Tears of Blood (wlw)

stay down

DEVYN POV

"You going to the winter dance?" Gabriel asks while pointing to a paper he was holding.

"Err- I don't know. I have a lot of things to study for." I whispered back.

"Come on it's our last year, you have to-"

"What are you two whispering about?" Ms. Hendrix asks. The class turns around and follows her gaze to look at us in the back.

"Nothing at all." I say.

"No, no. It sounds pretty important, why don't you share it with the class?"

"Um- we were talking about how amazing literature is." Gabriel says while looking at me.

"Hmm. Why don't you two join in on the conversation we were just having. Do you think that Anne made the right decision to stay and go along with the decisions her family made for her, or do you think she should have fought for her love, Timothy?" Gabriel immediately looks at me with horror because we both know he hasn't read the novel yet. I on the other hand finished the novel By the Shore the first week we got it.

"I think she made the right decision."

"Why?" This time it's the new girl who asks. She twists in her seat to look back at me.

"Well, her decision would have affected so many other people. Her family's reputation was on the line, and they literally pleaded to her to stay."

"That doesn't make it right." Andrea says in a stern voice.

"Why isn't it right?" The whole class is listening to us go back and forth.

"Because her family should have fought for her. They should have put her happiness first, instead of stupid opinions that others have."

"The world doesn't work like that. Sometimes you have to give up on things, even if it's love."

"Her staying at the end of the book is like death. She's not even living anymore."

"She is. She just had the courage to let go of certain attachments."

"You don't need courage to die, you need courage to live. She should have chased Timothy and not let him go." I'm about to say something but I can't find the words. She turns back around and stares at the board.

"That's an interesting take Ms.Ackerman." Ms.Hendrix sits back at her desk. I start to work on my worksheet but my eyes travel towards Andrea. She runs her hand through her hair. Something about her angered me. The way she carried herself. The way she walked around not caring about a thing. And definitely the way that she's always trying to one up me.

The bell rings and I walk out of class with Gabriel. We walk over to our meeting spot to wait for Brianna, Sierra, and Ashton. I hear Ashton's obnoxious laugh and look up to see them walking towards us.

"Sooo... winter dance?" Sierra asks.

"I'm going. I heard there's gonna be booze." Brianna answers.

"Then I will be going too." Gabriel says.

"I think I'm going to go, what about you Ashton?"

"Yeah, I might. I might even ask someone to be my date."

"OOO and who might that be?"

"You'll see."

"What about you dev?"

"I don't know. Not really feeling it." We walk out of school and towards our dorm.

"Why not? It'll be fun."