咲く心 | [ Blooming Hearts ]

クラッキングマスク ( 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚔 )

Sam. Her name has been in my head for the entire day. I have this gut feeling that it can't be her real name. Her dirty-blonde hair, her sharp-pointed nose and her ocean-deep grey eyes. Who is she?

"Hello? Earth to Kozomi, I repeat, Earth to Kozomi." A hand waves in front of my face. I look up and Abigail says, "Maths is over. Teach may be a laid back person, but trust me, you do not want to get caught daydreaming." She shoots me a puzzled look. "You've been in this trance since lunch. Did anything happen?"

"Oh, no, no. Nothing happened. What period is it now?"

Abigail looks at me with a face that practically wrote 'concern' on it.

"Okay, now I'm worried." She points at the clock. "It's 2:45! Dismissal time? Like what I told you this morning?"

I sighed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. There is something that's bothering me."

"What is it?" She asks.

"After you left the washroom, two girls came in. One wearing red-framed glasses with black curly hair and the other wearing a baby-blue coloured scrunchie. Do you know them?"

"Uh no, I don't think so. Why?"

"They told me something about me being already too popular. Especially with the boys. One of them even pushed me."

"Holy cow! Are you alright? Did they do anything else?" Abigail frantically checks for any bruises or injuries on me.

"That's why I'm confused. A girl from a cubicle opened the door and asked them to leave. They actually listened to her. They called her Sam."

"Wait, Sam as in Samantha Gray? Holy cow. She's like the most popular girl in school. I heard from a senior that she just became famous overnight, and she..." Abigail continues her gossiping but I'm not listening anymore. Samantha Gray. I have to see her again.

°

I step out of the school compound. Most of the students already left, I stayed behind hoping to catch a glimpse of Samantha again. I sigh, walking into the park and turning into the pathway I took to get to school. The crunching of my Converses stepping on the fallen leaves echos throughout the forested corridor. Then, I hear the faint sound of someone crying. I quicken my pace, trying to locate where the sound is coming from when I hear a guy's voice.

"Seriously? You're crying just because I hit you? Grow up." The voice says. The cries grow softer and I hide behind a nearby bush. The sunlight shone onto the arm on one of the figures. Slowly, the figure became clearer. It was a guy with messy peanut-brown hair. His posture was rigid. He turned back into the darkness, his eyes filled with disgust and hatred. "I would let you go. But no, I'm not done with you just yet Samantha. You still owe me." He smirks and walks further down the pathway. The further he disappears into the distance, the louder the crying becomes. The voice in my head goes berserk.

'Samantha? She has a boyfriend? And he hit her?' I clench my fist. I need to help her.

I snap out from my train of thought and creep towards the tree she was crying under. She's gone. I place my hand onto the dirt. Still warm. I step back onto the pavement and see her walking further and further into the distance. Before I knew, I was already chasing after her.

°

"Saman- Samantha!" I gasp. She turns around with a puzzled expression. Her eyes slowly puffing up. The more I look at her, the more my mind blanks out. "I, uh, just wanted to thank you. Thank you for coming to my rescu-"

"It's no big deal." She says, her voice was firm. But I could tell that she was breaking inside. She forces a smile and turns away from me, "It's getting late now, I have to get home soon." I step in front of her.

"I saw what happened." I whisper. Her eyes widen and she looks down at the gravel pavement. She didn't want to maintain eye contact. A drop of water hit my shoe, causing the white on it to turn slightly grey. It wasn't the rain.

She pulls into me and puts her head onto my shoulder. I could feel the cotton getting warmer.

"I don't know what to do." She cries.

I dig my fingers into her hair and whispered into her ear, "It's okay. I won't tell anyone. I'm here for you." She hugs me even tighter and we just stand there. The leaves around us stop rustling, the trees stop swaying. It was as if time stopped, as the orange-pink sun started to set.

°

8:36 pm. Too many questions to count. Little to no answers. After she pulled away, she didn't even say goodbye. She just left. I turn on my back and close my eyes. The phone hums its familiar tune. Who could it be?

~

< Abigail Greene >: hii

~

Oh yeah. I forgot we swapped numbers today.

~

< Me >: Hey, what's going on?

< Abigail Greene >: so I found out the names of the girls who tried to mess you up in the bathroom. erika turner and june bishop.

< Me >: And how are they linked to Samantha?

< Abigail Greene >: they're in this clique, or I would rather call, a cult. what's weird is that, the main point of the cult is to find out who other than them is either gaining popularity, or is popular with a certain boy. but wait, it gets juicier. samantha is the one who leads these 'operations'. and yet, today, she's protecting you? that's super weird.

< Me >: Yeah, maybe it is.

~

The screen fades to black. I return back onto my side and concentrated on the sound of the ticking clock.

Samantha. You didn't do it for me, did you?

°

"Boy, I am starving!"

Abigail and I place our lunch trays on the same table we sat at yesterday. The rest of the girls are here too. They're talking about today's menu or something. I'm listening. Samantha is sitting two tables down from me. She's talking to Erika and June, smiling broadly on the outside. But I can see what's happening in the inside. She clearly hates this. She realises that I'm staring and gives me a quick glance. For a second. I see the vulnerability in her eyes. Why? Why are you showing me a side of you you've clearly never shown anyone? And if you hate this, why do you still continue to wear that cracking mask?