A Not-so Coincidental Meeting

Lucien is taken back the second Anastasia starts beaming at him supportively.

She has this compelling luster in her smiling eyes that tell him of an unspoken admiration. Her ear-splitting grin lights up her entire frame, making her appear somewhat blooming. A small blush is also painting her cute and soft cheeks.

All in all, everything about the sight makes him feel very much appreciated.

"Thank you, Anastasia..." Lucien started again after a brief pause on his part, smiling back at her with a grateful expression.

"No one really said that to me before. But then again, nobody knew about my nerdy side."

"So then, I'm the first?!" Anastasia enthused in pleasant surprise, feeling quite delighted that she got to be his first at something once again.

"Yeah...! You see, I used to keep quiet about my love for Physics and Chemistry, especially my obssession on machines, lab experiments, quantum mechanics, scientific theories..."

As Lucien continues to gush on and on about his secret love, Anastasia tries to keep herself from reacting dumbfounded. It's her first time meeting someone so fond of something like Physics and Chemistry, after all.

Though she does pass these subjects - often barely, she knows for herself that she doesn't understand a single sensible thing about the lessons every single time. It's like graduating from college but still staying as dumb as ever. She honestly thinks that there's nothing lovable about something so convulated that it's eating away her brain cells. 

But then, going by the ecstatic and dreamy look on his face, Anastasia can tell that Lucien is genuinely fond of it. It doesn't surprise her so much, though, especially since he's always been their top student in science and other subjects. Then again, he did receive advanced lessons when he was still being homeschooled. 

"What do you want to be in the future, Lucien?" Anastasia questioned before joining him in the seat, her smile never leaving.

Lucien visibly paused at this for a second, a little flabbergasted by how sudden that inquiry was. He regarded her contemplatively while mustering the courage to say it out loud.

"Isn't that already obvious...?" he then trailed off with a smirk, now looking determined and somewhat smug.

"I wanna be a scientist when I grow up! That's my dream."

"Sure it is," she giggled, amused by how he's suddenly boasting like a toddler.

"What about you, Anastasia? What's your dream?"

"Oh, me? Well, ummm... I really love to bake and cook, so maybe a chef?"

"Woah, that's nice! I didn't know you love that kind of thing... Oh, but now that I think about it, your family owns a bakery. The breads you gave me before were so delicious. I hope I can taste your cooking someday too."

As Lucien smiles at Anastasia blithely, she can't help but blush and feel all flattered. She does hope that she can cook for him at one point either, though she's not confident that her creations can even get a tad bit close to the those five-star meals that he eats everyday.

"Well, at least it's from the heart, I guess..." she mused silently, shrugging her insecurities away.

From that point on, their light-hearted exchange carries on for an hour. He proceeds to work on his invention while she simply watches him from the side.

With that, they spend the rest of the afternoon keeping each other company.

---

Three days after Lucien secretly submitted an application form for the science fair, his entry for the investigative project competition has finally been accepted.

It was Anastasia who got to learn about it first, though. Their class adviser was looking for him after the last period in order to inform him, but he's already gone by then. It just happened that he had a photoshoot in the afternoon.

With that, Anastasia decided to take it upon herself to personally deliver the good news as well as the official entry form to Lucien. She's too excited to wait for next week as tomorrow will be weekend.

Though she can just call him, she doubts that he'll be allowed to go out at this hour. Not to mention, there's only a few days left before the science fair.

He needs to know about this as soon as possible.

"Well, there's that, but..." Anastasia thought out loud as she remained frozen still on her spot.

"I really should have prepared myself first before I went here."

Right after getting his home address from her adviser, Anastasia hopped on her bicycle and pedalled her way to Lucien's house. Little did she know that his home would turn out to be this palatial white mansion with an imposing gate, a stupendous water fountain in front, and a vast patio. 

Everything gets her gulping in nervousness, making her ask herself if a commoner like her is even allowed to step a foot in that place.

"Little miss..." called an unfamiliar voice from behind her out of nowhere.

"Can I help you with something?"

That's when Anastasia swerves around in surprise, her eyes widening like saucers as soon as she lays eyes on the stunning figure of a certain personality whom she used to see in television almost everyday.

At that very moment, Lyssandre August, Lucien's most-adored father, is standing before her with an austere-looking expression.