C60 Chapter 60
C60 Chapter 60
"Girls, I think confronting this girl is not worth it. Besides, we have a lot of important things to do," Angelina declared in a high tone.
"You guys better buzz off." Vera was heading toward me. It did not take so long for Angeline and her gang to leave.
"How long have you been here watching us?"
"Not long after you stepped into the storeroom. I had an instinct that Angeline would use this moment to jeopardize you as you were alone."
"Thank you for always being there for me," I murmured.
"How's Kevin?"
"Why are you asking?"
"I just heard that he was almost kidnapped."
"That happened before the accident." She turned her head to me with a shocked expression on her face.
"How do you know that?"
"I was with him," I confided. Her mouth gaped to say something yet no word slid out. "I spotted them, the kidnappers were besetting him."
"And you endangered yourself by saving him? Is that what you are trying to say?"
"If it were me, the one who was in Kevin's position, would you help me?"
"Sure because we are friends."
"Just because we are friends? What if I was not your friend?"
"What are you talking about?" I did not react. "Sorry. I am too harsh to you."
"No. Can we skip this topic?"
"Of course. There is no benefit discussing that boy." She dug into her bag and took two big books out of it.
"Preparation for State Exam," I read the title of one of the books. "Thank you so much. I need these books."
"You do. Keep your words that you will stand at the podium on graduation day."
"And deliver a commencement speech," I added. Her lips curled to shape a smile. Then, nothing excited us to talk. It was as though there was a barrier between us. The speculation played in my head. It might be about her confession two weeks ago and she became uneasy because of that. She moved forward and squared her shoulders, spreading her arms wide and moving them up and down in turn. She did an exercise.
I busied with what was on my mind. I flipped the books in my hand, not focusing to give them a read. It was only a distraction from my thought, the thought that haunted me. My heart kept pursuing me to demonstrate the pendant I received from Reno. I should not have kept this from Vera. However, I was too afraid to tell her the truth. It could cause misunderstanding
"We still have around thirty minutes before the first class starts." She finally spoke.
"Yeah...we...we do." I fluttered.
Vera was still doing a kind of warming-up activity while I was just staring at her with my mind was on other things. After few minutes she stopped and leaned on the wall beside me with her eyes shut.
We let the silence seize us and the reddish-orange light of the sun lick our faces for a while. This was togetherness that we could not always share. Dealing with bullying sometimes did not permit me to relish the teenage world or I did not sense the fun of school life. It was getting harder to find out the fact that your only friend had to survive the worst situation. Vera was the toughest girl I had ever known.
That girl was still closing her eyes, inhaling and exhaling the fresh air, not the fresh air since it had been polluted by the smoke from vehicles and factories. Her hand was folded on her chest cuddling the book she just read.
"There's something I never told you." She opened her eyes. I lifted the pendant in my hand. It sparkled under the sunlight.
"Is it a gift from your mother? Today is not your birthday, right?" She looked puzzled.
"It's from Reno. He gave it for me through his uncle before he left." Vera's expression changed a bit and she tried to hide it by looking away for a second then turned to me
"That's something special. Why don't you put it on your neck?"
"Not for now or probably forever."
"Why?"
"I just don't deserve this.."
"Is it because of me? He was once the most important person in my life. But now, He is nothing."
"It's not because of you. It's just something that will only burden me?" Burden me? What did I say? I swallowed the bitterness while saying those words. In fact, it was not a burden at all.
Vera commented no more about the pendant or anything for we had to go downstairs after the bell rang. I marched to my classroom. Meanwhile, she headed to her classroom.
The final year had just started. As I had promised myself, no matter how hard the challenges I would encounter, graduating with pride was my only goal. I entered the classroom which was full of students and their voices stung my ears like bees. I took a seat in the front row. With a handful of books, I carelessly dropped them down. I hunched to pick them back and put them in the drawer.
"Hi! We are in the same class now." Kevin was smiling at me with one of his hands clasped on his bag while the other curled. The plaster still latched two of his fingers.
"It doesn't signal a good thing." I quipped and continued tidying up my stuff. He lowered his mouth to my ear that made me flinched.
"You must be proud of being in the same room with me." He whispered. His action automatically captivated all students' eyes set on me when I glimpsed around. And Angelina glared at me from another side, at the back row. Her hateful face frightened me.
"Well, it's perfect! I will be with these two students a year ahead, the one with his narcissism and the one with her dominance. God, help me!" I grumbled after Kevin had been in his seat.