Happy Wednesday.
Wouldn't it be fun to walk on stilts? Make yourself three stories tall. Maybe bring a plant on a walk instead of walking on stilts! Bring the potted plant and all of a sudden it's your pet plant! Or maybe do both. How would that work? I don't know, strap the plant like a baby to your body or something.
Best idea I've had in hours!
Okay, wanna hear a joke?
So a shooting star fell from the sky. Someone wished that some form of realisation would just hit them in the face. He watched as the star changed trajectory and started heading in his direction. Now, turns out this star of ours isn't exactly a star, but a meteor. The meteor crashed into the town, killing that person, his family, friends and everyone he ever knew. The end.
Cruel joke, huh?
I woke up realising that I was still on my bed.
After throwing my blanket off, I went over to the bathroom and finished up with my daily routine. After I put on my school uniform, I stared at myself in the mirror. I rubbed my eyes before looking at myself again.
I squeezed a couple of eyedrops into my eyes before rubbing them again. My vision was still blurry since I had yet to put on my contacts. I sighed and left the bathroom to put my glasses on.
Guess I ain't putting on contacts today.
I left my room. No one was there.
I got a peanut butter sandwich and just sat at the dining table to eat, staring into blank space. Eventually, my Mom burst out of her room yawning. She was dressed casually and did not seem ready for work in the slightest.
"Seriously, why do you wake up so early?" My Mom asked, sitting across from me.
She rested her head on the dining table while still looking at me. I swallowed and shrugged, "Got stuff to do, I guess?"
She nodded, her eyes almost closing.
"So how's s-" She paused to yawn. "So how's school been?"
"It's been like two days," I countered.
My Mom chuckled before sitting up. She glanced at the kitchen, telling me, "I'll grab myself a cup of coffee, and then we'll be off."
"Are you sure you should be driving when you're that sleepy?"
"That's why I need coffee," My Mom stated.
She started walking to the kitchen before she did a double take and walked up to me. When I looked at her, she held my face with both her hands, staring hard at me. I asked her, "What is it?"
"I haven't seen you like this in a while," My Mom commented. "You're wearing your glasses, you're not forcing a smile. It always feels like you're smiling nowadays."
"Oh."
I pulled my Mom's hands away before replying, "I'm just a little tired today, that's all."
"Is there a reason?"
"I don't know."
She shrugged and went back to make her coffee. While she was doing that, I finished up with my sandwich. However, due to certain circumstances, I still had to sit there. In the event that you are wondering about what these circumstances may be, it is because my Mom is taking her time to enjoy her coffee.
"What's the rush?" She asked.
"Meeting up with someone," I stated.
"A friend?"
"Boyfriend, actually," I clarified.
"Funny joke."
"This isn't a joke."
I'm not smiling. God, I don't want to imagine what I look like to my Mom.
"You're serious?" She asked.
"You don't have to worry too much about it," I told her, looking her directly into her eyes. "It won't last long at all."
"Still, I'm quite shocked that you would be interested in someone," My Mom sighed. "Never thought you would actually go for someone."
Her eyes were gleaming slightly as if she didn't hear the last part of my statement or the entire statement at that.
"Do I have to be honest?"
My Mom was silent for a brief moment.
"I would prefer it, yeah," She confirmed.
"I guess I like him," I told her. "I used to have a crush on him. When we hang out recently, he was quite nice and easy to talk to. He's good-looking too."
My Mom was beaming at me.
I'm so tired.
"You got a picture of him?" She asked me.
"Don't think so," I replied.
My Mom finished up her coffee and we were off. In the car, while she was driving, she started talking to me. "You better be responsible in a relationship, okay? Don't do anything dumb and make sure not to trust everything he says."
I nodded silently.
"Oh, and when you can, let me meet him," She pushed on. "I wanna see whether he's a good person."
"Sure…"
When we reached school, I patted my cheeks and smiled at my Mom. "Thanks for driving me to school."
"Come home straight away, okay?" She instructed.
"I got supplementary," I stated.
"Right after supplementary," She specified. "Don't do anything that'll get you in trouble."
"I will, I will," I told her, stepping out of the car. "Love you."
