detention » vernon

三

it was already tuesday, the second day of ella and vernon's detention week. ella had arrived in the detention room earlier than vernon, so she was anticipating his arrival.

when he walked in, she opened her mouth to say hi, but then she noticed that he was looking down at his feet, shoulders slumped forward, and earphones plugged in.

ella sighed, leaning against the back of her chair. he didn't seem like he was in the mood, anyway.

after a few short moments of silence, mr kim walked into the room with a sly smirk on his face.

"good afternoon kids, since you both didn't abide to my rules yesterday, you'll be on cleaning duty from now on," he held up two buckets in each of his hands. they were filled up with various cleaning supplies and products. "if i don't come back to this classroom squeaky clean, there will be big problems."

he walked over and handed one bucket to vernon, and then ella.

"get started with the classrooms, then!" mr kim ordered, before quietly chuckling to himself, sauntering out of the room.

ella stood up and took out a cloth and some multi-purpose cleaning spray, and began to wipe down the desks. she heard some shuffling behind her, meaning that vernon was probably beginning to clean as well. even though the silence was uncomfortable for her, she resisted the urge to talk to him, since he seemed a little bothered.

"hey.. i'm sorry." vernon broke the silence after a few moments.

ella stopped wiping, but didn't turn around. she was not expecting him to say something. "for what?" she asked.

"for shouting at you yesterday. i wasn't in the best mood," he responded. "just try to be a little less annoying."

"whatever," she mumbled, trying to sound sad. but she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips.

when vernon didn't reply, ella wasn't satisfied, so she turned around and started to clean the desk beside him. he looked over, confused, but then returned to what he was cleaning.

"so do you like dogs?" she blurted out.

"you asked me this before," vernon sighed.

"okay, fine," ella nodded, as she thought of a new question to ask. "oh yeah, you didn't tell me.. why did you get into detention?"

"because of these," he reluctantly pointed at his face.

and that's when ella noticed them. his septum piercing, and the large ones on his earlobes. they did make him look a little intimidating, but his warm eyes told her otherwise. the piercings somewhat complimented his features.

ella then realised that she had been gazing at vernon for uncomfortably long, so she quickly averted her eyes elsewhere. "what about them?"

"the school constantly tells me off for wearing them, but i don't care. i never want to take them off. they're a part of me," he explained, "since i continue to break the rules, they put me in detention so i could learn my lesson. i'm still not going to take them off though," he shrugged. "schools are messed up, to be honest. they try to take away your freedom, leaving you with no identity. i mean, what is wrong with a few fucking piercings?"

ella nodded, intensely listening to vernon's mini rant. she really enjoyed the sound of his voice.

"hey." vernon called out after a few moments. she looked up.

he took a few steps forward. "aren't you scared of me?"

ella paused, before shaking her head. "no. why?"

"really? most people find me.." he inched closer, "intimidating."

ella blinked, realising how close they were. she just giggled. "i find you funny."

vernon backed away. "wait, what? funny?"

she shrugged, smiling to herself.

he just looked at her in fascination. ella couldn't tell if he was entertained or weirded out.

vernon suddenly walked up to her, and flicked her forehead.

"ouch," ella groaned, placing a hand on the painful spot.

vernon studied her face. "you're really different, you know that?"