SOPHIA

  Of course he wears glasses. I couldn’t stop sneaking glances all the time. They just suited him so much. It was so unfair. He was constantly distracting me from the assignment. And I didn’t get distracted.

  I had it all planned out - what I will write about, the keywords, etc. - and he went and ruined it with his good ideas. How inconsiderate of him.

  Because of the way we were working in tandem I forgot myself and smiled at him like I wasn’t just glaring daggers at him a few hours ago. Ugh.

  He looked at me as if I’d just fallen out of the sky. And I felt like it as well, because why would I do that? Genuinely, what was wrong with me? We weren’t friends. Far from it. I was so embarrassed. That’s why I practically ran away.

  On the way home I couldn’t stop replaying the moments in my head. It seemed I loved to torture myself.

  I knew I was irrationally angry, but I couldn’t help it. I was still in a bad mood from earlier, when he left the classroom without saying anything. And then he had to sit at my table. I knew it wasn’t that serious, but everything about his behaviour has so far managed to piss me off. It was like he had a talent for it.

  But after I’d cooled off a bit, I could see we made a surprisingly good team. We were meeting again tomorrow after school. I couldn’t wait. We would finally finish the project and I wouldn’t have to see him again. At least not so often.

  With that thought came a feeling close to disappointment. I was probably just bothered by the fact that I’d still see him in class.

  With all these thoughts running through my head I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings and tripped over a rock. The pedestrians around all looked at me like I was crazy. As if I didn’t have enough embarrassment for the day. Just great.

  With burning cheeks I picked myself up from the ground, and started for home again. I couldn’t wait for this day to end.

  When I arrived at the house I was so tired from everything, that I barely made it through my night routine before I collapsed in my bed and promptly fell asleep.

  I woke up with the alarm blaring in my ears. Was it morning already?

  I scrunched up my nose and let out a whine. I wasn’t under - any circumstances - a morning person.

  I pushed myself up with my arms and turned off the alarm as I slowly left the comfort of my warm bed.

  Thankfully I woke up earlier than needed, so I could get ready in peace and still had time to spare.

  I walked to school since I lived near enough. Most people would probably rather go by bus or car than walking in the morning. But I liked it because it gave me time alone with my thoughts. I was always working, so I liked having some time for myself. Besides, the fresh air and cold breeze helped me chase away the remnants of sleep.

  Whenever I started nearing the school though, I always got a tight feeling in my chest. Like someone was squeezing my heart. I didn’t have any tests today, but that didn’t make it go away.

  But it faded away when I stepped foot in the hall and glimpsed the now familiar pair of dark eyes. They met mine and we both froze. Was I supposed to greet him or just pretend I didn’t see him? Well, it was too late for the second one though it seemed we both had the same struggle.

  Thankfully we were saved by his friends, who just walked inside, curling their noses up high. They came up to him and started to engage him in a conversation. He looked away first and nodded to whatever one of the guys said.

  I watched him for a second more, not able to tear my eyes away, but then I realized I was just standing in the middle of the hall like an idiot, and rushed to my locker.

  After I went to my first class, which luckily didn’t include Marcello. I sat down in my chair and prepared my books. I was lost in my thoughts, thinking about certain brown eyes, when I startled at the sound of Lina’s voice.

  “Hey”

  “Huh?” I so smartly blurted out. I looked up to see a smile on her face. She inclined her head, confused. I didn’t blame her. I was really out of it these past few days.

  “Oh, sorry,” I laughed awkwardly. “Hi.”

  “Have a lot on your mind?” She asked, knowingly.

  “Don’t even ask,” I joked.

  “I get it.” And I knew she did. She was one of the only people I voluntarily chose to talk to. It was so easy with her.

  She didn’t prod at me and ask me what was bothering me. She just offered her steady presence. And that was enough.

  I didn’t really have friends, but if I had to spend time with someone, it would be her. I liked the way she was determined to achieve everything she wanted like me.

  Sometimes I thought she was even too cool for me. She always had these outfits that made her look like a fairy combined with her ethereal face, framed by her ginger bob that was secured with a flowery headband.

  As much as we were alike in our ambition, we couldn’t be more different in style. I chose to wear more comfortable clothes, like sweaters and baggy pants.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I finally reverted my focus to the teacher and started to pay attention. I really couldn’t afford any slip-ups.

  After I finished all my classes, I had to get to the drama club. It has always been my favourite activity of them all. When I was little I wanted to become an actress. That dream soon faded, but the love for theatre remained.

  In a way I was living my childhood dream. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but acting in front of the whole school was a bigger feat than one might think. It was pretty scary, but the fun side prevailed.

  We were deep into preparations for Shakespear’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It had to be low budget, since most of the money in this school went to the sports teams. But we didn’t let that deter us from creating a magical experience.

  I was playing Hermia. A young woman in love with a guy named Lysander and he loves her back, but her father wishes her to marry Demetrius. So the pair decide to run away into the forest. But there due to some magic, he wakes up in love with Helena, Hermia’s friend. At the end all is resolved and he remembers his love for Hermia.

  That’s not the whole plot, but you get the jist.

  We went through some lines and then wrapped up when I looked at the clock. It didn’t click immediately, but then I remembered - I was supposed to be meeting Marcello in the library. I would have celebrated finally not thinking about him, but I didn’t have time for that.

  I picked up my bag and threw it on my left shoulder. Then I quickly waved and left the room. I ran toward the library, heart racing. I hated being late, but here I was.

