Noon time….

Finally, it’s lunch time!

Helbram headed towards canteen to buy his food since he failed to prepare his lunchbox early morning.

So, he ordered Milk and of course, his lunch.

As he swipes his ID, the price amount is reflected and it hurts both his eyes and heart.

“I guess this is what they say, ‘Once you started, there’s no turning back’.”

So, he starts looking for any vacant seat. It just so happens there’s a spacious one so, he walks towards it to eat.

Meanwhile....

Rose and Bryan were eating, together. They put their dishes at the washing tray and about to separate ways but they saw Helbram, who's eating by himself. Both exchanges look and decides to sit with him.

“Oh? Not able to prepare lunchbox, for real this time, eh?”

Bryan gave him a smug.

“Dude, that’s second time ya’know!”

But Helbram didn’t react and keep eating. Bryan looked at Rose, confused, so the woman stepped in.

“Hel, I heard you didn’t ace your physics quiz or even secured a spot in top 3.”

Rose closed her distance to his.

“Is there something bothering you?”

Helbram hasn’t replied and keep eating. Bryan and Rose exchange look once more.

“Hey, say something Helbram.”

Just then, Fredrick and his gang came.

“Hey, can’t you hear your friends pleaded you?”

Guy(1) asked with a smug, still, Helbram didn’t react. Fredrick steps in, acting all goody.

“Leave him be, guys.” He motioned his hand. “I heard that nerds like him likes to drink milk. So, let him enjoy it.”

He focused his attention to Rose.

“Eyy? Rose! I didn’t expect to see you here!?”

Rose gasped.

"Me too.” She awkwardly laughs.

"Hey? Me and the group gonna hang out at the seafood restaurant. Everyone’s eager to hang around with you and share stuffs regarding the Abomination. Wanna join?”

Helbram's eavesdropping them.

“I guess I need to pass for now. The SSC errands are piling up so I need to be there to set things in order.”

Fredrick shrugs. “I see. Well, I’ll wait for you at the exit and escort you to the SSC office instead.”

Helbram clicked his teeth and Bryan noticed right away, that slight reaction from the boy, still, he tends to remain quiet.

As for Rose, she shakes both her head and hands.

“No, no! I’m okay! No need to escort me!”

Fredrick starts getting clingy.

“Come on, don’t be shy!”

Rose stays away from him. “I really mean it!”

Fredrick sighs and grabbed her hand. “C’mon Rose, we may not be able to invite you to a restaurant, at least, let us escort you to your office.”

Rose felt embarrassed and is left without a choice.

“I’ll… I’ll be taking my leave now, bye-bye Bryan, Hel!”

Fredrick, Rose, and his buddies left, leaving only Bryan and Helbram.

Here on out, their mood became qietly awkward. So, Bryan tried to break that silence.

“So, Helbram, what are you gonna do with your free time?”

Helbram halts.

“You know already what I'll do.”

Bryan felt awkward.

“Oh, usual Helbram stuffs. Okay.”

Helbram continue eating but Bryan is concerned.

"Did I hear it right? I'm sure he clicked his teeth. Could it possibly be, he's —"

He wondered as he watched Helbram eat.

Afternoon…

Around 1 P.M., they're staying at the roof top. The mood is still awkwardly silent but it’s not the same as that in canteen. This gave Bryan a chance.

“Bro, since it’s just the two of us. Don’t you think it’s about time you share what’s been troubling you lately?”

He looks at Helbram.

“You see, if you keep it yourself, it'll only drive you insane.”

He fixes his composure. “Like this for example. You had stomach pain. You choose to hid it, thinking it’s only a simple stomach ache but it turns out it’s an Appendicitis.”

Helbram’s listening.

“So, tell me bro, what troubles you lately? Don't worry, I’ll listen.”

Helbram sighs.

“Say Bryan… about our major quiz, I'm going to ask you relating to it.”

Bryan quickly took his pen, paper, and scientific calculator. Helbram raised a brow.

“What in Tophet are you doing?”

“You said that you’ll gonna ask in regards to our Major subject quiz, no? So, I brought my stuffs and waiting for you to speak.”

Helbram made a facepalm.

“No, no! *sigh* It’s not the Physics related question, just—personal stuffs, okay?”

Bryan takes time to process and hid his stuffs.

“Oh my? Why didn’t you say so?”

He laughs and Helbram just give him a side-eye.

“Say Bryan, do you believe that Frederick will ace it up?”

Bryan rubs his chin.

“Well, can’t say for sure. That guy just transferred to our school. So, can’t tell much. But there’s one thing that’s certain, his performance in every subject were– just right.”

Helbram’s listening.