"Love you too."
I walked into the school and started making my way towards the cafeteria. I could vaguely hear my Mom driving away. After the stunt otto pulled yesterday, I wonder what's gonna happen in school today.
Upon entering the main building, I noticed a couple of girls who had been walking in at around the same time turn to look at me. They whispered to each other secretively. Gotta love the attention, huh?
Wonder if the entire school knows about us.
Heck, does the school itself know about us?
Would be hilarious.
So I'm headed over to where I believe Otto should be waiting. However, before I could fully exist in the cafeteria, I noticed an unusually big crowd gathered there. When I got closer, someone noticed me and called out, "She's here!"
I was immediately swarmed by a whole group as they asked me every question at the same time.
"Good morning y'all," I tried to greet but was drowned out by the noise.
Otto managed to fight through the crowd and reached me. He grabbed a hold of my hand and started dragging me away. We ran while I laughed, joking with him, "Busy morning, huh?"
"Yeah," He replied simply.
We somehow managed to lose the crowd, but I could guess that they were going to find us soon enough. Otto let out a sigh. We were chilling in the corner of the school where most of the equipment was kept.
"Sorry about that," Otto apologised. "A bunch of people came up to me this morning and started asking questions."
I waved his apology off. "It's fine."
"But hey, have some of your fans decided to back off?" I asked him out of curiosity. "Would be pretty annoying if they continued stalking you."
"I don't really know," Otto stated.
He yawned before rubbing his eyes. "Still though, I'm really sorry about all of this."
"What's there to be sorry about?"
"Well, I overheard some of the girls insulting you," He explained. "I tried to get them to stop, but I doubt they would."
"Ah, insulting," I nodded, rubbing my chin. "I'm used to it."
I clapped and pointed at Otto, who seemed to be rather startled by the sudden clap. "By the way, what do you think about what happened to Candace yesterday?"
His expression darkened. "I don't really care about Candace right now."
"I see, I see."
But hey, I care about Candace.
"By the way, I told my Mom about you," I started talking again. "She wants to meet you sooner or later."
"Oh," He responded very simply.
"Yeah, so get ready for that," I chuckled. "It'll be a whole experience."
"Well, I haven't told my parents about you," Otto told me.
"Makes sense, considering how they probably wouldn't like me," I agreed with him.
He glanced off to the side before nodding slowly. "Yeah… it's a really big pain in the ass having to deal with them."
He then faced me, a small smile on his face. "But hey, at least your parents seem cool with the idea."
I shrugged.
"They've basically been begging for me to get into a relationship, I'm not surprised that they would support me."
I punched his shoulder lightly. "But keep on trucking though."
There was a slight pause before he gestured to his own face. "Um… you're wearing glasses."
Oh yeah.
"Right, my eyes were a little weird today, so I didn't put on my contacts," I told him simply. "Safety first."
"You uh…" He said, his face reddening as he turned to look to the side. "Look pretty good in glasses."
"Why thank you."
We started making our way to my class since we spent most of our morning time just running away from a crowd. We eventually had to split because of the crowd that would gather wherever we went.
Now, back in class was a slightly different atmosphere.
"Good morning!" I greeted the moment I walked in.
Okay, first of all, I noticed that there were more people in class compared to yesterday. Also, I noticed a distinct lack of Candace. The reason for that was that her two buddies were already in class.
I walked to my seat, and not many people talking.
Hell, the class rep wasn't even in class.
The moment I got to my seat, one of Candace's pals stood up and made her way towards me. I put my hands up, showing her the faint scars on my fingers. "Hold on, before you do anything, I just want to say that I'm still recovering from injuries."
She scowled.
I gestured to her. "Continue."
She slammed her hand on my table so hard it made a few people flinch. She demanded, "Break up with Otto."
Hm…
"What's the occasion?" I asked happily.
"Break up with Otto," She repeated her demand. "Someone like you doesn't deserve to be with him."
"Jeez, at least try to bribe me or something," I chuckled. "Does this have something to do with Candace?"
She flinched.
Mate, you've basically just confirmed it for me.
"No…" She started more hesitantly before telling me in a softer tone. "I'm the one that deserves to be with him."