  I stepped to the doors of the library. I didn’t see him anywhere, but I knew where he’d be. I stopped at the table at which Marcello was sitting. And he did not seem happy. Quite the opposite.

  His hands were crossed in front of his chest and he was leaning back in his chair. He watched me as I gasped for breath, completely silent.

  MARCELLO

  She was late. I have been waiting for her for fifteen minutes, when she barged into the library. She was probably running to get here, because she was breathing heavily and her cheeks were red with exertion.

  Finally, she stopped in front of the table. I looked at her and stayed quiet, waiting for an explanation or rather an excuse that was about to come.

  “Sorry. We were practicing lines, and I didn’t realize how late it was…” She rambled on. She did seem genuinely remorseful and that calmed me down a bit.

  She abruptly stopped herself when she realized she was still talking.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again.

  I released a long sigh. “Just sit down, Odelle.” I called her by her last name. That was the first time I had done that. It was the first time I addressed her at all, and I liked the sound of her name from my lips.

  She seemed relieved and quickly sat down in her chair. We continued where we left off yesterday.

  We’ve been working for about an hour, when my phone started buzzing. I fished it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. It was my mother.

  I didn’t want to talk to her right now, but I knew she wouldn’t stop calling until she got what she wanted.

  Apparently I was staring at my phone for a long time, since Odelle spoke up.

  “Are you going to answer that?”

  I glanced at her and then accepted the call. My mothers shrill voice came through the speakers.

  “What took you so long? Aren’t you always glued to that thing anyway?” That was her version of hello. She liked to get straight to the business. No time for small talk.

  “Hello, mother. I presume you’re not calling to ask about my day?” I said mockingly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Odelle give me a weird look, but I ignored it.

  “Your father told me you met a girl. She’s from a respectable family, I heard.” It wasn’t a question. I knew not to even bring a girl up if she didn’t check all of my mother’s boxes.

  I don’t even know why I blurted that out, when dad asked me. I just wanted them to stop harassing me on this. And maybe I wanted them to be satisfied with me at least once. So I said I found a girl.

  I know I shouldn’t have done what I did then. But I thought I heard approval in mom’s voice and I guess I wanted her to be proud of me. No matter what I did, how many good grades I got, how many times the teachers praised me, it was never good enough for her. It was impossible to please her. Or so I thought. But here was my chance and I took it.

  I probably shouldn’t have done that, but I didn’t let myself think too long about this decision. So instead of denying it, I gave her what she wanted.

  “I did. In fact, I’m with her right now.” I looked at her as I said it. Her eyes widened as if asking what I was doing. It appeared, since she was sitting so close to me, she heard the whole conversation.

  I felt kind of bad about doing this to her, but I didn’t stop there.

  “Would you like to talk to her?” I asked my mother with a mischievous smirk. I mainly did that just for Odelle’s reaction. And I got it. Her eyes bulged out even more and her jaw dropped a little. She started waving her hands in the air, making an X shape.

  I didn’t let either of them say anything before I pushed the phone toward her and widened my eyes. Say something.

  She started to shake her head frantically. No way.

  “Hello? Are you still there?” My mother’s voice sounded through the phone.

  I jerked my head toward it, while looking at the girl next to me. She looked down-right terrified.

  Shakily she said, “Hello, Miss Raduzzi.” She looked at the phone like she wanted to stomp on it, throw it out of the window, and burn it. Not necessarily in that order.

  She looked so cute, when she was nervous. I tried to suppress a smile, but didn’t quite manage it. She saw it and thought I was mocking her, because she blushed. She narrowed her eyes at me and crossed her arms. She looked even cuter when she was mad.

  I decided to put her out of her misery and put the phone back to my ear.

  “Anyway, I have to go now. It was lovely to talk to you, as always. Bye.” I didn’t let her say another word before I hung up.

  “What is wrong with you? Why did you do that?” Odelle shot out as soon as I hit the button, faster than a bullet.

  “Do what?” I decided to play the dumb act, because I honestly didn’t have a good explanation.

  Sorry, I wanted my mother to regard me with something other than disappointment. Yeah, no.

  “Do what?!” She repeated after me. She basically screamed it at me and the librarian shushed her. She gave her an apologetic smile, but then turned right back to glaring daggers at me, as if that was my fault. Well, it kind of was, but that was irrelevant.

  I just shrugged. That made her even angrier. Since I didn’t have a good enough excuse for what I’d done, I ignored her and started packing up.

  “I have to go home.” She looked at me dumb-founded. I couldn’t blame her. I was giving her whiplash after whiplash.

  “But what about the project?” She managed to get out.

  “We’ll finish it tomorrow.”

  “You can’t just decide that, we’re supposed to be a team.” She sounded incredibly displeased.

  “Don’t you want to finish the project? Tomorrow is a Saturday, so I’m sure you can spare some time for this,” I said annoyed.

  “What if I don’t?” She asked defiantly. I knew she just wanted to oppose me.

  “Don’t you?”

  “I have orchestra rehearsals.”

  “The whole day,” I questioned.

  “No,” she mumbled. That’s what I thought. Even though I didn’t say it out loud, it was like she was reading my thoughts. Her face twitched with anger, but she didn’t comment on what we both knew I was thinking.

  “I’ll see you at five,” she bit out. Normally, I wouldn’t let her order me around, but I let it slide. Without saying another word, I stood up, and walked toward the exit. I could feel her gaze following me every step on the way.