The bell rang.
Yes!
I packed my books and hurried out of the room, not wanting to be seen by anyone except for Di and her sisters. That's the problem with a small school. You can never run away from anyone. You will always meet them somehow. And you'll always see them in every class.
"Sierra!"
Oh no.
Not Victor Black.
I ran straight to my locker, pulling out the textbooks I needed.
"Wait up! I want to talk to you!"
He grabbed my shoulder and swung me around. I almost dropped all of my books.
I stared at him. Victor was a very tall guy, with bright blue eyes and a prominent jawline.
His eyes.
Even though I hated Victor to my guts, I had to admit that whenever he looked at me with those eyes, I just melted.
He opened his mouth and looked like he was going to say something. Before he could let out a sound, someone shouted at our direction.
"There you are!"
Victor tensed and swung around, shocked. It was Diany, my lovable idiot of a mosquito.
"I've been looking for you, Anne! It's so good to see you!"
She pushed Victor off to one side, and hugged me.
I just knew she pushed him on purpose. She is my life saver.
"I got souvenirs! From Japan," she pressed a small key chain into the palm of my hand, "Here, have it. It's for you."
I held it up to look at it. It was a shaped like a tiny piece of parchment, with a painting of Mount. Fuji and lots of tiny Japanese writing on it.
I loved it at once.
"It's so adorable! Thank you, Diany," I beamed. She was my best friend ever since kindergarten. "Now tell me, how was the trip?"
"It was epic! There was so much to see," she paused, and glared at Victor, "Let's go somewhere else and talk, Anne."
She took two of my books and dragged me towards the direction the school office, located near the lobby, holding me by the arm.
"You went with your sisters right?" I asked. I hadn't seen any of them at school for the past month.
"No, silly. I went alone." She spun around happily. "And it was amazing!"
"Wait, what? Your sisters weren't even in school!"
"Yeah, they went to other countries. We swap every year, remember?"
"Oh. Yeah, right." I nodded, remembering. She and her four sisters always traveled separately to different countries every summer. But this year, it was different. The trip had to be scheduled two months earlier than it would usually take place every year. And I was left eating at the lunch table alone.
"Which countries did they go to?"
She sighed. "France."
"All of them? I thought you traveled separately?" I was confused.
"Exactly."
She fell silent.
"Talk, Di."
I stared at her face for a while. Her gaze was diverted to the ground, refusing to face me. I could only make out the fact that her emotions showed worry, anxiousness, and mostly, panic.
"Di, are you alright?" I laid a hand on her shoulder.
She looked up at me. Whatever I had seen just a mere second ago completely vanished. She gave me a huge smile and said,
"Yeah, I'm just great. Worrying about exams," She looked up at the dull, gray sky. "Looks like it's about to rain. What a way to ruin my mood." She added sarcastically.
When we reached the lobby, she handed me my books and turned to face me.
"If only life could be easier."
I sighed, thinking about her sudden change of emotions throughout the whole walk to the school entrance. One minute happy, the next minute drowning in all her emotions.
You're my best friend, Diany. Tell me what's wrong, I wanted to say. But what I said was,
"Exactly, look at the books that I have to carry! And with all the exams coming up," I shook my head and tried to lighten the mood. "We're all going to have to cram last minute, as we usually do. Especially you." I smirked at her.
"Anne! Why do you have to remind me? I get it, I just got back, but that doesn't mean my brain is dead." She raised her right arm and tapped the side of her temple.
"Are you sure?" I asked. "You look like a zombie to me."
"You know what Anne? Shut. Up." She slapped my arm and all of the books went tumbling to the floor. Sheets of notes were scattered in all directions. Some people stopped to stare at us.
"Diany!" I whispered sharply. "You freaking idiot!"
"Relax, Anne! People are finally paying attention to us. Enjoy it." She straightened herself and waved at every single person at the lobby.
"Help me with my freaking books, Di." I grasped her arm and pulled her to the floor. Together, we knelt down and piled all my notes together. Sheesh. I'm such a nerd.
When it was done, I stood up and smoothed all my clothes.
"Anne! It's that guy, Victor Black." She whispered. "Freaking bish."
Silently, I agreed. Shithead. But I didn't even see him.
"Where?"
"Turn around!" She pointed. "Right, there, talking to his cousin."
Ah, Nathair Black. So they decided to reappear after leaving for, what, three years?
"What do you think-"
"Anne! Hurry up!"
My older brother Ian stood at the school entrance, waiting for me.
I sent Diany a knowing look. She nodded and smiled.
"I'm coming, Ian! Be patient!"
He can't wait to drop me off at home and rush off to the football field to play with his friends.
"You think it's easy for me to hurry up when I'm carrying four textbooks while trying to run on these short legs?"
"Sure you can, I'm the shortest but still the fastest and the best on the team."
I shook my head. Smug.
"Now help me with my books."
My brother grunted and lifted the burdening weight off my hands. My arms were aching and sore. We walked together to his car, and I quickened my pace and slumped onto the front seat.
