𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟓, pen15

𝒗. five

༺❦༻

five,
❝ first day! ❞

JAIZEN WALKED INTO her math class with dustin. the seating plan was the same as last year, but with a couple switches here and there. everyone took their seats, and as soon as she sat down, she was hit by a wave of nostalgia- good or bad, she didn't know.

jaizen sat on the seat nearest to the wall whilst dustin sat next to her. their desk was located right by the door at the very front, but the farthest from the teachers desk. it was perfect because it allowed her to sleep without getting caught last year.

whilst getting her equipment out, she caught a glimpse of something that was messily carved across the edge of the table:

zen + dusty was here!

she put down her equipment and grazed along the carving with her fingertips, remembering the day they both carved it because they were bored. it brought a smile to her lips; it was the little things.

"okay everyone, settle down! i know it's the first day back so we will be taking it easy. i will hand out a worksheet for you to complete, but you are allowed to chat to your peers- as long as the work is done by the end of the lesson!"

the whole class were relieved to hear that their teacher didn't give them proper work on the first day back. jaizen looked at the worksheet already on their desks: it was on basic algebra, pretty simple.

she turned slightly so she was facing dustin and vice versa. "so, i overheard anna telling maya that alex called you a bitch when they were in the nurses office."

"i'm not even surprised anymore, honestly, he can say whatever shit he wants about me." he replied, trying to play it off. though, jaizen knew how much it stung inside knowing he just lost one of his friends.

"so are you gonna confront him or?" she asked cautiously, not wanting to discuss it too deeply.

"nah, he's not worth my time 'n effort." he shook his head. "besides, i gotta lose one to gain one." he grinned, observing how she rolled her eyes with the faintest smile.

"by the way, we still have to talk about earlier. there wasn't enough time, but now we have a whole hour, so..?" she fidgeted with her rings as dustin sat up properly, meaning he was ready to listen.

somehow that made her much more calmer.

"no it's cool, we can talk about it. but if i get all sappy and shit, you'll never hear the end of it." he chuckled dryly, "but yeah, i also gotta talk about what happened this morning."

she nodded. "so about that, it's just, why did you do it? even if i don't like maya very much, you know it's still fucked up, right?"

dustin immediately shook his head. "no no, zen, it wasn't me, i swear. yeah, i'll admit i knew brandt and alex were going to do it, but i didn't know they would involve me! after homeroom it was already too late, so i took as much of the posters down as i could."

jaizen listened to every word, watching him explain the whole 'loving maya' fiasco. when he was done, she gave him an unsure look. one part of her wants to believe him, but the other believes he's lying.