"You're Charlotte, right?"
She did not reply.
"You're literally named after a city in North Carolina," I stated.
"So?"
I shrugged, grinning, "Nothing. Just wanted to point it out."
She reached out and grabbed my collar, pulling me close to her face. "If don't break up with Otto right fucking now, I'll kill you!"
"Like your other friend did?" I said as smugly as I could in that situation. "You know, the one that tried to stab my face?"
I pointed at the scar that had yet to fade away.
I pried her fingers off my blouse while saying, "Well, you can do whatever, but I wouldn't exactly be too into it since, well, you're not Candace."
She scowled and tried reaching out to grab me again. I put a hand up, making her stop in place for a moment.
"But you know what would make me break up with Mr Popular?" I offered.
I gestured for her to get closer.
I whispered, "Make sure you tell Candace, okaaaay?"
"I want to sleep with her."
The girl simply stood there, trying to register the information. "What?"
"You heard me," I laughed, patting her shoulder. "I want her to come up to me and audibly ask me to sleep with her. Not in the family-friendly way either."
Before she could come up with a response, I continued, "Well, I'm pretty flexible. Not in the physical sense though. I can do all sorts of wild kinks Candace might have."
I sighed, putting a hand on my cheek. "I've been giving her hints for quite some time, but she doesn't seem to want to do it."
Candace's other friend walked up and ushered Charlotte away.
I hope she remembers.
I'm genuinely curious as to what Candace's response will be once she hears.
However, now we have classes!
Cough.
Okay, now we have the break!
You see, judging by how the general populace of the school knew about my relationship with Otto, I severely doubt we could find time alone. As a matter of fact, I left the room just to see a group of girls standing outside. I think a few of them were juniors. Okay, maybe most of them were juniors.
"You're the bitch dating Otto?" One of them demanded.
It let off a whole chain of chattering. The people trying to leave my classroom were mostly caught inside by the crowd.
"Good day, how y'all doing?" I greeted them.
I shrugged. "I assume y'all are a part of the Otto Fanclub?"
I put a fist onto my hand as if coming up with an idea. I even did a small gasp for effect. "You guys should totally make it into an official club!"
There was a bunch more chattering.
"I literally can't hear you guys," I announced. "Could one volunteer step forward to talk to me clearly? Preferably someone who loves Otto the most!"
A couple of girls stepped forward just for them to get shot down. Some discussion began between the girls that had never once thought that they were inferior.
Honestly, if it's this easy to start a whole argument, maybe don't form a group.
I leaned against the doorframe, watching them argue. The class representative stepped out of the class, demanding, "What's going on outside?"
"You're just in time!" I explained the situation to him. "You see, these girls are begging for me to break up with Otto, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. When I asked them to have the person who loves Otto the most step forward to talk to me, this whole shitshow happened."
He scanned the crowd.
He let out a sigh before stepping in again, muttering under his breath. "Niki is going to kill me…"
"Who's Niki?" I asked out of curiosity.
"It's the nickname for my girlfriend," He mentioned before taking another glance outside the classroom. "She might try fighting all of them to get in."
"Your girlfriend looks so cute yet acts so cool," I joked.
"Just…" He gestured in the general direction of the crowd. "Handle this, okay?"
"I'll try."
I clapped my hands loudly, but the noise was too loud for me to be heard. I simply pulled my phone out and told them, "I'm just gonna chill here."
One girl finally stepped out.
This girl I know. If I remember correctly, she's like the captain of the women's athletics club. She's cool in her own right. I think she's a year younger than me.
"Break up with Otto," She demanded.
"Why though?" I countered.
"You don't deserve to be with him," She insisted. "He can do so much better."
"Why?"
She started listing, "He's hot, rich, has an impeccable personality and has good grades. You're nothing! You're out of his league!"
"Why?"
She started fuming.
"Hit me, you won't," I taunted with a smile on my face.
She balled her fist and tried to swing at me, but stopped herself. I told her, "Fine, if I break up with him, will you be the one to date him?"
"Th-That's-" She stuttered, her face red.
"If you're demanding that I break up, it means you can make him happier than I can," I stated blatantly. "But what about all the people behind you?"
