The rest of the morning passed quickly, leaving Tyler little opportunity to think about everything that had happened in class. Lessons came and went, the room settling into its usual rhythm of lectures, notes, and whispered conversations whenever the teacher wasn't looking.
Then the lunch bell rang, and whatever concentration the students had left disappeared with it.
Chairs scraped across the floor as everyone stood. Lunch boxes emerged from bags, desks were pushed aside, and conversations sprang up around the classroom. After several hours of lessons, even the students who normally stayed quiet seemed eager to have something else to talk about.
Tyler had barely opened his bag when Eris stopped beside his desk.
"I'm inviting Clara and the others to the rooftop."
Tyler looked up.
"The rooftop?"
"Yes." Eris folded her arms, already anticipating his objection. "Don't look so worried. Everyone already knows about it. We've been using that place for three years. I think it can survive a few extra people."
Tyler glanced toward the classroom door, then back at her.
"But its our place ...."
"Exactly. Which is why we're only bringing only few people." She tapped her fingers against her arm. "And we're not going up there just to admire the view. We need to actually plan the party before everyone starts throwing out ideas and nobody remembers any of them."
Tyler looked at her for a moment, then gave in.
"Fine."
He pulled his lunch box from his bag and looked toward Chris, who was already packing his things.
"Let's go."
Chris picked up his lunch.
"All right."
Noah immediately joined them, complaining that he was starving and wondering why lunch breaks at school were never long enough. Kai quietly packed his own food without joining the complaint, while Amaya gathered her things and followed the group toward the door.
Luna stood up with her lunch box in one hand and her novel in the other.
Eris noticed the book immediately.
"You're still reading that during lunch?"
"Of course." Luna tucked it securely beneath her arm. "It's practically part of my lunch now. I want to finish it."
"We're supposed to be planning the party."
"I know."
"Then participate."
"I will."
Luna looked completely untroubled by the accusation.
"I can eat and read at the same time."
Tyler glanced at the novel.
"You're going to choke one day."
Luna smiled.
"I'll take my chances."
Eris shook her head, apparently deciding that there was no point arguing with her. Then she turned back to Tyler.
"And you."
Tyler raised an eyebrow.
"Me?"
She didn't answer. She simply looked toward Clara.
Tyler followed her gaze.
Clara was near the front of the classroom, speaking with Sofia while putting her notebook into her bag.
He understood immediately.
"Yes, ma'am."
Eris smiled.
"Good."
She crossed the room and approached Clara.
"Clara, we're heading to the rooftop. Come with us. We're going to plan the party."
Clara paused with one hand still resting on her bag.
"Right now?"
"Right now. Unless you'd rather spend lunch listening to Caleb argue about food."
Caleb called out, "I heard that!"
Eris didn't even look around.
Clara laughed softly, then glanced past her.
Her eyes found Tyler.
He was standing with Chris and Noah, apparently listening to something Noah was saying. Clara's expression changed almost imperceptibly, and the smile faded from her face.
"Is that okay?"
Eris followed her gaze.
"It'll be fine. Don't worry about him."
Clara lowered her eyes.
"Okay."
She turned toward Sofia.
"You guys are coming too, right?"
"Of course," Sofia replied, slipping her bag over one shoulder.
Aaron, who had been standing nearby, agreed to come along as well.
Within a few minutes, the group was moving through the corridors toward the rooftop.
Tyler walked with Chris, Noah, Kai, and Amaya, half listening as Noah complained about how long it was taking them to reach the stairs despite having spent most of the walk talking.
"You know," Chris said eventually, "if you stopped complaining, we'd probably get there faster."
"I'm not complaining."
"You've complained three times."
"That's called providing feedback."
Kai glanced at him.
"About walking?"
"Exactly."
Tyler smiled but kept walking.
As they reached the stairwell, his attention drifted toward the group behind them.
Oliver was talking with Miles.
Something Miles said seemed to catch Oliver off guard. Oliver's expression shifted, and for once he looked genuinely flustered. He glanced away, said something Tyler couldn't hear, and then looked back at Miles.
