Whew. 'bout time our favourite pink girl comes in, no.
Thanks so much for the reviews. I'm deeply touched, I really am. Although I felt that the previous chapters were rather awkward, I guess everything worked out anyway. This should probably be the last chapter I'm posting before I retire for a while--what with, my English final year exam starting next week...
Gosh, save me, Fayt!p
Chapter 7: Another Midday
The morning started very pleasantly for Fayt that Monday. The cool breeze ruffled his hair pleasantly, like a father stroking gently his son's head, while the flowers in the school garden were in full bloom thanks to the hard work of the school's Gardening Committee. The white stone pavement had been swept clean and was pleasant to walk on, while the sun cooperated mercifully by not scorching relentlessly anything as it usually loved to do, thus blessing the entire morning with rare fine weather. Fayt whistled a cheerful tune as he strolled slowly to class, feeling the beautiful weather slowly lift up his spirits. A bag slung on one shoulder, books under an arm and the pair of spectacles resting calmly on the bridge of his nose was causing him to look like a boring bookworm.
He heard a familiar voice come from the distant.
"Fayt!"
The boy hastily turned.
Running towards him was a young girl around his age, with long hazel-brown hair that danced up and down as she ran. Her green eyes sparkled with excitement as her lips broke into a wide and pretty smile. An arm waved wildly with energy as she increased her speed, her skirt flying carelessly about. Everything about her was neat and tidy; her adorned pink uniform gave the impression that it must've taken ages to iron while hair was carefully combed, fastened neatly with a pin by the side.
"Sophia," Fayt waved cheerfully back. The girl had been one of his greatest friends for as long as he can remember, owing to her pleasant, helpful and undiscriminating attitude, and to the fact that they were once neighbours. Unlike himself, his neighbour was amazingly rich—her father owned a few estates, properties and three mansions, all of which are very well equipped, and as the only child of the family Sophia was heiress to all of them. Despite all the riches, however, Sophia never failed to treat people with respect, impressing everyone by how well-mannered she was. She paused and panted slightly as she caught up with her blue-haired friend.
"Is anything the matter?" Fayt inquired politely.
"Oh, nothing," the young girl answered. "It's just that…um…we rarely have the opportunity to see each other and…I…was just wondering how you are doing."
Fayt noticed a deep blush creep up the girl's soft cheeks. "Thanks for your concern," he smiled. "I'm doing great, how are you?"
"Life's been very hectic. What with the upcoming tests and all…" the volume of her voice dropped noticeably all of a sudden. Fayt saw too that the girl was fidgeting nervously.
"I-is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.
Sophia jumped at the remark. Golly, was she that obvious? "Oh, no, nothing at all! I was just wondering…um…if you're…free later on?"
"Oh," Fayt chuckled. "I'm afraid not. You see, I've recently taken up a tutoring job…"
"What!" the girl exclaimed. "I mean, er…really? How's…everything?"
Fayt paused to give the question some thought. His mind brought back images of various tuition sessions with the Wicked One—though they appeared well on the surface, Fayt knew that deep down he was actually fearful of the consequences ahead of him, and hence tried his best not to annoy Albel too much. Plenty were moments of frustration whenever Albel misbehaved during lessons, and there was also the lunch session which clearly displayed the swordsman's distrust towards him, as towards everyone else. Albel had conjured a barricaded himself in a high, formidable wall, and whatever Fayt was doing so far had not amounted to much—really, how was his relationship with Albel Nox?
"I'm managing," Fayt answered, half-lying through his teeth. He would not want his girlfriend to worry about him.
"Is she a very pretty girl?" Sophia asked, trying her best to hide her fears.
"Oh no," Fayt laughed. "He's a very handsome young man, in fact."
Handsome. Fayt pondered overwhere he had gotten that word from. His mind now conjured the image of Albel from the last lunch session before reminding him of his student's comical look when he had lemonade all over his prized skirt. Although the latter caused him to giggle, Fayt had to admit that the swordsman is rather good-looking—if only he could have a better attitude.
