"Bella's not coming today." Alfred told Sei, holding up a small electrical device. There were words typed across its small screen.
They were sitting in English, waiting for the class bell to go. The room was pretty loud, and most of the students were gathered in other corners. There didn't seem to be any chance that their conversation would be overheard.
Alfred went back to looking at the small device. "She says she's trying to think of a way to tell Eduard."
Sei found that his interest was caught. "She hasn't told him yet?"
Alfred shook his head. "She was too nervous to tell him yesterday." He started hitting buttons franticly on the device.
Sei sat back and just stared straight ahead. She never told him. He thought. But, something was on his mind yesterday. He shook his head slightly, trying to figure it all out.
When Alfred finished with his strange device, Sei turned to him. "I think he already knows." He whispered.
Alfred gave him a confused look. "What?"
Before Sei could explain what he was thinking, the bell went and Mr. German took his place at the front of the room. He had a small stack of papers in his hands. "Alright class." He said, starting to pass out the papers. "I have a new assignment for you."
Half the class groaned, while the other half seemed to perk up. Sei was on neither side, as he didn't have enough information to determine whether or not the announcement was good news.
"I want you all to use your imaginations." Mr. German declared. "Reach into the farthest reaches of your mind and pull out all of your fantasies. Write them all down, then tie them together into a world. Use that world as a setting, and write your own short story."
Sei felt his blood run cold. What he got from everything Mr. German said was basically imagine what it would be like to live in another world. The assignment would have him talking non-stop with Ludwig. He wouldn't be able to write more than two lines without calling out 'Distress'.
"I would like to see a rough description of your worlds, and maybe a story treatment by Monday."
Sei was sitting quietly at his desk in Chemistry when Eduard walked in. He sat beside Sei and didn't say anything. They were clearly both deep in thought.
Then Eduard broke the silence. "You were sitting with Bella at lunch yesterday." He said, making Sei look over at him. "Uh, did she say anything… about…"
Sei groaned inwardly. He had to keep Bella's secret if Eduard didn't know, but at the same time, he wanted to know if Eduard did know. He tried to think of a way to phrase himself so that he wouldn't give anything away if Eduard didn't know. He finally decided to stick to something that everyone close to Bella would know.
"About her absence on Wednesday?" Sei prompted. "Yeah, she told us why she was absent."
"Oh." Eduard seemed both relieved and hurt. "So you know about… the little guy?"
Sei nodded.
"What do you think I should do?" Eduard asked quickly. He looked really flustered, and he was constantly pushing his glasses back into place. "I have school to worry about. If I'm distracted, my grades will slip, and then I don't get into a good post secondary school, so I won't be able to get a good job, and I won't be able to provide for my future family."
Sei was really surprised that Eduard was telling all of this to him. In less than a minute, he had said more than twice as much as he had since Sei had met him. This must really have been weighing on his mind.
"And then there's the fact that she hasn't told me yet." Eduard blurted. "Does she think I won't take it well? Does she think I'll just leave her to deal with it on her own?"
Sei forced himself to interrupt the taller boy. "If she hasn't told you yet, then how do you know?"
Eduard froze suddenly. "Um… I…" He shook his head, refusing to share his source of information.
Did he steal information from the hospital? Sei wondered. He knew that people had broken into hospital networks in the past and stolen files.
"I didn't!" Eduard suddenly said. He looked really torn, then he sighed. "Look, you're already keeping Bella's secret, right?" Sei nodded. "Do you think you could keep my secret too?" Again, Sei nodded, only this time a little hesitantly. "I, uh… I can read minds." Eduard blurted quickly.
Sei blinked in surprise. Genetic manipulation? He guessed.
Then something occurred to him. He couldn't let his mind drift to the Organization while he was around Eduard. Panicked, he quickly grabbed his bag and got to his feet. "I have to go." He said quickly before dashing out of the room.
He managed to get out just as the bell went.
