Status Quo | ✓

-3-

I refused to see Leon after leaving his house the other day. Even when he made a few calls to invite me over, I simply came up with a ton of lame excuses to reject him.

I wasn't throwing tantrums, but it was the fear of not behaving like his friend that kept me at a distance with him. The sadness, envy and every distasteful emotion were surfacing, and if I weren't careful enough, it would be impossible to hide my true feelings. I wasn't ready to let him know how I felt towards him, at least not now. So, I thought it was better for me to be away from him while I sort everything out.

"You alright?" Clara frowned, waving at my face.

Snapped into attention, I hadn't realised that I was spacing out before Clara appeared before me. I sighed, "Not exactly."

"Talk," she demanded.

I told her everything that happened at Leon's place and she burst out laughing. I had no idea what was so hilarious until she poked fun at me, "A man who doesn't mind washing your underwear? Darling, he's a keeper!"

"That's not the point!" I scowled.

"Which one did you go for?"

"I don't really remember, the black strapless one?" I had no idea why I replied to her.

"Good girl!" Clara laughed even harder.

"Stop distracting me, Clara!"

I finally smacked her in the arm, and she made a huge fuss over it but still making a joke out of me. When she decided that she couldn't laugh any more than she already did, she cleared her throat and sat up straight. Patting her thighs, she said firmly, "Rachelle, it's time to make a move."

"But—" I had wanted to protest.

"You've been finding way too many excuses for yourself for the past ten years," Clara rolled her eyes.

I raked both hands into my hair and messed up the strands while letting out a huge sigh. It was definitely easier said than done. I planned to do something since forever, but I always ended up doing the opposite of what I really wanted, and everything always turned out an 'if-only-I-was-brave-enough' situation.

For the rest of the day, I was stuck in the practice room to rehearse for the charity recital. That was the only thing to take my mind off the troubles. Clara was also busy with her upcoming composition competition, so we didn't have much time to spend together after classes. The period before Winter break had been hectic.

-

After practice, I strapped my cello over my shoulder and left the academy. Trudging through the walkway as the frigid wind blew past mercilessly, I shivered in the cold and realised that temperatures had dropped drastically recently, and it had gotten a lot colder here. My teeth chattered as I gripped firmly onto the strap of my cello case, trying to find some non-existent support to brave through the cold.