Sky's Point of View
"Take care. See you tomorrow."
UGH! Luna's message keeps lingering in my mind.
Does that mean she wants to see me tomorrow? Is she excited to see me tomorrow? Wait, what the heck am I thinking? Maybe she's just concerned because I got lost, or maybe she likes me too?
Should I reply?
What should I say? I mean, I'm not good at this. I've never had any experience in relationships before.
"I've arrived home. Thanks for the ride."
NOPE! It's too long. Too sweet. What if she thinks I like her?
Wait a minute. Why am I overthinking so much? It's just a message. It doesn't have any other meaning.
I don't have a choice. I'll go to the expert in this.
I stood up and sprinted into my brother's room.
"Brother." I stood beside him. I was surprised when he suddenly hit me in the face with a book.
"Damn it, Sky! Learn to knock!" He grumbled as he straightened up his messy desk.
"That hurts. Anyway, what should I reply to this? I don't know," I showed him the message from Luna.
"Pfft! You don't even have to reply to that. It's over. The conversation ended already," he said with a laugh. I just gave him an annoyed look and left his room.
I shouldn't have.
"Wait, bro. Do you have a crush on her?" My brother suddenly appeared beside me.
"No. I just want to reply to what she said." I shrugged and waited for him to finish thinking.
"Just in case you start liking her—" I covered his mouth. Just like before, he's about to suggest the weirdest ways to win a girl's heart.
"The last time you advised me to randomly hug Nina, I got busted and embarrassed. The rumors about me being a pervert didn't stop. So I don't want that anymore. Besides, I don't even like that girl. I just want to reply. That's all," I said and stormed into my room.
That jerk.
"Bro, you're so defensive," I heard my brother shouting downstairs.
It's true. I just want to reply to her so I can experience chatting with a girl I know. Many people message me, but I don't want to reply to any of them. They say such boring things. Ugh!
"Yeah, sleep well." I replied to Luna's message. I don't need to overthink because what I sent was nothing. Some sort of a nice thank you or a reminder to sleep well.
"It's just nothing that I sent. It's nothing, and maybe she won't-"
I almost jumped in surprise when Luna's message popped up on my phone screen.
"Hahaha. Why are you still awake?"
She replied.
I'm going to sleep now. I might say something I shouldn't.
My phone vibrated again as I placed it under my pillow.
Another message from Luna.
"It's already 1 am. We have school tomorrow. I'm going to sleep!"
Oh no.
Whatever. I'm annoyed. I'm going to sleep.
-,-
I got up early to prepare and arrive at school early. The traffic is so slow nowadays because everyone wants to ride even if others don't want to. Those tricycles. A vehicle meant for two turns into five.
My brother and I left the house together. He needed to be at the school event early too.
My brother is a Music and Arts teacher. When we're at school, he wants us to be casual. He told me to call him Sir Azu. His name is Azuli, short for Azul. Mama wanted our first names to be connected. She believes it creates a strong family bond. She said our names are Blue Sky. Mama loved looking at the sky when she was a child.
My brother separated from me when we reached the campus. I went straight to the library to get the books we'll be using later in class. Ms. Alonzo assigned me to get and bring the books to the classroom because she's our first subject.
I carried three boxes of biology books, each box weighing about twenty kilograms. They're heavy.
"Let me help you with that." I heard a voice from a distance.
"Luna, good morning." I smiled at her and took one box of books from her.
She helped me place them on the desks in our classroom. Ms. Alonzo wanted all the books to be ready when she entered. She said it saves time.
"You seem to be in a good mood today," Luna said.
"Just a 'good morning'?" I raised an eyebrow as I spoke. She just glared at me and sat in her seat.
"You ruin the day, don't you?" She said irritably. She dropped her bag on the floor and took out her materials.
I was surprised when someone suddenly sat next to me. I turned and saw Porsche smiling at me.
Porsche has changed a lot. She became beautiful and looked like a young lady.
