Meet Me In The Umbrella Garden

Chapter 2: The Invite

"Luke Madrigal."

That was the name of Ivy's new seatmate.

She knew because she finally gathered the strength to ask after having felt embarrassed for at least four hours since this boy returned her own statement at her.

And now they were having afternoon classes, and with how hot the sun was shining through the windows and how she had just finished lunch a few minutes ago, Ivy was starting to feel sleepy.

Ah, history. Not really the best subject for afternoon classes, though, and it didn't help at all that it was Ivy's least favorite subject. Well, she could have been possibly interested in it if she gave it a chance, but her teacher's method of lectures and handbooks just wasn't really the method to do it.

Only fifteen minutes passed since the beginning of afternoon classes, and Ivy was already dozing off, her eyes drooping as her head threatened to fall from her propped-up arm. She knew she needed a distraction to keep herself awake, otherwise she could end up in detention later on if she's caught dozing off in class.

But, she couldn't avoid it anyway.

Thump!

"Ah!" Ivy woke up immediately, barely a second after her head fell and it hit the edge of her desk. She quickly sat up straight, but it didn't take long before she soon found herself being the center of attention now.

The history teacher didn't seem too happy with her dozing off, as Ivy expected. And of course, everyone already knew what that meant...

"What are you doing here?" Ivy found herself asking when classes ended and she still stayed for detention, and yet, while everyone else left, her new seatmate didn't.

Instead, he remained in his seat, slumped onto his desk and his head turning away from the setting sun, facing the girl. His eyes reflected curiosity yet again as he eyed her. "... What about you? You're not going to run away from detention?"

"Only if I want to make my punishment worse," she responded, turning away from Luke as she packed her things up. She wasn't going to run away, of course, but she just wanted to make sure she could leave as quickly as she could once she's allowed.

And then she realized something.

"Wait... Hey, did you just suggest that I escape punishment?" With a surprised tone and a look of disbelief on her face, Ivy turned, and this time, she saw her seatmate looking at her with his chin rested on his propped arm.

He looked at her, and his eyes now glowed with mischief as a small smirk played on his lips. Then he smiled, innocently. "What? You don't think you didn't deserve it? It's not like you could keep yourself from dozing off now, could you?"

Now, the boy's demeanor changed again, and that only ended up confusing Ivy as she eyed him with furrowed brows.

"Hey... What's it to you anyway? Just leave already before the supervisor arrives!"

Too late, though.

The supervisor was already at the door the moment Ivy finished that sentence. And the woman didn't seem happy with what she heard.

"Who should leave before 'the supervisor arrives'?"

And that's how Luke got stuck in detention with his seatmate.

Was Ivy happy about it, though?

Hmm... probably not.

But Luke figured she wasn't, as he kept watching her continuously and repeatedly groan everytime she layed eyes on him throughout the first half of that two-hour detention. He didn't mind it, though, but the thought that that could also be contributing to Ivy's annoyance with him crossed his mind once. Maybe twice.

It was already dark when the end of detention was already nearing. Luke looked outside worryingly, before he looked behind him towards Ivy.

It seemed the girl had fallen asleep. That's what he thought, since she had her face all buried in her arms again and she was completely silent, save for the quiet breathing she let out.

Luke watched her quietly. It's almost as if he just realized that the two of them were the only students in the room. And yet, they still took the two seats at the very corner.

He looked towards the supervisor. It seemed as if the woman was tired, too, and just wanted to get home as soon as possible.

And that's what he thought Ivy probably wanted, too.

In a moment, his hand soon came up, floating towards Ivy. And after a moment, it had placed itself on her hand, naively stretched out in her position.

She didn't seem to mind. But that's probably because she was asleep and unaware of her surroundings.

But a few seconds later, and as her eyes began to flutter open and she began to realize her surroundings, her eyes widened. Quickly, she yanked her hand away from Luke as she sat up, eyeing him now with her eyes wide.

"W-what do you think you're doing?"

The boy seemed surprised, too. But it must have been because Ivy had woken up and realized his actions. His wide eyes soon softened, though, and his expression was replaced with a blank one as he spoke words that would turn Ivy's surprise into confusion. "By the way... Do you have any plans after getting out of detention?"

"W-what?" Ivy furrowed her brows at the words she just heard. "What are you..." She immediately stopped, however, when a smile formed on Luke's face, much like the one he gave her earlier when he took the seat beside her.

It was already dark outside, quiet even. Nothing much could be heard other than the chirping of crickets and the distant sound of cars passing by. And despite the fact that there were really just three people in this room, to two, it almost seemed like it was just them...

Luke smiled invitingly at Ivy as he spoke. "Well, if you're not busy, mind joining me somewhere after this then?"