𝗗𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲||𝗬𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

chapter 11~ obligatory guilt?

(Y/n) guiltily meandered to the bus stop, her thoughts dwelling on the past night. 

They'll probably hate me, now. 

Her feelings of shame, however, were overshadowed by her sense of morale. She had gone home and taken care of her mother, afterward immediately going to sleep. It wasn't as if she had left them for selfish purposes, so she harbored no reason to feel guilty... right?

The boys were not on the bus that Friday morning. She hadn't expected them to be, anyway. 

***

The (h/c) haired girl sat in her empty homeroom classroom, anxiously checking her phone. Where was everyone? She was exactly on time according to her device.

A teacher walked by the room's open door, happening to glance in at the lone student. It was Mr. Dawson.

"Miss. (L/n)? What are you doing in here?"

"Um... waiting for homeroom to start...?" She looked at him, questioningly. 

"But there is no homeroom. It was canceled for an emergency assembly." He sighed. "I assume you didn't hear about this? The school is always so bad at communicating..."

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't know!" The girl stood and hastily gathered her things, rushing to join Mr. Dawson. 

"No worries. Let's go right now."

(WARNING: MENTION OF SUICIDE. IF YOU WISH TO SKIP, I WILL LEAVE ANOTHER BOLD NOTE WHEN IT IS SAFE.)

They headed toward the auditorium at a quick pace. Heads turned when they entered and a beet-red (Y/n) took a seat near the back. Mr. Dawson continued to the front, taking his place beside the other teachers. 

The principal ascended the stage, his face a stony mask. He stood at the podium and spoke with grave clarity. 

"Dear students", he began. "Today, I bear the heavy burden of announcing the death of one of our beloved pupils. Makenzie Ross was found dead in the early morning. The police have concluded it was an act of suicide. We offer our utmost condolences to those who knew her and will be happy to provide therapy. We encourage you to pay your respects at her memorial service later this week. We will have a free period now, feel free to wander about. We ask that you go home if needed, but if you have sufficiently recovered from this shock, please attend the second bell. That is all."

The crowd of students buzzed and began to mill about. Some sobbed in hysterics, some wore cast-down expressions, but few seemed unaffected by the news. 

(Y/n) was stunned, not at all expecting that to be the topic of the assembly. She caught the principal as he was starting out the auditorium door. 

"Um, sir...! Um... do you know... how she was killed?"

"She shot herself in the head." He looked down at her sympathetically, assuming she had been a friend of Makenzie's. "Her body was discovered around 2 am in her bedroom."

"Oh, that's awful", the girl remarked, her eyes becoming blurry. Even if the blonde-haired girl had committed an awful act of bullying, surely suicide had not have been a suitable punishment for her. 

(Y/n) began to internally pity the dead girl. 

(SAFE.)

Hands were suddenly placed on both of her shoulders from behind. She turned to find that Ray was the culprit. (Y/n) shook him off, not in the mood to be touched, but he replaced his hands in their original positions and gritted his teeth in a forced smile.