Chapter 107 - Picnic At The Park

A few hours before Winter met up with Marcellus and the others in the local library, she went on a picnic with Ace and their friends at a park nearby.

They had made some plans to celebrate their graduation in their own way, but because of the whole grand reveal about her being the long lost daughter of the Middleton family, they had decided to push back the occasion on a later date. And so, on the break of the first week of their summer vacation, they gathered together to have a picnic.

Unlike in her past life, she seemed to have wisely chosen the right circle of friends to hang around with this time. Even when they know how rich and famous she has become, they didn't change the way they treat her. They're still as nice as ever. While they were greatly shocked to learn about the news, they were also quite thrilled for her promising future.   

'Being with these people is such a fresh breath of air, to be honest. Because of them, I feel like I never really changed that much even though almost everything around me did,' she admitted to herself as she watched her friends in silence.

They had already laid down their picnic set and settled on a grassy field beside an oak tree.

Ace sat on her right side while Courtney was on her left. Maxine and Xander are seated beside each other, looking like they are about to start yet another round of banter. For their snacks and refreshments, she had offered to take care of it for them. But they kindly turned it down and reasoned out that what they initially planned was for everyone to bring their own shares. 

'I know it's not that much, but I kinda feel touched when they refused my offer. Then again, I thought that they'd take advantage of our friendship and make me buy all sorts of things for them just because I'm rich now. That may sound a little arrogant of me, but that's the truth – that's what happened with my friends before.' 

Winter should really start trusting them more. Although she had the impression that she was only able to make friends with them because Ace was close to her, she also felt sincerely cared for. And she was glad that she would attend the same college as them – albeit in different departments.

"What?! You took what, Maxine?!"  Xander exclaimed, his eyes bulging wide in surprise and incredulity.

"I said I took a law course! What's the matter with that?!" Maxine exclaimed back, slightly offended. 

"But you're a delinquent! How come a rule breaker would take up law-"

"Shut your mouth, you scientist wannabe!"

"It's chemist, you moron! That's different!"

"You're mocking me for wanting to become a lawyer when you yourself took up chemistry even though you ever barely passed science-"

"I'll get serious from now on, okay?! I know what I'm doing!"

Apparently, these two in particular have a mismatch in the kind of personalities they have and the college courses that they are planning to take. 

A delinquent who wanted to be a lawyer and a lazy student who wanted to be a chemist – Winter finds it interesting if anything. They appear to be serious about this, though. And they're not regretting what they chose even when they're being made fun of. That's enough reason for her to support them in the fields they're taking.

"Seems like idiots have big dreams too, huh? That's great. Your high school cheerleader is cheering for you~" Courtney teased, greatly amused.

"Hey, don't get cocky only because you chose fashion designing and you're already good at it. You still have to fly all the way to Paris and be their top designer for me to acknowledge you," Maxine retorted while glaring at her.

"Why, of course! I've had this hobby all my life! I'll be in Paris in no time~!" 

"Ughhh… So cheeky."

"Speaking of hobbies, Ace is really going to take up performing arts, huh? Not a music course?" Xander brought up.     

"Honestly, it's a last minute decision, but I believe it's what I truly want. While I still want to be a musician, I no longer think that it's enough. I've got to do more than that so I can catch up to a certain someone," Ace confessed before glancing at that 'certain someone' for a brief second.

The others fell silent as soon as they caught on that, but the person in question herself was too busy drinking her vanilla-flavored milk tea to see him glancing.

Winter looks up again the moment she realizes that everyone has stopped talking. She is then greeted by Courtney's and Maxine's signature knowing looks. Xander is also smirking to himself for some reason. Baffled, she decides to look at Ace for a clarification.

But all he does is give her a beaming smile, dazzling her like always.

"Oh, how frustrating. Graduation flew by and nothing happened at all," Courtney huffed. 

"Thank goodness we're all in the same school again. Otherwise, we won't get to see a happy ending from these two," Xander remarked with a smile that seemed exhausted. 

"We've got summer vacation, too! We still have time!" Maxine chimed in, somewhat ecstatic. 

Still oblivious to what they're talking about, Winter can only look back and forth to them and Ace. 

Their picnic carries on with a smooth-sailing flow and lots of fun-filled talks. It wasn't when Courtney began taking pictures that a bad feeling made itself known to Winter. Such things usually happen whenever she's enjoying herself too much. It'll always be matter of time before something pops her bubble – or rather, someone.

"Hey, Winter! Look at the camera!" Courtney chirped as she took a selfie with Winter.

And that's when she noticed a certain figure lurking behind them in a distance.

She spotted it at the side of the screen of her cellphone. It's an unfamiliar-looking man that looks too shady to turn a blind eye on. Knowing that they'd be very noisy and distracting, they had chosen a place in the woods that's a little far from the crowd. That was why she was taken aback when she saw the stranger stalling around a clearing that was apparently empty until he came.

'Could it be a spy?' was the first thing that came to her mind then.

Ace noticed how Winter turned a bit tense all of the sudden. She borrowed Courtney's cellphone and kept looking at the pictures they took together. He realized that she's scanning through that particular set repeatedly, which raised his concerns.

"Is something wrong, Winter?" Ace asked, making her turn to look at him.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking I kinda look ugly in these pics," Winter lied. 

"That's not true. You're very pretty." 

Upon hearing that, Xander ended up spouting out his orange juice while Courtney and Maxine went wide-eyed and open-mouthed. They're clearly not expecting that.

Ace decided to ignore them and continued to play it cool, dumbfounding Winter even more. He couldn't be serious when he's smiling all prettily himself. Between the two of them, he's the one who looks more beautiful. His enamored expression alone can make anyone melt into a puddle of goo. 

'Wait. Enamored?' she thought as she realized what this was all about.

It appears like Ace has gotten bolder with his advances. And now, Winter doesn't know how to react.

"T-Thank you," was what she found herself timidly blurting out in the end.

"You're welcome," was what he simply replied with a smile, still collected. 

Winter doesn't know what has gotten to her right after that, but because of the awkward silence that's beginning to spread around the group, she makes an excuse of wanting to buy something just to get out of there and take a little breather. And she swore she heard them breaking out in around of cheers for Ace as soon as she left. Like him, she just decided to play it cool and continue on her way.

With that, Winter nearly forgot that she's being followed by a suspicious-looking stranger.         

'Right. There's still that guy. I'm not sure if separating from them and being on my own like this is a good thing, but I think it's probably better than involving them in any mess…' she pondered as she hurried over to a crowded spot in that park.

'Besides, he appears to be alone himself. If he's only here to see what I'm doing, then I suppose I should avoid contact with anyone else aside from them. I think it's a spy sent by someone from my family, so I must be careful. Should I cancel my meeting with Sir Lexington and the others later today? Or perhaps, I should change our meeting location?' 

Winter pulled out her cellphone from her purse to call Marcellus.

That's when she saw that she received an e-mail from Lexington Empire. Nonplussed, she blinked at it several times, wondering why he didn't tell her anything about his company sending an e-mail to her. It seems to be a formal letter of some sorts, meaning that it's a business invitation. He should be aware of what's his corporate is doing, so he should've informed her about it. 

After Winter read it, though, she finally realized why Marcellus didn't.