Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Walking up to the bus stop on Monday morning, Crybaby was wearing a lavender shirt paired with grey leggings and flat Mary Jane shoes. She waited until the bus pulled up in front of her, then she stepped on and sat in the same seat as usual, this time alone. She rested her head against the window and sighed, relieved to have a day without Angelita stopping her from speaking to Ben. He had just gotten out of the car after saying goodbye to his father and walked to the bus stop right as it arrived. He got on and sat in his seat next to the window, smiling to himself while he thought about Crybaby, as he did every morning. His bus made it to the school a few minutes before Crybaby's did. He walked to their usual corner of the courtyard and didn't see her, so he sat on a bench, put his backpack down next to him and waited for her to show up. She was getting off bus shortly and practically ran past everyone else to find him in the courtyard. She made her way to their corner, and he spotted her when she got close. He looked her up and down with a grin. "Hey, baby," he said. "Hi," Crybaby smiled at him and rested her bag on the ground beside her. He got up and kissed her cheek, making her blush. "Here's my hoodie, by the way," he said, tugging at the hoodie he was wearing. "...Well, yours now. I know I'm not getting this back," he added. The hoodie was navy-blue with a small yellow logo on the shoulder, and it was already a bit baggy on Ben, meaning it would be big on Crybaby. He took it off and she giggled cheekily at his T-shirt getting pulled up with it. He noticed her and shook his head playfully, handing her the hoodie. She clung to it for a couple seconds and then put it on, adjusting it at the bottom and pulling the sleeves over her palms. "You look so cute in my clothes," Ben said with a smile.

"Thank you. I should borrow your clothes more often, then," Crybaby said, holding up air quotes on the word 'borrow'.

"You're going to ruin my wardrobe," he laughed and hugged her. She smiled and hugged him back. The bell then rang. Ben turned around and grabbed his backpack from the bench. "I'll see you at lunch, baby," he told her. She picked up her bag from the ground. "Yep, see you later. I love you," she said, starting to walk the other way. "Love you too," he said. She blew a kiss and Ben pretended to catch it in the air before he walked away.

~Two classes later~

Crybaby was walking out from her class and across the campus for her last one before lunch. She looked around as she walked, and suddenly, she saw someone she wasn't expecting to see. She froze and her eyes went wide as she saw Angelita coming from the front office with a pink permission slip in her hand. Angelita started to approach Crybaby and waved. Crybaby reluctantly began walking towards her; she could hear her own heartbeat. "Hi, my love!" Angelita said and smiled at her once they met face-to-face.

"Hey, Lita!" Crybaby smiled nervously, "Uh, I thought you weren't coming into school today?"

"Oh, my doctor visit ended pretty early, so I just came in," Angelita explained, and Crybaby nodded. "... Well, give me a hug!" Angelita said happily. Crybaby didn't get a chance to respond before she was pulled into a hug. They hugged for a few seconds, then Angelita's expression changed once she smelled cologne. She stopped hugging her and backed up a bit, keeping her hands on Crybaby's shoulders as she looked at her. She focused on what Crybaby was wearing, thinking back on where she may have seen that hoodie before. Crybaby was paralyzed with genuine fear. "Whose hoodie is this?" Angelita asked, images flashing in her head. Crybaby's heart dropped to her stomach. "W- What?" she said, clear panic in her tone.

"Whose hoodie are you wearing?" Angelita looked Crybaby straight in the eyes. "...Because as far as I know, you don't own any hoodies like that. And that's not the smell of your perfume," she continued.

"What do you mean? It's just..." Crybaby panicked as her words failed.

"I've seen this before," Angelita tugged on the sleeve.

"It's not like that," Crybaby said frantically, "I can't explain right now, but I'll talk to you about it at lunch."

"Yeah, okay," Angelita scoffed and walked past her coldly. Once she turned the corner, she tried not to cry as the paranoia came over her. Crybaby stood still for a moment, disorganized thoughts flooding her head. All she knew is that she'd have to come up with a good lie to get herself out of this one.