'Ah, man this is killing me…'
Burying my face in my hands, I felt my cheeks flush slightly red.
I sat in the school cafeteria, waiting for school to start like I always did.
This time though, Nishimoya and Tristan weren't present for some reason.
It was kind of annoying actually, since I would've really appreciated a distraction.
'I must be overthinking things right? There's no way Soriel actually feels that way.'
The way Soriel acted and the words she spoke the day before still bothered me. I still liked her after all.
But my logic remained.
'Get a grip. She wouldn't like me. No one would.'
Taking a deep breath, my heart beat slowed down a bit.
"You good?" A voice spoke from behind.
Turning around, I already knew the owner of the voice.
"What took you so long, Tristan?"
"I slept in."
He shrugged, sitting down beside me.
"Do you know where Nishimoya is?" I asked.
"Nope."
"Figures."
Letting out a sigh, I stretched a bit.
'I just hope she didn't get hit by a vehicle this time.'
"Anyway, are there any new books you're reading?"
Tristan made a thoughtful expression before shaking his head.
"None in particular right now. Still deciding what to read next."
"Better hurry up. You gotta get one last book in before the school year ends."
Tristan just shrugged.
"Whatever you say."
**
'What do I say…'
As I sat down in my seat for art class, I glanced at Soriel.
With how hurriedly she ran off and her odd demeanor the day before, I didn't know how to act around her.
She didn't seem mad or upset but I still felt awkward regardless.
We sat down in our respective seats in silence, not saying a word to each other.
Once we did, we received our instructions and the paper to draw with.
Well, instructions are a bit of a stretch. We were just told to draw whatever we wanted.
Right as I was about to begin drawing, someone spoke.
"Hey Elliot…"
"Hm? Um, Hey Soriel."
Both of our tones were meek, not even able to look each other in the eye.
"I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have run off like that."
I shook my head.
"No, it's fine. Uh, um yeah."
We both went back to drawing, abruptly ending the conversation.
'I hate this. We weren't even this awkward when we first met.'
When you like someone, you'll want to talk to them.
You'll want to go on and on about your hobbies and your dreams or anything that comes to mind.
But I couldn't do that. I couldn't talk to the person I liked.
And because of that, an uneasiness slowly grew in my stomach.
**
For the next few class periods, I was relatively pleased. There was barely any actual work so I was pretty relaxed.
Even so, a lingering concern still remained.
A concern that followed me all the way to lunch.
"What happened between you two?" Tristan whispered in my ear.
He gestured to Soriel who was busy talking with Nishimoya.
"Neither of you confessed but you're acting awkward."
I raised my eyebrow.
"How do you know I didn't…wait you said neither of us? Why would Soriel ever…"
"It's a pain to explain. Just answer the question."
I rolled my eyes.
"Well, it's a pain to explain." I replied sarcastically.
Turning away from Tristan, I spoke to Nishimoya.
"Where were you before? Why'd you come so late?"
Nishimoya scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.
"My bus came late. I think I might have to start walking up even earlier than usual."
I sighed.
"You already wake up early to get to school early, no need to force yourself even more. There's only a few days of school left anyway."
"Good point," she responded.
Soon, Nishimoya went back to talking with Soriel.
And I went back to talking with Tristan.
The day was soon coming to an end.
The school year was soon coming to end as well.
And as the end approached, I felt that something else was ending too.
Something I couldn't quite grasp yet.
But without a doubt, it was there.
And I wasn't quite prepared for it.