Painted Smiles [completed]

June 9

I burst through the door, but her face flushed with pain as she hung up. She placed her purple iPhone on her desk and glanced up at me, managing a weak, fake smile. Her once bright eyes turned to stone, and I had never seen her so upset. My smile faded away.

"What's wrong?" I asked, dropping my backpack at her center table and approaching her.

She stood up and came out from behind her desk. I wrapped my arms around her neck, bringing her into a tight hug. Her arms wrapped around me as well, and everything melted into sweets.

"My best friend's mom just died. I'm sorry to be such a downer, but it's just been a really rough day for me." Although she was clearly sad, her voice purred a dulcet tone into my ear. We let go of the hug, and I looked up to see her sad face again. She continued, "So do you have anything to make me feel better?" Again, a small smile managed across her lips.

I jumped onto her center table, mocking her usual sitting position. After taking a deep breath, inhaling the scent of vanilla and cherry blossoms, I replied, "I had a pretty good day, actually. I said goodbye to my Intro to Tech teacher and Science teacher. It was sad, obviously, but things ended well."

She smiled, leaning against her desk as she listened to every word I muttered. "It was really hard for me to say goodbye to my students too, but we ended on a good note. Now, all I have to do is finish grading."

"Yeah, look at those packets!" I pointed to stacks of colorful packets on her back table. Each color represented a different unit, and each color spoke to me in a different way.

"You'll be mad at me for this, but I won't put those packets in the grades. Honestly, I thought I could grade all of them, but I never had time. Next year, I could really use your help grading—if you want, of course," she mumbled, tripping over her words often.

She's known about my grading experience for months, but she never asked for help. I assumed it was because she didn't trust me enough, or maybe she really didn't have time to sit down and grade with me, but I felt warmth circulate throughout my body at her offer.

"I'd love to help you! I owe you the world, so I guess I'd be repaying some of by debt."

She chuckled and walked up to stand beside me. She leaned against the table as well, looking down at me with her big, chocolatey eyes. Her tan skin and spiky hair fascinated me. Her fashion sense and crazy personality was simply impossible.

After a few seconds, she looked out at the other side of the room. "How's your other half, Chelsea, doing? Didn't she say she has a girlfriend?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she's dating a trans girl. They're pretty cute, I guess, but we rarely talk anymore because of it. She's one of those friends that starts to get a bit distracted when it comes to dating."

D laughed, nudging me gently. "Someone's a bit jealous."

"Oh, please. I'm totally okay with her being happy in her own way. If her girlfriend makes her happy, then that's her business. Besides, I have other friends." Sure, I have other friends, but telling D that I was fine broke my heart. I wasn't fine.

"I noticed that you had a lot of friends in Geography, especially Abby and Claire."

She couldn't see, but I rolled my eyes. Abby is great. She's one of the only popular people I know who is actually nice. We became friends in math class last year when our teacher sat us together. She isn't the brightest light bulb, but it makes everything she says just that much funnier! Yet, Claire bothers the hell out of me. We are literally the same person, but she's better.

Now, let me explain.

We both love English and politics. However, she plays sports (swimming), does other activities (really good flute player), and is generally nicer and more peaceful when it comes to social situations.