Missing Piece

Guilt

A flashlight from the teacher's phone unveiled the darkness in the bathroom. Leaking sound of the running faucet stirs and twists the teacher's face as he saw Steph bathed in a mixture of blood and water.

Upon seeing the shards of glass pierce her hand, a stinging pain caused Steph to grit her teeth. Her uniform splashed with red while her hair dripped blood.

"Steph!" Anne ran towards her, checking her hand to make sure it was alright.

"Hang on tight!" Anne didn't care when her uniform and face was splashed with blood as she helped Steph.

"Thank you." seeing the flashing determination in Anne's eyes, Steph was glad. But her smile was shaky as she gritted to endure the pain.

"Is your hand the only place pierced?" the teacher asked.

"Sir, I-" Anne's sentence was cut by Steph.

"It's my fault sir, I was going to put makeup on but I accidentally slipped." Steph lied.

"We'll deal with that later. Right now, we need you to be treated in the clinic. Wait here while I call for help." the teacher left.

"Steph! What are you doing? It's my idea, so I should be the one to accept the responsibility." but then Anne's angry face was soothed by Steph's smile.

"I was the one that accepted it. And besides, it's the protagonist's duty to carry the mistakes of her friends." Steph forced a laugh.

"Steph..." Anne smiled.

I guess that makes me the villain. Anne thought to herself.

"After the incident I had in the bathroom, I made sure I had a spare uniform in my bag. Do you need it?" Anne said as she turned her back on Steph.

"Thanks, but I won't. You should continue class, I'll have to be treated in the clinic and leave." seeing Anne's back, Steph couldn't help but feel sad for her.

"Anne it isn't your fault. You were just trying to help." Steph smiled brightly.

I am such a great friend, aren't I? Anne said to herself while clenching her fist.

"Thanks, Steph. I'll just take over your cleaning duties for today." seeing the teacher come with several students, Anne excused herself.

Anne took the spare uniform she had in her bag, and went to the staff's bathroom to change clothes. It was silent, with only the sound of uniform brushing on her skin echoes in the room. Looking at the mirror as she wiped the blood of her face.

After finishing, she opened the door only to be greeted by a familiar person waiting outside.

"How is Steph doing?" Kaiho asked. Anne ignored the question and walked pass her, but Kaiho shoved Anne back.

"Didn't know Steph also likes makeup, reminds me of your mom." she said. But again Anne ignored the question and left.

"All according to plan, right? You even brought a spare uniform because you knew it was going to happen." Kaiho said, but still no response.

"Anne, I just hope you won't lose yourself chasing what you want."

The sentence made Anne tighten her fists while she held back her tears.

"I already lost you, what else could I lose?" Anne said to herself, while stirring her resolve back. There is one more thing she needs to do.

When Anne finally got back to the classroom, a crowd of students flocked towards her. Descending the class into a loud mess.

"Hey! Get out of the way, you crazy wanna-be-journalists." Clarence was like plowing through a snow blanketed road as he cleaned off the students.

"So, Anne, mind telling me what happened?" Clarence's arms slithered to Anne's shoulder.

"It's nothing." Anne said while shoving Clarence off.

"Anne, how is Steph doing?" Catherine asked.

"Worried you will be cleaning alone?" Anne said.

"It's not because of that-"

"It was a joke, Catherine," Anne smiled at her, "I'll be taking over her duties. It's the least I could do as a friend."

"Didn't know you could do something so good." Clarence laughed at Anne.

Seeing Clarence just joking around, Anne left, she wasn't in the mood to laugh. Guilt weighed her face as she narrowed her eyes, trying her best to prevent the emotion from bursting out with a cry.

"Anne," a light tapping found itself on Anne's shoulders, when she looked back, she saw Clarence. "I know you have been through a lot. The bathroom looked like a crime scene, and being the first to see it must have been terrifying. But I heard you even helped Steph out." Clarence proudly smiled at Anne.

"What's your point?" Anne shot her response, wanting to get away from them as fast as possible.

"My point is you're just tired from everything. The contest, the school works, etc. Now you even saw something so terrifying. Just rest, Anne. It'll help." Clarence said.

"I'll take that to heart." Anne smiled back. Seeing Catherine looking at her, Anne smiled and waved at her before taking her seat.

Class started, but all Anne did was stare at the floor. Her dull eyes looked ghostly as her mind echoed with the whisper of her thoughts.

I guess planning it was fun, and I knew Steph will take responsibility for getting hurt because of that anime. But seeing her get hurt and believing I was good tore me apart.

She thought.

I even lost Kaiho, the most important person to me. Did Clarence truly mean that much to me?

She asked herself.

"It's all because of you. Once you're out of the picture, everything will go back to normal. But will it? " Anne quietly stared at Catherine.

School ended with a bell. The other students immediately ran outside, but Anne remained. Anne's heart battered her chest loudly, while her nervousness choked her breathing, even her hand shaked and tried to delay with slowly fixing her stuff.

Maybe I can still go back. Apologize to Kaiho, and go back to normal. Anne thought. But a notebook suddenly fell to the floor from her shaky hand, her eyes immediately sharpened to a glare upon seeing the two tickets she bought with her and Kaiho's savings fall out from it.

"You're going to Train to Infinity? Me and Clarence are also going, why don't we all go along. You, me, Clarence, and whoever that ticket us for." Catherine suddenly spoke, surprising Anne.

"What do you mean?" Anne asked.

"You have two tickets, whose is the other one for?"

"Oh, it's for Kaiho. I hope she comes though." Anne immediately shoved the tickets back to the notebook and closed it with a loud clamp from her hands.

"You're lying, aren't you," seeing Anne's surprised look Catherine continued, "I know you're lying, I just have a gut feeling about it."

"You smiled at Clarence and pretended to take his words seriously, but deep inside you didn't. You even lied to us when you said you were okay, but in reality what happened to Steph affected you a lot. But remember, we're always here for you."

"T-Thank you." Anne replied, wearing two smiling eyes and her lips arched into an almost swaying crescent. A smile that fooled Catherine.

"I think we should really get started in cleaning now. We usually need to sweep, but I think the only thing we need to do is take out the garbage." although her voice was calm, Anne's burning rage bubbled inside her. It vented into a hidden clenched fist and itching toes that couldn't wait to lure Catherine.

Anne then went to the plastic can, carrying it with her two shaky hands.

"I'll carry it for you." Catherine said, thinking that the memory of Steph's accident still shook Anne.

"Thanks. I'll lead the way then."