Chapter 178 - Alone with Edward

Scarlet was nervous. First, it was Mandy. Then, even Alicia left. Now, she was left in the quiet room with only Edward with her.

The teen remained serious as he looked through her assignment requirements and some of the materials posted on the course forum uploaded by the lecturer in her absence. Edward was a quiet person and had a serious face. Scarlet who wanted to get to know him better found it difficult to start a conversation at all. The mood in the room was heavy and the writer secretly wished that Alicia didn't organise the study session even if she meant well. Scarlet was having a hard time sitting still as Edward kept inching nearer to her.

Edward kept studying Scarlet's reactions from the corner of his eye while looking through the bullshit assignment that the lecturer gave. This kind of thing was easily no difficulty for someone like Scarlet who was in the Special Class with Elfie. For some reason, he couldn't help but wonder why Alicia would pull him and Scarlet into a study session without using the group chat Edarlet. 

Then, it clicked.

Edward clicked his tongue in annoyance when he realised Alicia's ploy. The nosy woman planned this from the very beginning to hook them up ever since they found out about his crush on her. He should have been more careful about that but it was no use crying over spilt milk.

Scarlet jumped when Edward had a menacing look on his face as if he was plotting murder. The writer wanted to hop away as quickly as she could with how predatory Edward was behaving. She almost could not believe this was the same person who helped her with her laptop bag and escorted her to class.

The sudden movement beside him jolted Edward back to his senses. Both of them locked eyes in surprise at each other's reactions and were unable to tear their gaze away from the other party until they heard footsteps approaching from outside. Quickly, they settled into an awkward mood, with Scarlet looking away and Edward looking back at the laptop but not really focussing on the words.

Once the footsteps passed, only the sound of the air-conditioning humming could be heard. Scarlet shivered. For some reason, it was colder today than it was yesterday. She was still wearing a long-sleeved hoodie so she did not bring a jacket with her.

Edward immediately noticed it and had an idea. It might be out of his character but since he'd made so many exceptions for Scarlet ever since he met her as Edward Bayon, he might as well continue doing what he wanted to do without caring about his public image as he attended school. Alicia and Mandy can go hug a tree for all they want if they have a problem with him showering her with affection and treating her well. Besides, compared to this angel, those two women are like devils. Edward didn't need to show any compassion or consideration for them.

Scarlet was doing her best to ignore the chill and focus on her assignment. The task wasn't difficult but drafting out the report outline would take time. She couldn't do any research yet because Edward was still using her laptop but it was becoming slightly harder to focus with shivers wracking her body.

A soft and dark-coloured sweater that smelled exactly like Edward was dr.a.p.ed around her shoulders and Scarlet looked up from her notebook in surprise. Edward had to keep his lips from turning upwards when Scarlet looked at him with wide eyes in surprise at his gesture. He tried to play it cool even though there were fireworks going on in his mind. It might be a little disgusting to think that he would employ the moves used in rom-com films to win his girl but Edward shoved his pride aside. He was going to exploit every opportunity he could get to better himself in her eyes when he could with the opportunity that Alicia and her hags created for him.

Being alone with Edward was both a thrilling and disconcerting feeling or the writer. The nicer Edward treats her, the more Scarlet was inclined to misunderstand his kindness as favouritism and fondness only special for her. Logically, Scarlet tried to remind her heart that Edward was only being a gentleman and that there was nothing special about his actions. However, her stubborn heart clung onto the hopes that Edward might feel the same way she did without listening to her logic.

Edward observed how Scarlet seemed confused for a moment with a bashful small smile but that small smile quickly disappeared and a light frown replaced her earlier static expression as she clutched onto this sweater with tiny hands and thanked him in an even tinier voice. The troubled expression and the deliberate avoidance to meet his eyes made Edward falter. Did he trigger a landmine by accident? Seeing that Scarlet returned to her work, Edward turned his focus back to reading up on the assignment lecture slides, feeling lost.

Outside the room, Alicia and Mandy held back their groans and wanted to scream in frustration. It had been almost half an hour since they left Edward alone with Scarlet. As the man, shouldn't Edward be more active in pursuing his interest? Why did he give up after one try? Also, Scarlet looked a little down today. Perhaps they caught her on a bad day. This library surprise date idea wasn't going too well.

"We need a plan B," Alicia whispered and Mandy agreed.

Silently, both girls crept away and brainstormed how else they could help the two stubborn people break the ice. Scarlet was very easy to talk to and opened up fairly quickly to Alicia and her girls even though the writer was still painfully shy. Alicia's loud personality made it easy for Scarlet to take the backseat and hang out with the group. However, Edward was a loner who kept mostly to himself even in Alicia's group. If not for the social butterfly's persistence to include him in social activities, Edward would probably rot at home with whatever he did as Edward. Alicia frowned. She was wrong for assuming that Edward would change just because he was with Scarlet. Sure, he did take initiative on other things but Edward was a serious person.

"Do you think they're just going to complete the stupid assignment and head home separately?" Mandy asked.

Alicia sighed. "Most likely. Scarlet's too young and innocent to know how to play the dating game and Edward's a rare species of man who doesn't know how to flirt. I say if we don't give the both of them some help, this love of theirs would never blossom."

Mandy agreed. "I think I have an idea," the bespectacled teen grinned and shared her idea with Alicia.

Impressed by how sneaky her friend could be, Alicia immediately agreed. "Who would have known the weather forecast would be good for something? I'll say, this must be pre-planned by heaven. It's a sign that the gods are helping us! You booked the room until five in the evening, right? Once I collect the printouts and get us some drinks I am going to head home. There's a party at Jake's tonight so I'm going to use this as an excuse to bail. If you stay, I trust that you know how to get them to head back together."

Rolling her eyes, Mandy told Alicia to hurry with the printouts and drinks. "Remember, they like black coffee. Don't add any sugar or milk like you did the last time. Edward was in a foul mood for the rest of the day after drinking it."

The social butterfly cringed at the memory. "Don't worry, I don't make the same mistake twice. Now hurry up before they get suspicious!"

The bespectacled teen watched as her friend left in a hurry to buy some drinks for them and collect the printout notes. She shook her head with a smile. Alicia could be really dumb at times but she always meant well. Seeing how Edward was trying his best to create an opportunity with his guarded love interest, Mandy decided to spend an extra ten minutes browsing through some of the more interesting books before she headed back to the meeting room.

Unlike Alicia's opinions about Edward being passive, Mandy thought that Edward was doing a good job. Giving Scarlet his jacket when she was obviously cold and trying to endure it in silence was a good move. The problem didn't lie with Edward. In Mandy's eyes, Scarlet was the one who was guarded against Edward who had already made the first move and left the ball in her court. All the time that Edward initiated something, it always ended there simply because Scarlet never gave Edward the chance to continue further.

Still, it was obvious to Mandy that Scarlet also liked Edward even if she did a better job at hiding it than Edward. Compared to Alicia and Beatrice or Mike, Mandy was rather observant even if she wasn't as observant as Edward. Sometimes at lunch, she would notice Scarlet texting someone while looking in Edward's direction with a complicated look. Although she did not know what was holding Scarlet back, she had a feeling that Edward wouldn't give up just because Scarlet didn't pick up on his advancements.

In fact, Mandy was very certain that once Edward got through Scarlet's walls, it would be their turn to have to complain about having to watch a couple flaunt their love to everyone else who was still single. With a smirk, Mandy gathered the books for Scarlet's research and headed for the meeting room.