PAST
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MELINA'S POV
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"It's recess! Let's go to Theo and Angela's gang!" Dove's voice rang out, bright and exuberant, carrying across the classroom like a bell. Her hands fluttered in the air, fingers tracing invisible hearts as if she couldn't contain her excitement.
My pupils dilated in a cold feeling settling in me. The thought of standing there and watching Theo with Angela. The thought evoked a strange imagery in me — Theo's holding Angela's hands under the table to conceal themselves from others, His hands slowly going to Angela's thigh and eventually Theo's hands brushing Angela's thigh further upwards—
"I'm sure we can catch them being all lovey-dovey sneakily," Zara whispered, her words high-pitched and trembling with anticipation. Her eyes gleamed with mischief, and her grin spread like sunlight across a dark room.
While my friends gushed over the new secret couple, I felt a heavier, sharper emotion twisting inside me. Their laughter, so full of delight and promise, pressed uncomfortably against my chest, leaving me restless and tense.
"Let's study instead. We need to ace the exams," I blurted, hoping to redirect the conversation. Feigning a sudden interest in studies i quickly gathered my books in a forced hurry.
Their heads snapped toward me, a synchronized motion that made me feel instantly exposed.
"Are you insane? Recess is for rewiring the mind after the torture of finance, accounts, and audits," Dove exclaimed dramatically, flinging her arms as though the classroom itself were an oppressive cage.
Zara sprang from her seat and grabbed my wrist, her touch firm yet playful. "Theo and Angela are at the café. Let's go!"
Dove backed her up without hesitation. "Mission Theo and Angela! Aww, how cute!" she cooed, her grin wide and unabashed.
The last place I wanted to be was anywhere near them.
I briefly considered coming clean with them about Mine and Theo's exchanges, Glances, Sneakily visiting my home—perhaps I could say I was Theo's temporary fling for a few months—but even the word fling felt humiliating and cheap. No. My dignity mattered more. I couldn't allow myself to look like a fool.
"You guys go ahead. I need to study," I muttered, gathering my books with exaggerated urgency, feigning the importance of academics.
Zara and Dove exchanged a quick glance and let me go. "We'll tell you everything after we catch the sneaky couple," Zara said, smirking as they left.
I watched as they walked away talking yo each other excitedly like talking about Cute Hero and Heroine of Soap Operas.
I rested my head on the desk watching them walk away and inhaling the faintly sharp scent of paper and fresh ink. Normally, that smell was neutral, almost comforting—but now it made my head throb as though it were under pressure.
I lifted my head. There was still time left before recess ended. The classroom felt stifling, heavy, silent except for my own racing thoughts circling around Theo. I needed air. I left, deliberately walking to the opposite direction from the cafeteria is situated.
I walked towards a quiet place at the Campus. I needed a cool breeze, perhaps a light drizzle. Something to breathe, to clear my mind. I glanced at the sky, silently wishing for rain, but the clouds hung thick and gray, stubbornly unyielding.
I crossed the lawn and sank onto a stone bench, closing my eyes and letting the wind brush against my face. That's when someone dropped down beside me.
"You looks a bit down. Everything okay?" the voice asked, calm, neutral, eyes fixed on the horizon and not on me.
Gregg.
"Hmm… just stuck between two options," I replied, my gaze still fixed forward.
"Then choose what's more important," he said evenly.
"Both have equally terrible consequences," I muttered.
He dug into his pocket and took out a small coin, holding it out. I looked at him and then at the coin, puzzled.
"Head or tail?" he asked, a faint, teasing smile playing at his lips.
I smiled back and took the coin, flicking it lightly into the air.
Boom.
The coin landed somewhere in the thick grass and disappeared.
"Oh, crap," Gregg muttered, scrambling up. I followed suit, and the two of us bent over, searching the lawn like children hunting for treasure.
"Universe seems to hate you today, huh?" Gregg shouted, flailing through the tangled grass as he hunted for Penny. His arms got caught in a stubborn weed, and he toppled sideways with a dramatic thud. We both exploded into laughter, the kind that made our stomachs ache, my own misfortune feeling somehow lighter in the chaos of it all.
I watched him for a moment, smiling to myself. His focus was so absolute, so earnest, that I felt a quiet warmth bloom inside me.
As if to answer ny earlier wish of Drizzle of Rain,
There it is. Gregg, as the drizzle of Rain. A mild soft encounter like a light drizzle of rain making me happy.
"Don't you want to find out which option you got?" he asked, glancing at me, still more concerned about the coin than my dilemma.
I chuckled. "I'll give your penny back."
"That Coin ia nothing! I was helping you choose, remember?" he said, crouched on all fours, determined.
I leaned down beside him, offering my two fingers. "Choose one."
His face was full of bewilderment—brows knit, lips tight. Hesitantly, he tapped my finger.
Option 2: Don't tell Theo about Zara.
The selection of Options bringing that tension i tried to bury. Zara looks alright now, I am sure she could protect herself with everyone else in that home, Maybe this is the only right choice.
I felt my Smile slowly replacing with a serious expression as Gregg decided to pull me back from that tension.
"What did you choose?" Gregg asked, eyes wide with excitement.
I tapped the center of his forehead. "I choose you," I said, laughing at my own lame attempt at humor. He laughed too, and the sound was light and easy.
"Good, That's a Relief you chose me " he said, grinning.
Then a voice called out. "Gregg, Theo's looking for you."
We turned. Damon stood nearby, and next to him, calm and self-assured, was Theo. Damon tilted his head head towards his own right, at the tall figure of Theo.
Theo's had his expression closed off while he was gazing between Me and Gregg kneeling on the ground.
"I'll come. We're talking," Gregg said, pointing at me.
"You're our friend, Gregg. Come with us," Theo said sharply. My eyebrows knitted at his audacity.
I planted myself in front of him. "Maybe Gregg stays with whoever he wants," I snapped, firm.
Theo laughed, Adam's apple moving up and down, eyes briefly glancing away as if amused. He stepped closer, and I instinctively stepped back.
"And who are you to decide that for him?" he demanded.
"Whoever I am in Gregg's life, that's none of your business, manwhore," I blurted, the word spilling out before I could stop it.
His eyes widened. "Manwhore?!" he stammered, pointing at himself in disbelief, as He glanced at Damon.
I shrugged, then glanced at Gregg with a look that said: I've got your back.
A surge of anger rose in me—words, a shove, anything to make Theo feel even a fraction of my frustration.
"Melina," Theo said, softer this time.
I turned. Damon and Gregg waited, tense, watching him.
"Stay in your place. Know your place," he snapped, attempting to reassert authority over the shift in tension. His face masked with a nonchalant expression.
Know my place. The words landed like stones, heavy and sharp, weighing in the air around me.
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