4 o'clock

Amy noticed that the car of her sister's boyfriend was parked in front of their house. This would mean that her sister was home early. Excited to tell her about Kevin, she hurriedly went inside and was shocked to see everyone gathered at the living room and seemed to be having a serious conversation. They asked her to join in. Her sister held her hands and excitedly said that her boyfriend Ronnie had asked her hand for marriage and they have set the engagement date to be next month. Amy was shocked at what she heard. Aside from the fact that her sister is still too young to be engaged (she is still finishing college), she does not approve the guy. She always believed that with her sister's good looks and standards, she deserves a better looking, rich man. Ronnie was the opposite of that. On top of this, she fears that she will be losing her only friend when she marries.

Amy had always distanced herself for making friends as she knows that she will only be the target of bullies. She is aware that with her chubbiness and below society's standard looks will always be the red flag for mocking. She always felt secure in being alone and invisible to everyone. Her sister is her only friend but she will be losing her soon.

**********

Her sadness made her forget about Kevin. She went to school in a trance. She is not in her regular self today and Edmond noticed this as well. While sitting at the stairway, she remained staring at one object in deep thought. Unaware of her surroundings, she did not even notice that Edmond was at the bottom stairs staring directly at her. Confused by her trance, he walked a bit back and forth trying to capture her attention without being too obvious, with other students that are passing by. Puzzled by her no reaction, she is not in her usual spunkiness today. He somewhat felt the sadness of her face and started to wonder what is keeping her thoughts preoccupied.

A friend came to Edmond and asked what was he was trying to do and at what seemed to have captured his attention. Edmond feared that his friends might discover his new found interest and mock him; he then said to his friend:

"Nothing, let's go!"

**********

At the end of the school day, Amy prepares to leave. She glanced at her watch. It is nearing 4 o'clock. Her mind is too preoccupied with her sister's decision. She needed to clear her head and learn to accept the situation. Walking along the road, she is unmindful of her surroundings. Trees are beautifully lined up on both sides of the road under the summer sky welcoming her as she pass by but she did not notice it. Too preoccupied, she is not aware that Edmond is tailing her at the other side of the road.

She walked while in deep thought then stopped for a moment to sigh, then walked again. Edmond did the same movement to be unnoticed. Her stomach started to rumble. She forgot about lunch and her lunch pack is still untouched. Passing by a convenience store, she went in and sat at the corner table facing the glass wall. She unpacked her lunch and started to eat. She went by the food counter to get some free seasonings and some tissues and returned to the table to start eating. Edmond went in also but Amy did not notice him. He bought noodles and sat at the other end of the table facing also the glass wall opposite Amy. They are now seated end to end of the bench.

Amy noticed the sky from the glass wall and started to put her finger together in a square as if framing the view like a picture. Edmond got curious about what she was doing and tried to look at what she was seeing. Unable to figure out what she was looking at, he spoke to her:

"What is it? There's nothing there."

Amy heard the voice and looked at the direction where it came from. Shocked at seeing him there she said:

"You!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Why are you here?"

Edmond replied: "Eating as well (pointing at his noodles)."

"This, I bought from this store".

"So I have the right to eat here."

"You, you did not buy here and yet you are using their space and their seasonings."

"You even used their tissues!" (Pointing at the used tissues)

Amy looked at her food and realized that he was right. She suddenly felt shame. Biting her lips, she cleared up her lunch pack. She did not finish her food and started to leave. Edmond happy to annoy her again. He just laughed at himself and did not follow her anymore.