Heartbeat Song

Chapter 12

Anna

"You already have a boyfriend!"

I still can't believe now that Cindy has that kind of accusation towards me. She texted me yesterday just when I came out of the mall.

Today is Monday. Meaning, we need to go to school and then after that, I need to work at the restaurant. By the way, I forgot to ask Mrs. Engel about the situation of Mr. Engel. I should call her now —

"Annie!" Oh, there she is.

"Let's go now! We better hurry! There's an announcement about the upcoming Halloween party next week!" she is shouting at me as if I'm ten blocks away from where she is standing behind my door.

Wait, a Halloween party? Oh, I forgot. It's almost the end of the semester. This week? Wait, so it's after the finals? Oh gosh. FINALS.

"Annie!!!" shut up Cindy. I'm not yet done fixing my face. Should I put a little blush on? I look pale today. Oh no, I forgot about yesterday. Yeah, yesterday. I think that's to blame.

"Annie!" I guess I should put some. Anyway, does Cindy never get tired of shouting?

"Annie —"

"Hey Cindy, please enough of that. You're not the only one here in this building." someone says. Oh ow. I need to get going now.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sam! - Annie!" I'm finally outside my room now.

"You two look like in a romantic relationship, you know." Sam says and then she rolled her eyes on us.

"Good morning Sam." I greet her as she comes back to her room.

"Annie! You should have greeted me first!" Cindy says, pouting. Oh, my friend.

"Cindy, I told you already that I will be outside my door at exactly this time, but you keep on shouting and knocking behind my door, don't you think you're being too much?" Oh my, I've hit a spot...

"Because...you haven't texted me yesterday, right after I texted you, and then you just texted me that you'll be a little late today, and I'm so worried." My bipolar friend.

"Cindy, I'm fine, I'm definitely okay. I was just able to sleep late last night and so I knew that I will wake up late —"

"I'm worried that you're angry at me like you are now." she says, looking straight into my eyes. With that puppy look of hers. The irresistible side of her.

"I'm not, okay? So now, let's go. You're giving me the creeps." I say, with my ever-funny joking aura.

Guess she's not going to buy it. I guess it's not funny at all. I'm not really into joking. Wait, was it really a joke?

"Hey! It's a joke, you're supposed to be laughing. It's supposed to be...funny."

"What? You're joking?" she asks. Finally snapping out of her dramatic side.

"Yeah yeah, I'm not funny at all." I resign. At least the humor in her eyes came back.

"Yes, absolutely. You're not funny! You are corny. Now, Anna, we're running really late. Let's get going!" see? That's why she's really bipolar.

---

We are late.

"Hey, what happened inside?" Cindy is asking our classmates as to what happened to the assembly today.

"As we all know, next week is the Halloween party, but before that, they reminded us about the Final examinations." yes, the FINALS.

"And?" Cindy is always a curious cat.

"And also, the President of the College government said that we are required to have a partner on the party whether it's from here or outside the school —"

"Oh, my gee! Is that for real?!" oh wow, she looks so excited. Oh, is that for real?

"Yes, the administrators have allowed it already 3 years ago and so it's possible and for real."

"Annie! This is our chance!"

"What chance are you talking about?" my brows automatically furrowed with her sentence.

"By the way Cindy and Anna, we don't have our first class with Ms. Troy. She told us that she has to run some errands this morning." Ryan adds.

"Oh? How about the attendance?" I ask.

"You're late, and so you're attendance." Emily says.

"What?! No way." There she goes, haven't I told already that Cindy is a good student? That thing matters. For her.

"Sign here on this part." Kathrine gives us the attendance sheet and we are to sign on the line under the late word.

"Annie!" I'm sorry Cindy. She signs first and then me. Looks like we are the only late ones. My bad.

"We need to get going now, see you later both of you." Kathrine says.

"Thank you for informing us." Cindy says, finally accepting that we're late.

"Thank you, Anna, for the tardiness." she's mad at me now. I'm Anna now, not Annie.

"I'm sorry Cindy, I'll see you later then." I excuse myself first so that she won't have any reason to refrain from being mad at me. It's okay for me, for her to be mad at me. At least, once in a while, her independent and reasonable side comes alive.

But the question now is, where do I go now? Where do I go now? That's a song, right? Ha-ha. Corny me.

I guess I should go to the library and study in advance. 3 hours is long enough to study than put into waste. Besides, I'm late and at least I should make use of the time significantly for this class. Yes, that's right.

---

"Annie!" Cindy waves at me. The classes were all done. And I'm on my way out to school.

"Hey, why aren't you talking to me?" she asks, while we are walking.

"I'm sorry this morning." I say while looking at her. And guess what kind of look she has on her face - the awww face. Like, awww, she's apologizing to me, my poor Annie, something like that.

"It's okay! You should just wake up early tomorrow to pay for your mistake." she says and taps me on my shoulder, with a satisfied smile plastered on her face. I don't know now if I prefer her being mad or this usual side of her.

"Thank you. But I need you to go back to the flat alone." I say.

"What? I mean why?" her brows furrowed with a mix of alert expression.

"I forgot to call Mrs. Engel about Mr. Engel, and so I will head straight to the restaurant now." I say.

"Oh yes, please just tell Mrs. and Mr. Engel that I am so sorry that I can't visit them because of school responsibilities. I hope Mr. Engel is okay now." she's now sorry all of a sudden.

"Yes, I will let them know." I say and smile.

"Please take care, Annie. I'll wait for you later." she understands. She's really my Cindy. Poor girl, she has lots of school responsibilities.

"Yes, thank you. Take care too." I wave her goodbye, just as the bus stops and so I hop in.

Well, look who's the apple of the eye in here.

I forgot that I have changed the way I live now, and so my looks. I hate it.

I always hate the idea of being the center of attention. And since the day I decided to change, I've been so noticeable.

Looks like I will be sweating on my way to the restaurant.

________

A/n: Hello my dear readers!

How have you been doing? After a long time, here's Chapter 12. Thank you for those who added my story to their reading lists. I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot! And please continue to support my story by voting and spreading the word.

See you next chapter!

~ Miss Elle