Chương 3: Stupid Genius

"WAAHHH!" I was stunned by what I saw. We were in the canteen and just in front of the counter trying to collect our meals.

"Xhem what happened?" Huzey rushed to my side when he heard me scream. "Are you hurt?" He examined every inch of me to see if I got any open wounds.

"Xhem? What's wrong? " My coach also approached me to check me out.

"WAAHHH!" I screamed again.

"Xhem? Stop it! Just tell us what's wrong!" Ziggy worriedly suggested when he also couldn't figure out what's wrong with me. "Coach, I think we need to bring her again to the clinic."

"WAAH—".

PAAACK!

A loud snap was heard when Mr. Gem hit my head with a newspaper he found somewhere. He could've sensed that I was acting silly again.

"Coach ouch! That hurts!" I stepped back and frowned. I immediately covered my head with my hand, afraid of being hit again by him.

"Why don't you tell us what's wrong instead of screaming loudly? Tell us now or I'll hit you again with these!" He said with glaring eyes. There was no annoyance in his gaze, but I could tell that he was worried with my demeanor.

"Look!" I pointed to the plates displayed in the counter. "The dessert! They have strawberry cakes for dessert!" I almost screamed in delight. I couldn't believe that the canteen was serving strawberry cakes for desserts. I was so excited and I started to salivate. I couldn't wait to have one!

PAAACK!

A loud snap was heard again. It was Ziggy who hit me with the newspaper this time.

"What's that for?" I asked him with glaring eyes. "You are so ungentle with me, Ziggy boy. Who told you to hit girls like that?" I added without withdrawing my eyes.

"You made us worry over such dessert! Just because of that strawberry cake, I almost thought of carrying you to the clinic just now." He said, trying to hold his annoyance over me.

"It's not just a simple dessert. It's a strawberry cake! Anything to do with strawberries are the greatest dish anyone can serve!" I said with my chin up and my hands on my waist.

"You two should stop now. We are about to eat dinner." That was Huzey trying to stop our nonsense argument. "No more nasty games." He said as he looked at me.

I decided to retreat and kept quiet when I saw Huzey in a serious mood. I went to collect my meal on the counter and followed the boys to the only empty table in the canteen. As we sat down to eat, Mr. Gem's phone rang. He excused himself over dinner and came back a minute after hurriedly.

"You two, come with me." He pointed out to the boys. "There is something wrong with your costumes, so the designer called me. We must meet her right now, this is an emergency. "

The boys stood up from their seats without questions. I believe they were heading to the next building where most of the costumes were made.

"Xhem, you stay here to watch over the food. We will be back in about fifteen minutes to finish our dinner." Coach added as he glanced at me.

"Will you be okay here by yourself?" Huzey asked me as they were about to leave.

Munch. Munch. Munch.

My mouth was filled with strawberry cake, so I just nodded in response. As soon as they left, I buried myself on the dessert. It was too delicious that I was able to finish a big slice right away.

"Yummy. Hmmm. I want more," I said to myself. I looked at the plates on the next chair beside me and saw Huzey's slice of strawberry cake. Since I badly wanted more, I decided to eat the boy's share of cake. Anyways, they always let me have their share when it comes to food with strawberries in it. They know how big my appetite is when it comes to strawberries.

As I was about to get Huzey's slice of strawberry cake, I saw someone standing beside me.

"Stealing someone's food?" He shook his head as he looked at me intently.

"Beast" I whispered to myself and ignored him.

"What?" I saw him sat on the corner of the same table I was sitting. The table was meant for six people and only four spaces had been taken by us. Since there was no other empty seat, he had no choice but to eat on the same table as I was.

"I said, is Loki your first name?" I asked while rolling my eyes. I took Huzey's share of cake and put it on my plate without minding him.

"Loki? Who's that?" He asked calmly as he was trying out his first bite.

"Thor's brother, the one who has powers to emerge suddenly out from nowhere." I responded sarcastically. Well indeed, they had the same qualities. This guy seemed to appear so sudden. I didn't even notice him.

I was about to eat the strawberry cake that I had been trying to eat since earlier.

"That isn't yours." He tried to stop me from taking a bite.

"So, what?"

"You aren't supposed to eat something that isn't yours." His last words halted me from taking a bite. I put down the spoonful of cake as I glanced sideways. I raised one of my eyebrows.

"Why care? I never thought you're that concerned."

"Eating someone else's food is stealin-"

"Why are you even here?" I cut him off with annoyance. I sneered at him.

I was starting to feel angry by his presence. I didn't know why, but the sight of him irritated me. He was the one that caused me such humiliation earlier and he even dared to report me to the Board. And here he was, trying to disturb me from a glorious strawberry cake dinner.

"Why are you here?" I repeated.

"Eating," he said and made another bite.

"Then just eat. Don't be too pathetic over someone else dinner, 'kay?"

"I can't believe that you are here." He put down his spoon carefully and looked at me with disbelief. "How come they allowed you to stay in the competition when your flaw was very obvious." He said suspiciously.

"I'm innocent that's why."

