Olive Green [GxG]

CHAPTER 8

WHAT I SAID to Liam was true. The test was not hard and I was done pretty quickly, which meant I could leave the classroom as soon as I got permission to go to the lavatory. Just this morning, I felt that familiar uncomfortable feeling similar to pain down my lower stomach, and as always, I caught it soon enough. Being a female sucked a lot, but this shit was probably the worst, for me anyway. Not that I was suffering as much as some did, thankfully.

  There was still some time before the bell was supposed to ring, signifying the break, so I was walking through the peacefully quiet hallway all alone. Not a single soul was around as I made my way to the door of the girls' toilets.

  A second after I opened the door of the lavatory, I heard quiet sobs. Confused and slightly concerned, I stopped, reconsidering my decisions, before I made my way through the otherwise quiet room. All the stalls seemed to be empty, there were also no sounds coming from them as I passed them all the way to the end of the room. To the place where I saw the crying girl and her possible bullies once before. It felt like such a long time ago.

  My eyes fell on the curled-up ball of a crying girl who was now staring right back at me. For a short moment, I got lost in her slightly red from crying eyes. I was surprised to see this bitchy girl—Ava—who was before playing the tough one, now crying alone in here. But maybe not so much. People sometimes let others think they were something they actually were not—putting on masks and everything.

  Surprisingly, Ava, didn't say anything and instead shifted her gaze to the wall opposite her. This was definitely not something I had expected. I thought she would act like the other day in the classroom—harsh and defensive.

  With a sigh, I sat down next to her, but not too close, as I abandoned my original goal by the corner of the last stall. She didn't even give me any reaction as I crossed my legs and let my hands fall into my lap.

  "I'm sorry," I broke the silence. "What I said last time wasn't very nice."

  The girl next to me snorted at my apology. Turning my head to face her, my eyes raked over her face. She looked like crying wasn't on her mind in the following minutes. At least, I thought so. I wasn't any good with crying people—comforting them wasn't really my thing.

  "Yeah, uh," she started, wiping her tears away, "I wasn't nice either, so don't worry 'bout it."

  Ava stayed quiet after that. Only some sniffles were heard through the otherwise quiet room. The lecture was obviously still ongoing, meaning I had nowhere to hurry. And so, leaning my head back onto the cold wall behind me, I kept on staring at the wall across from the two of us. One tile almost in the middle was cracked a little. The building wasn't obviously the newest one, but only one seemed rather bizarre.

  "Why are you here?" Ava asked after a short moment. I shrugged again, to which she snorted, "Seriously. You don't have better things to do?"

  "Why are you here?" I asked, not answering her question. Not even wanting to, as I had no idea myself. I could have done my business and left—but I was still sitting there instead.

  After hearing her sigh, I turned my head once again towards her, only to see her conflicted expression. Was she thinking about telling me something personal? To someone she barely knew? We haven't even had any nice conversations yet.

  "Were y'all bullyin' that girl?" I asked, referring to the crying girl I saw with her and the other girls a few days ago.

  "Uh, well, kind of."

  "Kind of?" I asked, furrowing my brows at her words.

  Ava sank lower, lowering her head on top of her knees as she most likely realised what kind of answer she had just given me. She sounded a bit embarrassed about admitting to the bullying. She should be. Bullying wasn't a nice thing. Kind of stupid if nothing else.

  "I—I just," she started, stuttering, "it just kinda became a habit."

  "Not the right answer. Try again," I warned, watching her face the wall with a blank expression. I didn't even know why I was wasting my time there, with her.

  After taking a deep breath, she started again, "That girl... she saw me in a similar situation as you did and... I didn't know what else to do."

  I furrowed my brows. Nothing she said really convinced me that that was a good enough reason to get someone to be bullied. There obviously wasn't even anything that could be considered as.... a good one. I sighed, switching my gaze back to the lightly coloured tiles opposite me.

  "My dad—he... is a businessman... well, was, until his company went bankrupt," Ava said, almost whispering. "And I was scared that my friends wou—"

  "What kind of friends are like that?" I asked, interrupting her while shifting my gaze back to her once again. She looked like she was seriously thinking about her life choices. Bad life choices, at that.

  She only shrugged, "I used to have a good friend, but we kinda fell apart and... yeah."

  Blinking, I sighed. She was most likely desperate to make new friends after she somehow lost her best friend and only found herself those bitches—not a very smart move. And then I blinked again as I realised she was just pouring her heart out here. To me. Whom she threatened not so long ago.

  "Why am I even tellin' this to you?"

  And here we go. I sighed, shaking my head at her words. Surprisingly, her tone wasn't as hostile as before. She was just most likely thinking about all of this like me. But more stressfully.

  With another sigh, I stood up slowly, dusting my skirt from whatever could get on it in here. I should have left some time ago, but finally decided on it now.

  "Uh... will you...?"

  "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone," I shrugged, taking one last glance at her before I turned around and left the lavatory without even doing what I wanted to originally. Instead of checking my pad now, I headed into the class to take my things as I heard the bell.

  I passed Jade, who gave me a surprised look, only to see nothing at my desk. Furrowing my brows, I looked around the class to find nothing once again.

  "I didn't know if you were coming back. Liam has your bag, by the way," I heard behind me, which made me turn to Jade, who nodded down to the things in her arms. My pencil case was lying next to hers on her notebook.

  "Oh, thanks."

  Jade only nodded, backing away into the hallway that was now filled with a crowd of students. Thankfully, one of my new friends was always in the canteen soon enough to sit by their usual table. Our—I could say now.

  Falling into step next to the petite ginger girl who had her hair tied in a bun like most days, I shot a quick glance around the hallway. Many students were heading to the canteen. Like us. Together, in silence, we walked into the spacious room that was getting very full and loud as we made our way to get some food.

  "How did you do, anyway?" Jade asked after she took off her tray full of lunch. I did the same, following her to our table.

  "Good, I think."

  She nodded, not saying anything more as we sat down where everyone else already was. I took the last seat, greeting others and glancing at Amani's new book. The title didn't tell me anything, once again.

  "Here's your bag," Liam nodded behind himself, where my bag was hanging together with his own on the back of his chair. I smiled.

  "Thanks."

  The boy nodded, turning his attention back to his lunch as others started a conversation. Something about Henry's play was all I caught as I stabbed my fork into my lunch.

  Lifting my head to look at them all, I instead caught familiar eyes staring at me from a few tables away. Raising my eyebrows in a quiet question, I stared back at her, hoping that others wouldn't notice. Ava shifted in her seat at that, switching her attention to another girl at her table. I furrowed my brows. She was one weird person.