! online friends ❥scaramouche ✓ ✦ female

! ix. cold night's rain

! proofread

warning: angst, long chapter(?)

   it was the middle of the day. lunch had just ended, and [name] was on the verge of dozing off in class. no, [name], you have to focus... this class might be really important.

but then again, she didn't want to be in this class, her parents did.

   they had always had high expectations on her: to get good grades, have good behavior, and not to talk back... if they had found out what she had vented about behind their back, they would call the local adoption center. they just want the best for me, is her excuse every time her friends say that she has bad parents.

   but that wasn't true. [name] was just a tool for money for when her parents got too old to go to work. so they wanted her to get good grades and get a good job. maybe then, my parents might actually care for me? if they couldn't care less about me then I might as well let them die after starving.

then again, they probably just want the best for her.

right?

...

   "miss [name], are you paying attention?" said the teacher, as the room fell quiet and everyone started staring at her.

   "yes, ma'am," she sighed, forcing herself to sit up straight. the night before, her parents asked her to scrub the kitchens and wash the dishes, and also to study for her arithmancy test. cleaning the house was easy enough, but [name] had gotten frustrated over a few practice problems and had to step outside every now and then to calm down. this made her gain only a few hours of sleep, and her parents even scolded her for oversleeping.

   even worse, her parents would lighten their scolding and pretend to be good parents during parties or when they're out in public, so no one ever knew.

   after class ended, she rubbed her eyes and walked out. she knew nobody in this period, and luckily it was the last class of the day, and it was friday. the bell rung as her eyes lit up, remembering her friend that had made plans with her after school. she caught him in the hallways on his phone and tackled him into a hug. "hi, scara!"

"[name]! don't scare me like that," he grumbled, but let her hug him. "are you ready to go?"

"duh, otherwise I wouldn't be here, idiot," [name] deadpanned.

"well, I'm the one with better grades, aren't I." scaramouche gave her a smug look as [name] started arguing with him that he was just 'too smart'.

   people passed by and watched the two bickering with great amusement. everyone had gotten used to the top students being friends. wasn't it only a while ago that they were complete enemies, competing in every single subject? then again, their dynamic was cute—[name] was the talkative one who was pretty nice and decent to everyone and scaramouche was the one trailing behind her while glaring at everyone.

"alright, let's just go now," [name] said at last, giving in to the argument. scaramouche nodded as he started his car and the girl climbed into the seat next to him. "don't drive too fast, okay?" she told him.

   "okay? why though?" said scaramouche, who had started speeding off to the new park that had opened recently.

   "no reason," [name] sweatdropped. scaramouche narrowed his eyes; she was obviously lying. he could see through the mask. "can you put the music on?"

   "sure," he replied, putting on a CAS playlist. the rest of the car ride was quiet. why wasn't she making conversation? she's being unusually silent today, scaramouche thought. just what happened?