Her Silly Farce

The last class I have for the day is Math. Mr. Hudson is a God of preach and I wish for the ceremony to end and for the numbers to stop swirling in my head. My memory is overloaded with equation and formula.

When it seems like the lesson will go on forever, the bell suddenly rings pumping wave upon wave of happiness into my brain. Finally, after a long day of school, I can now go home and chill with a movie or just watch a YouTube vlog. I quickly put away some stuff into the locker before heading towards the main entrance of Darwin High.

It’s unexpectedly cloudy outside. I hope it doesn’t rain soon. As I walk along the corridor, someone accidentally brushes past me in the crowd. I frown and turn to see who it was. His strapping figure is easy to spot. I shrug, not minding him. However, Cain gives me a surprise when he suddenly grabs my shoulder.

I haven’t got a chance to react as he reminds me, “Be careful on your way home.”

His rich baritone voice sounds especially pleasant in my ear like a well-made cup of coffee. For a moment, I seem to be lost in thoughts. Only when he turns away, do I snap out of my daze. I stare at his receding back. What is wrong with him? What did he mean by that?

“Rosie, hey, wait for me!” I sigh when I hear that voice. Aubrey. I turn around to catch her running towards me.

“Phew…thanks for waiting,” she says while panting. I smile as I pat her back to even her breath. After she settles down, only then did we start walking home. Most of the time, we would walk home together since we’re going in the same direction. But sometimes, I deliberately come out late and end up walking alone.

I remember when I first arrived in this town. I had just turned seventeen at that time. So, I celebrated my birthday in my new home. The first new faces I saw were Aubrey and her family. I didn’t quite agree to move to Belhelm at that time but in a strange twist of event, Aubrey successfully convinced me otherwise. She seems to love Belhelm very much.

Belhelm is not that big of a town, just enough to fit a good amount of population. It is located at the Far East near the boundary and that’s why the border of this town is encased by a forest named Edelweiss. In Belhelm, there is only one park located at the central town square where the festivals or other events are usually held. There isn’t any department store and only shopping districts. Fortunately, branded stores manage to make its way here.

As for teenagers, they usually hang out either at the park or at the Carmelia Street. There are cafes, bars, food stands, and restaurants lined up along that street. However, what drove me to stay in this town is probably Darwin Institute. The way Aubrey had described her school completely sold it out.

Then, I began to fall in love with how the people keep their tradition and culture here. Solidarity still exists among them. They celebrate every holiday season in the central park, organizing small events to big ones. In a big city, you’ll never find this kind of sight.

“Where did you go at lunch break? I was actually looking for you,” Aubrey chatters as we walk down the pavement. I knit my eyebrows, trying to find a way to escape her question. I can’t tell her but I can’t ignore her too. Then, there’s only one way left – lie.

“Umm…I thought you would be waiting for me in front of the class at first but you weren’t there. So, I decided to wait yet you just never showed up so, I left. Where did you go?” I shove the focus back to her. Strangely enough, she never seems to realize it whenever I evade her question. I’ve done this a couple of times already.

“Oh. Sorry, I was you know… mad. So, I went somewhere to vent off,” she stammers.

“Somewhere…” my voice trails off before asking casually, “You mean the locker?”

I know her habit whenever she’s angry. I perfectly imagine her yelling and hitting the locker door. Though it quite ridiculous, it’s not Aubrey if she doesn’t do anything stupid. No offense. I find her childish behavior amusing sometimes.

“Oh. By the way, when I went to my locker, I met him. You know that rumored guy.” Her entire being beams in that instance. I roll my eyes. I don’t need to second guess that person is.

“Cain,” I spat out confidently. She suddenly stops and stares at me.

“What?”

“You know his name,” her voice trails off.

“His first class was English and Mr. Rick just blurted out his name.” I give her a half-truth. I’m not sure why either but I walk it off and she follows me. There’s a moment of silence before Aubrey holds my hand.