Mutters spread throughout the crowd.
"Frankly, he hates you guys," I said loudly.
There was a collective gasp.
"You're lying!" Someone yelled before a whole bunch of people talked at once.
"What's so surprising?" I asked, the noise dying down a little. "You guys stalk him, chase away anybody he likes and take photos of him without permission. Nah, y'all are creeps man. Can I have a show of hands how many people here have masturbated to the thought of being with Otto?"
One of them put their hand up very briefly.
At least she's honest.
Mr Dohl arrived just in time to scatter the crowd. The class rep gave him a quick explanation before running off somewhere else. Mr Dohl approached me. And yes, I am still leaning against the door frame.
"I swear no one died," I promised.
Mr Dohl shook his head before telling me, "I heard the basic premise. Are you sure this is all caused because you are dating?"
"Surprisingly, yes," I confirmed. "You know Otto? The popular guy?"
"Yes, I know him," Mr Dohl confirmed.
"You know how he always has this big group of girls around him?" I elaborated. "Yeah, I did him and the school a favour by trying to chase away as many of those stalkers as possible."
Mr Dohl nodded before telling me, "I will notify the year head on this matter. At worst, we may have to contact both of your parents."
"Bet that my Mom opens a bottle of champagne."
I laughed out loud before saying to Mr Dohl, "But did you see their faces? They were in complete shock!"
He let out a tired sigh. "Just… don't hurt anyone or yourself."
I paused for a moment.
"Mr Dohl, are you not liking your job?"
He looked up at me, mildly shocked. "W-What are you talking about?"
"Well, you don't seem too happy the past week… month… I don't know," I told him. "I was wondering if you don't really like your job at the moment."
Mr Dohl scratcehd the back of his head before replying, "I'm doing fine… Just that I've been considering transferring to a school a couple of towns away."
"Really?" I exclaimed. "Is it a promotion?"
"Something like that," He nodded.
He adjusted the bag he was carrying before telling me, "Well, they offered me a position, so I thought I may as well get a reset."
I put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a thumbs up with my other hand. "Anywhere not here can be considered a promotion."
I laughed at my own joke, retracting my hand. "But seriously though, haven't you been really committed to this school or something? Why the sudden thought?"
"Well, there are some things I dislike about the discipline," He stated.
"Ah, sorry about that."
He shook his head. "No, it's nothing. I'm tired because it's been on my mind as of late and I've talked to my family about moving."
"Oh. Must be tough."
"It is."
"Good luck with that, I guess?"
"Thank you."
I walked off to who knows where.
I do. I know where.
Otto had texted me his location.
To literally nobody's surprise, a bunch of girls were asking him questions. He had been waiting near the garden. The girls noticed me and gave me a look before leaving quickly. I chuckled as I got closer to him. "I wonder what their deal is."
"Did they do anything to you?" He demanded.
I waved off his concern. "Nah, I don't think any of them ahs the balls to do anything to me. I mean, if they bully me and I snitch, you could hate them forever. Besides, even if they tried, I doubt it would work."
"You're going to get really hurt if you keep living like that," He mentioned as more of a joke.
I showed him my fingers. "Already did~"
He held my hand and got a closer look. He asked, "What happened?"
"Some stuff with Candace," I simplified it.
I pointed to my eye. "This was one of Candace's friends who decided to try and stab me in the face."
He rubbed a thumb against the scar.
"I'm never going to forgive Candace…" Otto told me.
Sure thing.
I asked him, "So why have you invited me to meet you over here of all places?"
"Well, I thought there would be fewer people," Otto said before chuckling softly. "I was clearly wrong."
"True that," I agreed.
"But I guess things turned out okay."
We walked in the garden, just looking at the stuff. There were a couple of people every here and there that would cross our line of sight and disappear. Who knows how many people were stalking us at that moment.
"Ever thought about being honest?" I asked.
"Huh?"
"I mean, being honest with those girls that have been following you," I elaborated on my question. "Telling them you hate how they treat you. Surely that would be enough to drive them away, no?"
Otto scratched the back of his head.
"Well, I would feel kind of bad…"
Liar.
I shrugged and continued walking.
