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Since the teacher didn’t set a limit on how few people had to be in a group, Sterling made his way over to Eden. If he could just spend some time with her, maybe he could get to know her better…
“Be in my group?” he murmured in question as he reached her.
Eden looked back slightly in surprise. She hadn’t really expected him to ask her, especially not like that. Not right now.
Eden quirked an eyebrow, pointing at herself as if she was still hesitant.
“Me?” She repeated, confused, tilting her head to the side. There was slight amusement in her eyes. “Why would you want me in your group?”
(Beep)
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Steeling shrugged, a small smile making its way to his lips. "Maybe I just want to spend some time with a beautiful and mysterious girl. Or maybe I want to slowly break down your walls so that you trust me before I turn on you and steal your title right from underneath your feet. Or maybe I just think you're cool," he said, a smirk tugging at his lips. "What does it matter, Eden?"
Eden felt herself tense at his words. Though she had a feeling he meant none of them, she couldn’t help the sick feeling that came afterwards.
“That’s quite a challenge you’ve set out for yourself,” she murmured, crossing her arms over herself. “Good luck with it, Ainsley. I’ll join your little group.”
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Sterling watched Eden tense up at his words, though he didn’t take any of them back. It seemed as if he had hit a nerve… Interesting…
“Well, seeing as everyone else has already gone, it looks like it’s going to be just the two of us,” he said, smiling at her. “What would you like to do first?”
Eden turned around, fixing her glasses on her face. She unraveled the map they'd provided her with, eyes skimming through each place and the small instructions on the side.
"What would you like to do first?" Eden shot his own question at him. "Perhaps I'll let you have the first pick. I feel like a generous Crystal."
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Sterling chuckled and took a step closer to her so he could look at the map as well. “Hm… I’d like to see the red pandas…”
Eden tensed slightly when he took a step closer, looking at him from the corner of her eyes. She told herself if he tried something, she could easily throw him off, but it didn't help her nerves. She bit down on her bottom lip.
"All right," she murmured, folding the map again. "Red pandas."
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Sterling nodded and took a step back again, noticing how she tensed up again when he was close. He stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded in the direction they needed to go. “Let’s go, shall we?”
Eden nodded, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. She slowly walked, crossing her arms over her stomach as she followed after him. Her eyes darted around, catching little animals here and there.
Her expression softened when she caught sight of the penguins at their left. One of them was standing on ice while its companions were in the water as if he was contemplating something. Then he, too, jumped into the water, following after its friends. Eden tilted her head to the side, feeling a smile threaten to take over her lips. She pressed her lips together to prevent it from doing so.
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Sterling looked around the zoo, a smile tugging on his lips as he took everything in. And then his gaze fell on Eden, her eyes alight as she looked at something. He followed the path of her eyes and caught sight of the penguins.
So that’s what she really wanted to see… She wanted to see the penguins. And he would let her see the penguins.
Gently nudging her arm, he changed direction so that they were walking in that direction. His face gave no indication of what he’d seen, but he was still smiling.
Eden’s head whipped towards Sterling, eyes wide in surprise. And he was smiling… What was he doing? What was he thinking?
“What are you doing?” Eden breathed. “The red pandas are in the other direction.”
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Sterling shrugged and glanced around. "I just remembered I wanted to see the penguins, and they're right over here, anyway. Why, would you rather not?" he asked, turning to give her a curious look. Would she catch his lie or believe him…?
Eden looked at him for a moment, realizing he had caught her eyeing the penguins. She kept the cold look in her features, but inwardly her cheeks burned in embarrassment. He'd caught her.
"Are you mocking me, Ainsley?" her voice was barely above a whisper, hard and cold, unwavering, just the way she wanted it to be.
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She caught him. Of course she did. Why did she always think the worst of him? Why did she think he hated her so much?
“No, Eden, I am not mocking you. I saw how happy you looked when you were looking at the penguins, so I decided we could stop here because it’s on our way. Go look at them. I’ll even stay out here if you want me to,” he sighed, tearing a hand through his hair as he looked away.
Why did she feel bad? This was what she wanted, didn't she? Suddenly she felt a spark of anger replacing the guilt she was feeling.
