what would i do

C H A P T E R 8:

" I   l o o k e d   f o r   l o v e
i n   e v e r y   s t r a n g e r .  "

This took place three months after the tragic death of Miss Lycon Glacier.

Veretta linked arms with Daniel, one of her friends from Choir who fancied her, and smiled. Or at least, the world thought she was beaming with joy.

"I love you, Dan." She told him, like she did everyday.  He was, after all, her new love interest. Her circle of friends was the same, aside from Lycon's absence, and it seemed like life had gone back to normal.

But it never did.

If Veretta was paid for her acting, she would be a millionaire by now. After all, everybody fell for her tricks. Not even the school counsellor could tell that she had not actually recovered.

Believe her when she said she was trying to. In fact, she was trying way too hard, to the extent that she ended up resorting to an act to lie to herself.

"I also know that the fact that you can pick yourself back up, would drive the others to do so too."

Those were literally the only words which Veretta hung onto in order to survive. She was not even living for herself anymore. It was all for her.

"I love you too, Ver." Daniel replied with a genuine smile, and that gave Veretta hints of bitter comfort.

Are you glad that I'm in a relationship with someone who promises to take good care of me, love? Veretta felt like asking her soulmate living in heaven.

Daniel seemed to have picked up on the deterioration in her mood as he had fixed his gaze on her. "Ver, are you alright? You don't look so well."

Veretta blinked more than just once, and that made him sigh. "Huh? Yeah, I'm sure I'm okay. Thanks, Daniel."

He frowned at her reply. Shaking his head, he sat her down at a nearby bench. After all, they had no schedule to follow as it was a Sunday evening and it was their date, if they did not call the shots, who did?

"Ver, I know you don't love me as a romantic partner." Daniel started. He sighed before making his point. "You have yet to get over losing Lycon, isn't that right?" He predicted. Veretta was left dry of words as she stared at him.

How did you know?

Daniel chuckled deeply, "It's written all over your face, Ver. Nobody had to tell me, I had a hunch from the start."

"So people know of this, they just do not care enough to help, isn't that the problem?" Veretta mocked with a high concentration of sarcasm.

He frowned, "Those who can read your facial expression would know well enough that you are still aching. You're still hurting, aren't you?"

His words triggered Veretta to recall a conversation she had, half a year back with Lycon. It still hurt, it stung and it never stopped.

...

"You're still hurting, aren't you?" She asked with the pure essence of worry and concern for her love.

Veretta resisted. She had no choice but to, and she insisted otherwise. "I'm not in any form of pain. I'm okay, Lycon."

Lycon sighed. "I see it in your eyes. I hear it in your voice. The agony, it is so painfully obvious. What's wrong?"

Silence. Veretta had kept her lips tightly sealed, because she knew that if she told anyone, she would be asking for a beating. Literally.