Bold as ever, Einstein wouldn't take a no for an answer.
"How about one for lunch?" he asked, his tone both carefree and confident.
Eliza blinked, a little taken aback by the sudden propositions. But then her lips broke into a warm smile. "Sure," she said, tucking a slightly stray strand of hair behind her ear.
They started walking toward the canteen, chatting lightly. Eliza attempted to return the borrowed spectacles, but Einstein laughed softly and shook his head.
"You may keep them for today," he said, his eyes dancing mischievously. "Actually, I shall make a special one for you. Something unique-customized."
Eliza felt her cheeks stain with warm pink, and she stealthily glanced down.
Einstein glanced at his smartwatch and quickly sent a text: "Hey guys, we're coming out now. Come meet us. Let's hit the canteen together."
Outside, as sunlight poured across the walkway, Eliza's eyes caught a slight glimmer. For a second, her reflection flashed onto Einstein's watch screen; he stopped, thinking it was an image straight out of a futuristic novel. Einstein and Eliza. Brilliance and charm, side by side.
So it wasn't very long before Hawking and Vinci came jogging over, cheeks glowing in that playful way that indicated they were all the more curious about the encroaching fourth.
The four of them made their way to the canteen. The moment they stepped in, all heads turned. Students from different tables began whispering and nudging each other. It wasn't every day one saw the famous trifecta of young geniuses walk in with a girl. Usually, it was equations, experiments, or mind-warping theories. But today felt different-light, almost as if a cool breeze had swept through the halls.
They took a central table. Eliza sat next to Einstein, across from Hawking and Vinci. The table buzzed slightly with a sort of quiet excitement, and for a second, an awkward stillness came over them.
They ordered fried rice with grilled chicken and creamy coleslaw. The scent wafted up almost immediately, accompanied by the unceremonious growl of everyone's tummies.
Eliza was stiff at first, fingers running thoughtlessly along the edge of her plate. But Vinci became a barrel of silly jokes, to which Hawking added funny little stories from his teachers, slowly coaxing her out of her shell, his humor unlocking her mood. Gradually, she began to let go-shoulders relaxing, laughter bursting from her lips.
Meanwhile, Einstein was preparing a little prank of his own. He tapped a few commands on his watch, opening the interface connected with the spectacles. With a mischievous smile, he began to design a new visual filter-an advanced illusion of blanking out space. On activation, this would render one selected item in her view completely invisible, although it would actually still be there.
In a matter of split seconds, he uploaded the effect to the glasses Eliza was wearing.
The next second, Eliza's countenance lit up with pure astonishment, staring down at her plate.
Her food had simply vanished.
Only the bowl remained, with no food in it.
"What the...?" she murmured, eyes panning from left to right in panic.
She surveyed the table, taking note that everyone else had their food untouched. She then looked at Einstein, her brows knitting together.
Einstein tried to play it cool, but an impish grin kept edging into the corners of his lips.
Slowly, Eliza reached up and removed the spectacles.
The food reappeared at once, still warm and fragrant.
Her mouth dropped. "Wait... it's back?" she said almost in disbelief.
Then her gaze was jerked back to Einstein, who was now beaming with laughter.
"You did that!" she shouted at him, half-laughing, half playfully indignant.
Einstein shrugged playfully, putting his hands in a fake gesture of acquiescence. "Guilty."
Eliza shook her head in amusement. "And so evil."
"Scientific mischief," Vinci piped in, winking from across the table. "It's a tradition of our group."
Even Hawking let out a gentle chuckle, a glimmer of delight shining on his usually stoic face. "Welcome to the club, Eliza," he said, in a voice that was warm and sincere.
Eliza's smile softened. In that moment, encased in the jokes and laughter, it felt like the beginning of something big. Something bigger than a lunch or a harmless prank.
"Thank you," was all Eliza said, warmly, with shining eyes...