Quiet Cunning Man

Even though Maxene is not looking, she knows the person who owns that voice. Melinda was there, and she appeared delighted to see them. Meanwhile, behind her was Rosie, who didn't seem to like the situation.

"Melinda, Rosie," Ridger uttered, trying his best to smile at them. Meanwhile, Nathan and Dave gave each other a meaningful glance. On the other hand, the awkward circumstance Ridger and Rosie were in made Maxene want to chuckle, but she had to maintain her expression so she would seem clueless.

Rosie just gave him a smile and looked away. She still seemed embarrassed by what she did last time, but she seemed to be trying her best not to run away.

"What brought you here? I thought you didn't like to eat here?" Lianey asked them, then took a sip of her juice. She's looking back from Rosie to Ridger as if she noticed that there was something different about the two as if something happened; after all, she's the only clueless one.

Melinda chuckled and said, "You're wrong. We always wanted to eat here too, but it's always crowded. Right, Rosie?" She turned to Rosie while smiling from ear to ear.

"Yeah. Of course," she said in a faint voice and smiled at them.

Melinda looked at Maxene, who was peacefully sipping her coffee, and said, "Can you please move to the corner? And you too, Lianey? We would like to sit here. We'll just add another chair." She pointed at the chair in front of Ridger, beside Nathan, who was in the other corner of the table.

Lianey frowned at Melinda, annoyed by what she said. She badly wants to tell Melinda that she doesn't want to, but she doesn't want to humiliate her brother. Maxene and Lianey looked at each other and decided to move. Melinda added a chair from another table that no one was sitting at.

"You can sit here, Rosie, "Melinda told Rosie, pointing at the chair in front of Ridger, while Melinda sat in the chair beside Nathan happily. "Hi, Nathan," she uttered.

Nathan just nodded at her and continued eating his food. The situation here was pretty obvious to Maxene. Melinda liked Nathan, which is why she insisted on eating here while she wanted to do the same with Ridger and Rosie.

"Uhm, hi," Rosie uttered and smiled at Ridger, probably to ease the awkwardness between them.

"Have you two placed your orders?" Ridger asked as he was about to eat his food as well.

Melinda's eyes widened as if she had forgotten to order. "O-oh... yeah. We forgot about that," she answered and bit her lower lip.

Meanwhile, Lianey chuckled after hearing what she said. She knew that they weren't really interested in the food here but in the men that were eating there, which were Nathan and Ridger. They were too obvious.

Aside from that, they forgot that this was a self-service place. "Do we have to go there to take our orders?" she asked, pointing at the counter.

"Uhm, yeah, the counter won't go to you," Lianey replied while smiling, but she stopped when she saw her brother looking at her sternly.

Ridger sighed and stated, "I'm going to place your orders. What do you want to eat?" which upset Lianey because they interrupted Ridger's meal.

Rosie and Melinda looked at each other because they didn't know what food was being served here, so Rosie looked at Ridger and responded, "We'll just order the same as yours." She was about to hand him her money, but he instantly stopped her.

"It's fine. It's on me," he said and left. Ridger paid for everyone's meal today, but Rosie and Melinda seemed to misunderstand that, making Dave and Nathan glance at each other again.

Lianey on the other hand, cleared her throat and uttered, "My brother is so nice for treating us all today. Right, Max?" she turned at Max and smiled.

Maxene understood that and nodded. "Yeah. I should treat him next time," she responded casually and ate her fries. She took a glance at Rosie and Melinda who both seemed dismayed.

Dave looked at Maxene and beamed. "Why only Ridger? You should treat us too!"

Nathan raised an eyebrow and uttered, "Why would you ask a girl to treat you, dummy."

Dave scowled at him and replied, "It's 2023. Equality dude!" causing Lianey and Maxene to laugh while Rosie and Melinda remained quiet, unable to join the conversation.

Melinda was annoyed at how easy for Maxene to get close to them. Melinda have known them longer yet until now she couldn't laugh with them like this. Rosie felt the same way as she tried her best to hide her annoyance.

"How is she able to be friends with them?" the two pondered.

Meanwhile, Lianey stated, "We should do this again next time."

Maxene shook her head and replied, "We have research to work on. Aside from that, the professor said she'd be giving it as a project. We can't dilly-dally like this."

"Then, let's do our project together!" Lianey suggested, which caught Maxene's attention.

This is Maxene's chance, but she couldn't suggest that they do their project in Lianey's home. Nathan might find it suspicious, just like Ridger. Lianey must be the one to invite her. However, Maxene knows it's too early, and she bets Ridger would not agree anyway.

"But where?" she asked, and took a sip of her coffee.

Lianey touched her chin and replied, "Hmm, we could go to the library but we can't eat there. The student lounge is always crowded…"

"What about a coffee shop? Do you have a coffee shop in mind?" Maxene queried.

Lianey's eyes widened and she replied, "That's right! I know a place."

"Can we join?" Nathan suddenly asked, surprising Maxene and Lianey. Melinda was caught off guard, too.

"W-what? You'll join them?" Melinda asked Nathan.

Nathan looked at her, confused. "Why not? We have a project we need to work on too."

Dave nodded his head while eating his burger. "Yeah, and Ridger is the leader." Ridger, Nathan, and Dave are classmates in some of their subjects; hence, they have work to do together.

"It's not that. It just took me by surprise that you like joining other people now aside from Dave and Ridger," Melinda explained awkwardly.

Nathan stopped eating and looked at Melinda. "Who said I don't like being with others aside from Dave and Ridger? I'm not socially anxious. Is that what you think?" Nathan asked.

Melinda's eyes widened because of what Nathan said, and she immediately shook her head. "No, no, that's not what I meant!"

"Oh my gosh, Melinda. Why would you think like that?" Rosie told her, acting disappointed.

Maxene, on the other hand, saw Nathan smile secretly as if he liked making fun of the two girls. She can see that Nathan did that on purpose and realizes she's wrong about him. He's definitely the cunning one. No wonder he's friends with Dave and Ridger. He's the combination of the personalities of the two.

Meanwhile, Nathan doesn't really enjoy being around others, nor does he hate it. He was just doing Ridger a favor because this way, they could watch his sister, Lianey.

"Is everything okay?" Everyone looked at Ridger, who just came. 'Oh, and you'll have to wait for your food a little longer because there are a lot of people in line."

Rosie beamed at him and said, "It's fine. We can wait. Right, Melinda?"

Melinda, who still seemed worried about upsetting Nathan, unconsciously nodded.

Lianey, on the other hand, turned to her brother and said, "You should eat your food now, brother. It's already 4:30. Remember, Dave has a curfew?" Dave nodded his head while eating his chicken. He's almost done, just like Nathan. Lianey seemed to be slowing down a little because she was waiting for Ridger.

"Oh, you had to leave soon?" Melinda asked worriedly since their order was not ready yet.

Lianey looked at her and smiled sadly. "Yeah, sorry. We'd have to leave soon."

Rosie and Melinda exchanged glances because they'd be left alone and they hadn't even eaten yet.

Ridger, on the other hand, started eating his meal, and in just a few minutes, he was able to finish it. "I'm sorry, we can't wait for you too," he told them, wiping his lips with a tissue. He looked at Lianey and Max and said, "Are you guys done eating?"

The two girls nodded with a smile. "We should go now," Lianey said cheerfully, looking at Max. "Let's go?"

'Yeah," Max replied, taking her bag. Then she looked at Rosie and Melinda, saying, "We'll go now. See you at school." She smiled at them sweetly, which annoyed Melinda and Rosie for some reason

—

End of chapter 15