“Rose, can you help me?” I raise my brows. She rarely calls my name that way. This means she’s being serious. But, my instinct can’t stop warning me that whatever it is she’s asking for will be completely ridiculous.

“What is it?” I still ask.

“Don’t get close with Cain.” I freeze when she says that. I turn around and stare at her.

“What do you mean?” I can’t quite understand what she wants. Don’t get close to Cain? Am I close with him? I only know his name let alone his surname. If she asks me to judge him, that I can do. I barely know the guy beside his insufferable arrogance.

“Well…” she fidgets. Her cheeks tinged with a faint blush. “I think…I’m interested. There’s just something about him that attracts me strongly. I can’t help but fall in love. I know this sounds mad but, love is blind, right? Anyway, don’t get close to him, okay? What I mean by ‘close’ is spending time alone or get to know him.”

“I thought you have a boyfriend.” The sentence shoots out of my mouth before I realize it. I was taken aback by my own words. Oh dear, that comes out of nowhere. I don’t mean to say that. She never talks about her relationships to me or how she has been stringing all those guys. Well, of course there will be rumors about it. But, I think it’s rude to dig into someone’s privacy.

“Never mind him. He’s really boring. I have enough of him. I think I’m going to dump him for Cain but then again, I love presents,” she replies dismissively. My eyes widen in surprise. She’s in a whole different level than me. That’s really rude. I can’t believe how casual she sounds. Doesn’t she feel embarrassed?

“By the way, how do you know about my relationship? Don’t tell me you’ve heard rumors. Please tell me the truth,” she asks with a frown. You’re interrogating me now? Great, Aubrey! You’re stepping over the line now, I shout internally.

“You make out in public and you expect that no one will notice it? And I don’t care about rumors, Aubrey. They’re just rumors,” I still try to keep it civilize.

“Hey, you could at least tell me! Now, I look like a player in your eyes!” She yells at me.

“I told you already, I don’t mind the rumors. Don’t worry too much,” I say coolly as I keep walking.

Finally, she snaps. Her shrill scream thunders into my ear. “ROSE!”

I jump when she shouts my name. I look at her displeasedly. She’s standing quite far from me. I thought she followed me. She stomps her feet towards me. She looks like she’s about to blow in any second.

“Why do you act like you don’t care at all?! You also ignore me most of the time even though I’m trying so hard to befriend you. What the hell is wrong with you?!” She yells. This is embarrassing. Everybody is watching.

“I never ignore you. I admit I’m not a talker so I merely listen when you speak. But, you cannot define my silence as an act of ignoring. And for the last time, I don’t mind the rumor. You’re your own person and you’re free to do what you like,” I explain to her calmly since I don’t want to attract more attention than we already have.

Despite that, Aubrey doesn’t seem to back down. She shot back even fiercer, “No! You always act coldly towards me! If you hate me then say it! I hate how you always keep your cool acting all arrogant as if you have everything under your control.”

I can feel my blood shimmers, boiling down into an indescribable rage. I really don’t want to argue with her – at least not in the public. Anyway, why is so damn concerned of my perspective towards her? And even when I’ve given her the answer, it doesn’t seem to get into her head. Is she this dumb? How does she survive this long in Darwin High?

I let out a long heavy sigh. “Can you stop, Aubrey?” I don’t mean to be mad but, I can’t stop my voice from coming out cold. It seems to agitate her even further.

“No! Let’s talk right now!” She yells. I’m totally speechless at her stubbornness.

“Can’t you see how childish you’re acting right now? Everyone is watching, Aubrey. Let’s talk at home.” I’m getting tired of this silly farce. Why are we fighting in the first place??

“It’s better to be childish than a b*tch! I really hate you!” She snarls before dashing across the street. Her reckless action catches me off-guard. I spontaneously turn to the traffic light.

“Aubrey, stop! It’s not green yet!!” I shout at her. She stops in the middle of the road and turns around.

“Why do you care?!” I can’t quite hear her because of the loud blaring noise from the honks. When I see a car running towards her, my body reflexively lunge to her direction. After that, everything turns black.