Racing to You ✓

26 | bloom

Although I was still worried about Deandre, I made sure I didn't make my concern too obvious. I didn't try to walk on eggshells around him, but instead spent time studying with Sasha at the diner where he worked. He was definitely less receptive to my attempts of conversing, like we were back to square one, but at least he didn't have that glazed-over look in his eyes anymore. Sometimes, the smile he gave as he served our food and drinks seemed more than a polite smile from a waiter, and felt more like an acknowledgement of a friend. 

Joy and Yulissa didn't know exactly what happened, but they did notice a shift in our dynamics. Joy had asked one day, "Is Williams relapsing?"

Mortified, I gasped, "What makes you say that? Did you see or hear something?"

She shook her head. "He's just been showing up a lot more at the school counsellor's office. I see him around a lot whenever I attend my own sessions." 

I released a breath. "That's good." 

Yulissa stared deep into my eyes, her gaze searching. "Are you alright? Is he alright?" 

"I'm fine, and he will be too," I sighed. "Let's not talk about this anymore. Finals season is upon us." 

"Ugh," Joy whined. "We should've joined an arts academy while we could. At least we would be working for something we enjoyed." 

"Just a little over a year left," Yulissa attempted to encourage. "Besides, I personally wasn't sure yet if I wanted to make theatre a lifelong commitment yet." 

"Lucky Justin," I sniffed. "He escaped all this and went straight back to L.A after watching our musical." 

"Not the promo he gave us with that InstaStory he posted though," Joy giggled. 

Yulissa stiffened a yawn. "I could do with some coffee alongside all this studying. Starbucks, anyone?"

I dropped my gaze a little guiltily. "I'm going to study with Sasha again."

"She could join us?" Joy offered, but I heard the hesitance underlying her tone. Sasha had withdrawn from the student socialising scene more than ever -- I wasn't surprised if I was the sole person left from school that she spoke to on her own free will. Maybe getting her out of her room and checking on Deandre at the diner nearly every night was killing two birds with one stone.

Yulissa chuckled. "Maybe we should sit this one out -- it would probably be a more productive study session without us there."

Joy swept her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. "True. See you tomorrow." 

My smile faded a little once they walked away. Cliques inevitably occurred in high school, just because there were so many different types of personalities and moral values meshing well or crashing against each other, and my theatre family was definitely my main friend group. It wasn't that Joy and Yulissa excluded Sasha per se -- they just had different interests and priorities, and with Sasha hiding out in the library these days, they had even less in common. It seemed that only her little brother Joshua was the only factor tying all my friends together. 

I headed towards the entrance of the school, where Sasha was already waiting for me. 

"Heya," I greeted brightly. "Ready to get that bread?"

She groaned, but at least some spark returned to her tired eyes. She wasn't one to hide her troubles from me, but she wouldn't explicitly ask for help either unless absolutely necessary. 

"Come on," I urged as I looped my arm through hers, heading towards her car. "It's good to mingle with some parts of society besides just your family. Even Deandre talks to people." 

"At work," she retorted. "That means my students count." 

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Don't you only tutor during the holidays? That means, the last time you spoke to them was January?" 

She rolled her eyes and opened her car door. "If you're going to harp on my perfectly content anti-social life, I'm going to drive off without you." 

"Don't you dare!" 

When we got to the diner, Deandre accompanied us to our usual booth. "Good evening. The usual?"

"Yes please," Sasha replied. 

"Thanks," I followed up cheerily. "When are you getting off your shift today by the way?"

Surprise flared in his eyes. "In an hour." 

"Good, come study with us."

He paused, glancing back at Sasha. She shrugged. "You're one of the few people I don't mind." 

"Hear that, Deandre? You must now," I pushed. "We've got the legendary Sasha Li on our side. Or else you're going to be held back in Grade 11 once more if you fail the exams now." 

He huffed, but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips as he turned away towards the kitchen. 

I may have stared after him longer than usual, because Sasha cleared her throat. "Was that a yes?" 

"I think so," I replied with a defeated sigh. "I'm trying not to be too overbearing, but I can't relax either, you know?" 

Sasha hummed, returning her attention to the books in front of her. "I'm sure he appreciates the balance you've been giving him. But you've got to save some energy for yourself too. Go with the flow."  

We managed to tick off an impressive amount of to-do tasks before Deandre finally changed out of his work uniform and joined us at our booth, sliding in next to me. 

"Busy day?" I asked, leading the small talk, as Sasha was definitely not one to initiate it. But from experience, a little small talk was needed to break the ice -- unlike diving straight into the atrocities of the world like a certain someone sitting opposite me tended to do. 

Deandre shrugged as he pulled out some notes and a pen. "Busy is good. Keeps me from overthinking." 

"That's good," I sighed. "I struggle with deadlines because I'm always overthinking. Which leads to procrastinating. And being up in the wee hours of dawn preparing for war." 

Sasha scribbled something down on her notepad. "I don't understand how you could possibly cram." 

"I work better in bursts of energy," I pointed out. "Theo said that Pomodoro sessions work better for him too. Speaking of Theo, I'll formally introduce him to you one day. He's like, Deandre's only friend."

"More or less," Deandre agreed with some amusement.  

She blinked. "Instead of making friends right now, I'd like to pass my finals." 

"This is why I'm her only friend," I whispered to Deandre, earning a kick under the table from Sasha. 

"Gossip some more, and even you won't be considered one," she scoffed. 

I made a dramatic show of clutching my heart. "Why does that sound more of a loss to me than to you, who will be completely friend-less for life?" 

"Leilani Ka'uhane, I swear if you continue to--" 

"Okay, okay, don't finish that sentence, I still want to live." 

Deandre watched our bickering with mirth, which nearly made me change targets and whirl on him, but his completely opened and relaxed expression stopped my quip. 

Thus, I took one for the team and put my life on the line for his entertainment by teasing Sasha, who at some point prepared to throw her water bottle at me and caused me to take shelter either beneath the table or behind Deandre. 

Call me childish, but sometimes we needed to live out our child at heart.