"Innocent? That's the least adjective to describe you"

I looked at him intently. We snarled at each other. After a minute I decided to retreat. I promised myself that I'm going to behave tonight because of the happiness that the strawberry cake brought me. Therefore, I would just let this incident pass as if it didn't happen. I composed myself and focused on my food. As I was about to take the spoonful of cake that I was about to eat earlier, I heard him again.

"Are you really gonna eat—"

Munch. Munch. Munch.

I ignored him as I swallowed my first bite of Huzey's strawberry cake. I was so angry that I managed to finish it in a minute. I took Ziggy and Coach's share right after and buried myself with it.

I saw him gawked over what I did. "Hey, that's too much!" He attempted to stop me.

"Is someone speaking? This cake is too sweet; I couldn't hear a thing" I said to myself while ignoring him.

Munch. Munch. Munch.

I don't want my strawberry dinner to be ruined by just a gorgeous beast!

GULP!

TSAP! TSAP!

I savored my last bite of the cake.

Delicious!

"I want more!" I whispered to myself. I really wanted more! Just another slice, Lord please?

I felt depressed over the fact that there was no more strawberry cake to eat. I looked around sadly as I started to salivate over the thought of it. My eyes stopped at the only strawberry cake left in the canteen. It was the beast's share of cake that was neatly placed on a small plate in front of him. It was as if the strawberry was waving its hand to me saying "Eat me. Eat me too"

"What?" He asked when he noticed me looking to his side for a while now.

A light bulb flashed as an idea came across my mind. I looked at him again and raised one of my eyebrows to and fro. I stood up for a minute after and walked away.

"Tss… crazy girl. Yeah that's right. You better walk away and stay out of my sight." He said before looking down to finish his food.

He was concentrating with his food when I suddenly sat beside him holding one of my hands to my chin. His shocked expression drew an evil grin from me.

"What?" He asked as his eyebrows rose a notch.

"Your coach called you? Look there he is!" I told him and pointed to somewhere randomly.

He rose from his seat and followed the direction of my finger. As soon as he realized that his coach was nowhere near, he looked towards me and saw how I hurriedly ate his share of strawberry cake. He was taken aback!

Munch. Munch. Munch.

Gulp! Tsap tsap!

I smiled with satisfaction from the last bite I took.

"You are so unbelievable!" He was angry, but I didn't care.

I smiled happily in front of him. I didn't care how angry he was, as long as I was able to eat the last slice of strawberry in the house. It felt like rays of sunshine were all over my face as I annoyed him by letting him see how happy and satisfied I was.

Suddenly, he placed his two heavy hands over my shoulder. He slightly bent down to meet my gaze.

"What do you think you're doing?" He said angrily.

I panicked. The smiles all over my face disappeared now.

"And what do you think you're doing too, err?" I tried to avoid his gaze.

Our current position was making me uneasy. A hot feeling rose within me again, same with what I had earlier when he brought to the clinic.

"Are you aware of the inconvenience you caused to a lot of people?" He said sternly.

"How could you say I cause too much inconvenience to 'a lot of people' when clearly, you're the only one that I'm messing with right now," I answered.

I pouted at the thought that he was so angry over a slice of strawberry cake. Is strawberry his favorite too?

His pair of catastrophic hazel eyes were now glaring with anger. He lowered down his head closer to mine.

Phew! His face was too close! This jerk! I panicked again over the idea that he might do to me the same thing that he did earlier in the clinic.

"Can you put your face away from me?"I managed to ask, while trying my best to relax.

"Why? You feel uneasy? Is that a blush I see?" He examined my face carefully with an evil grin.

"I'm not blushing, beast!"

My face was real hot. Who could've not possibly blushed in the current position that we have? His face and lips were too close to mine that one wrong move could lead to a kiss.

"Your face is as red when I carried you to the clinic earlier." He smirked.

I thought of how jerk this person was, he even managed to mention that awkward moment in the clinic to shame me more.

"It's only a makeup blush. I remember putting too much earlier," I lied to redeem myself.

Heck? Why was I blushing by the way? I couldn't even explain myself now.

"Do you find me handsome? Is that why you're blushing? I'm starting to assume you have a crush on me." He smiled devilishly when he said those words.

"F-Y-I, you're not handsome! Your face looks like an ogre! Also, I think you're the one who has an outstanding interest in me. Probably the reason why you keep bothering me! I'm starting to assume you have a crush on me!" I mimicked his last words in annoyance.

He drew his face closer as a response to what I said. This beast! Our nose met. I clearly saw his gorgeous hazel eyes shining with desire. I lowered my gaze and saw his reddish lips. I swallowed at the sight of how kissable they were. I didn't dare to move. I was afraid of the next thing he would do if I annoyed him more.

"The last person who said that I ain't handsome fell head over heels in love with me." He said in a whispery voice.

Dug-dug-dug-dug-dug.

My heart. My heart was about to explode! It felt like the whole surrounding was so hot. I couldn't help, but close my eyes to suppress the feelings. Is he going to kiss me for real this time?