The Rivalry (Discontinued)

Chapter 2: Apple of the Eye

Lunchtime has just finished and since I still have fifteen more minutes before class, I decided to just sit down on a bench that was placed outside the building’s low fences, which was meant to be the separation of the dirt from the linoleum floor of the opened ground level. I told Gaya that I had to go early for a reason I don’t want them to know. Well, I just want to get away from them. I mean, I don’t hate them―no, scratch that―I don’t hate the two, just Levina. She was just a little bit irritating, but the other girls were fun to be with. I could probably deal with it, don’t worry.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and checked if there were any messages. And sure, there were. There were two messages from Julia and it was sent a few hours ago. Yes. I don’t have many people to text me. I’m not someone who just gives away my number to strangers or people I don’t know that much.

Anyways, good luck in your new school. You’re lucky you didn’t get to meet the transferee here. Ugh, she looks so awful. She has a fat belly, red frizzy hair, and this massive population of freckles and zits living on her face.

I giggled. This was the reply I was waiting for when I was in the car. I checked the other one, and it was sent a minute after the first one.

BTW, sorry for the late reply. Got something going on here. I think my love life’s getting over. Since I was a loyal girl, I let Markus check my phone. And because he didn’t know you and we call each other ‘babe’, he thinks I was cheating on him on a girl. Yeah, I’m a lesbian now. Ok, talk to you later BABE. Bet you’re starting class also. Love ‘ya xoxo

I rolled my eyes. That guy… How dare he act like that? After I saw him kissing another girl, he’ll suddenly just get angry at Julia because of ‘cheating’ also? He’s lucky she didn’t believe me when I told her about that. That’s what I hated about most―or a few―girls. Once you tell them about ‘your-boyfriend-is-cheat-on-you’ crap, they won’t believe you, nor bother check or confirm if it’s true, and it’s because they loved their boyfriends more than their best friends and it sucks. They will even get mean to you and think that you’re just doing it to ruin their relationship. But then, when they found out that you‘re not lying, they’d just go up to your ass and beg for forgiveness. That’s what happened to me and Julia. But the only problem was… she kept the truth that she already knew and stayed with Markus, just like in movies and series in the television.

I was about to reply to her when the bench shook. Someone just jumped in from behind and sat straight on the seat. I looked at the person with wide eyes and furrowed brows. There was a punk-dressed girl chewing a gum right beside me. Not too close though. Her short hair was dyed into midnight blue but I know that her natural hair color was jet black because I could see it in her scalp. Her black torn jeans was fit and she was wearing a sleeveless white top and high-cut black Keds. Her nails were also painted black.

She crossed her legs and arms. She met my horrified eyes and stared at it while chewing her gum loudly. Ugh, I just remembered Levina.

“Hi.” she greeted, her lips forming from serious into a smile while chewing with mouth open. She was wearing black eye shadow and mascara that it made her light blue eyes stand out, and her lips were painted with a shade of dark red. “What’s your name?”

My brows relaxed and my head lowered a bit. “U-uh…” I said, “January.”

Her smile widened a little. “The name’s River.” Then, she put one leg up and put her arm on the back of the bench and faced me. She’s really a gangster-looking girl. “You new here, right?”

I nodded.

She raised her arm and rested her head on her fists. “Cool school huh?”

I was quiet for a moment before I shrugged, “Yeah. But it’s… kind of weird.”