Whispers

Four

Blake walked down the hall after lunch, smiling. Ray had been awkward since third grade, and really Blake had been too. Before Belle had moved to sunny California three years ago, Ray had been her only friend. And then, this being their junior year, Blake and Ray really didn't have any classes together, so the two had to soak up every moment they had. 

Belle had been sulking along ever since lunch, looking at the floor and not saying a thing. "What's up with you?" Blake finally said, fed up with the silence that was looming above them. "Nothing," Belle responded, her voice quiet. "That's such a lie," Blake said, picking up her pace. "Why did you start walking faster?" Belle questioned while running to catch up. "I have a class to go to, and I really don't want to walk there with someone who isn't even going to tell me the truth to a simple question." Blake continued to pick up her pace while Belle stayed back.

Blake passed the chemistry hall, veering towards her physics class. "Hey," came a voice beside her. Blake turned, surprised to see Ray. "What are you doing here? Don't you have English now?" "Nope, I switched my schedule, so now I have physics and English with you." "That's great! Did you already go in and get your seat?" "Yeah, I asked where you sat, and Mr.White told me to sit right beside you." 

Blake walked into the room, walking towards her seat. "Maybe this day will get better after all," Blake whispered to herself, putting her stuff down on the floor. "So I'll probably pick you up around seven, just to make sure we get there on time. Is that okay?" Ray said, gently sitting down as to not make the table rock. "Yeah, I don't really have anything to do tonight anyways," Blake replied, smiling up at him. "So, where's Belle at?" "I don't know, I may or may not have ditched her in the hall way." "Why would you do that?" "She's being really mopey today. I don't understand why, and when I asked what was wrong she said nothing. I really don't want to deal with that teenage girl crap, so I just hurried to get to class." "Do you think I could be the reason?" Ray's voice was quiet, as if he were telling a secret. "That's ridiculous. She might be on her period, who knows. You know, that's one bad thing about our relationship: we're both girls. So we both have our mood swings, and we both end up getting mad at each other for no reason at all. But it's whatever. Hopefully she gets over it soon."

"Actually, he is the reason. But you are too," Belle said, setting her bag on the floor and sitting down on the opposite side of Blake. "How?" Blake countered, not understanding how any of this could be her or Ray's fault. "Oh, I don't know, maybe you ignore your girlfriend for some guy? Tell me how I'm not supposed to be upset about that." "I didn't ignore you. You didn't even speak half the time. Ray is my best friend. I don't need to spend every waking moment with you and trying to communicate with you. If you have a problem with that, maybe we shouldn't even be together," Blake said, wincing at the last statement. "Maybe we shouldn't," Belle said, picking up her bag and going over to Mr.White.

"Great," Blake said, putting her head in her hands. "Well, I just ruined everything." "It's my fault," Ray said quietly, his voice full of remorse. "No. You didn't do anything. We're best friends, and we are allowed to talk each other, whether she likes it or not. But I shouldn't have said maybe we shouldn't be together, that was harsh." "Maybe it was, but you meant it." "That I did."

Blake looked up and out the window. Her vision was foggy, as if the inside of her eyelids were sending down rain but it was too hot for it to appear as rain. "I'm sorry," Ray whispered, putting his arm gently around her, as if trying to give her a half hug. "It's fine, I'll fix it," Blake whispered back, leaning into his arm. "Okay class, please get out your textbooks and turn to page 394..."