Linger

O N E H U N D R E D + O N E

The loud shrill of the bell rang through halls as I pushed the door open to the bathroom and stepped right up to the mirror. 

Digging through my bag for my trustworthy stick of concealer. It had quickly become nearly empty and I made a mental note to buy another one as soon as possible. 

Just as I lifted it to my neck, the door burst open and in walked in Kelsey. 

"Hey." She gave me a friendly smile as she walked up to the sinks. 

"Hey." I smiled back before turning to the mirror. 

"The second bell hasn't gone off yet, right?" 

"Not that I've heard . . ." I said faintly as I leaned closer to the mirror, making sure the concealer covered every inch of my skin.  

"Good. I still have time." She slipped her backpack off her bag and took out her makeup bag. "Getting ready for Mr. Hayden's class too?" She pulled out an eyeliner pen.

I pulled away to look at her. "What?"

"It's our last class with him, like, ever. This is our last chance to try to get him." 

My mouth parted into a small 'o' before slowly nodding. 

"Yeah, you should see the other bathroom." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she leaned toward the mirror. "Can't even get to the mirror because everyone's trying to fix their makeup before class." 

I gave her a puzzled look. "Seriously?"

She nodded, keeping her eyes on her reflection. 

I pursed my lips as the thoughts in my mind began to pace. 

"What?" She turned to me to give me a look. "You don't think he's hot?"

"I mean," I sighed, turning back to the mirror. "He's a teacher. What are the chances any of us have?" 

"Yeah, but he's not our teacher after today!" she argued. "This is our chance." 

"You think he's gonna wanna date one of us?" I asked, bringing the concealer stick to my neck again. 

"Why wouldn't he? We're hot." She shrugged, meeting my eyes in the mirror before her eyes widened as they landed on my neck. "Whoa. Now I know why you're not that into Hayden . . . who have you been with?!" 

"My curling iron." I muttered, carefully patting the concealer into my neck with my finger. 

"That's hot," she joked. 

"Literally," I added and we both laughed. 

"No, but seriously why are you covering it?" she asked, holding my gaze through the mirror reflection. 

"Um, hello?" I raised my eyebrows at her before digging in my bag for a brush. "Do you know what this looks like?"

"Like you had a lot of fun," she said playfully with a raise of her eyebrows. 

"With my curling iron?" I gave her a flat look. 

"Make up a more fun story! No one has to know what really happened." She rolled her eyes, turning back to the mirror and running her hand through her short dark hair.

I stopped, bringing my brush down. No one really did know what happened. Besides, Chelsea, Alice, Tyler, and Ben no one else really knew.  And it's not like I wanted to talk about it. Hence the nearly empty stick of concealer in my hand. But if it was spotted, I could tell a different story like Kelsey said. It's not like anyone would know. 

But then the confusion in Daniel's eyes flashed through my mind, the longing for answers in their deep brown color as they searched mine.

I did tell him a different story, and somehow it shot right through my heart, sinking it lower than it ever has been.