Dark Places | S. Tendou

WORRIED 'BOUT THOSE COMMENTS

Maeko's first class of the day was just as uncomfortable as it had been yesterday with Ayume beside her projecting a tremendous aura. Ayume was actually paying attention to the teacher this time, but her expression was so severe, so unimpressed, that Maeko thought a vein might pop out of her forehead any second.

It all happened so fast.

Maeko rushed to gather her things as soon as the bell rang, but she didn't even manage to push her seat all the way back before Ayume was there, in front of her desk, using her body to block Maeko's escape route. There might as well have been angry storm clouds hanging over top of Ayume's head given the looks that their classmates shot in their direction as they filed out of the classroom. They looked alarmed and, perhaps, concerned for Maeko's safety—rightfully so.

The teacher cleared his throat. It was a quiet request for Maeko and Ayume to leave with the other students so he could prepare for his next class.

Ayume sharply spun around to face their teacher. "I'm going to need to borrow your classroom."

The teacher slid his frames down the length of his nose, squinting. "Excuse me, Ayume?"

"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't urgent." Ayume explained, gesturing to the door as politely as she could. "You can have it back in a couple minutes."

The teacher looked torn between amusement and annoyance. He, too, gestured to the door. "Students don't get to dismiss teachers. It's the other way around."

Ayume had a retort on the tip of her tongue but, before she could say another word, Maeko latched onto her arm and then frantically steered her out of the classroom, dipping her head in apology to their teacher as they passed by. Maeko tried to locate a quiet spot for her and Ayume to talk, but she hardly made it a few steps out of the classroom before Ayume wrestled out of her grip, defiant.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I embarrassing you? Well that's too bad, Maeko. That's what happens when you ignore me for a few days."

Maeko sighed. She knew that Ayume's mood was going to get worse and worse the longer she put this off but, for some reason, she chose to put it off anyways. Ayume could be stubborn, to say the absolute least, and it usually led to Maeko being the one to apologize even if she had a good reason to be upset.

"I shouldn't have ignored you." Maeko said in way of a peace offering. "I've just been nervous about this conversation. I didn't know what to say."

Ayume's eyes softened, but only a little. Even if she couldn't relate to Maeko's shyness or insecurities, she did try to understand them.

Which Maeko knew. Perhaps it was manipulative of her, but it felt like the best route to take to quell some of the anger that Ayume had been building up.

"That's not how we work." Ayume shook her head. She looked disappointed that she had to explain this. "We can talk about anything. I've always been here for you."

Ayume took a deep breath before continuing. "I wanted to apologize for the party. I didn't know my friends were going to invite their friends, too, or else I would've given you a heads up. I know that wasn't your element."

Maeko smiled. She appreciated the apology, but she knew that, on some level, Ayume didn't mean it because, at the end of the day, it was her element and it was her party. Truthfully, Maeko wasn't even that upset about it anymore which was probably why the apology felt good enough. There was something else that she had been subconsciously avoiding like her life depended on it.

It was something that her smile, symbolizing acceptance, symbolizing a return to the normalcy of their friendship, invited Ayume to ask.

Ayume folded her arms across her chest. There was a look of condemnation written plainly on her face. "I thought I saw you leave with Tendou that night." She didn't phrase it like a question even though it was one. Ayume carefully, expertly, kept the accusation out of her tone.