Angler Fish

Chapter One: Part 4

I strolled into my third-period class and plopped down at my usual desk, feeling the familiar weight of the day dragging on me. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I saw Beka's name flashing on the screen. Perfect timing, as always.

From: Beka

"Hey girl, you seemed kind of out of it today. Everything cool?"

Ugh, of course she noticed. I can't keep anything from her, not even when I'm trying to be a master of disguise. Gotta thinks of a smooth excuse to deflect and keep the focus off me.

Me:

"Totally fine, just this class is kicking my ass, LOL."

From: Beka

"Sounds like the usual Reni. You do know you could actually study, right?"

Damn, that was a close call. I almost freaked out but managed to keep my cool. Looks like my tried-and-true method of shoving my feelings into a mental locker and pretending everything's peachy is working for now.

I set my phone aside and tried to shift my focus back to the class. But, as always, my thoughts were like a never-ending loop of bad sitcom reruns, invading my headspace. "Not today, Satan," I told myself as I reached for my earphones and shoved them into my ears. Time to drown out the noise and pretend everything's totally under control.

The bell rings, and I think, "Guess class is over," as I start shoving my stuff into my bag. "Only one more class and then I'm outta here," I tell myself, trying to get a little motivation going.

As I head towards the door, Beka suddenly appears from the side, making me jump. "Geez, you scared me!" I say, putting a hand over my chest like I'm totally shocked. She just laughs and says, "Melie's still in class. We're meeting her there, so let's go."

I trail behind Beka, feeling a wave of nerves. What if we run into Roman? I try to keep my cool, mumbling, "Stay focused, Reni. You've got this." As we get closer to Melie's classroom, students are still pouring out into the hall. My heart starts racing again at the thought of seeing him. I keep my eyes darting around, hoping to spot him.

"Do you see her anywhere, Reni?" Beka asks, pulling me out of my anxious search.

"Oh, um, no, not yet," I reply, trying to sound like I've been looking for Melie all along. Beka's way too perceptive or maybe I'm just not as good at hiding stuff as I thought.

Finally, Melie comes out of the classroom, but I don't see Roman. "Hmm, he must've left before we got here," I say, trying to play it cool. There's a bit of disappointment that I didn't get to see him, even just from afar, but at least I avoided an awkward moment.

"Spill, NOW," Beka demands as we approach Melie. We start talking while we walk down the hall.

Melie looks a bit nervous and gives us a weak smile before saying, "Yeah, so, this is actually going to be harder than we originally thought."

"What do you mean?" I ask, raising an eyebrow with curiosity.

"Well, it's tough to just casually approach him. He's always sitting alone, and so far, there haven't been any class projects or anything I could use as an excuse to talk to him," she explains.

"We need a better plan," Beka chimes in.

"Yeah, we do," Melie agrees, "but we'll talk about it tomorrow. I'm meeting up with, you know, who."

Quick context: "You know, who" is her ex, Jayden. I'm surprised because I thought she was done with him. " Aren't you guys done? What about Roman?" Beka asks, slipping into her mothering mode and trying to guide Melie. "I am done with him. He's just giving me back my CD player," Melie insists, sounding like she's trying to convince herself that's all there is to it. But Beka isn't convinced.