As we neared them, I noticed periwinkle-coloured [violet/pink] snapdragons flowers withering. The more the flowers withered, the more they resembled a human skull. Unconsciously I furrowed my eyebrows a little, I didn’t like this. Even my subconscious was telling me to be cautious, to stay away from their deceptions. A little sigh escaped my mouth, but no one noticed, fortunately. I guess I could take this as a chance to confirm if my flowers are always right or not. It’s not like I haven’t done this countless times and always confirmed the veracity of my subconscious/hallucinatory flowers.
“Can we join you?”
Alice’s voice was clear and serene, looking at her features from the side, I could see a simple but honest smile on her face. I decided to not be rude and follow her lead, the corners of my lips curling upwards in a smile that wasn’t really a smile, but at least it didn’t seem forced. Surprise was on the girls’ faces, just staring at us with slightly widened eyes, a hint of irritation passed through the eyes of the girl in the middle before she blinked and nothing was left.
“Yeah, why not, go ahead and take a seat.”
Tracey Amsel, the girl in the middle, spoke in a honeyed tone which implications seemed to escape Alice, that or she put too much faith in others. Tracey was a half-american half-german girl, Amsel, in fact, was a german surname that she inherited from her father. Her mother’s family owned a pharmaceutical company, or so she repeatedly said in her introductions, and thus they obviously didn’t lack money. Maybe, they had too much.
Tracey had natural, coquettish small eyes the colour of amber, something that donned her blonde hair well. She kept them knotted in a bun behind her head, unafraid of showing even a small peck of her gorgeous face with its little perked up nose. Amsel lips were average, not too small nor too big, but always seemed to have some kind of lipstick on them. She, of course, wore an ash-gray mascara that mixed well with her pale skin. The only thing we had in common. Tracey’s body in general resembled an hourglass, a sure-fire turn heads for almost all the males in school.
With a “Thanks.” we both sat down and started unwrapping our lunches. Amsel and entourage continued nibbling their food for a bit before conversation in the group once again took place. The girls by her side were Adya and Adna Kothari, a pair of twins with indian origins. Both had a nice bronze skin and black straight hair, but while Adya had gray eyes, Adna’s were azure. This and their different manner of clothing was what differentiated them. ‘Still, uhm, do we only have guys to talk about…?’
“…And then I told him ‘Sorry honey, it doesn’t matter how good you think you are, you are just not enough.’ After that he wanted to break up, so we did. God, he’s so freaking selfish.”
“Ahahahahah~ you’re so mean!”
“Eheheheheh~”
“If it was like that you should have either not entered in a relationship with him or broke up before cheating.”
Alice frowned as she freely spoke her mind. It’s not something I didn’t expect from her, but I really want to facepalm myself at the moment. Her little snide remark made the temperature around all of us drop below zero, of course not literally. Adya and Adna looked at Alice with a raised eyebrow, surprise in their eyes. Surprise at her stupidity. Tracey’s face twisted and contorted into an ugly expression as she glared at my friend, it was like she was looking at something disgusting, something inferior.
I hastily started packing up my and Alice’s things, ignoring Tracey has she started saying stuff like “Who do you think you are?” “Stupid virgin” “Know your place, retard.” When I was done, I glanced over at Alice, who was looking down while biting her lips and was slightly trembling. I didn’t expect that and was stunned. I recovered immediately and did something I would later regret without thinking. I took my more-than-half full glass of pear juice and throw it to Tracey’s face. That was gonna be sticky. After that me and Alice took off with our bags.
Even though I did not see it, in my mind I could imagine Tracey’s shocked expression slowly transforming into one of pure rage. I felt like gloating until I realized I pretty much made her my enemy, our enemy. What scared me, what was troublesome, wasn’t her, but her connections. Surely, as the freaking slut she is, she would ask some of her men to pester us, or maybe make her father pay people left and right to damage our reputation or put us in trouble. ‘This isn’t going to end well,’ I sighed, ‘but for now I guess I should just not mind it.’ I decided as I concentrated on holding the hand of Alice, who was still looking down as we walked away, to a toilet somewhat near her locker.
“Should I say ‘told you’?”
I told Alice in a ironic but soft tone as I patted her shoulder. She had decided to finish washing her face before replying, leaving my words hanging in the empty room. ‘I am so poetic.’ Alice wiped her face and looked at me, a self-deprecating smile formed by her thin lips, her eyes shining, maybe moistening. Was there more to her? Of course. Did I have any right to force the answers out of her? No. Thus, I remained quiet and waited for her to muster the courage to talk.
“I guess changing states doesn’t change a person. What was I thinking?”
Alice lightly shook her head and considered her next words, after a while she lowered her head a little and because of that I couldn’t be certain if I really saw her biting her lips or not. We only knew each other for a couple of days, so it wasn’t really a surprise she wouldn’t tell me about her problems. Well, maybe in the future. Seemingly, she made up her mind, she looked into my eyes and her confident look she always showed me had come back. I didn’t smile, I don’t think, but my eyes betrayed my façade, at least, as I made Alice grin even more.
“Let’s finish our lunch before the bell rings!”
We searched for an inconspicuous free table inside the school and we passed the remaining lunch time chatting about the tv shows we liked. Turns out we both liked Masterchef and Hell’s Kitchen; who doesn’t like Gordon Ramsay? *snicker* A chemistry lesson later, we freshmen were once again assembled in the gym, the teacher seating at our sides while the principal and vice-principal along with two other people, a man and a woman, sat on the stage near the left-side curtains and in front of the curtains in the back.
One after another the school’s club were presented to us by three of their members, it was quite fascinating. Alas, the teachers still had to reprimand some of my fellow freshmen as they either were making too much noise or were not paying attention (too busy fiddling with their cellphones). There was quite a variety of clubs, I didn’t bother listening too much so I don’t remember all of them, but I did pay attention to the running club’s timetables and when the headmaster told us about until when it was possible to hand in a club subscription, and, differently from the elective courses, clubs were optional though you could join only one. ‘It seems that my life is going to be busy.’ I smiled at that thought…
Previous Chapter | Index| Next Chapter (unwritten)
Kiyuta 