Classes.
Glasses.
Right, I'm wearing glasses. Right, no wonder it felt a bit weird the entire day. Why the heck do I keep forgetting that I have glasses on? Would have been really bad if someone tried to punch me in the face.
These glasses aren't cheap.
So classes went about as normally as they could.
I mean, no dinosaur-riding caveman busted through the door.
I could tell many people in my class were really focused on the Finals. If they didn't do well, their entire future would be completely ruined.
Ain't that the fun of exams though?
In supplementary class, I was staring at the board while I spun a pen in my hand. Mr Dohl was explaining a couple of math solutions on the board. One look around, I assume this was a class of those who might struggle to meet the promotional criteria.
Yet they look so attentive.
I glanced off to the side.
I then checked my phone in secret to check the time and date. I'm running out of time… When's Candace going to get back?
I wanna see Candace again.
Dear Candace, what's been going on in your life?
When school ended, I met up with Otto who just kind of guided me to the bus stop to see me off. Nothing much really happens otherwise.
Back home, something else was going on.
I see Fable already at home. Except he looked slightly different from how I remembered him. Wait, that sounds a bit off. I mean, he wasn't doing what I had expected him to do. Instead of staying in his room to do his typical gaming, Fable was seated at the dining table.
"What have you been up to?" I asked him, setting my bag aside to talk.
"I'm at home, what do you mean?" He countered.
"You're at home, but not in your room," I corrected him. "Besides, you're all sweaty and stuff. What have you been doing?"
"I went out for a jog," He told me, setting his phone aside.
Pause.
"Okay, that's just weirder," I put a hand in front of me, not believing him in the slightest. "You? Going out on a jog? Who did you go with?"
"I went alone."
I threw my hands in the air. "What the fuck?"
I pressed the back of my hand against his forehead, asking him, "Are you sick or something? Do you need to see a doctor?"
He smacked my hand away. "What's so weird about me going on a jog?"
"Um… it's you?"
I don't know about you, but I think that's a completely valid argument on my part.
"What? Next, you're going to tell me that you're headed to the gym too," I exclaimed, not believing what I was hearing from Fable.
"That's tomorrow, actually," He made a correction to my statement.
"Seriously, what the fuck is up with you?" I asked.
He stayed quiet for a bit, staring down. He eventually shrugged, managing to smile slightly. "Guess I decided I wanted to get fit? Stop being such a loser all the damn time."
"I would hug you to console you, but you're quite sweaty," I commented.
He argued back, "Why would you need to console me?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. You look kinda depressed to me."
"Well, I'm not!" He said firmly. "I just decided that I want to work out more instead of focusing so much on games."
I pressed my phone against my ear. "Hello? Yeah, a guy in front of me has gone mad."
He let out a sigh. I laughed it off and tapped my phone on his head. "Well, great to see that you're trying to improve your life."
Right before I entered my room, I called out, "Wait till Mom hears about this!"
I entered my room and closed the door behind me. I flopped onto my bed and closed my eyes.
Before I could fully fall asleep, I sat by my desk, my diary in front of me, a pen in my hand.
Bzzt.
Bzzt.
Why're there so many text messages?
Bzzt.
I dropped the pen and slammed the desk as hard as I could with a fist. I paused and stared at my hand before looking over to my phone. I picked it up and quickly connected my earpieces. Thoughts were getting too loud.
Listening to music should help.
Music, podcasts, whatever.
Dinner time rolled around and Fable had yet to reveal anything to my Mom. In fact, I don't think he's told anyone about his situation with Yin. Well, I guess he's gonna have to tell eventually.
My Mom isn't exactly the densest person in the world.
While I was chilling in my room later that night, my phone buzzed.
I thought it was a text from Otto, as most of my more recent texts had been from. Instead, it was from none other than Dear Candace.
Candace: We need to talk tomorrow morning. It's the spot. You know where to meet
Hm…
Me: Okkk
I do in fact know where to meet.
This is going to be such a fun time!
I just can't wait for tomorrow!
Well, if you want tomorrow to come quicker, you just gotta sleep earlier, innit? Think about it, it makes sense, right?
See. You. All. Tomorrow!