Nothing in Between

35

Clyde has been waiting for this moment for an entire year.

Well, literally every person waits an entire year for their birthday. Clyde is just sightly more excited than others, and she completely believes that. She has so many plans and things that she seriously wants to do today, with her friend group and Taylor.

But it is a shame that Clyde's birthday lands on a Monday. Clyde is slightly annoyed at that fact, but it isn't like she can do anything about it. The only thing Clyde can do is head to school and pretend to act like she isn't waiting for birthday greetings.

The moment Clyde steps into the school hallway, she can already feel people's stares on her. Clyde nervously shoves her hands into her pockets as she heads to her locker, trying to keep her anxiety from spiking so much that she literally starts to shake.

She unlocks her locker and pulls her earbuds out, being slightly too anxious that people will be speaking and she won't be able to hear them. Clyde reaches into her locker and takes a single notebook out, knowing she will be needing it for her second class.

"Clyde! Happy seventeenth birthday!"

The loud greeting makes Clyde rapidly turn around in surprise, and she finds one of her classmates standing behind her. Clyde knows him from biology class, and she is pretty sure that she has never spoken to him for anything longer than a few minutes.

"Thanks, Karl," she says.

He politely smiles at her before literally running away.

Now that Clyde is completely alone again, she puts her earbuds back into her ears and sighs as she tries to relax. Clyde holds the notebook in one hand and quickly closes her locker with the other, walking along the hallway to her first class of the day.

Clyde manages to get a few steps before three other people stop right in front of her. She wonders how many people know it is her birthday today. Because if Clyde's mind really is working correctly, she remembers that she has only ever told very few classmates.

"Happy birthday! We don't have PE today, so we don't have to go to the gym."

"Thanks... for the greeting and for telling me," Clyde replies.

She receives a nod from the three and they quickly pass by. Clyde doesn't look back at them as she begins walking again with a slightly faster pace, wanting to avoid any more greetings from anyone who she has never talked to outside of the classroom.

Sure, Clyde does want those birthday greetings, and she does want to receive them, but if they keep speaking to her where other people can see, she may as well hide. So, Clyde rushingly walks to the only place in this school where it is quiet; the library.

Usually, because her closest friends also have the same first class, Clyde will simply go wherever they want to. But because Clyde's friends do know a lot more people than she does, something inside of her mind knows that they will just bring more greetings.

Her best choice right now is to head to the library, and Clyde will obviously never be opposed to that. Clyde knows where she can hide, so even her friends won't be able to find her. The only person Clyde has really told about that secret spot is Taylor.

She decides to stay there until five minutes before her next class. The library isn't so far from the classroom, so Clyde doesn't have to worry about not having enough time. Even just two minutes will probably be enough, as long as she starts running.

And so, after sitting at her hidden spot, Clyde pulls a book out from her bag and puts her notebook inside. Clyde rests her back up against the wall as she sits comfortably, flipping through the pages to find her bookmark, and she starts reading in silence.