The day progressed quickly, even though she had to endure her least favorite class. She never did like math. but it seemed today it seemed more excruciating to stay cooped up in a classroom trying to earn her grades for a subject she didn't really need. Eliza took notes diligently as the professor went on with her ongoing lecture until it finally came to a close. It was odd how those fifty minutes could go fast enough. She held back a groan of exasperation and began packing her stuff.
Eliza let go of the classroom's door as she held her touch screen phone with her mouth to keep putting her stuff back into her purse. Once she was done, she saw the nearest elevator was about to close. She let out a startled squeak as she hurried to the closing metal door and finally pressed the button to open them again and let out a sigh of relief as she entered the small and somewhat crowded area. She saw a few of her classmates from her College Algebra class were there and waved at them shyly while they waved back. Once the elevator stopped, it opened its doors to let in the steamy hot air she'd been dreading today. Eliza cringed slightly and exited, masking her horror at how hot it was today.
If only I could do something about this, she thought to herself, shaking her head in disappointment.
Her phone started buzzing, interrupting her thought. She lifted her phone to see a picture of her grandmother and her name while the phone was waiting for its owner to answer the incoming call. She touched the screen where it said Answer, tucked a lock of blond hair behind her ear and lifted her phone next to her face.
"Good morning, Grams," she said. "How did you sleep?"
"A lot better with the medicine the doctor sent me. Oh, it's more suitable than the rubbish he sent me before, always left me quite knackered during the day," Elizabeth's English accented voice murmured into her granddaughter's ear. "Are you done with classes already, dear?"
"Yeah, thank god," she scoffed. "I hate Algebra so much, it's like learning a new language. It's like Latin or something. Nobody understands it but me, and even I have a hard time with it." She took a moment to look at her phone's screen, which automatically lit up and showed the details of the call, and looked at the time. "It's still pretty early, so I can get Brent to take me back to the bakery so I can help you out, okay?"
"All right then, sweetheart. I'll see you at home. I do suppose you'll fancy a nice cup of tea when you get home, so it'll be ready. I'll make sure to save some food for your friend."
"Please and thank you," Eliza smiled as she touched End on her phone.
She could already see a familiar looking black Mercedes parked in front of the pick-up area where the buses usually stopped to drop off or pick up people. A man around her age was already outside of the car, waiting for her. He leaned his back against the passenger door, his arms laced across his chest while holding his phone, visibly sliding his finger upward. His legs were crossed, his left foot tapping anxiously on the concrete lightly. He lifted a hand to pass it through his jet black hair to keep it out of his eyes, which were covered by a pair of mirrored sunglasses.
Eliza was about to comment on his odd, early arrival, but she saw something he was wearing that made her somewhat disgruntled.
"Are you serious?" She snapped, clacking her shoes with her hasty pace until she reached the car. "A leather jacket in this weather? It's like, eighty-five degrees right now, without a single cloud in the sky. How are you not rotting inside that thing?"
The man's sunglasses fell a little when his head snapped up to see Eliza walking towards him, revealing his light blue eyes. He looked confused, looked at what he was wearing, and sighed. "Hello to you too, your Majesty," He said with a smirk.
Eliza squinted her eyes into a glare. "I'm not an idiot, I know what you're referring to. It's not funny."
"Well, maybe if it bothers you so much, I should call you that every day." Brent said, smiling while sliding his sunglasses back in place and going to back to browsing the Internet on his phone.
Eliza snatched it away in a second.
He only looked amused. "Okay, Eliza. Give my back my phone and nobody gets hurt."
Eliza shook her head. "No can do, you have to get inside your car first." She said, smiling smugly. She placed the phone directly on her palm face up and turned her hand as if she were going to drop the phone.
Brent let out startled yelp when he realized nothing fell. He looked at the hand Eliza had his phone on and found it had disappeared.
"Wait, what?" He backtracked. "Where did you put my phone?"
"It vanished into thin air," Eliza voice was marred with sarcasm as she showed him her other hand, turned it around and back to reveal Brent's phone.
He froze for a second as he considered what he saw, slowly taking off his sunglasses. "How did you do that?" He demanded, surprised at Eliza's trick.
"Magic," Eliza replied. It was the first time she said something so completely true about who she was. "My Gramps taught me a few tricks before he died and he was always pretty good with magic. It was amazing that I learned what he learned to do."
"Uh... huh," said Brent, still a little stunned. "How about we go to your store before my head explodes?" He said, opening the car door for Eliza so she could get in.
"Let's hope you don't pull that disappearing trick on me someday," Brent murmured to himself.
"Did you say something?" Eliza looked up, away from her phone's screen so she could pay more attention to her friend.
Brent smiled and shook his head. "It's nothing," he said as he sped off.
As soon as the car drove up to a parking space near the store, she let out a sigh. "Thanks a lot for the ride," Eliza said as she began to gather her things. "Are you coming inside? I'm sure Grandma has some things for you ready."
"Sure, but I shouldn't get too comfortable." Brent exited the car and met Eliza at the bakery's entrance. "I'm going to go play basketball with a couple of friends."
Eliza grinned. "Maybe I should join you. You'll need a referee, right?" She shook her head dismissively.
"Wouldn't be too bad. We never had a referee before," said Brent, glancing for the first time at what Eliza was wearing. "You might want to wear something else so you don't distract the players," he said, smiling in amusement.
Eliza smacked him lightly on the shoulder before grabbing the handle of the shop's door.
The bell on the bakery's door sounded as the door opened. It was a small, quaint, and elegant place. The walls were colored canary yellow with different shades of the color in the beautiful furnishings spread throughout the place, like a restaurant. There was a large display right in the center of the store. Different pastries lied in wait behind the clear display window to be bought by loyal customers who eagerly came to eat these delicacies, along with plenty of shelves behind the counter to show off their freshest types of breads. It also had a few potted plants nearby, hanging from the ceiling as their vines grew to descend exquisitely while flowers adorned the greenery.
Eliza heard the ringing of the cash register and turn to find her grandmother counting the money.
"Hi, Grams!" She skipped over to kiss her grandmother on the cheek.
"Why, hello sweetheart," Elizabeth greeted her granddaughter warmly with a hug. "I see you brought Brent with you. Would you like some lunch?"
"Sure, Mrs. Beaumont, I'm starving!" Brent enthused, putting his hands behind his head.
"All right then, go wash you hands and I'll get things ready here." Elizabeth said, taking a fresh batch of Scones from the oven.
"Okay, Grams," Eliza complied.
"Sure," said Brent, pushing Eliza gently to the bathroom.
"Hey! Ease up or I'll break your nose, got it?" Eliza's voice echoed to the front of the bakery.
Elizabeth shook her head in amusement as she set a table for both of them to eat.
As soon as they made their way to the small green room, they headed towards the sink. Brent got started in washing his hands while Eliza began to empty her purse to look for her make up.
"Seriously?" Brent demanded. "What do you need make up for? Are you planning on going out again?"
"No, you idiot." Eliza scoffed, smacking him lightly on the head. "I was sweating like a pig out there. It's so weird, I don't understand why it's so hot today. Today's forecast was supposed to be a little chilly at seventy-five degrees." She complained as she used a medium-sized brush to apply the make up onto her cheeks and forehead. "I mean, look at me! I look like a birthday cake with so much foundation on! I can't believe it's eighty-eight degrees now!"
Brent let a few chuckles escape while Eliza punished him by elbowing him in the ribs.
"Ow." He said sarcastically.
"Okay, whatever." Eliza said as she began to put away her make up. "I'm done, now let's go eat."
The two of them left the bathroom in a hurry, hoping the food was still warm.
