Chiara Marino and the Demons of Darkness

Chapter 16: School Ruins Everything

"The actress was bland," Riya argued.

"She was hot," Zeke countered.

All Chiara's friends could talk about the next Monday at lunch was the movie, but Chiara was in another world of thought. She should have been thinking about how and where to talk to Peter about her secret, but all she could think about was their talk on Friday night.

He had made it clear that he was only interested in friendship. And Chiara's reaction had made it clear that what she felt for him was more than a simple crush.

"Please! Anyone can be a hot girl," Riya rebutted. "Slap on makeup and add the right lighting and even Cosmo could be a hot girl."

"What is this fascination with temperature?" Cosmo joined in. "Why does everyone simultaneously want to be 'hot' and 'cool?' Isn't that a symptom of menopause?"

The group looked at him in silence for a beat, then laughed.

Chiara went around the table collecting the finished trays. Peter had his head down and she thought he was snoozing, but when she tried to take his trash, his hand grabbed hers. The mere tough of his hand was enough to accelerate her heart rate.

"You're always doing stuff like this," he said, sitting up lazily. "You don't have to."

"It's no big deal," she said with a shrug. She met his eyes and seemed to get sucked in.

He let go. "Alright, but I'll clean up tomorrow."

Chiara smiled. "Deal."

She walked over to the trashcan, trying to gather her wits and dismiss the memory of his touch. As she placed the trays on top of the trashcan, someone hugged her too tightly around the neck from behind.

"Clare-bear! Looks like I did a good thing setting you up with the new kid, huh?"

Chiara escaped Sydney's hold and turned to face her. "What? We're not dating," she clarified. "We're just... We're just friends."

Sydney pouted. "Too bad. You guys would be totally cute together."

"No we work as friends. That's all I want. That's all he wants." Chiara's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said.

Sydney, on the other hand, looked excited. "I get it," she said with a fake air of sympathy. "He doesn't like you back? Man, that just keeps happening to you."

Chiara tuned and ran.

It was ridiculous. She knew it was ridiculous for such little words to wound her, and yet they had hit straight to her heart. All her past crushes had dissolved in exactly the same way – unrequited. After so many experiences and the same results, there was only one logical conclusion: something was wrong with her.

She burst through the door to the girls' bathroom and checked under the stalls to make sure it was empty. She sighed, gripped the sink, and looked in the mirror.

"Pull yourself together," she told her reflection.

"Chiara?" Mac called as the door swung open.

Chiara turned to see Mac and Riya entering.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Riya asked with a hand on Chiara's arm.

Chiara sighed and spoke softly. "Yeah. It's just that Sydney always knows exactly what to say, you know?" She lowered her voice to a faint whisper. "So Peter made it pretty clear Friday that he only wants to be friends."

"Really?" Riya and Mac asked simultaneously with the same tone of skepticism.

"Yeah, and I'm okay with that. I really am. It's just that it came at the same time as me figuring out that I might want more. And somehow, Sydney figured all that out."