𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄

ᴇɴᴛʀʏ #37 | ꜰᴏʀᴍ

037 | Form

"And that is precisely why Holden from The Catcher in the Rye personifies alienation," Grace ended her speech while Mrs. Young and the rest of the class started clapping. "Thanks for listening to our presentation."

"Thank you, Kim, Grace. Now..." Mrs. Young smiled as she glanced over the group roster. "...Jian, Nicolai, and (Y/N). You're up next."

The three students stood up at their names being called and walked up to the front of the classroom, the teacher pulling up their presentation on her computer so that it was projected onto the board. Taking a deep breath, (Y/N) stepped forward with a couple of notecards in hand and began to speak. After her turn, it was Nicolai, and finally Jian—all relaying their practiced speeches perfectly with only some minor wavering voices. Just like that, their presentation was over with the applause of the class.

"Thank you for that amazing presentation," Mrs. Young nodded with pride radiating in her expression. "I especially liked that part about Darry and how he felt isolated from his brothers due to having to take charge after their parents died."

"Thanks, Mrs. Young," Jian smiled. "That was (Y/N)'s idea."

(Y/N) stiffened at being singled out.

"Well, done, then," Mrs. Young cleared (Y/N)'s worries when she only nodded once more before gesturing for them to sit back down again while she called up the next group.

Letting out a long sigh as she collapsed into her chair, (Y/N) could feel her entire body unwind as the stiffness in her arms and shoulders seemed to dissipate entirely. While she was okay with public speaking, it still rattled her when knowing that everyone's eyes were on her and that her teacher was judging what she was saying to determine what grade to give.

I hope we get a good grade.

I personally think we did really well...

Her gaze slid over to Nicolai who slouched in his chair, his arms crossed and his expression bored.

And it seems he's back to normal, too.

After Nicolai suddenly kidnapped her from his own house and shoved her into his car to get away from his father and his probing questions, along with his sudden confession of despising how she acted earlier, he drove her to her house in silence after asking for directions. While there were no more words exchanged after the initial conversation, she didn't find the quiet atmosphere at all uncomfortable, instead finding it quite relaxing since she knew there wasn't anything being demanded from her.

In all honesty...

I don't hate him anymore.

Even though he was a jerk to me in the beginning... it's nice to see he also has a nice side to him.

Just as the last group was wrapping up, the bell rang and promptly everyone started packing up to leave. (Y/N) waved a goodbye to Nicolai as they parted ways out of the classroom—leaving him quite confused yet almost pleased, a feeling he quickly squashed—and turned to walk toward Japanese, no sooner than she was five feet out of the door, Jian stepping in place beside her.

"I think we did pretty well in that presentation," he commented with a smirk as they both walked down the hall.

"Yeah, me too," she replied, her eyes focused straight ahead of her. "Mrs. Young seemed to really like how we kinda focused on each character and connected them to alienation."

"She's an English teacher, what do you expect?" He chuckled.

"Heh, yeah... she has always enjoyed delving deep into stories and analyzing every possible thing," she cracked a small smile.

Soon, their conversation fell, both of their minds still consumed with what had happened the previous evening. Even though no one said anything when first seeing each other that morning, there was still an awkward tension since all knew what Mr. Orval had been doing, yet none wanting to say anything because just the subject was as fragile as glass.

But Jian couldn't take it anymore.

"(Y/N)..." he trailed off as he thought of what to say, unsure yet still wanting to speak his mind. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Huh?" Her steps faltered, honestly not having expected him to say anything.

"Mr. Orval was entirely out of line when he asked you such personal questions," he muttered as he ran a hand through his ruffled hair, his dark eyes reflecting the guilt that he felt, especially since he had done nothing to help the person who reminded him of Mei. "And... I was too when I did nothing. Nicolai, though... as the heir to his fortune, Mr. Orval goes to great lengths to ensure that the people around him are only from the best lineages and families."

"Is that... so?"

"Yeah, and that's mainly one of the reasons they have such a bad relationship."

"I never knew that..." (Y/N) flicked her eyes away, now understanding a bit more why Nicolai was so mad at her for doing nothing against Mr. Orval.

It's because he's pushed around by him as well.

"Nicolai... I honestly thought he was just an asshole when I first met him," she mused as her lips quirked upward at the thought. "But recently... I've started to see this different side of him. And his relationship with his father... the effects of that... makes me see such sides very clearly. When we left your house last night, he helped me feel a bit better after my confrontation with Mr. Orval because he has to go through that every day. So... you don't have to feel guilty about that anymore. Thank you, though."

Jian stared at her, his hands that were currently in his jacket's pockets curling into fists as something coiled within him.

She hated him... didn't she?

Now she speaks of him so fondly...

I don't know why, but just seeing her talk about him with that look on her face really pisses me off.

Before he could comment on it, his attention was diverted to the arm that was thrown around (Y/M)'s shoulder, surprising both of them when it was revealed to be Valen who was tailing them. (Y/N) immediately felt horrible, her mind flashing back to how he had kissed her in front of Jess—albeit in disguise as his counterpart: Valentine.

"Valen?" Jian beat her to voicing his name in question. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, his lips dancing with a tantalizing smirk. "Just thought I should say 'hi' to two of my very good friends."

"You two... know each other?" (Y/N) asked, shrugging his arm off and backing away.

"Of course we do," he smiled. "Jian and I have been friends ever since elementary school."  

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To be continued...