Chapter 35: Good Morning To You!

Thursday

THIRD PERSON P.O.V

The cave was in full chaos the moment Rhys stepped foot out of the cave.

"No! I bet you two of my meals that the spell will finally break the next time Rhys meets Malinda." Faye said aloud.

"You got it all wrong! It's too sudden!" argued Grace, "Give it two or three more visits, then the spell will be broken. I mean, Cinderella hadn't fallen in love with his prince in just a day."

"Yes, she had. I mean, Two more visits? Did you not see their special connection they had today? Next time, Rhys will definitely say it." Tim says confidently.

"What do you mean she had? I'm most certain that Cinderella took at least 3 days of the ball to fall in love with the prince." Grace continues her point.

"I think you're referring to 'Into the Woods' version. And, well, we all know how they turned out in the end." Faye sassed.

"That's right! They are most definitely head over heels for each other by now. You don't know how romance works—" Tim gets cut off.

"Silence!" Bo suddenly yelled, "You are causing Malinda too much noise."

They all looked at Malinda when he said that and finally shut up embarrassingly.

Then Bo proclaimed calmly, "But Rhys will definitely not say it yet the next time he goes in here. Too rushed."

Just like that, the entire group started shouting and giving their own opinions once again. Malinda was just playing with the water then giggles. It was too quiet, but they all heard it and asked in unison, "Malinda?"

Malinda looked up to them, "What are you all blabbering about? Rhys will say that, Rhys will say this."

"We're talking about when he will confess his love to you, of course!" Grace answers.

"His love? He does not love me. You can stop your chattering about him now."

"Seriously? Rhys is totally in love with you. These bozos don't understand, but he literally is." Faye defends.

"Y-yes, that is true. Please… do not be offended but he surely cares d-deeply about you…" Tim's usual nervousness came back when talking to Malinda.

"Rhys already has someone special to him. It is impossible for him to think that I would be, too."

"But Malinda, unlike the last times you conversed, the aura had definitely changed between your bond. And we all had witnessed what happened to the pond yesterday, hadn't we? It's possible that he just hasn't realized his true feelings for you yet, but he does feel it." Bo explained maturely.

Malinda replied after a moment, "Even if he does love me, which he doesn't... it would be too late before he could say it. I could not afford waiting for something that surely is not going to happen."

All her animal friends were about to protest starting with "But, he—", but as soon as they said anything, they didn't know any word that could follow.

Every one of them were trying to think of a way to convince Malinda but they were all just left speechless. Like last time, they all went back to their normal selves and gave it up. The group of friends were always comfortable and cheery with each other, but it's times like these were they meet complications within one another.

Malinda on the other hand was still thinking about all that happened. She tried to deny it with her friends, but deep down she does know the feelings revolving around Rhys. She just couldn't risk his happiness because of his current girlfriend. And her anxiety was also still lurking within her, doubting that everything was go too well until it wouldn't.

So, with a sad smile, all she could do is to sit still and wait for whatever's left for her as she reminisces about her past life and the times spent inside this cave.

-

Rhys's P.O.V

Feeling great on a school morning two days in a row makes me feel cautious for some reason, even if I've done worse than these, but let me just accept my good luck for once. Hence, for the first time in a while, I'm eating breakfast with Rose again. This time, we're even eating on the dining room with Gran, too.

We've been sitting here for the past half hour, talking about random things. And it actually doesn't seem that all bad. It's even stranger because Gran has been telling us some of her life stories—but I don't find it annoying whatsoever. I even find it interesting. She recalled her past memories of her heart being fought over by different men, from different places and countries. This all started because of the famous 'Do you have a crush on anyone?' question directed to Rose. And that was the backfire of Rose storytelling the romance and adventures she read from Jacob's book. So, we were there, sharing multiple genuine laughs.

The conversation eventually died down naturally, and we were off to our own stuff, and I was unmoving, staring out the window.

While enjoying the serene morning vibes, I reminded myself the reason why I had to even go to school today. Mr. Teach threatened me to attend today or I'll have to go to detention, which sucks either way because all we have to do in school is check all our test papers and clean the rooms and stuff.

I haven't even done a single thing for the art project yet. And it's stupid because I'm all about art. I did draw a human person last night for the first time in a while. Malinda. I suddenly remember her story from last night which kind of sucked some mood out of me. I slump on my seat.

"Something wrong?" Rose asks me.

I shouldn't let it bother me. Today started off great. And it's going to continue being great. "Nah, I'm good." I switch my mind to the previous topic, "So, that means you finished Jacob's book already?"

"Almost done! I really like his adventures with the cave and the girl inside." As we already established. "I want to write a story about that!"

"Didn't you say you wanted to write a story about the sun and storm yesterday?" I recall.

"Oh, right." Rose looks down to decide, "Maybe that one should be a poem instead."

"You're really motivated about this, aren't you?"

"Of course, I am! We both are."

"Me? What do you mean?"

Rose smirks and grabs something, "Well, last night while you were laying on your drawing, you were smiling in your sleep!" I froze when she showed me a picture of myself smiling while asleep. How the hell did she get that?! She continues, "Seriously, Rhys. Who is that girl you were drawing? She's so pretty. Do you like her? Does she like you?"

Here we go again. She goes on and on until I had enough, "I told you, she's just a model I saw. Now, forget about it. What do you even know about love anyway?"

"Hmm. That's a good question," Rose scratches her head, "but who are we to say what love is? I don't think we have to find a meaning to it. I think we just have to feel it. And that's even better than words."

I just stare at her for a second, taken aback by her answer. Suddenly, I hear the school bus's honk from outside. I stand and bid goodbye to her. As I was about to leave, Grandma looks at me oddly.

"Rhys, take care of yourself." She tells me gently.

I paused. Grandma usually just tells me a simple 'bye' every time I leave. She's never talked to me like this and I find it kind of unsettling. I nod and stammer when I thank her.