Heartstrings Unraveled

Chapter 3: Unanswered Feelings.

Chapter 3: Unanswered Feelings.

It was already lunchtime. Sario, Elnio, Kern, and Rick were making their way to the cafeteria. Lunch was the best thing in this hellhole (aside from Elnio); it was the time when Sario could listen to Rick and Kern gossip about girls and mostly everyone in the school.

Elnio sometimes joined in the conversation, but only if it was about someone he specifically hated. Sario always made sure to have lunch with them, or they might gossip about him—which they probably did anyway.

"Hey, isn't that the new girl?" Kern said, pointing towards Wanda.

Sario raised an eyebrow, slightly more interested in the conversation when he heard the words "new girl."

"So? Your point is?" Rick asked.

"Don't be a dick, fucker," Elnio replied sternly, glaring at Rick.

"Geez, I was just kidding." Rick shrugged, feeling annoyed with Elnio's reply.

Sario, however, was too busy staring at Wanda. The way she ate, the way her hair rested on her shoulders, the way she chewed, and the way she smiled to herself because her food tasted good. His heart thumped and pounded rapidly. It was such an unfamiliar feeling—was this love? Was he possibly interested in her?

"Sario?" Elnio called out to him.

No response.

"Sario?" he called out once more, taking a step closer.

No response.

"Dude, are you staring at Wanda? You like her or something?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Huh!?" Sario snapped out of it, looking over at Elnio. "No! I don't like her!" He waved it off but felt unsure about his answer.

"Ya sure, buddy?" Kern asked, raising an eyebrow at the flustered boy, not convinced.

"Obviously! I've never felt love for anyone before, anyway." Sario tried to reassure them with a smile.

Elnio just stared at him blankly, looking like he had a lot on his mind. Sario noticed he seemed kind of sad or maybe disappointed, but he didn't want to ask about it.

"Well, maybe she'll be the one!" Rick teased before cackling with laughter.

"What!? No—I mean, just shut it, fucker!" Sario felt his cheeks heat up bright red.

"Oh why, you don't want Wanda to hear?" Rick asked playfully, a stupid grin plastered on his face.

"No! I don't like her like that!" Sario shook his head.

Sario watched Rick and Kern burst into laughter, teasing him about Wanda. He rolled his eyes at them before glancing over at Elnio, who looked pretty off. How could he say it? Elnio wasn't saying anything—he was smiling, but it looked like a wry smile to Sario. Honestly, this whole thing was just a load of bullshit.

"Let's just eat lunch already," Elnio replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sario raised an eyebrow, not expecting that response, but sure?

"Yeah, let's go," Kern nodded, giving Sario one last smirk.

"Sure," Rick grinned from ear to ear. "I'm fuckin' starving, guys!" he cheered excitedly.

Elnio rolled his eyes at Rick before the four of them made their way to a vacant lunch table. All the lunch tables were taken; there were some vacant spots, but they all wanted to sit together. After a minute of looking around and seeing no tables, Sario let out a deep exhale.

"There's no vacant tables, let's just—" Sario began.

Suddenly...

"Sario!" a soft voice called out to him.

Sario turned his head towards the voice. It was Wanda. She was looking directly at him with her amber eyes. Holy shit, she was so beautiful just looking at him—it made him feel giddy.

"You guys can come sit with me! I don't know that many people, but I want to get to know you all!" Wanda spoke, her voice softer than fluffy clouds.

"Woah! Some chick is inviting us to sit with her!" Rick gasped, his hand over his mouth.

"She has a name, you know," Sario said, smiling to himself.

"Well, if she has a hole, then there's a—" Kern's mocking joke towards the weird-ass phedopile's got cut off by Elnio's death glare, deciding to just shut the hell up.

Sometimes, Kern can make the most absurd jokes there were ever to man. Sario knows he's just kidding and joking around to lighten up the mood, but most of his dirty jokes he made were kind of weird and creepy in a bad way. Maybe one day, Kern is going to quit making those jokes and actually start maturing.

"That literally sounds wrong," Sario said in response to Kern's weird declaration.

Rick cleared his throat before responding, "Okay, okay, let's just go eat—"

"—Eat without me," Elnio replied.

"What?" Sario raised his eyebrows at him, hoping he would explain.

"Just—go eat with Wanda. I have things to do anyway," Elnio explained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Though, it can't be more important than eating, right...?" Sario asked softly, taking a step forward.

"It is," Elnio answered.

"What do you have to do?" Sario asked once more. "Maybe I can help you with it."

"Just some homework," Elnio said nonchalantly.

"Homework?" Kern repeated in confusion.

"Man, do you suck ass that you didn't even finish your homework?" Rick joked, cackling with laughter.

"Yeah." Elnio nodded in response.

Sario wasn't expecting that. He thought Elnio would say something like: "Fuck off," "Shut the fuck up, son of a bitch," or maybe even: "It's not even that deep, fucker." But he just nodded and agreed with Rick. What in the world was this?

"Then," Elnio began. "Bye-bye." He said one last time before turning around and walking off.

Rick and Kern gave him a small wave, but they seemed disappointed when Elnio didn't wave back—he just kept walking. Sario felt like he was going to die; he couldn't just let Elnio leave like that.