Hiraeth

II

   The halls of Forester High weren't really up to par with its outward beauty. Unfortunately, they were drab with marble flooring that looked so basic, you'd think you walked into the wrong school. There have been many attempts to change the interior, but something unfortunate always happened when the principal decided to renovate. Last time, the men who were trying to replace the tiles in the cafeteria ended up losing all of their supplies, and one of the men who was on a ladder ended up falling and broke his ankle. This was the fourth attempt at renovating.
   Everyone assumes the school is cursed, but really it's just a coincidence. There is no haunting presence in this school. But teenage conspiracies run wild.

   Mirana met up with her friends at their usual rendezvous spot at the usual time. But she was late today, so she wasn't the first one there as usual.
"Mirana isn't the first person here, guys. I think you all owe me 7 bucks." One of her friends said smugly.
"Aw goddammit Mirana, why'd you choose today of all days to show up late?" Another one of her friends whined.
   She just laughed at the situation then questioned why they betted on her arrival today.
The friend who won the bet replied, "Oh I don't know, I just felt in the stars that today was my lucky day." The other friend hit her in the head lightly and complained. "There's no way you would know if Mirana would show up late today, Lucie. You guys must've set this up."
"We did nothing of the sort, Ana, I can assure you that." Lucie sweared.
"It was weird how you chose to bet that Mirana, the early bird, would show up late." Another friend said.
"Hey, guys, you can stop ganging up on Lucie because I had no idea that this betting was occurring." Mirana laughed. Lucie thanked her for attempting to clear suspicion, even though the group still had their questions, especially Nolai.
"We should probably go up to first period," Nolai informed. The others agreed and they made their way upstairs. They chatted in the halls for a bit before departing, and soon settled in their respective periods. "I wonder what we're going to do today..." Ana wondered. "It's right there on the board." popped Nolai. Ana looked and felt ashamed she didn't see it. "Ana, are you sure that your current glasses are fine? You've been having trouble seeing lately." Mirana said.
"Yes, these glasses are fine," Ana laughed. "It's just I didn't think to look on the board."
"Right." retorted Nolai.
   As Ana was talking, she pointed towards the back wall. "Oh, look! They put up our vocab posters!"
   The four of them all looked at the wall and admired their own posters. "Wow, Mirana's is so beautiful," Lucie mentioned. The others agreed. "Lucie yours is pretty, too, though." Mirana added. She thanked her. "Man, you and Lucie have such great art skills...all I can do is shaky drawings..." Nolai sadly complained. Mirana assured her that it takes time and practice to get better at something. She mentions how she always didn't draw so beautiful, how she used to draw horribly. This perked Nolai up a little bit.
"Yeah...I guess you're right...but I still have nothing going for me..."
"What do you mean, Nolai?"
"You and Lucie draw really well and Ana is practically valedictorian...! What do you mean what do I mean?"
"Nolai, you'll get nowhere with this pitiful attitude," their teacher said as she walked by. "In order to get better you must better yourself. And if you want to better yourself, that mindset of yours needs to go."
Nolai sighed in her seat, taking in what their teacher told her. Ana tried her best to explain to her that she didn't get where she is based off of 'natural talent', but by putting in the effort. But to no avail, Nolai was still bummed.

Class was beginning to start, and in came a tardy classmate. Someone whom Mirana had previously confessed to. Luckily, her confession was a while ago, so things aren't as awkward as they used to be. However, he still never interacted with her since that day. This hurt her a bit.
"Fancy showing up, Conner," their teacher quipped. He laughed at her remark and apologized for being late.
Mirana had confessed to him about five months ago and received no answer, so she just assumed it was a no. Even with this, though, she still had hopes he probably liked her back. But the constant days of avoidances and her attempts to talk to him were constant reminders that she was not his type. So she decided to try to get over him. As if that were to be easy.

.........