It all started with a match. One simple match. Just a match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia. The match on November 22nd.
.
Then, she discovered the thing called World Cup. The World Cup (with capital letters). The one thing that united the world...
A/N-Hey, so I've been trying to rest a little bit more from all kinds of electronics, but I just couldn't bear the feeling of not writing for that long anymore. I'm still going to some doctors' appointments, so I won't be posting that regularly, just so you know. Enjoy the continuation of the story:)
Paige's POV:
Let's say things weren't going that well.
Me, Mia, Ava, and Ivy were kind of...well, separated. I was mostly with Mia, and Ava was mostly with Ivy. The only time we were all together was at lunch. And it wasn't even that cool anymore.
Me and Mia returned to the group lunches with Ava and Ivy if that's what may have confused you. The atmosphere in those times was kind of tense, however. It just wasn't the same as in the beginning.
And I can't hide it, nor lie about it. I missed Liv. And so did Mia. When we were having a lunch, it wasn't the same. Without Liv's scientific facts or the annoying habit to remove the carrots from each meal that had them. It wasn't just the same. It felt strange. Moody? Different? Incomplete?
The crazy thing is that even Ivy missed her.
One time when we were having one of those group lunches, the air in the whole cafeteria was filled with nervousness because of upcoming exams. Everyone was holding onto the last piece of anxiety their minds had. Everyone except Ava.
"Ugh," Ivy groaned. "I can't remember this!" she said, letting her head hit the table we were sitting on for the lunch period.
"What is it?" I asked. "I can help you," I offered.
"It's about the Biology exam," Ivy looked up with her desperate eyes to me. "I can't remember the parts of the plant's root," she gave me the paper.
"Oh," I said, not expecting that, and took the paper from her hand. "We haven't studied this yet," I answered to her expression. "Ms. Durain teaches really fast," I stated.
"Yeah," Ivy groaned and took the piece of paper from me as I was giving it back to her. "I wish Liv was here," she said in her arms. "She is incredibly good with Biology," Ivy wasn't aware of the fact that everyone on that table was watching her at that moment.
"I can help you with that!" Ava suddenly said and pulled the paper from Ivy's hands.
It was obvious that the whole situation mattered to us, and seeing Liv happy without us kind of hurt. Not kind of. A lot of.
***
As I said, I'd seen Liv these past few weeks with Blake. She was happy, always laughing and having fun. She was always with Blake. In class, breaks, before school starts, and they even go back home together. She seemed as a brand new person with her new friend.
That's the reason of why I got indescribably confused and upset when I realized that she was sitting alone on lunch one day.
The first question that got to my brain was "Where is Blake?". And then I realized the whole thing was even worse than at first sight.
That day we hadn't had classes together, and I hadn't met her. And when I saw her, I was surprised because...you see, Liv is a person that expresses herself with the clothes she wears. Generally, her style consists of sweaters, cardigans, skirts, long sweatery socks, and shoes in creamy, brown, grew-green shades that outline her academia-type of style. It totally suited her, her everyday mood, and her personality on the whole.
(Like in the picture bellow):
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(Photo from Pinterest. Credit to sai (smiley face))
That day she had worn something I thought she didn't have in her wardrobe-a black oversized T-shirt, ripped on the knees jeans, and some sneakers. It startled me. Really.
(Like in the picture bellow again):
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(Photo from Pinterest. Credit to Darcie Kimberly)
I decided not to go to her the first day I understood something is wrong because not only she had changed her style, but she also had large black circles under her eyes, which were so puffed that it was obvious she had cried. A lot.
I decided not to dug into the wound so soon.
***
The next day, I approached her and sat on the table right in front of her. She didn't have better appearance than the day before-the same black circles and puffed eyes and was dressed in almost the same outfit as the one above.
"Hey," I said as I sat across from her.
"Hey," she answered looking up from her phone. At that time, I could clearly understand the situation was even worse. The only thing I couldn't explain were her visibly smaller cheeks, but her expression was tired, the cause for which was the same as for the black eyes. Each nerve on her neck was visible as if she was on toes every. Single. Moment. Her voice was croaking, which was a sign of sore throat. Another thing caused from a lot of crying. The only detail from her face that startled me were the beige to almost white straight down her face traces of tears. It really broke my heart to see her in this way. She didn't deserve that.
"Liv..." I started after I examined her. "What's wrong?" I asked as she was slowly moving her fork through the food she hadn't even eaten from.
"That's the reason!" I thought.
"Nothing," she said automatically. "Why would you think something's wrong?" she moved her gaze to me. I saw the red eyes she was hiding until that moment.
"Liv, you have black circles and red, puffed eyes," I stated. "That's enough for me to understand something is wrong," I told her kind of insistingly.
"Me, and..." I could clearly see the tears forming in her eyes. "Blake," she almost spit out. I understood it was hard for her to tell me, so I put my hand over hers to comfort her. "We are not friends anymore," she finally said, and my heart sank.
I stood up, Liv looking at her lap, sat next to her, and hugged her from one side. For my surprise, she hugged me tight, and soon after I could feel the rolling tears on my back. I hugged her even tighter.
"She..." she sobbed. "I said something I shouldn't have..." I started patting her back. "And now...' she sobbed again. "Now she is mad, and I..." another sob. "It's my fault," she stated as she looked me in the eyes with her gaze even more red than they were before.