“Don’t get me wrong! I’m worst at judging but since I cannot support the answer to your question, careful judgement is a must.”

Helbram look up.

“I see.”

Bryan put both his arms at his back. “Anyways bro, your answer sheet, I see erasures and I rarely see you do that. What’s wrong? That’s one heck of an out-of-character move ya’know.”

Helbram sighs. “It is… I don’t intend making erasures.”

“Then what’s the reason?”

Helbram's shows a low in spirit energy.

“Fredrick tells me to.”

Bryan gasped. “Him?! Dang! I knew something’s off about him, acing that difficult quiz! We should report such behavior to our major teacher and let him face his consequences!”

Helbram shrug. “Won’t bother about that.”

He relaxed.

“He’ll get what he deserves afterwards.”

Bryan looked at him with concern.

“Bro…”

1 week before the cultural fest month….

At afternoon, the campus became busier as ever; The teachers rarely meet with their students due to hectic schedule. Everyone’s busy with their rehearsals, and many more, especially the Supreme Student Council.

Rose doesn’t have much time discussing about the Abomination and put all her attention to the upcoming event, which somehow gave Helbram a relief. Rose split the council into their respective tasks, to speed things up and run smoothly. Their section witnessed how busy Rose is, which is why, the gossips are everywhere.

“Wow! SSC Pres. really go all out with the upcoming cultural fest, isn’t she?” Student(1) looks enthralled.

“She sure is! For a lesbian, she’s quite amazing! Ahh… Why wouldn’t other lesbians be like her? She looks so cool! If only I were a male, I would’ve asked her for a date!” Student(2) nods.

"Can't you see that Rose only has interest in women? Ha!" Student(1) corrects her making Student(2) reddened in anger.  

"Why you-!"

“Since Rose is the first LGBTQ individual ran for an SSC Pres. position, the whole school are skeptical but- Bhoi oh bhoi! I’m so glad I’ve voted for her! Now, look at our school? It became livelier for 2 years straight!” Student(3) smiled.

“Agreed.”  Student(4) tapped them.

“I heard a rumor that this year’s cultural fest will be super-duper awesome! It is the most anticipated of them all!”

They all gasped.

“Really? That’s fantastic!!” Student(2) speaks out her mind.

Gossip about Rose’s feat goes on but at the roof top, Helbram and Bryan were just chilling.

“Say Bryan, did you finally made up your mind joining the roleplay? You’re quite proficient in Latin though.”

Bryan shakes his head. “Naah! I’ll pass bro. Too problematic!”

Helbram raised his brow. "Why not? History says Liam, the first man, is believed to be- Uum… sorta tall guy. I’m sure playing as him would fit ya.”

Bryan sighs. “Naah man! I’m not cut out for that great role!” He shakes his head. “Liam and Maeve, the greatest figure of our world’s history. I can’t just mess that up, ya’know?”

“I see.”

He looks at him.

“So, since you back out from roleplays, what activities caught your interest?”

Bryan’s thinking.

“I guess I’ll take cafeteria.”

Helbram raised a brow.

“Cafeteria? I thought you’ll participate in culinary contest?”

Bryan looks enthusiastic. “Of course, I will! But I can still manage to do both! After all, their schedules are manageable!”

Helbram gave him a suspicious glare.

“Anyways, how about you Helbram? What event has caught your eye? I assume it’ll be Math and Science Quiz contest.”

“I'm sure you will!”

Helbram shrugs.

“Don’t bother. I didn’t even sign up for it.”

Bryan made a jaw drop.

“You– what?! But the prices are promising!”

“No matter what, I’ve decided not to participate. I’ve lost interest and I gotta make use of my time to advance study for the upcoming College Entrance exam. For my dream course.”

Bryan looks slightly disappointed but tried to be blissful.

“Oh? You mean, Criminology, right?”

Helbram nods.

“If so, why not take HUMSS in the first place?! You could’ve known more and gave you solid foundation to your dream course!”

Helbram scoffs. “I want to relax and enjoy my last moments of being a Senior High Student.”

A crow of awkwardness flew by.

“You’re frigging nuts! And weird.”

Helbram rummaged at bag and then, he flinched.

“Oh? I forgot to return the item I borrowed from Rose, months ago.”

Bryan looks intrigued.

“What item?”

Helbram showed him the color pencil case.

“Color pencil case?”

Helbram held it. “Yeah, also it contains variety of color pencil. Rose is a great artist so, I’ll be returning it to her.”

“Wait, how did you borrow her belongings?”

Helbram shows hint of blushing and Bryan’s skeptical eyes are locked to his.

“Well, Rose helped me with Mikhail’s drawing activity at our house. And since she’s in a hurry back then, she left her color pencils behind.”

