Dainty and Dauntless

Egotism:

More the knowledge, lesser the ego.
Lesser the knowledge, more the ego.
                                                ~Albert Einstein

                                       🖤🖤🖤

Just like Miss Simmons had said, high school had gone by fast and the graduation was closing in.
Nostalgia hit Natalie early enough and she felt sentimental about leaving behind this place. It had been almost four years and she had loved each year of high school.
High school had been fun, she thought it could have been more adventurous but it had been alright.

It was almost the end of the school year, and a bonfire party was to be held for the seniors in a couple of days to add to their amusement.

Natalie loved the idea, It was thoughtful and exactly what she needed to seal her high school experience.
As she walked out of class, she heard a squeal of joy and stopped in her tracks to wait for the person to catch up.

"Are you excited or what?"
Elise just couldn't hold it in and was skipping towards a grinning Natalie with a smile so enormous.

"I sure am"
Natalie couldn't avoid Elise's contagious smile as she joined in on the skipping, round and round.

The hype was blazing.
Everyone was excited for tonight and they showed it. The expectations were high, too high and they needed to get through the day at lightning speed if possible.
Classes were on as usual but today the time didn't even try to make them wait so long. It cruised its way to the end of class time and to add to the merry feeling, they had a free period next.
Sweet!

Natalie kept at her seat, doodling around to pass the time. She could have decided to write up something in her scrap book, but she seemed too excited for the evening to think of anything.

Garf had just returned the book a while back since he had borrowed it for a day, saying how he wanted to take a look at all that was in there.
It comprised of sketches, drawings, writings, stories and collections, things that Garf would like so Natalie wasn't surprised he wanted to take a look.
She only hoped he would keep it safe.

"Heads up Natalie, I am not going to be the only one asking for your scrap book"

"How come?" Natalie was confused as she grabbed the book from Garf's hand.

"You see, I might have shown it to three or four friends of mine in the dorms." He scratched his brow as Natalie's eyes bulged.

"Honestly the drawings are nice, and the writing is so good. I want everyone to see how talented you are"

"Yeah, but it's private, Garf. Am not sure it will be as interesting as they expect it to be." She hugged the book and sighed.

"Trust me, it is very good, ok"
Natalie looked at Garf, "if you say so"

Moments later a few people did ask for the book, took a look and said something nice.
She smiled widely to whoever came by to ask and one by one got their chance, but Ethan Valer never did, even days later.

Natalie tried to not think about why he had to be so, so... him.

"Hey, Ethan"
Ramh called out, stood up and went to his table.
Natalie's shock made her heart thump as she watched the two smile at each other.
It wasn't the conversations that Natalie had found odd, that was okay, but the way he lit up. God, was he hysterical.

Natalie found herself frowning while watching them, she didn't know what to feel when his eyes crinkled too much or when his giggle almost choked him. He often banged the table and through his head back, making Natalie's heart ache.
Why was he being like that? He never laughed like that nor did he have that much to say to anyone, so why was he forcing it? Pretending? Acting?
Why?!
As conversations between the two became frequent and longer, a habit now, the more Natalie's mood darkened. Natalie found their laughter uncomfortable and their discussions unbearable and she did try to focus on other things away from them and their closeness.

Natalie knew she was jealous and angry.
What did he mean? Out of the blue Ethan Valer had this whole other side of him, and he had decided to share it with someone else.
Ramh was a bit too obvious, Natalie thought he could have been more original than opening up to a friendly and funny extrovert.

She was startled by Ramh's quick glance at her and before she could turn away, Ramh began walking to her.

"Hey Natalie, can I borrow your scrap book for some time," Ramh asked while taking glances back at Ethan.

Natalie looked between the two and hesitated a bit.
"Sure," replied Natalie and handed her the book.

The other girl walked back to Ethan with a grin on her face.
When Natalie dared to look his way, Ethan was already looking at her. She jumped a bit in her seat, and inwardly cursed at her timing.

Ramh later returned the scrap book but didn't stay to make any comments about it.

Fast forward, the day for the bonfire arrived.
Natalie made sure she entertained all Elise had to say, delude and to squeal about.
Natalie had got herself a huge bag of chips and was cracking each chip with splendor and licking her fingers delightfully.
The evening was going to be a good one and the bag of chips was a terrific start.
Natalie caught sight of Ramh a couple of paces away from where she and Elise sat. She seemed to be looking for something until when they locked eyes with Natalie and she scampered to them.

"Guess what Natalie?"Ramh's  eyes were twinkling with enthusiasm and her body couldn't hide it either. She had the most "I can't wait to tell you" smile on. Natalie had never seen her this anticipated.

"Well, someone is in a bright mood. I can only guess it's the Bonfire maybe?"

The other girl shook her head in disapproval and started narrating a whole story about why she had asked for Natalie's scrap book back in class.
Natalie tried hard not to frown but confusion ensued  then turned into anger as Ramh kept talking.
She placed her bag of chips down, crossed her arms, pierced her eyes at Ramh and asked, "So he is envious of my writing, is that it?"

"No actually, this is so funny. He says he is better than you at literally everything."

When Natalie studied the girl's face, she couldn't deny this was the most excited Ramh had ever been. No karaoke, movie or storytelling, or funny drama scenes.
In that moment, she was real and Natalie felt her heart crumble.

                                     🖤🖤🖤