There was undisguised relief, however, in Sophia's voice. "I see," she giggled.
"I have to go now," Fayt spoke, looking at his old watch. "Class is starting soon, and I wouldn't like to be late. See you later, Sophia."
"Oh, do wait but a moment. Um…"she hurriedly dug her hands into the contents of her brown-and-pink rucksack and fished out a small canvas bag. "Here you go. I had a bit of time yesterday and tried a little baking." She pressed the bag into Fayt's hands.
Fayt's emerald eyes sparkled shades and stars, his lips curving into a delighted smile. "Is this…for me?"
Sophia nodded earnestly. Fayt's face shone as he opened the bag to have the fragrance of cookies waft pleasantly through his nostrils. The cookies came in various shapes and sizes with generous amounts of chocolate chips and nuts, painstakingly baked to a mouth-watering golden brown.
"These look absolutely great!" Fayt praised gratefully, smiling delightedly at the bashful girl. "Thank you very much!"
At the comment Sophia turned pink with pleasure. Either that or she was blushing very deeply. Her heart throbbed so quickly and loudly she was afraid her blue-haired friend could hear it. "Um…don't mention it! I think you'd better go, before it gets late…"
"See you sometime soon," Fayt said, bidding the brown-haired girl goodbye in a polite fashion. "Thank you very much for the cookies."
"It's my pleasure," Sophia replied, returning the blue-haired boy's smile. "Enjoy your lessons."
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Albel the Wicked was in a dilemma.
He had checked his timetable against that of Fayt Leingod's class and found out that their lunch break that day fell on the same period.
That spelt a high chance of the same Fayt Leingod disturbing his wonderful recess, for the smaller swordsman had proved the taller one to be capable of somehow deducing which tree the latter would be on every occasion. Grudgingly and to avoid having to listen to the silly kid's rambles he had once, very reluctantly, moved from the tallest tree to the next tallest one only to have Fayt send him tumbling down as usual on the first kick. It appeared virtually impossible to deceive those emerald-green eyes. Now, lunch break was speedily approaching and he had not thought of a way to rid himself of Fayt Leingod.
His bum certainly hurts and, as you can see, Albel the Wicked was facing a dilemma.
A flash of brilliance lit up in his head, and suddenly, he thought of a plan considered brilliant for something thought up by Albel Nox!
"Of course," he muttered to himself. He could always cling hard on to a tree and ensure that he does not fall when Fayt kicks it, thus fooling the silly kid that he was not on the tree while he actually was! Then the boy would continue to kick the rest of the trees and leave with disappointment upon realising that the clever Albel Nox was not on them either, and Albel could laugh his head out with glee at the boy's stupidity while bathing himself in the glory of his genius when Fayt had foolishly left the clearing. My, this does seem like a perfect plan! And only the mighty Albel was able to think of it.
"Of course," the Wicked One repeated evilly. Fayt had been making sport of the dark-haired swordsman since he appeared. Now, Albel Nox would have his revenge.
The sound of the bell signalled that it was time for Albel Nox to cleverly execute his plan. The blood-eyed youth's face shone radiance as he darted swiftly to his station and secured his position before the arrival of Fayt Leingod. He pierced his sword into the thick trunk of the school's tallest tree and gripped the handle tightly while steadying himself on a sturdy branch. He leaned in an angle that allowed him a movement aligned with that of the tree to avoid detection should he titter slightly when the tree vibrates. Well-concealed from sight below but able to survey bits of the clearing above, the swordsman felt satisfied with his position and was praising himself for it when he heard footsteps echoing from the distance.
As expected, those footsteps belonged to Yours Truly.
"Aaaalbeeel," Fayt called out sweetly. "Kindly come down before I make you do so myself."
Silence, but Fayt had obviously expected that.
He carefully placed his lunch on a bench before scrutinising the crown of every tree.
Here he comes, Albel thought, bracing himself for the impending impact.
