Sweater Weather

Theia

"Did you hear that Kat was in the hospital last week?" A girl sitting next to me whispered to her friends.

A brunette with blue eyes murmured. "I heard that she got into a car accident."

A petite girl muttered, "I heard that she got beat up by another girl who was jealous of her."

Kat was literally sitting across from them. The hood on her head was covering her face and her head was down. I felt bad for her. I hated it when people spread rumors because they aren't even true. It was especially annoying when they did it during class.

"Can you guys be quiet, I'm actually trying to learn." They shot me a dirty look but stopped talking. After class, I walked up to Kat. She was still sitting at her desk with her head down.

"Kat...?"

"Are you here to make fun of me or something?" She asked, her voice sharp.

"No, I want to make sure you're okay."

"Yeah right." I was about to place my hand on her shoulder, "I--" Kat grabbed my wrist and scowled at me. I finally saw her face. Kat had bruises on her face and had bags under her eyes. She was shaking.

"Don't...touch me." Kat warned me.

She grabbed her bag and rushed out of the classroom, disappearing into the flood of students. Ophelia was at the door when I exited the classroom.

"Hey," I said. "What happened?" she asked, looking worried.

"It's nothing. I was just wondering if she was okay. I just think when I put my hand on her shoulder, it triggered her for something."

"Maybe she just doesn't like to be touched."

I shook my head. "I don't think it's that. I think it's something else. Something worse." Ophelia walked with me to my next class, art.

When we arrived, I said, "I want to talk to you about something after class, okay?"

"Sure," She said.

"Meet me in the library." I walked into the art room and sat down in my assigned seat.

"Hey, Theia." My friends, Ebony, said cheerfully.

"You remember that art project I was telling you about?"

"Yeah!" I responded.

"Well I finally finished!" She pulled out her sketchbook out of her backpack and opened it. Ebony revealed a beautiful sketch of a lion. She handed me the sketch book. It was amazing. The shading and the blending was done well. She did a great job of defining its bold eyes and its wild mane.
"Woah...this is incredible!" I said.
Our art teacher, Ms. Gibson walked up behind me and said, "Yes, it is. Should we start class?"

The whole class, I couldn't stop thinking about Kat. I noticed she had bruises on her wrist. I didn't want to pry into her personal life but I want to know if she's okay. I run into Jay and Layla in the hallway while walking to history.

"Oh hey, Theia!" Layla said as she smiled.

"Hi, this is actually perfect timing. I need to talk with you two during lunch. Meet me in the library, okay?"

"Sure." Jay replied.

I said bye and continued walking to my next class. When I came into the classroom I spotted my boyfriend, Jamie. I waved to him and he waved back at me. I took a seat in the middle between Jamie and Ophelia's desk. She acknowledged me by smiling at me.

"Hey, Lia?" I asked her.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Meet me in the library at lunchtime. Okay?" Ophelia nodded.

In the middle of class Jamie passed me a note. I opened it and it read, "Did Jay and Ophelia break up?"

I replied back, "No, they were never together. They're just best friends."

"They act like a couple. They don't seem to be hanging out as much, did something happen?"

"Layla and Jay started dating. They've been hanging out nonstop. He rarely hangs out with me and Ophelia anymore. Lia pretends she's fine with them dating but I don't think she is." I informed him.

"Do you think Ophelia has a crush on Jay?"

"Definitely. Before Layla they would flirt with each other all the time without even knowing it!"

"I low key ship those two."

"I know, right!? They would be so cute together! People have mistaken them as a couple multiple times before."

"We have to get them together."

"I've been trying for years without any luck."

"Maybe I can help. Operation Get Ophelia and Jay Together!"

"It would be great if you could help. There should be a few rules though. No messing with Jay and/or Ophelia's current relationships that they are in. We have to let them become single on their own. You can't make it obvious that you are trying to set them up. You have to be subtle. I'll text you more about it later. Sounds good?" I asked Jamie.

"Sounds good." We decided to stop passing notes before we got in trouble. Class ended and I met Layla, Ophelia, and Jay at the library.