!"

His drowsiness vanished. "Oh hey, Natasha. Good morning."

Natasha went to her designated desk and then sat down on the chair. She was a bit nervous about giving the cookies she baked, but she cheered herself that she could do it. She unzipped her backpack and then held the cookies that were placed in a cute cookie bag.

"For you, Liam," Natasha gave the cookie bag. "I know it's not a lot, but I hope you accept this as a token of gratitude."

He was in utter surprise. "You shouldn't have bothered, Natasha."

Natasha shook her head. "You're not a bother, Liam. You need to accept this to thank me, hm?"

He smiled and then accepted the cookie bag. "Of course. I'm not heartless."

Natasha chuckled. "Who says you are?"

"No one," he answered. "You better let me treat you if I want to. No buts, all right?"

Natasha wouldn't mind. "Of course. Gladly."

He recalled something. He almost forgot about it, but thankfully, he didn't. "Mom wants to meet you, Natasha."

Natasha surmised that he had talked about their friendship with his parents as well. She wanted to meet his mother, so she wouldn't turn him down. "Sure. When?"

"Is today, after school, all right?" he asked. "I don't have club activities after school, but I'm assigned to clean, so you'll have to wait for a bit."

"Sure," Natasha didn't mind since she had no other plans after school. "I'm willing to wait until you finished the cleaning."

He was glad that it was all settled. "I'm sure Mom will like you."

Natasha giggled. "Yeah, I think so too."

**

Liam stretched his arms once the math class was over. It was a miracle that he didn't found the lesson boring perhaps it was because he could catch up with it. He reminded himself that he would place his note and textbook in his backpack once the lunchtime was over, but for now, he placed it under his desk.

"Liam?" Natasha called him, so he looked beside him to see her. "Do you have a packed lunch?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't have. Do you have one?"

Natasha shook her head as well. "No, I don't."

He expected that Natasha would have. "So that means we'll buy something from the cafeteria and then eat at the school roof? Is that right?"

"No," Natasha answered. "We'll eat at the cafeteria."

"We'll eat at what!?" he couldn't hide the surprise on his face. "Are you, really, really sure about this, Natasha?"

Natasha giggled, finding Liam cute. "I'm 100% sure, Liam."

"All right," he just wanted to make sure that Natasha was fine with. "I thought it would be the opposite since I supposed you didn't want attention from the others."

"While it's true I didn't want attention," Natasha wouldn't disagree with what Liam told. "But I think I want to eat at the cafeteria today. And besides, I want to taste the prepared lunch of the cafeteria."

He giggled. "You sounded like you haven't eaten some cafeteria foods, you know?"

"You think so?" Natasha tried not to look sad, but why did she feel that there was a hint in her tone or eyes? But she tried to smile, even if it was a faint one. "Yeah, I think it's been a while."

He felt that Natasha compelled herself to smile. He surmised that something must have happened in her past, but he didn't want to force her for an answer. He would hear from her when she was willing to tell him so.

He pretended that he didn't see that compelled smile. "We should go then. I think you'll like it. Well, not as much perhaps? Because home sweet home foods are still the best."