---two years ago---
"SKY! Someone left a box on your desk. It's from your girlfriend. HAHAHAHAHAAH!" My classmates shouted. I approached the desk to see if it was true.
I saw a box full of chocolates and small notes. They seemed to be messages.
"H-Hi. H-Happy Valentine's D-Day!" I heard someone whisper behind me.
"P-Porsche! I told you before not to bother with these things. You're just wasting your money on me." I arranged the contents of the boxes and handed them to her.
"Just keep the letters at least. It's Valentine's Day." She lowered her head and collected the papers from the box.
"I'll read them. I agree to be your partner at prom. Just stop giving me random stuff like this. Are we clear?" I took the papers she handed me. She nodded and smiled before leaving.
"Hey, bro! Looks like someone won the slot for your prom date, huh?" Jude jokingly said.
"What do you mean, won?" I looked at them in confusion. They exchanged looks, and Jude approached me.
"There's a line of girls waiting for you," he whispered.
"Don't forget about the other girls," he added.
Jude handed me his phone, and there were nude pictures displayed in his gallery. I felt sick when I saw the faces of some of my female classmates.
and he whispered, "Your reputation will be ruined on campus." He showed me a sex video. I froze when I saw the face of the guy—it looked like me.
"I-I'm not that person! I never did those disgusting things!" Tears welled up in my eyes from fear and anxiety.
"Thanks to my editor, James. I'll release this sex video if you don't comply with the agreement." He glared at me.
"We all tasted them, my buddies and me. We were paid in exchange for your dance with them at prom..." He whispered. "Are you that good that they line up like this?" He added.
"Better not to fuck up, dude." His final words before leaving.
I swallowed and nodded.
What is this? Did the girls in our classroom pay for nude pictures just to convince me to dance with them at prom? They
could have asked me directly. Why did it have to go this far?
I read Porsche's love letters one by one. Some were funny, while others were disturbing.
"Throw them away!" Jake suddenly grabbed the letters I was holding and ran outside. I chased him until we reached the front of the trash bin. Jake threw the papers and poured water on them.
I couldn't retaliate because I didn't want any trouble. I picked up the papers one by one. Some were salvaged, but the envelopes were wet, so I left them in the trash.
"S-Sky?" Someone said in front of me.
"P-Porsche! That's not what you think," I explained. I saw tears welling up in her eyes, and she ran away.
----
I couldn't focus on our prom night. Porsche wasn't there, and I had to dance with seven girls whom I saw naked in photos.
I danced with all of them. I couldn't feel any happiness tonight. I felt disgusted by the girls I danced with. While dancing with some of them, they whispered dirty talks. Some purposely placed my hand on their chests. I couldn't resist because Jude's gang was watching.
The night ended, and I still didn't dance with Porsche. Since that night, I haven't seen Porsche again. I didn't hear any news about her.
I tried to forget everything and bury those memories in the ground.
As much as possible, I didn't want to encounter Porsche because I didn't want her to have any hope in me. I felt sorry for her because I couldn't give her the love she gave me.
--,--
"You haven't changed, huh?" Porsche said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah. How have you been?" I asked. It was an awkward way to start a conversation with her.
"You're still leading people on," she chuckled.
"It looks like you're leading on the girl sitting next to you too." She laughed out loud.
"N-No. I'm not leading her on. She's my girlfriend, right, Luna?" I looked at Luna and pretended to smile.
She pulled her hand away from my grip.
"N-no. This must be a misunderstanding. I'll just go out. Bryan is calling me outside." Luna hurriedly left and met a guy outside.
"How pathetic. Did you think I didn't know that you danced with the girls who sent nudes to Jude? You were in cahoots with Jude in that scheme! Disgusting. You make me sick." She slapped me hard across the face.
"N-No. You're thinking wrong." I tried to follow her outside.
"You're only making it worse. Besides, I've moved on. So get a life," she said and left.
What? Get a life? She moved on? And here she is, suddenly bringing up the past and hurting me.