Bryan sighs. “I see. It’s been a while since I last met your lil’ bro though.”

Helbram stood up and cleaned himself.

“So, I’ll be taking my leave.”

 Helbram bids farewell, and start looking for Rose.

At the Stairs…

Rose’s heading towards the Roof top.

“I need to check the entire campus and how the decoration’s going. We have 1 week to spare for the cultural fest next month.”

Fredrick came out from the last floor’s exit, there, he saw Rose.

“Rose! I didn’t expect to see you here!”

Rose flinched. “Likewise! What are you doing here?”

Fredrick goes in front of Rose. “Oh, I was on my way to meet up with my buddies, just at the ground floor!”

“I see.”

Fredrick looks at her, intently.

“It’s been a while since we last hang out with everyone. Surely, being an SSC Pres is not an easy feat.”

Rose tugs her hair and put it behind her ear.

“Yeah.”

Helbram’s about to go down, but below, he saw Rose and Fredrick being too close.

Devastated, he goes back to the roof top with Bryan. Bryan's shocked to see Helbram again.

 “Wait, I thought you’ll gonna return the color pencil to Rose?”

Helbram frustratedly put the case inside his bag and lie on the ground.

“I changed my mind. I’ll just rest for an entire afternoon.”

He turns his body away from Bryan.

“Don’t you dare disturb me.”

 Bryan’s confused but let him be as for Helbram, he doesn't know what to feel.

“Out of people to get stumble to, why it has to be that Fredrick scum?! Ughh!”

He wondered and tries to sleep.

Back at the stairs….

“Anyways, I hate to say this but I really need to go, Fredrick. The day’s almost ending and I need to settle things before sunset.”

Rose walk pass him.

“Oh sure! Best of luck, SSC Pres!”

He waves his hand but his gaze shifted from warm to predatory.

At the Roof top….

Rose checks the edges of the rooftop.

“I guess everything goes smoothly.”

Just then, she saw that there are people chilling at the water tank. She already had a clear thought of who they'll be so she smiled and approached them.

“Oh? Bryan and Helbram! I knew it’ll be you two!”

Bryan flinched.

“Rose! I can’t believe it’s you!”

Helbram’s ears twitches but remained quiet.

“Why are you here?!”

“Well, I want to get the full view of the campus regarding the decorations for the upcoming cultural fest.”

Bryan's eyes widened.

“Oh, I see. Well, being an SSC Pres sure is a huge work!”

Rose smiles. “It is!”

Bryan scratches his scalp.

“Good thing I didn’t win as Public Relation Officer candidate from last year’s election.”

He let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, don’t be like that!” She giggles. “I can teach you some stuffs about it.”

She clears her throat. “If Helbram is one of the SSC organization’s officers, who knows? It would be the grandest of them all.”

Helbram’s eavesdropping but tend not to react.

“Hey, Rose, Helbram here has something to return to you.”

Helbram flinched and Rose seems curious.

“Really? What will it be?”

Helbram starts to speak. “It’s about the color pencils you left months ago. Go, and take it inside my bag. I’m in no mood to talk.”

Rose has no idea why Helbram’s acting salty. So, she goes in front.

“Wha– what’s with your attitude lately, Hel?” *pouty* “Why do I feel– you’ve been avoiding me lately?”

Helbram’s avoided eye contact.

“You’re– you’re just imagining things! Also, it’s none of your business.”

Rose and Bryan exchange looks.

“Don’t tell me you're jealous?”

That word caught him off guard, making him sprung up from his sleep.

“Me?! Jealous of that Jerk?! Hmph! Stop assuming things!” He crosses his arms. “How delusional of you.”

And turn his face from her, giving a pouty look.

Rose giggles. “Anyways, as much as I want to stay and chat, duty calls.”

Helbram went back to sleep. “Hmph! Go away.”

He shoo her.

“Just take your pesky case out of my bag and leave.”

Rose smiles and go and look for the case.

Suddenly, she glimpsed a picture where the three of them, together as kids.

“Oh? You still keep this photo with you? How cute!”

Bryan takes a peek.

“Oh? Look at that?! There’s still more!”

Helbram, himself, felt seriously cringe.

“Wait! Look at this Rose! There’s a cute photo of you here! And I believe it’s from Junior High Prom!”

This made Helbram reddened his face and sprung up. He snatched the pictures.

“Alright, alright! You’ve seen more than you should!”

He put the pictures on his bag.

“Rose, just leave already!”

Rose and Bryan smiled.

“Alright!”

Rose makes her leave and Bryan give him a cunning look.

Helbram flinched. “What??!”

He barks but Bryan just leave him be.

While at the staircase, Rose touches her chest and smiled.