Oh, Heather

Chapter Twenty-four

Heather woke up 10 minutes late and found herself scrambling to get her things. She threw on the clothes she had set aside and quickly brushed her hair, not wanting to take the time to do anything with it. Heather’s hair was naturally wavy, but she always straightened it. She didn’t like the way it looked, but she would just have to deal with it today. She didn’t say goodbye to her brother or mother, she didn’t want to be any later than she already would be. When she made it to class, she noticed she was still early.

“I probably would have had time to straighten my hair.” She complained, placing her bag beside her desk.

She felt like she had been sitting there for hours before the teacher walked in. It was Friday, which usually meant the classes went by quickly, but no matter how fast she finished her work or how early the teacher finished her lesson, this class always went on forever. She made it to her second class later than usual, but still on time by some miracle. She sat down, laying her head on her arms.

“You okay?” Miley asked.
“Yeah. Mrs. Valente talks too much.” She replied, slightly lifting up her head.
“She does.” 

They made small talk as they waited for the teacher, avoiding anything related to Vance or Jada. After the teacher walked in, he immediately started class, none of his usual stories that none of the students cared about. That class flew by, and so did her next few. When they made it to lunch, Miley was talking to her as if nothing had happened. She found it weird, but she didn’t want to mention anything.

“Is Vance gonna sit with us?” Miley asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
“I don’t know.” Leo replied.
“Of course you don’t.” She said, rolling her eyes.

They sat down and Miley kept glancing behind them at the table of football boys, but one seemed to be missing.

“Is Vance even here today?” Miley asked.
“I think so.”
“So you don’t even know if he’s here?”
“No.”
“Does he just like, not tell you if he’s coming?” She questioned, turning her focus back to Leo.
“No. And I don’t expect him to.”
“Text him or something and ask,” She said, “I don’t like how he would hang out with us everyday and then all of a sudden he just like, quit.”
“He’s allowed to hang out with his other friends.” Leo replied.
“Yeah, I never said he couldn’t. It’s just weird, do neither of you see a problem with that?” 

Heather tried to keep herself out of their conversation, but the more they talked, the more inclined Heather felt to include herself.

“I see where she’s coming from. He never told either of you that he’d hang out with his other friends for a bit or anything, right?” Heather asked.
“I mean, no. But he shouldn’t have to explain himself.” Leo said.
“The timing is kind of weird,” Miley said, “You guys get outed, and then the second people start asking about your relationship he just stops hanging out with us.”
“He’s allowed to want a bit of space. Especially after we got outed.” He said.
“Yeah, but with no explanation?” Heather questioned.
“I’ll talk to him about it. When I get home.” Leo said, exhaling a shallow breath.

Miley didn’t continue to push, neither did Heather. The rest of lunch was silent, barely even a movement from any of them. Heather wanted to get to chemistry as quickly as she could, this day needed to end already. Jada wasn’t there, as far as Heather knew. It was a Friday after all, most of the seniors were gone. She was never sure where Jada went when she would skip classes, teachers would see her going to the bathrooms and she couldn’t just walk out, all of the doors leading outside were locked until school ended. Even though she left lunch early, her chemistry teacher was already in class, which was unusual.

“Good afternoon Heather!” She said, scribbling something on her whiteboard.
“Good afternoon Ms. Evans.” Heather replied as she took her seat.

She pulled out her notebook, flipping to a blank page. She tried to take as many notes as she could, but no matter how many pencils or pages she went through, nothing seemed to help. She went over her notes from the last class  as she waited for the other students. It had been a few minutes past the time class was supposed to start, but only a couple students were there. There were never many students, as it was advanced chemistry, there were 16 or so students, but there only seemed to be about 5 in the class.

At some point, Ms. Evans finally began her lesson and about halfway through, Jada walked in. Ms. Evans ignored her late arrival and just continued talking. When she sat down, she pulled something out of the side of her bag. It was a folded up piece of paper. Heather looked at it, trying to see what she was doing with the paper. She kept the piece of paper in her hand, messing with the sides. Heather brought her focus back to the teacher, resting her head on her palm. When they were getting ready to leave, Jada put the piece of paper on Heather’s desk and walked out.

“Okay then?” She mumbled, picking it up.

It read, “Meet me by the school gate after school, I want to talk with you” She folded the paper back up, sliding it into the pocket of her pants.
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Im so sorry for the late update, I was super busy yesterday and then forgot to post the chapter.