The Gray Case

eight

"So what is your excuse this time?" Sofia is shouting in the middle of the hallway. Everybody is watching and listening, students and teachers included.

Lisa, Maya and Marcus are looking too.

The school is used to this by now, that time in which the couple fights and the people become spectators of a show everyone already knows the ending of.

It's usually Sofia that keeps everyone looking. Her heels slam against the hard floor as she stomps her feet in anger, creating a loud noise. Rage has a tool on her and everyone watches, because everyone can be the spectator.

"Can you keep it down? We can talk about this in private, you know," Alexander says.

Sofia responds by taking a step back before clapping back. "No!"

Alexander gets closer to her and shifts a strand of her blonde hair away from her forehead. "I am sorry, alright?"

But she isn't having it. "You left! Lately you never have time for me and yesterday that we could have spent more time together, you leave!"

She pushes him away and his eyes turn stone cold. He hates seeing her like this, but he also hates the fact that she doesn't understand. She doesn't want to understand.

"And I am leaving again. This is all you're going to get from me until you decide to talk as a civilized human being," he says and walks away.

"Fine. Leave! Don't you ever talk to me again! Ever!" She shouts at him who is already far away, but he doesn't turn to look at her and just waves, never stopping.

The hallway falls silent. Nothing is heard, no screams, no curse words, no talking, no nothing.

The corridor is just empty. Not physically, but somehow, it is. Minds are frozen and words are stuck in people's mouths. Some don't want to talk, others simply can't; Sofia's friends.

They look at her almost scared. Their opinion isn't important to her anyways, nobody is entitled to have one in her presence. Nobody except her boyfriend, that in some way, breaks this rule of hers. Breaking whatever barrier that stands in between Sofia and the other people.

"What are you looking at? Let's get the hell out of here," she says, after recollecting herself. She slams her locker and swings her bag on her shoulder, storming out of the school with her friends behind her.

As she leaves, people start talking again. It's like they finally let out a breath that they didn't know they were holding.

Just as the winter passes and welcomes the spring, Sofia walked away, taking with her thunderstorms and rain.

"She really doesn't deserve someone like Alexander. How does he even put up with her?" Lisa asks as she puts some books in her locker.

"He puts up with her because they are the same. It's not like he is any better," Marcus says.

"What's even the issue you have with him, like you hate him for no reason?" She asks, genuinely interested in knowing the answer.

He leans on the locker and runs a hand through his hair. "It's just the way he is. The way he talks, walks. Just the way he acts. He seems like a douche," he says.

"You are too," Maya says.

Marcus places a hand on his chest, faking hurt. "Ouch. That hurt."

"That was my intention," she says.

"You are getting meaner," he says.

"I'm learning it from the master, what can I say," she says, smiling.