Lingering Among the Shadows of Trust

Enigma 1

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PART I
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I WAS BORED OUT of my mind as I rested my head on my clenched hand, tracing my fingers over the words in my History book. The noise inside the classroom became muffled as I breathed out a sigh. All of our teachers went to an untimely meeting, so they left us with activities to be submitted by the end of the day. They're pretty much simple and easy to accomplish. I wondered for a while. They should've just let everyone come to school in the afternoon instead. Every teacher will be back by then. It would've been given us time to take a break after a hectic month. During the last week of the previous month, we had a couple of quizzes and activities, ranging from average to hard. The English subject was the easiest one by far, while math was harder than I expected. After a while, I noticed a girl slowly approaching at the corner of my eye. I recognized her face from the Turner family, Daphne.

     "Hey, Anna!" she called with a cheery voice.

     "Do you need something?" I asked as I kept my head down.

     "Nothing. I just wanted to say hello." She puts her hands over my desk as she leaned forward. My head remained low, but my eyes were drawn on her hands beside my book. She then lifted her hands and strolled around the desk, approaching a vacant chair beside me.

     Finally raising my head, "What do you want?" I gazed at her and narrowed my eyes. The fluorescent light shined, revealing her silver necklace.

     "Is asking for a little chitty chat too much?" She sat down on the chair. A smile emitted on her face, and her eyes leveled onto mine. "I'm just here to ask for tricks behind your presentation yesterday. I gotta say, that was amazing! I never knew about that country, more so how amazing it is."

"Why?" I first asked, wondering if that question means something to her. "There wasn't a secret behind the presentation. It's just the matter of presenting it in a simple yet informative way, all the while catching the viewer's eyes with good graphics and the way it is presented," I answered.

     "Interesting..." She scratched her chin. She always has this face that stands out every day. Always brushing her dark brown hair, she had this attitude similar to a sunlit garden. Blooming eagerly toward the warmth. Radiance bouncing from one person to another. All of a sudden, she becomes the center point of attention, surrounded by almost every person in the room. Like a main character almost. Well, that's Daphne for you. A wealthy girl with many connections, reputations shining within her genes, and it's probably the reason why many of the girls befriended her. "What did you used to create the presentation?" she asked.

"Canva. Y'know, the website. Is that really what you're gonna ask for?"

"Well no, I have other things to ask." She relaxed herself, leaning on the back rest of the chair. She must have seen me with a face. "It's been almost a month now. Still not used to talking with people?"

"Christ... Don't you have friends to chat with?" I asked.

She hummed, gazing up the ceiling. "Elena had rehearsals for some music competition, while Celeste is at home currently sick, so it's just me for today."

"What about the other girls over there?" I cited, signaling my eyes to the right corner of the room, "Why not talk to them instead?"

She gave a smile. "They're nothing more than acquaintances. There's only two people that I consider as best of friends. It's really nice to have them by my side."

"Well, isn't that a nice thing?" I reacted with an eye roll. "Anything else you-"

"I should introduce them to you!" she laughed, cutting my words short, "There are the most trustable and reliable girls that I know in this room!" She dragged her chair closer to me, and she leaned closer to my ear with a toned down voice. "Also, the girls over there? They are talking about artists and concerts. Boring, am I right?"

Even through my agitated expression, I gave a convincing nod. Dare I say it, she's probably saying it just for me to respond in agreement. I've seen this trick before. "Anything else you want to ask? I'm a bit busy here," I continued, turning a page.

"Well, do you have friends?" She raised a brow.

I closed my book as I sighed. "Why is that important to you?"

"I've seen you talk to Scott a lot. Is he your friend?" I wouldn't call it a friend. For assurance, Scott only comes to talk to me asking for assistance, be it about personal stuff or school. The last time he asked for help was for a poster for him and his party members. There was also another one where he asked if I could check for any errors in his lines for his party's rally, or whatever that's called. It had a lot. Besides that, we never had any long conversations except the first time we met.

"He's more like an acquaintance." I turned my head away, while putting my book in my bag.

"Is there anyone else you talk to?" She asked. "You seem a bit lonely." I heard a few giggles coming out from her mouth.

"Well I don't need one. And you seem pretty happy about it."

"I just find it very odd for such a very talented girl. Who wouldn't want to talk to you?" she affirmed with a smile. I wasn't sure how I could respond to that. A massive thanks, I guess? I can't remember the most recent time someone complimented me, the one that felt genuine. It feels nice sometimes, even though I was expecting her to just ransack every information she gets from me. I hear it from my aunt and uncle, but it felt too repetitive. It's not the first time I heard those words. Pains me to say. The one compliment that stuck with me ever since was from Cortney. What a small world we live in. "Y'know? I don't feel like hanging out with the other girls today." Daphne stood up, giving me another one of her bright faces. "Can I join you during lunchtime instead?"