WANNA BE YOURS

f o u r

The light rain did not stop anyone from playing during gym class and Kaira was no exception. She would usually sit out during the class due to her asthma but today she decided playing around a little would not hurt.

Kaira was the odd man out because her classmates looked like a bunch of blueberries in their navy blue tracksuit while she was still dressed in the regular uniform. She had not even bothered to purchase the tracksuit as she rarely participated during the said class.

Playing together was a great bonding experience, Kaira noted. She stuck around with her fellow female classmates as the girls and boys had separated simply because the boys got too emotional while playing.

Kaira knew many people but she was not close to any of them. She knew she was good at socializing and could make numerous meaningful connections if she wanted but that was not something she enjoyed. It was almost as if she held everyone at an arm's distance. Lately she had begun to wonder whether she was starting to hold Sen at the same place.

Downing an entire bottle of water Sen swiped at the sweat and rain drops gracing his face with the end of his nylon t-shirt which did little to absorb the moisture. He combed his fingers through his knotted damp locks and tied it back into a small pigtail while attempting to catch his breath.

"Yo look." One of his classmates whispered, nudging his chin towards the girls who were playing basketball on their half of the court. Knowing he was upto no good, Sen decided to ignored the pair.

A snicker left the other boy's mouth.

"You mean Jinsi?"

This caught his attention, his shoulders tensed ready to spring into action if they said anything weird.

The lewd words that fell from his classmate's mouth was enough to tip Sen over the edge of insanity. He saw red. And without much of a second thought he shoved the boy roughly in an attempt to cut off his words.

"You wanna try saying that shit again?"

"Chill my man," the boy chuckled, raising his hands up in surrender,"you can't always keep hogging her and not make a move. You gotta let us get a go at least once-"

The sickening sound of a fist colliding against a jaw caught the attention of the students around the two.

Most of his classmates were gross he had already known that thanks to the numerous comments they would pass in the locker room. He and the few other decent students often chose to ignore them. However, Sen drew the line when it came to his friend.

Throwing fists at one another the two ended up falling onto the damp ground, mud dirting their tracksuits. A few of his classmates had stepped up in attempts to diffuse the fight but to no avail.

Sen had lost all sense of his surroundings and hence failed to notice the familiar piercing whistle. The short PE teacher marched up to the two brawling students, fuming.

"Detention!" He howled. "Both of you."

Giving the boys an annoyed glare he swiftly turned around and walked away muttering something about his reputation.

Sen scoffed at the attitude of his teacher, brushing the dirt off his pants after being physically dragged away from the fight. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other boy get escorted to the infirmary to treat his bleeding nose.

As Sen rose to his full height he noticed Kaira making her way towards him with quick strides and balled fists.

"What did you do?" was the first thing she said to him. Something about her tone did not sit well with Sen, it felt almost accusatory.

"What happened to 'are you okay' and all that?" Sen scoffed, turning away from her in an attempt to get away from the conversation.

"What did you do?" she repeated, her teeth gritting.

Sen stared at her wondering why she was acting the way she was. He had a quick debate with himself and decided on biting back on childish insults.

"Go away," he shooed her with his hand. "It's none of your business."

This seemed to cut off the strands of sanity that were holding Kaira together.

"Stop it Sen. Stop treating me like that." she exclaimed as her face twisted into a frown.

"Like what? What are you even going on about?" he bellowed with confusion. "Why are you being so bitchy out of nowhere?"

"Stop acting as if I'm something fragile and always need to be defended." she seethed. "I can stand up for myself."

"Then why do I never see you doing that?" It was more a statement rather than a question.

"You never give me the chance! You're always the first to jump in and take action before I can even react." Kaira stated, blinking rapidly to hold back her tears.

A wave of panic washed over Sen as he took in the state she was in. However, he had to make a few points clear before diffusing the situation.

"Maybe cause I don't like you letting people walk all over you."

"And I don't like you treating me like a damn pushover." She paused for a second to take a deep breath to collect herself and pushed the stray strands of her hair behind her ear. "I get it, you're protective by nature over the people you care for and I should be grateful to you but honestly.... I find it suffocating."

Her words felt like a slap to his face. Why couldn't she just thank him and move on. He genuinely did not understand where she was coming from. A part of him yearned to fix whatever was going on between them to prevent a fall out from happening while the other part, a more ugly part simply wished to rub salt into her wounds and walk away.

Sen was blinded by his boiling ego and urge to protect his sense of pride. Hence he succumbed to the latter half of himself.

He could feel the claws of guilt grip him as he walked away from his friend. His mouth burned as a consequence of the bitter words that had left his lips. He wondered if he really was in the wrong, all he wanted was the best for her. He had the right to get angry at her. Perhaps he could have expressed his emotions in a more mature way.

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thank you for reading<33