"Why are you doing this?" she breathed out. "What, you look at me and think I'm some poor girl in need of social life? You think I'm just some girl craving to be noticed, to be cared for? Well, I'm not. I don't get why you're sticking around with me when you could be fooling around with your friends. What do you want from me?"
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Sterling’s gaze tore back to Eden, an unreadable emotion flickering in his eyes. “No. That’s not it at all. Maybe I just want to hang out with you? Is that such a hard concept to grasp? Or are you so full of it that you think you’re too impossible to let anyone in? Nobody wants to hang out with the scary, broken girl, right? Well, even those of us who look like we have all our crap together are broken in some ways, too. Maybe some of us just want to find others like us so we have someone who knows how it feels.”
Eden’s eyes turned cold at his words, completely blank. She wrapped herself in her walls.
“And maybe some of us are too far gone that we don’t want anything else,” her voice was soft, edged with a warning. “Maybe some of us are too damn tired of constantly being let down that we don’t expect anymore. Some people are not worth approaching, Ainsley, and I’m one of them.”
‘Worthless. Garbage. Did you seriously think, even for one second, that I would like a lowlife like you?’
Eden turned away, her arms wrapped around herself.
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He screwed up. He screwed up badly. He hadn’t meant what he said about her, not really. He was just frustrated that she wouldn’t let him get close to her. He just wanted to help her and befriend her, but she made that impossible with the way she was acting.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, shaking his head slowly. “Let’s just… Let’s just go look at the penguins, and then we can see the red pandas.”
Eden's eyes went back to him, eyes narrowing into slits. Sorry. He was sorry. What for?
"Fine," she muttered, "Let's go."
Eden began making her way to the penguins when her ears caught a cry followed by a few sniffles. A child. She frowned, following the sound to find a little boy crouching on the ground, crying.
“Hey, there,” Eden murmured, walking over to him and bending down. She hesitantly reached out to pat him on the head. “What’s wrong?”
“I—I can’t find my parents,” the boy sniffled. “I wanted to—wanted to see the bird but I got lost.”
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Sterling followed Eden until he looked away for a moment and lost sight of her the second after. He glanced around and saw her bending down to speak with a little boy, who was crying.
He made his way over just in time to hear the boy's answer to her question, and he bent down beside the girl to speak to him. "We can help you find your parents, if you want. What animal were you by when you last saw them?"
“The Giraffes,” the boy sniffled. Eden’s expression softened, if just for a second. She held out her hands.
“Come, I’ll hold you,” she murmured, reaching out to wipe his tears. “We’ll find your parents.”
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"Starting with looking by the giraffes," Sterling agreed, watching Eden interact with the boy. Her guards dropped for just a moment, but even that made him smile. The girl was concerned for the lost boy, even if she had an interesting way of showing it. "What's your name, little dude?"
“Aiden,” the boy said quietly and Eden wrapped her arms around him, picking him up so it would be easier for him and his parents to see each other. He was small enough for Eden to hold him in her arms. Normally she would have kept up her guard. She wouldn’t have shown this much, but this was a child. She couldn’t leave him alone like this.
“Okay, the giraffes are that way,” Eden murmured, turning to the direction where they were heading to see the red pandas. “How about we play a game while we try to find your parents?”
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"Oh, we could play I spy," Sterling suggested as he followed close behind the pair. "You spot something first, Aiden."
Eden looked at Sterling, a little surprised. She was going to suggest that game, too. Aiden seemed to have liked it because he gave a small smile. It made Eden’s lips twitch. She forced the smile down.
“I… I spy with my little eye…” he squinted his tiny eyes. “Something scary! And with horns.”
A rhinoceros, Eden realized as her eyes flickered to the animal on their right.
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Sterling clicked his tongue and looked around before his eyes settled on Eden. He grinned wickedly and looked up at Aiden. “Is it this girl? She’s pretty scary when she wants to be.”
Eden whipped her head to glare at him, snorting and shaking her head afterwards. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you, Ainsley?” She said dryly. “I’m laughing.”
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Sterling winked and glanced around. “Well, what else is scary and has horns, hm? Is it the penguins?” he asked, obviously joking to get the kid to laugh.