Tyler slowed for half a step.
A stray thought brushed against the edge of his awareness.
Interesting.
The corner of his mouth lifted before he could stop it.
He didn't pursue the thought.
Whatever was happening between Oliver and Miles, Tyler wasn't going to pry into it simply because his ability made doing so effortless.
He turned back toward the stairs.
The group continued upward.
When Eris finally pushed open the rooftop door, the familiar open space greeted them.
The rooftop had always felt separate from the rest of Central Academy. The noise of the classrooms was distant up there, replaced by the wind moving across the concrete and the faint sounds of traffic far below. From the edge of the building, the surrounding streets and rooftops stretched toward the horizon, while the midday sunlight washed everything in a bright, ordinary calm.
For three years, this had been Tyler and group's place.
A quiet corner of the school where they could escape everyone else.
Today, they had invited everyone else.
Tyler looked across the growing crowd and shook his head slightly.
"So much for quiet."
Eris heard him.
"Don't start."
"I'm just observing."
"You can observe while helping move the tables."
That ended the argument.
Tyler joined the others, and together they pushed several tables closer until there was enough room for everyone. Tyler, Chris, Noah, Kai, Amaya, Clara, Aaron, Sofia, Aria, Eris, Luna, and several other classmates gradually formed a loose circle around them.
Lunch boxes opened one after another.
The rooftop quickly filled with the smell of rice, fried food, sandwiches, fruit, and whatever else everyone had brought from home.
Clara looked around while settling into her seat.
"This place is really nice."
Eris smiled with obvious satisfaction.
"See? I told you."
Clara looked toward the open sky.
"I can understand why you guys like coming here."
"It's quiet, nobody bothers us, and we can actually talk without half the class listening."
Caleb looked up from his lunch.
"Hey, I don't bother anyone."
Chris glanced at him.
"You bother everyone."
"That's different."
"How?"
Noah opened his mouth, apparently prepared to defend him, then stopped when he couldn't think of an answer quickly enough.
The people around him laughed.
Caleb pointed at Chris.
"You're just jealous because I'm interesting."
"That's not the word I'd use."
"What's your word?"
"Exhausting."
That earned another round of laughter, and even Caleb ended up grinning.
Clara waited until the noise settled before opening her notebook.
"All right. We should probably start planning before lunch is over."
Noah immediately leaned forward.
"Food."
Clara stared at him.
"We haven't even started."
"Exactly. I'm getting ahead of the discussion."
Chris shook his head.
"I vote we eat first and decide everything afterward."
"No."
Chris looked offended.
"Why?"
"Because if we let you eat first, you'll forget there was supposed to be a meeting."
Chris placed a hand against his chest.
"That's hurtful."
Aria laughed.
"She's right."
Chris looked around the table as though searching for someone willing to defend him.
Nobody did.
He sighed and picked up his chopsticks.
"Fine. I'll suffer."
Aaron glanced toward Clara's notebook.
"So what are we actually planning for the café?"
Clara looked down at her notes.
"I thought we'd start with food, then have a few games or activities. Maybe we could also do something where everyone talks about their favorite memory from middle school."
Sofia smiled.
"I like that."
Aaron nodded.
"Especially since we might not all end up in the same high school."
The comment quieted the group for a moment, not because anyone was upset, but because it made the end of middle school feel a little more real.
Clara looked around at everyone.
"That's actually why I wanted to do this. We've spent almost three years together. We should have something to remember."
Eris nodded.
"I agree."
Noah raised his hand.
"I have an idea."
Chris immediately looked at him.
"Should we be worried?"
"No."
Noah grinned.
"We should have a competition."
Kai shook his head.
"Of course."
Noah frowned.
"What?"
"You turn everything into a competition."
"That's not true."
"You challenged Chris to a race while we were walking to class."
"That was different."
"You challenged him to see who could finish a drink faster."
"Also different."
Kai continued counting on his fingers.
"And yesterday you challenged Tyler to..."
