—💌—

chapter 15.
(o3/1o)
happiness & deserted classrooms !

preview:

—💌—

Voices, laughter, and chaos filled the cafeteria. Shauna pointed out a counter to sit on. It was surrounded by indoor trees and there were very few people seated there.

Settling down, I withdrew from my bag the boxes that contained the donuts. By the time I had taken the last one out, Lisia, Tierno, Trevor, Dawn and May were in line.

"I can't wait to try them!" Tierno exclaimed, smacking his lips. The rest of them nodded with imploring smiles. It gave me a warm feeling, to say the least.

I started handing them their share, mentally cross-checking the flavours requested.

Blackberry-filled donut for Tierno, strawberry jam for Trevor, vanilla and cookies for Dawn, berry mix for Lisia, vanilla-strawberry for Calem, sugared donuts for May, cookie and cream and simple chocolate for Gary and probably Misty. The last one, choco-strawberry, for Shauna.

After receiving their share and bombarding me with thanks and compliments, all of them scattered to their friend groups. Lisia took Calem's, while Gary's was picked by May and Dawn. They even offered an invite to join their group (including Ash) for lunch and a game of truth or dare.

As much as I would have liked to join in on the fun, I politely declined. He would not fancy me being there and, knowing him, might even leave the place and rather go sit alone. I didn't wish to see him sitting all lonely.

Would he even read my letters? Or would be simply discard them?

I looked at their group. He was right there, sitting in between Misty and May. He looked as bad as he did the day before, when our social teacher asked him to remember his worst social experience in the name of 'therapy'. He was looking so vulnerable then that I wished ill-luck for the 'therapist' more than anything.

"Serena?" Startled, I turned away from the group. "Hey? You are wondering whether or not Ash ate your donut?" Shauna asked, in a vain attempt to read my mind.

I shook my head violently, hoping the heat in my cheeks would abate. "As far as I heard May, Gary wanted to force the simple chocolate one on him. Knowing Oak, he might as well lie to get him to eat it," Shauna continued. I shrugged, and went back to my meal of stuffed sandwiches and meatballs.
"Serena? Why didn't you respond to me yesterday?"

I hummed in confusion, then realized what she meant. I kept my lunch box aside and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I handed it to her and resumed eating.

Shauna looked perplexed and tried to switch on the phone. As expected, it did not turn on. "It's not working," I supplied. "Been that way since I dropped it, y'know, when he stopped talking."

She gave a tiny whimper before handing it back. A memory hit me, vivid and unbidden.

The language hour had finally ended, so I decided to ask what was up with my best friend. "Hey Ash!"

To my astonishment, he turned away and pretended to signal Gary from his place. My eyes followed his to see his best friend reciprocating the gesture. Wonder what they're talking?

"Ash? Why were you calling me during class?" I tried again, hoping he was just playing around. The hard truth was, he wasn't. "Ash? You're ignoring me." I reached out to take hold of his wrist, but he harshly shook it away. Gary chose that moment to enter.

"Let's go somewhere, man. It's frustrating sitting here." His tone, cold and plain rude, pained my heart. Ash stood up and made to walk away, but I stopped him.

"What's wrong with you, Ash?"

Gary gave me an inquisitive look as Ash waved my statement away with a simple, "It's me. Everything is wrong with me." Without another word, he left, Gary trailing behind him, leaving me with a sense of deep regret that throbbed against my chest. When Lisia shook me out of my reverie, I realized that I had dropped my phone...

We ate in silence for a while, until Shauna nudged my rib. I looked up at her, but she was looking elsewhere. I followed her gaze to look at Lisia feeding a very hesitant Calem a small part of her donut. Shauna and I exchanged glances, our cheeks turning pink. Aww, they're so kawaii!

I was about to voice out my thoughts when my eyes chanced upon something else — something that caused a lump to form in my throat. I could feel an alien smile tug at my lips as I shut my box. I quickly packed my stuff, feeling more than just one pair of eyes on me.

"Serena?" Shauna asked, her voice laced with worry. Perhaps, she witnessed it too.

"They said," I took a deep breath as my voice wavered. "That you gotta fake it till you make it. At least I can grin. Can you help me, Shauna? Please inform our P.E. teacher that I can't make it for today's hour. I guess I have a tiny stomach pain."

I gave her a reassuring smile, as best as I could, before I walked out of the cafeteria and into the warm arms of teenage heartbreak.

No matter how optimistic I could get, seeing Misty have the time of her life by kissing Ash was something my eyes could not bear.

Am I not a real, tough kid?

Our classroom was deserted.

Perfect atmosphere for Taylor Swift and breaking down.

—💌—

A comparatively short chapter. I just wanted to end it on a melancholic note.

What do you guys think of the previews? And if anybody wants spoilers (yup, I'm done with waiting until I publish like 5o parts), you can visit my Pinterest board dedicated to my Wattpad graphics. I have posted ten previews there, each corresponding to each chapter written here. You'll find my Pinterest ID in my bio (I keep changing it often, so it seems better to not post it here).

And how's the story so far? :p