/amore sfumato/ ✔️

ii

 Ever since then, the two had gotten closer and grown inseparable. Rumors started going around about the two of them. People did not really understand the relation they had. Cedric's name was one of the most popular students in school. Celyn, on the other hand, was just like any other student, average. In classes when there are partnered projects, they would not bother looking around for partners, because like an unspoken agreement, they were always each other's partner, and everyone knew that, so they never offered either one of them to be their partner.

"Cedric, partners for this project?" Penny, now also Celyn's best friend, asked Cedric politely.

Everyone's head immediately snapped towards them, including Celyn's. Just in a matter of seconds, the unspoken agreement was broken by one of their best friends.

Now aware of the attention she had drawn, Penny tried to explain herself, "I mean, I just thought that maybe you would like a change in partner since you are always with Alicia, but it's alright if you don't want to. I completely understand."

Celyn immediately scoffed in disbelief. What was her very own friend thinking? Calling her Alicia? That's a first.

Cedric contemplated for a few minutes, and then responded to Penny's question, "Actually, I don't think that's too bad of an idea. Celyn's probably bored of constantly being partnered up with me. She could fancy a change once in a while, right Celyn?" now directing the question to Celyn who was sitting right next to him bewildered and confused at the same time.

"Actually no, I don't know many students here. I'm totally fine with being constantly partnered up with you, Cedric," she replied, attempting to prevent getting a student she barely knew as a partner.

She knew some students, but was not exactly close to them. She had been hanging out with Cedric and Penny twenty-four seven since the beginning. It is safe to say that she did not have many friends.

"That's the reason, Celyn. You're always with me or Penny. It's high time you mingled around a little bit more. Besides, if you're not bored, I would really like to know what it's like working with the others. I pretty much forgot what it was like," Cedric told Celyn. To say that it did not hurt Celyn would be an understatement. Celyn swore she could hear her heart shattering into pieces, but she did not want to look weak in front of two people she cherished so much, only to be humiliated by them in public.

"Right, you're right. I probably should have mingled more, and I am going to," she stood up, looking for another partner, bitterly agreeing with Cedric.

Tobias, one of her classmates who was seated at the back of the class raised up his hands, waving them at Celyn, inviting her over as he had not found a partner as well. Celyn smiled at him, using her index fingers to point to herself then Tobias, initiating that she was going over to join him for the project.

"Did they have a fight?"

"What did I just witness?"

The students began chattering amongst themselves busy discussing the fresh tea, speculating theories and conspiracies which were complete balderdash. Celyn herself honestly had no idea what was going on. She had expected nothing of such to happen. She shrugged off the recent occurrence, and focused on working on the project.

She did not know why she could not ignore the tug pulling her chest. It felt suffocating to her, and she was not sure why. She suspected that it was because this was her first time working with other students, but something told her that was not it. For the entire day, she could not help but feel pissed. She had never felt this way, and it pissed her even more.