"All right, all right." Noah waved him off. "The point is that competitions are fun."
Aria smiled.
"At least tell us what kind."
Noah paused.
"Something everyone can participate in."
Chris leaned toward Kai.
"That's not a competition. That's an idea that hasn't finished developing."
Kai nodded solemnly.
"Exactly."
Noah pointed at them.
"You two are impossible."
Clara laughed and wrote something in her notebook.
"We'll figure out the games later. Let's decide how we're actually organizing the event first."
She turned to another page.
"What about the guest list? Should we invite only our class?"
Sofia looked up.
"Wouldn't it be more fun if we invited the other classes too?"
Clara hesitated.
"That's what I was wondering."
She looked around the circle.
"Should we invite students from 1-B, 1-C, and 1-D as well?"
The response came from several people at once.
"That's too many."
"Why not?"
"It could be fun."
"How would we even fit everyone?"
Chris raised both hands.
"Wait. Everyone calm down. If we invite all four classes, how many people are we talking about?"
Kai started calculating in his head.
"If the classes are roughly the same size, we'd probably have more than a hundred."
Chris stared at him.
"Yeah. Definitely too many."
Aria laughed.
"Imagine trying to organize that."
"We'd need the large place," Eris said.
Clara looked down and crossed something out in her notebook.
"Maybe keeping it within our class is better."
Sofia visibly relaxed.
"I think so too. That way we can actually spend time together instead of trying to talk to a hundred people."
Aaron nodded.
"And we won't spend the entire evening figuring out where everyone is."
Noah pointed toward him.
"See? Aaron understands."
Chris frowned.
"You were complaining about the number of people five seconds ago."
"I can change my mind."
"Apparently."
The discussion moved on from the guest list to the practical details.
They talked about how much everyone should contribute, whether the café would charge separately for food and drinks, whether they should order a set menu or let everyone choose individually, and whether anyone needed to bring something from home.
Clara kept writing, occasionally stopping to ask someone to repeat a suggestion when two people spoke at once.
"What do you guys think the budget should be?"
Kai considered it.
"That depends on what we order."
Noah answered immediately.
"As cheap as possible."
Chris looked at him.
"You're the one who wants to eat the most."
"That doesn't mean I want to pay the most."
That got another laugh from the table.
Clara shook her head, still smiling as she wrote.
"What about a fixed amount from everyone? We can use that for the reservation and shared food. If someone wants something extra, they can pay for it separately."
Sofia nodded.
"That sounds easier."
Aaron agreed.
"Much easier."
Eris leaned over to look at Clara's notebook.
"Write that down."
Clara didn't even look up.
"I already did."
"You write fast."
"I'm trying to keep up with all of you."
Tyler had said very little throughout the discussion. He ate slowly, listening while everyone argued over food, money, games, invitations, and schedules. Every now and then he laughed at something ridiculous, but for the most part he was content to let everyone else handle the planning.
His attention kept drifting toward Clara.
He noticed the way she occasionally looked at him when she thought he wasn't watching. Each time, she would hesitate before returning her attention to her notebook or the person speaking beside her.
The awkwardness between them hadn't disappeared.
If anything, being surrounded by their friends seemed to make it harder for either of them to address it.
Tyler didn't need to use his ability to understand that Clara was uncertain. The way she tightened her fingers around her pen whenever she glanced at him told him enough.
He could easily reach further.
He could find out exactly what she was thinking.
But he didn't.
Whatever Clara wanted to say, she should be allowed to say it herself.
Eventually, Clara looked down at the notes she'd written and realized they had covered most of the practical details.
"All right..." She tapped the end of her pen against the page, then looked around the table. "What else should we decide?"
The others began considering the question.
Eris turned toward Tyler.
She didn't say anything.
She didn't need to.
The look was unmistakable.
Your turn.
Tyler stared back at her.
Eris raised one eyebrow.
Tyler glanced at the others, then at Clara.
He knew exactly what she was trying to force him to do.
With a quiet breath, he finally gave in.
"Fine."