Till death do us part

Chapter 5: A cry for help - Age 17

Cora's POV

It was Monday, the school day after the dance. Many people were talking about the dance, about how much fun it was. I couldn't stop thinking about the dance either. I was supposed to meet Naheed's friend. I wondered all weekend why she left. It probably wasn't meant to be...

"Hey, Cora."

I looked to my left. "Hey, Dara," I smiled a bit at her. "So, how are you? How was your weekend with Naheed?"

She smiled. "Wonderful," She let out a happy sigh. "It's so amazing to be in love," She then looked at me. "I couldn't stop thinking about you though."

I raised my eyebrows. "Does Naheed know you're thinking about me while you're with him?" I chuckled.

She chuckled too. "Very funny," She stopping chuckling right after and looked at me again. "I'm serious though, I couldn't stop thinking about the dance."

"We had a good time."

"Yeah..." She slowly nodded. "I just feel so bad about what happened with Naheed's friend."

"It's alright," I shrugged. "I had a great time. Besides, she's probably not interested in girls."

"That's where you're wrong, she is interested in girls."

"Who's interested in girls?" Naheed asked as he joined us.

Dara looked at him. "Cora thinks that Rose isn't interested in girls."

Naheed raised his eyebrows before looking at me. "I know she is gay, she told me herself," He then sighed. "Well, I thought so at least."

Dara frowned. "What's wrong?"

He shrugged. "It's Rose," He sighed again. "I think she's avoiding me."

"Why would she do that?" I asked.

Dara and Naheed looked at me before looking at each other. "Maybe she feels bad about what happened..." Naheed shrugged again. "I don't know, I can't find her. So I can't ask her."

Dara patted his shoulder. "Maybe she needs some time for herself," She sighed. "Maybe Cora is right, maybe we pushed Rose too much."

"Maybe..." Naheed sighed, he seemed really upset.

"Look," I said, gaining their attention. "I don't know Rose so I can't explain her behavior but I do know that she's your friend," I said to which Naheed nodded. "So she's not angry with you, give her some time."

Naheed nodded. "Thanks, Cora."

Dara smiled a bit. "I hope you and Rose meet someday," She smiled more. "You two would be good together."

I smiled even though I wasn't sure whether to agree or disagree with her. I figured if Rose avoided us, she might not want to meet me. And that's alright, she doesn't have to. I can only hope she will reconnect with her friends at least.

The school bell rang then. "Well, I'll see you guys later." I said before heading off to class.

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The rest of the day was uneventful. I saw Dara and Naheed during lunch but they hadn't heard from Rose. I tried comforting them as best as I could. Naheed seemed really upset, I wonder if he felt responsible for this somehow.

After school, I once again had to wait for Anthony. I didn't mind though, I was grateful he did the effort to pick us up.

"Miles," I said, gaining his attention. "I'm going inside, tell Anthony to text me if he's here, ok?"

"Yeah yeah." He said and went back to talking to his friends.

I sighed and went back inside the school. I walked around, aimlessly. I didn't know what to do so I figured I could walk around. Maybe I'd see a drawing again... I remember that drawing I found a few months back. I still had the picture I took of it. I wanted to see that drawing again, the next day, but someone had taken it. Ever since then, I walked to the art room after school, in case a new drawing would appear. But it never did...

I decided to go the to restroom before I'd continue my walk. As I entered, I heard sniffles. I made sure not to make any noise and listened for the source of the sound. 

"Hello?" I finally said.

The sniffles stopped.

"Hello?" I tried again. This time though, I went by every stall. "Hello?"

I didn't get a reply back. It seemed the girl was afraid.

"I don't know why you're crying," I paused. "I hope it's not too bad."

No reply.

I looked down, gulping. I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't want to hurt the girl, who was already pretty hurt. "Sometimes I feel like crying too," I started. "Life can be hard."

After a long period of silence, she replied: "Yeah..."

I looked up, I was pretty sure I stood in front of her stall. "Something happened at school?"

Again, a long period of silence before she replied: "Mhm."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

This time, I didn't get a reply.

I sighed and looked down again. I really didn't know how to communicate with her. And maybe she didn't want to talk. Maybe I was just bothering her.

"I feel stupid." She suddenly said.

I looked up again. "Why?"

Suddenly, the sniffles returned. It was clear that whatever happened, really hurt her.

I walked to her stall and stood right in front of it. I knocked on the door gently. "Open up."

The sniffles stopped again, I'm guessing she wasn't expecting me to come this close. I heard her move around but the door didn't unlock.

I didn't move away though, I kept looking at the lock. I was hoping she'd unlock it.

I guess we were both looking at the door, at the lock, because nothing was said. Maybe she was debating whether she should open the door or not. And I was waiting impatiently for her to open the door but, at the same time, I wasn't sure what I'd do if she opened it. Should I hug her? Should I just look at her? 

Suddenly, she unlocked the door. She didn't open it though, it seemed she wanted me to open the door. And so I did.

When I opened the door, I saw a girl with red, puffy eyes. Teardrops on her clothes suggested she had been crying for a while. She looked so upset and so shy, I knew I had to be gentle.

I showed her a small smile and presented my hand. "I'm Cora."

The girl looked at me, then at my hand. She showed me a small smile too. "I'm Rose."