Fayt adjusted his leg greaves, kicked the air lightly for a few times and took a deep breath.
WHAM!
The tree in front of him shook violently and leaves fell like a downpour from the sky. The blue-haired boy lightly brushed off the leaves from his head and body as he waited for Albel to descend in the usual manner.
But no, Albel did not fall.
Gotcha, the dark-haired swordsman thought. A wide, malicious grin spread across his face. His eyes blazed triumphantly as he watched the boy eagerly, anticipating some foolish acts, which he would gloat over to his heart's content later. He saw the boy ready himself to give a second kick. Ha! He cackled silently in his head. It's futile, you foolish maggot, for no matter how many times you kick this tree, my grip is steady and I won't fall…
WHAM!
The next kick produced a different effect. The vibration had caused his leg to land on a patch of soft, moist algae, and Albel soon felt his entire body slip carelessly from the branch he was on and down…
THUMP.
"Curse you, Leingod."
"C'mon, Albel, let's have lunch like normal students."
A deathly silence fell on the already gloomy place as both of them took their usual places on the stone bench. Fayt, as always, was first to start a conversation.
"Have you received your test paper?" he asked.
"Which one?" was Albel's surly reply.
"The math test we worked on earlier, of course." Fayt went on. "I'm curious to see what your marks would be."
"Are you trying to mock me, you smart little maggot?" Albel glared distastefully at the youth seated next to him.
"Oh no, never," Fayt laughed easily. He had accustomed himself to the Wicked One's foul language and considered it a permanent part of Albel Nox. After all, Albel wouldn't be Albel without his curses and death glares, would he? "So, how's the test?"
Albel silently passed the eager emerald-eyed boy something that appeared to be his test paper.
"Hey, you did retrieve it after all," he chirped. "Let's see…your score is twenty-three…and this paper is…out of forty!"
Fayt nearly choked on his food. He flipped the pages vigorously and repeatedly checked the paper, making mental calculations of the marks written on each page. The boy could express only astonishment as he read the words 'Well done!', written in bold, capital letters next to a hastily sketched smiling face. He pinched his face—he wasn't dreaming, was he?
"Albel, you passed?"
The referred party merely shrugged as he popped a slice of tomato into his mouth.
"My goodness, you passed a math test!"
"So?" Albel's tone indicated nonchalance.
"This is something worth celebrating!" Fayt rejoiced, recalling the red, single-digit marks he had seen on Albel's previous test papers. "Albel, you should be proud of yourself!"
The dark-haired swordsman twitched. "Whatever for?"
"Albel, what reward would you like?"
"Huh?" The dangerous glow in Albel's crimson eyes diminished to regenerate the familiar puzzled expression his tutor would find plastered on his face.
"A proper reward is in order!" Fayt declared. "You know, to reward you for your efforts!"
"Then let's have a duel," Albel suggested, standing up and unsheathing his sword eagerly.
"Hey, why don't we go to the cinema?" Fayt chirped, ignoring Albel's previous comment. "Is there any show you'd like to watch?"
"A what!" Albel asked, incredulous.
"A cinema—you know, to watch a movie…" his voice trailed off. "Albel, do you know what a cinema is?"
"Those places showing cheesy romance shows?" Albel spat in apparent disgust. "Bah. Such places are for sissies."
Fayt's jaw dropped a second time. "Albel, you've never been to a cinema?" he asked, aghast.
"I have been!" the swordsman snapped quickly.
"Gracious me, then you must go to one!" Fayt declared, excitement written all over his face. "It's decided, then! I'll get a couple of reservations!"
"Leingod, are you listening to me?"
"It'll be just the two of us—you're not good with people, are you?"
"I never said—"
"Oh, there goes the bell! See you this Sunday, then, Albel, and try not to be late!"
"Wait a minute, I never said—" but before Albel could finish his sentence, the euphoric boy had jumped and dashed off in exhilaration, leaving a cloud of dust behind.
