oh dove | Daniel Applebaum

chapter 12: season of blossoms

"...but if you're going to ground me, at least bar me from church too, y'know?" Applebaum chatted as we marched to school.

I chuckled.

"How long are they planning on keeping you grounded anyway?" I asked. "It's been like a month since you were suspended, so it's not like you haven't learned your lesson--or well I hope you have."

He scoffed.

"To think that it's been weeks and you're still wondering that," the blond complained jokingly. "Hopefully in time, I can prove myself to you, mademoiselle."

He stopped in the middle of a step to bow to me, chuckling as his arm clutched his stomach in a posh inclination. I rolled my eyes but giggled regardless.

"I'm glad you know your place," I joked back, grabbing the fabric of my white dress in an ironized curtsy, and reciprocating his laughter.

I turned my body back toward the direction we were heading until a figure caught itself in my peripheral vision. I turned my head once again to greet the approaching student who I now realized was Annick. She wore a pale blue dress that complimented her similarly colored headband and adorned a peach coat to offset the fleeting winter chill. I raised a hand to wave at her as she approached on her bicycle.

"Good morning, Lucienne," she greeted while hopping off the side of her bike, continuing to grip the handles to my left.

She looked past me and briefly nodded her head at Applebaum, a dull expression masking her reluctance.

I smiled at Annick before shifting my vision toward the only boy in the group just in time for him to nod back with an equal level of hesitance. The awkwardness that had befallen us was palpable and I'm sure even if I had lacked any sense of emotional awareness, it wouldn't have been any less obvious.

"What do you guys think your score on Herman's last exam is?" I interrupted in an attempt to reignite the conversation, a blanket of silence ensuing before even a peep was heard from either one of the other two.

"I can't see myself getting any more than a five," Daniel answered. "I've never been good at biology and--the last exam had me sweating bullets."

Annick scoffed.

"Herman is such a heavy grader I'd be shocked if he gave anyone more than a ten," she remarked.

"If anyone earned that much it would be you," I pointed out.

Annick inhaled through her slightly gritted teeth, a sure sign that while she did agree, she didn't want to admit it.

"Well, we will have to see Mr. Herman himself to confirm that," she said, evading the comment. "But I just wanted to stop by to say hi, I need to talk to Miss Couret about something so I'll see you in history?"

I nodded.

"Go ahead--I'll see you then," I answered, waving my hand in a small arc as I watched the girl speed ahead on her metal bike.

After Annick had reached a reasonable distance ahead of the two of us, Applebaum slightly bent down to whisper in my ear.

"See? She definitely hates me."

Normally, a statement like that would be met with "hows" and whys," but the terms in which the blonds had been on had never been positive, especially before me and Daniel had begun spending more time together. Luckily, even though Annick wasn't shy of protesting what I did, she eventually gave in and began tolerating Daniel. Still, that didn't do much to erase all of the tension that had accumulated from the rest of the school year up until this point, but at least Annick stopped outright slandering him while he was present.