After that long, heavy silence in the classroom, they all slowly gathered their bags. Outside, the late afternoon sun painted the walls in soft gold.
Parents began arriving one by one, calling out names and honking gently. Maria's mother showed up first in a sleek black car, her hair pinned perfectly, as always. Maria walked over slowly, her steps still full of that queen-like confidence, even though her heart was still racing from the garden incident.
Einstein, Vinci, Hawking, and Eliza stood together near the gate, watching her leave. One by one, their own mothers arrived and took them home.
When Einstein got home, he went straight to his room, tossing his bag onto the floor. He pulled his curtains shut and locked the door, making sure no one could bother him.
He dropped into his chair, the sticky note still in his pocket feeling like it weighed a thousand kilos.
He grabbed a bowl of hot noodles and started eating slowly, his thoughts spinning faster than any of his equations.
Finally, he pulled out his phone and stared at the number again. He didn't want to text her ; he knew it might start something he wasn't ready for , but he had to find out.
With a deep breath, he opened WhatsApp and typed in her number. His fingers hovered over the keyboard. Then, as if his own mind had betrayed him, he typed:
... Hi
He pressed send and instantly felt his heart jump into his throat. He set his phone down, pretending not to care, but his eyes kept darting back to the screen after every bite of noodles.
He waited… and waited. Nothing.
He sighed and leaned back, finishing his food with half his mind on the phone.
As the evening fell deeper, a call popped up on his screen. It wasn't from Maria — it was a group call from Vinci and Hawking. Without thinking too much, he answered.
Vinci's voice boomed right away. "Bro! Did she reply yet?"
Einstein shook his head, trying to sound casual. "No. Not yet."
Hawking appeared on screen, pushing up his glasses. "Forget about that for now. We have bigger things to focus on — like the time machine project.
Einstein nodded, though his mind was still half in that classroom with Maria.
Just then, a small ping came from his phone. Everyone paused.
Einstein picked up his phone quickly. His eyes scanned the screen, but it wasn't Maria ; just a random group message. He let out a long breath, half relief, half disappointment."Or she's just trying to waste my time and mock me later " he thought..
Eliza joined the call too, her voice quiet. "I still think she gave you her number to mess with you. Don't let it distract you. We're almost there with the calculations for the jump coordinates."
Vinci grinned. "Yeah! If we get this right, we could make history! Who cares about queen Maria and her squad? Let her play her little games."
Vinci leaned back, arms behind his head. "Anyway, forget her for a second! I've been working on our time machine prototype." He flipped his camera to show a messy desk covered with tools, circuits, and a half-built metal frame that looked like a chair from a sci-fi movie.
Hawking's eyes lit up. "Wait… you made progress? Tell me you didn't try to test it on a mouse again."
Vinci laughed. "No mice today. But I did figure out how to stabilize the mini wormhole pulse. Just imagine ; we could jump to 3024 and watch cosmic art exhibitions!"
Einstein couldn't help it. Even with the tension, he laughed too, his shoulders finally relaxing a bit.
Einstein looked at all their faces on the screen and felt a small smile tug at his lips. For a moment, all the tension in his chest loosened.
"Alright," he finally said, his voice firm. "You're right. Let's focus on what really matters. We have a timeline to conquer."
They all nodded, eyes shining with excitement.Outside, the sky turned dark, stars starting to prick holes in the deep blue. Inside that tiny screen, four young minds burned brighter than any constellation.
And even though Maria's number still sat in his chat, unanswered and heavy with mystery, tonight [ for the first time in hours] Einstein felt free.