The Lilac Diaries | ONC 2022

Chapter 5

Lazlo

. . . 

The day before

It was as if this diary was making me see things because I know I did not just read that correctly. 

I blinked, then closed my eyes, and then rubbed them to hopefully get the sleepiness out. But when I looked back at the diary, the same words were still written there, almost as if they were taunting me. I almost wanted to laugh because of how incredibly stupid they were, but I still wasn't sure if I was seeing it right. There was no way that this could possibly be true. But here I was, reading something that wasn't meant to be shared, and something Ireland thought only she would be reading. 

I finally gulped down the words that were written.

Ireland thought I was cute.

Well, adorable to be exact. Which could be interpreted in the sad, 'I feel bad for him' way, or the 'cute adorable' way. But if my calculations were correct, the sentence, "Lazlo was wearing his black sweatshirt again today, and if I'll be honest, was looking sort of adorable." is definitely the 'cute adorable' way. 

I don't know why I started to smile, but I did. And then for some unknown reason, I started to laugh. And not just a small chuckle either, I mean full on tears-to-my-eyes laughter at 12:30am in the morning with my parents in the other room. 

That could not be real. Ireland must have left it for me to purposely find because there was no way she would admit this on paper. At least, I know I wouldn't. 

As my laughter subsided, I thought back to the expression on Ireland's face when she realized that I was holding her diary. It didn't look like her usual smirk, or sour expression. In fact, nothing about the encounter was normal at all, but for some reason I was still expecting this to be the biggest prank Ireland had ever pulled on me. 

But alas, faces don't lie. And Ireland's face at that exact moment, held an expression of pure terror and shock. 

I sighed, knowing that the right thing to do was to stop meddling in her 'perfect' life, but something inside me churned at the thought of leaving the perfect opportunity for me to finally have something to use against Ireland flushed down the drain. I just couldn't leave it be. 

All of my life, Ireland was the person I thought of when the word 'hate' came to mind, and was mostly the main reason I dreaded coming to school. In all the stages of my life, Ireland had been there to torment me, and I refused to believe it was just because she had a silly school girl 'crush' on me. I won't accept it.

And so, I kept on digging. 

. . .

It was already 1:45am by the time that I had gotten through more than half of the diary, and found something that sparked my attention. 

"Anyways, during P.E. today, the strangest thing happened. This senior boy that we'll call NT started to talk to me. I didn't really find this a problem, until he started to beg me to come to his house later tonight. Supposedly he's throwing this huge party because his parents are gone for the weekend. I politely declined, and told him that I had a lot of homework to catch up on, which was an obvious lie. Like I said before, I already finished everything in class, but I just needed this guy off my back. But this dude just kept on persisting that I should go, and even got almost half of the class to ask me. I was literally so pissed. Like, what was his deal? No means no. But after a while, I got sick and tired of listening to people come up to me and beg me to come to his probably lame party, and I eventually agreed. Yes it's true, the powerful and almighty Ireland has succumbed to peer pressure. But don't worry, I will make sure to not let what happened last time to ever, and I mean ever happen again. I'm even bringing Claudia and Naomi just to be extra safe. But nonetheless, wish me luck and protect me."