The Art of being Strangers

xix.

After two missed periods, I realized Esther wasn't coming to school. She didn't mention anything about feeling bad yesterday, so I wondered what happened to her.

"Did you text Esther?" I ask Marigold.

We had music but decided to ditch. Or should I say – Marigold begged me to ditch class with her because Esther was missing, and Ansel refused to ditch class today. Even as the third choice, I agreed, happy to spend time with her and do something else other than hearing the music teacher discuss dead musicians no one cared or wanted to hear about.

She suggested we should hang out in the coffee shop again, but I declined, telling her we didn't have a reason to because the drinks there sucked. Mari seemed to have forgotten, but as soon as I remembered her about it, she made a disgusted face and agreed we shouldn't be going out to cafes anymore. We decided it would be better if we would just stay in the yard, in a corner where teachers won't see us and no classmates would bother us. We laid our jackets on the cold grass and decided it was good enough.

"Yeah, I texted her about one hour ago. She didn't answer yet, though," replied Mari, opening her phone to see if any new notification popped up.

"Maybe she overslept. Or she got sick and now she's sleeping," I shrug.

"Hm... Esther's not the type of person to oversleep. And I doubt she got sick. She was literally fine yesterday, wasn't she?"

"You're right."

"Maybe we should call her later. If she's truly sick and sleeping right now, I wouldn't want to wake her up."

I agreed with Marigold.

The hour passed quickly, and while we were outside talking and placing bets about why Esther was missing, Ansel suddenly appeared.

"Next time I'll definitely be skipping too," Ansel says, sitting down beside Mari and giving her forehead a kiss.

"Looks like you finally made up your mind, asshole," she replied, leaning in his arms and smiling.

I sometimes found their affection for each other overwhelming. I was happy for them – of course – but every time the three of us hung out, I felt like the third wheel. Sure, Marigold was a clingy person, but I couldn't understand how Ansel could put up with that much clinginess every day.

"I think I'm going to catch a cold," I say after sneezing. I get up from the ground and then pick my jacket up too.

"You can go inside the school building if you want. I'll be staying outside with Ansel some more," Mari replied.

"Alright then. See you in class," I say.

I made my way to the door and opened it, a sudden wave of heat hitting me. At this rate, I was definitely going to be sick by tomorrow.

I knew where Basil will be. When I asked him if he wanted to come to hang out with Marigold and me in the yard, he said he'd rather stay in the art class. I told him I would be back soon.

Opening the door, a shadow-like figure sat in the middle of the classroom, looking out the windows. The shadow suddenly shifts, facing me.

"You're back," Basil says. I couldn't see his face but I could hear the smile in his voice.

"I am. Ansel finished his class early and came outside too," I say, coming closer to him so I could look out the window too.

"Esther isn't replying to messages," I continue.