He couldn't still like her.

It was impossible.

After detention, Rena found herself absently removing the padlock from her bicycle from its parking spot. The entire time she was writing that 500-word self-reflection essay in detention, her mind just wouldn't stop mulling over the confession sixth-grade Sebastian had given her. Four years was enough time for a person to get over someone, right?

In the back of her mind, a small chiding voice said, Sure, just like you got over Edward over the years.

She winced.

Her phone vibrated again—probably another text from Aly—and she pulled it out.

To her surprise, it wasn't. It was from Sebastian.

Sebastian: Homework successfully
delivered, courtesy of yours truly :)
P.S. can confirm that she's really
sick. She looked green.

Rena forced herself not to smile as she sent him a quick reply.

Rena: Thanks, Seb! I really
appreciate your help :D

Then she opened Aly's chat log, which Aly had spammed over the course of her detention in which she'd been unable to reply.

Rena had shot Aly a quick message right before she entered the room, notifying her best friend of Sebastian's little errand.

Rena: Aly, I have detention today
so I got Sebastian to bring your
notes to your house. He offered
to help, so try not to bicker with
him too much, okay?

Aly: What?! That loser?!
Uuuugh fine, I don't have any
energy to fight with him, anyway.

Aly: Ugh, he really came to
my house! I didn't think he'd
actually do it.

Aly: I feel like he's up to
something, Rena.

Aly: His mouth wasn't as foul
as it normally is.

Aly: Or am I hallucinating
because I can't seem to stop
throwing up

She couldn't stop grinning at the texts, so rife with suspicion they were. The fact that Sebastian had been less than scathing to Aly surprised her, however. Maybe he'd held back on account of her obvious discomfort.

Aly had stopped messaging her after that, and Rena assumed that her best friend was probably sleeping off her illness. She needed the rest, anyway. Rena decided to wait a few more hours before replying her in case she disturbed her sleep with a text alert.

Another text came in right as she was about to stow it back in her bag.

Sebastian: Don't mention it,
Ren. I'm happy to help you :)

For some reason, a spike of guilt prodded at her when she read that. She couldn't find any words to reply him, so she placed her phone back in her bag.

As she got on her bicycle, Rena made up her mind not to think about anything on the way home. She was simply going to enjoy the enticing spring breeze on her face.

--------------------------------------------------

It was after dinner when her phone received another text message.

Rena was cozily snuggled in her comforter with a novel when a sharp text notification sound rang from her study desk.

She scrambled for it, wondering who it was.

Aly was sick, and Rena doubted she had the energy to do much texting.

To her surprise, it was from Sebastian.

Sebastian: Hey, do you want to
finish hearing the story from
earlier?

Rena couldn't believe that excitement actually bloomed in her at the mention of the story. Her poor teacher—okay, he was admittedly a little too strict—got rejected, and she wanted to hear the details. She chalked it up to Sebastian's good storytelling skills.

  Rena: Sure!

Sebastian: Okay, so

A minute passed as she waited for Sebastian to finish composing his sure-to-be lengthy message. Rena hopped back onto her bed and made herself comfortable, leaning against one of her pillows.

Sebastian: Actually, it's kind of
too long to type. Maybe I'll tell
you tomorrow if I get the chance.

She stared at her phone in horror. All that hype for nothing?

Sure, it was probably going to be a bit tedious for him to type everything, but then he shouldn't have dangled it in front of her to begin with. Rena felt an itch in her brain that screamed at her for the unreasonable cliffhanger.

I was really looking forward to it, too...

Before it really registered in her brain what she was doing, Rena began typing.

Rena: Or you could call me if
you're not too busy?

The message was sent before she realized what she'd done.

She had just asked Sebastian to call her. They were friends, but they weren't that close.

Sebastian: Sure :)

And then her phone was ringing in her hands, with the words Sebastian calling shown on the screen. Shakily, she swiped across the screen to pick up the call.

"H-hello, Seb," she managed.

"Hey, Ren," he said, and his cheerful voice put a tentative smile on her own face. "Sorry, I just realized that the story was way too long to type out. Anyway, where did I stop today?"

Sebastian's outgoing personality made him was easy to talk to, even for her.

"Um, I think Miss Thompson had just r-rejected Mr. Henderson," Rena said.

"Oh, yeah! Okay, I remember now."

Rena settled back down her bed, with her back to the wall and her legs crossed. Pulling her pillow onto her lap, she made herself cozy as Sebastian began talking.

"After she turned him down, Mr. Henderson freaked out and said that she should give him a chance because he thought they could really be good together."

She stifled a laugh. "What? But he has to be at least t-twenty years older than her!"

"I guess the age gap wasn't something that really bothered him." Sebastian's snort was loud, even over the phone. "After that, she told him to save his breath for someone who cared and then walked away. Mr. Henderson was staring at her like a goldfish, and Asher ran away before he could see him."

"Wow," Rena said, more than a little speechless at what he'd told her.

"Right?" Sebastian said. "I'm not surprised Mr. Henderson lost his temper in class today. The rejection was probably too much."

"P-probably," she agreed, nodding before remembering that he couldn't see her.

"Anyway," he said, "how are you lately? Is everything okay?"

Her breath hitched at the odd tone that had just entered his voice. "Huh? What do y-you mean?"

"You've seemed a bit down the past few days. Did something happen?"

Had she been that obvious?

The way Edward's unsmiling face flashed across her mind's eye for the briefest of seconds sent a painful twinge through her heart.

"Um," she said, unsure if she wanted to say anything about it.

After all, her acquaintanceship with Sebastian wasn't the kind of close friendship she had with Aly. She hadn't even told Naomi or Samantha about the awkwardness that had transpired between Edward and her.

"It's okay if you're not comfortable with sharing it," came his reassuring voice through the line. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm here if you ever need to talk to someone."

It sounded so soothing that her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. Then she had to snap them open, because all she saw was blond hair and a blue eye.

"Thank you, Seb," she managed, shifting around on her bed so that she was lying down. "I a-appreciate that."

"No problem. Sorry, Ren, I have to go now. My little brother's about to knock my door down if I don't open it. See you in school tomorrow!"

"Sure," she said, staring up at the blank ceiling of her bedroom. "See you tomorrow."

It hurt that closing her eyes conjured endless images of Edward's handsome face—handsome in spite of the perpetual glaring, handsome in spite of the casual way he'd hit her in the gut with his question, handsome in spite of the coldness in his stare.

She knew that he didn't like her.

She knew that his question was unfair.

Why do you like me?

She let out a laugh that ended in a sigh because in spite of all that, she still saw him everywhere in her dreams.