The Rivalry (Discontinued)

Chapter 5: Strange Dream

It was break time, or recess, if you prefer to call it that way. I was sitting alone on the dock with a cheeseburger and soda in my hands. I don’t really mind eating fatty foods since I don’t get fat that easily like those girls who starves themselves just by eating salads and whines to every guy they date for being afraid of getting just a little bit of flab. But well, I do care about what they would say when they see me eating like a pig. Not that kind of pig who guzzle dirtily in a noisy way but that kind of pig who gobbles up oily and greasy meats more than what they eat, if they even eat those things.

I hated being alone. I hated to be seen without anyone with me because I’m afraid they’d think I’m a loner or someone hated. But then, I couldn’t do anything. I don’t feel like hanging out with Gaya, even though we had a very good time yesterday. But don’t worry, I don’t hate her. It’s just that I need some time alone.

“Hey stranger,” someone said from behind. I turned my head and to my surprise, it was River. She sat beside me and started swaying her legs on the water. There was a have-eaten doughnut in her hands.

“What are you doing here?” I said, staring at her.

She looked at me. “This is actually my spot, and you’ve been barging in my territory.” she said with a smile.

I frowned. That’s not what I meant. And if this was the right time to say it, I would have answered her. I would’ve said that I couldn’t see her name anywhere to mark this place as hers. “No, but…” I paused, looking down at my fingers and playing with it. Then, I looked back at her. “Weren’t you angry at me?”

Her brows furrowed, taking a bite from her chocolate dessert. “What for?”

I looked back at the horizon, shrugging. “That time I left you here? When I didn’t listen to what you were saying?”

“Oh.” she said. She didn’t talk for a while, and so am I. She just stared at her reflection on the crystal clear water while I stared at my feet dipped on it. Since it was still morning, I could hear the faint chirping of the birds and the fluttering of their wings just in a distance. How relaxing. “So,” she started. “You had fun with them?”

I didn’t respond immediately. I don’t know what to say. Should I say I did? But she might get embarrassed that she was wrong. Wrong about them being a danger to me. Wrong about me being someone who wouldn’t fit to be with them. But then if I said that I didn’t, then she’d say she was right and that I should go away from them. But even though we just met a few days ago, it was hard for me to even think of letting them go, not even her, now that I’m just new here and desperately wanted friends. Well, I don’t want to jump into conclusions so let’s just see. “Yes.”

She was silent. Did I make her sad? I hope I didn’t. She sighed. “Just…” she paused, trying to find the right words. “Just be careful.”

~•✿•~

It was our Phys Ed class, and I’m here in the locker room with River and Lux changing into our black jogging pants and a white shirt with the school’s logo printed on the upper right corner. We stopped ignoring each other, if we were even doing that in the first place. Maybe she was just so busy that she doesn’t have the time to spend time with her friends. Gaya and some of her friends were also with us, but they weren’t talking to me, nor going near me. Maybe it was because I was with her.

“I hate this class.” Lux complained as she fixed her hair in a ponytail. “Sticky sweats, wet skin, stinky bodies and bad odors, ugh.”

River rolled her eyes while tying her rubber shoes. Even though she wasn’t wearing those dark clothes anymore, she still looked the same the first time I met her because of her black make-up and black nail polish. I told her to wash her face because once sweat started running down her face, her make-up would smear her prettiness. But she wouldn’t listen. “All you ever wanted was modeling and declaring your beauty to everyone.”