Pendulum || TAENNIE FF

⚔Chapter 46: Hands on 12:30

A U T H O R

"Bets!" Sloan shouted with a wide smile. Heather and Maya looked at them with their brows furrowed. "Do you guys think she's on good terms with Firo? Imma say no." She pulled out a gold coin from her pocket and extended her hand. The others began giving her gold. The ones who believe Heather get to place their money on her left and those who don't, placed their money on her right hand. 

"You better not fail us." The pink-haired girl said and glared.

"O-Okay! Uh.." Heather turned around and looked at the door. "Where would Firo be this time?" 

She left the music room and went to the first place that came to her mind--the library. Firo knows a lot about books, judging from their argument the other day. The others followed after her and waited outside the door to watch as Heather make her way in.

"Why did you have to make her go through this?" Maya asked in a worried tone. "Things aren't pretty good with them last time."

"Then I guess I'm getting your money!" Sloan happily exclaimed but Noah stopped her from keeping their gold. 

"Not until Heather proves it to us. Give her a chance and stop being too excited." Sloan rolled her eyes and watched Heather walk. "Is Firo really there though?" Noah asked and crossed his arms. "How did she know he would be here?"

"Because they're close Noah, obviously. I am getting them money Sloan. Stay broke." She stuck her tongue out at the annoyed girl.

"Eunice..!" Maya silently shouted to get their attention. "Will everyone just be quiet and watch? It's like I'm the only mature one here. It's humiliating." Her bandmates just laughed and fooled around her more, pulling her hair and making funny faces. 

Heather went straight to the bookshelves to search for him. The couches were empty and the windows are closed. There are only a few ones inside and she hoped Firo is one of them. Her eyes glistened when she found him standing while reading a book where the light coming from the window strikes him. "You're glowing." She suddenly spoke, surprising him. 

Firo immediately moved backward and two steps away from her. "What are you doing here? Did you have lunch already?"

"Obviously. And you and Chase didn't show up for reasons I'm not interested in hearing about." She answered. Firo cleared his throat and nodded. "I need my answers right now." He blinked and furrowed his brows. "About what happened outside Stone Academia that day--"

"Don't ask me to explain myself again." He immediately said and laid his eyes on his book.

"I knew what you wanted to say. You said I'm smart enough to understand because I ranked second in our year, didn't you? Well, you were right. I didn't know about the things you've done behind the scenes and assumed that you didn't like having me around. And... You wanted to be friends with me but you're holding yourself back because I'm leaving. That's what you thought of, isn't it?"

He looked at her and moved a step closer. "Something that's labeled will stick to that label until the end. It can't be renamed or changed even if it evolves into something else." He said. Heather furrowed her brows for not knowing where he's getting at. "You didn't get the last part right. It was like that back then, but I'm no longer using that excuse. I don't want to call it friendship but I want to be there for you when you need me. I want to be someone like that to you."

"Why do you have to say in such a confusing way?" She had a puzzled face but it suddenly lit up and formed into a happy one. "You care about me more than I thought.." She said with sparkling eyes as if she's getting emotional. 

Firo scoffed and pulled her for a hug. Heather widened her eyes at his sudden gesture. "You're fine with this, right?" She quickly hugged him back and nodded when her face is already buried comfortably in his chest. "You even brought Maya's band with you." She immediately moved away and looked up to face him. "I can see them from here."

Heather turned around and watched them as they start distributing the gold as if they're regulars at a luxurious casino. "They got me to talk things out with you. I owe them one." She faced him again and the book he's still holding caught her attention. "What's that?" She stood on her tiptoes to see. Firo quickly placed his hand on her head and turned it to his torso. "What is it this time? I thought we're good?" She looked at the book again but Firo softly turned her head again towards him.

"Mind your own business." He would've said it with an annoyed face like he always does to her but this time, he said it with a kind smile and an inaudible laugh. 

Firo had his hand on the back of her head, making sure she doesn't go away and with an open book on his right. Heather took that chance to hug him so tight, expressing how happy she was knowing that she's not just a responsibility anymore. 

Classes for the day ended and Heather quickly went to Ink Fictions to submit her finished papers. She was at the door already when the members started leaving the place. "Where are you guys going? I thought we had a session today." 

"Didn't Flake tell you?" One of the girls asked. "The meeting was moved to after lunch. We're all done compiling all the pieces for our release next month."

"Done compiling? But I wasn't informed. Nobody told me." She didn't waste a second and ran to the pavilion. 

Flake was already preparing to leave so she had to block his way so he can't go. "What are you still doing here? You heard them."

She panted and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I haven't shown my work yet. You can't leave until you look at them." She opened the textbook where her papers were kept and gave all of them to him. "I stayed up all night to finish the full version of each. If I could just get one of them to the final compilation--Flake!!" She shouted when he crumpled everything and threw it in the pond. 

"We've decided. We won't be needing any of your work anymore." He continued walking and left her there standing and baffled.

"You can't." She took off her cloak and jumped into the pond to get what's left of her hand-written stories. Tears escaped her eyes seeing everything torn and soaked. All her hard work and sacrifices went down the drain almost literally. But before she could cry all her tears, the water in the pond slowly went down, pulling her deep down as well. "H-Help... Help me! Flake!!" She shouted and turned to the entrance but he was no longer there. "What's happening?" She held onto the soil surrounding the water to climb up but the force below was stronger. All that was heard was her scream for help echoing as she's getting pulled down into the deep. 

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🤐my mouth is zipped. I'm not spoiling anything for the next chapter🤭 

The chapter title says everything that happened here: the high and low. I hope no one would think of this as a clue or something because it's really not hehe😅

Look forward to the next one and I hope you guys enjoyed reading🥰