Liar's Desire ✔️

27| Drift

Stephanie's POV

I had forgotten something in my homeroom so I went to go get it. Honestly, I thought I was hallucinating at first but in front of me was Carlos and Tristan. They had joined two desks so that way they could face each other.

"Oh hey, Stephanie!" Carlos said.

"What the hell are you doing with that jerk?" I exclaimed.

"Oh right," he said, "I forgot you met him already."

Tristan looked lost in his own world. His eyes drifted towards me and drifted away. He was staring at his shoes and he looked distraught.

"Tristan?" I began, "You good?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm sorry, really sorry."

"Oh, about the car thing?" I said, "Yeah, you called me pathetic."

"I'm sorry," he said again, "Sorrysorrysorry."

In the car, he acted like a completely different person than he was being now.

"You're fine," I said, "You're trying to change. I forgive you, I guess."

Even after forgiving him, he was still staring at his shoes with an agitated look on his face. Something was bothering him, and Carlos definitely knew something about it.

I went to the back of the classroom and searched for my water bottle. It was a purple water bottle with a bunch of sharpie drawings from third grade. My parents said that water bottles were too expensive so in middle school, I just drank from the water fountain to avoid humiliation. 

"You're not going to faint again, are you?" said Carlos.

"No," Tristan said softly. Tristan seemed so vulnerable, completely different than the Tristan I met.

"You need to take better care of yourself, Tristan," said Carlos, "I'm worried."

"I am," he said, "I ate five pieces of gimpbap, I'm better now."

"By five do you mean five divided by five?" Carlos laughed but I could tell that he was genuinely concerned for Tristan.

I found my water bottle underneath the bookshelf but I couldn't help but wonder, was there more to Tristan than that car ride?

I got up and waved bye to them. Tristan was still staring at his shoes and he didn't look well at all. 

I left the classroom but through the door I could still hear them. Carlos said, "If you're really better now, prove it to me." 

"Why do you care so much?" Tristan responded. His voice was low and I could barely hear him. 

"I'm worried about you!" Carlos exclaimed, "You insulted Stephanie because you're used to being who you used to be but we both know that Tiffany is the only reason you were like that." 

"Don't blame Tiffany," Tristan responded, "It was all my fault."  

I left the school and began to walk home. I wanted to make things right between Tristan and I. 

"Hey!" yelled a voice behind me, "You're Stephanie, right?"

The girl was blonde and was wearing the same uniform as Tristan. She was covered in snow and was panting. 

"Yeah," I responded, "Why?"

"Have you seen a dark haired Korean boy around here?" she said. 

"Tristan?" I asked, "If you're talking about him, he's in my school right now." 

"How do you know Tristan?" she asked, "Are you two friends or something?" 

"He gave me a ride home," I responded, "It was really cold and I didn't have a jacket." 

"We should be friends," she said, "You want to know more about him, yeah?" 

"Why'd you assume that?" I asked. I did want to know more about him but I found it weird that she assumed that. 

"There's a lot more to him than you probably think," she said, "And I'm willing to tell you!" 

"How do you know Tristan?" I asked. This whole situation felt really weird. 

"He's my best friend," she said, "But he's been distant lately so I wouldn't mind exposing him, he deserves it." 

"But thats wrong," I said, "He's your friend." 

"Do you want to know more about him or no?" she asked. 

Before I could respond, she took a post-it out of her pocket, "Here's my number." 

She ran off in the opposite direction and I just stood there. Honk! My mother had came to pick me up. 

"I haven't seen you since last year!" I joked even though I was still upset that she chose work over spending time with her family for New Years. 

"Ma chérie," my mother began, "Want to go eat at a restaurant together?" 

I hopped in the front seat, "Sure!" 

My mother pulled up the address for my favorite restaurant, 'Chocolate love.' It was a restaurant that served really good chocolate desserts but still served normal served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Maybe the new year was going to be better than I thought. Maybe, in the end, everything would be fine and work out.