Comment: a verbal or written remark expressing an opinion or reaction.

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"Let's be real, a bake sale is way too boring."

Their eyes rose to me as I awkwardly stumbled into the room whilst holding a cheese sandwich, cookie and juice carton.

"Hi, sorry for the delay." I drew up a chair, then joined the table.

Sadia groaned, staring at her packaged fruit salad, "I wish I could eat like you."

"No you don't," I shook my head and winced at the high-calorie diet, "The supplement tablets are excessive, and the inability to gain weight is worrisome."

"Sorry," Sadia gave me a sympathetic smile, "You still look cute as hell though."

I chuckled, knowing she didn't mean to sound inconsiderate before, "It's fine, what have I missed?"

As I took a grateful bite of my sandwich, I realised why there was still an air of tension that had drifted in the room.

The bread clumped dryly in my throat as my eyes rested on a face that had previously been too close to me.

Dina, who was sitting beside me, cleared her throat, and I snapped my head back to see who else was present.

Jesse, Justin, Sasha, Dina, Sadia and I.

Yes, Jesse.

"We're trying to think of something unique that has a selling point to everyone."

I pushed my food down with the juice, then pressed my lips together and racked my brain cells.

"How about a photo booth, we could get props?" Jesse offered.

Everyone else was treating him normally, which was hard to understand after we hadn't seen him for the last week. I hadn't spoken to Jesse since our assumed break up, and somehow I had eased away from the need of clarification. Truthfully, my mind lay elsewhere. But he was uncomfortable.

"We would have to have a printer nearby, it's too iffy. Besides, everyone will be able to take their own photos." Justin shut down.

I continued eating, as did Sadia, and for a few minutes the sound of the two of us smoldering our bites were still detectable.

"We could do with Ken's ideas." Sasha sighed as we longed for the company of the school's favourite photographer.

"What about a design stall?" Dina suddenly burst out.

I grinned, knowing that she would volunteer for anything artsy, "And what would that involve?"

She shrugged and chuckled nervously, "I just want to do something creative."

Sadia snapped her fingers, "I like it, we could do a modern take on a face paint stall!"

An idea finally popped into my mind, and I scrambled to pull out my diary, gazing at our logo.

The red and white checks colouring in the crest had the letters RHS entwined ontop, in a deep maroon shade.

"Oh!" I snapped my fingers with a grin, "I've got it!"

Sasha nodded her head enquiringly as a motion for me to continue, so I did.

"We can use the logo colours to make a theme of red shades, we could charge money for students to wear red clothes instead of uniform."

"Patriotic," Sasha raised her eyebrows, "But it's a good idea, we could also use the theme of red in our stalls."

"We could sell red horns and ears for people to wear, everyone's into head decor." Sadia suggested.

As Sasha furiously began scribbling down these ideas, another one struck through my brain, "We could also do hair! People are into the trend of having small hoops in braids, we could buy some red ones and I can adjust them in."

Sasha gasped, "And red glitter! We could use loose glitter makeup, and using a primer it could be used to make shapes on faces."

Jesse snorted, "Well you know all the guys are gonna want their junk drawn on their faces with glitter."

We all chuckled, and I smiled softly, "This could actually get in some good money."

Dina nodded her head fervently, "We might need a couple more people to recruit."

"If you do, can we leave?" Justin sighed, "I really don't think I can handle braiding hair and applying glitter."

"No way!" Sasha smacked him, "I'm using your mathematical brain as our cash machine! You're in charge of finance."

The blonde had an air that could slice anyone in her way once she was determined, so Justin simply nodded his head, not pursuing to remove his frown.

"Can I leave then?" Jesse interrupted curiously.

"No," Sadia pointed a finger at him, "You can be the person who attracts customers."

"Aw, you guys think I'm attractive." He basked in the praise and I began wondering if I had really seen a parallel side to him.

"Hardly," Dina dryly stated, "You might just have enough charisma to direct people."

"Anyway," Justin cut off any further retorts, "How are we dividing roles?"

"I'll be selling the head accessories." Sadia concluded quickly, "These clumsy hands are not going anywhere near hair and faces."

"Sasha and I can do the makeup." Dina offered, to which her accomplice nodded.

"We're gonna need another person who's good at hair, so Ava won't be dealing with a massive queue." The blonde fidgeted as she tapped her pen, "Anybody have any ideas?"

I shook my head, and the others had similar results, which was when I doubted my skill, "Guys... I'm not exactly a pro at hair, I've only ever done mine."

"That fishtail tells me enough," Sadia murmured, "But it would be a burden to do it alone."

"We're not even allowed to bring in anymore students, there are six of us." Dina lowered her gaze to Jesse, insinuating her idea of his irrelevance.

He shrugged, then smiled, "I'm just happy to help."

"Well either that," Sasha gave him a knowing glare, "Or I don't share the car keys for the next few months."

He grumbled, and we all nodded our heads; that made sense.

"Well that's it for now, Jesse and Justin can look for the head decor, I'll find some good deals on the glitter, and Sasha can look into the red hair hoops." Sasha pointed at Dina and I, "And you two must figure out a way to recruit another hair stylist without disrupting the stall guidelines."

My best friend and I shared a glance at the bossy voice, and then smiled.

Sasha had a tendency to strive towards success.

~

I roamed the corridor alone.

Having felt a sudden pang of distance, my mind had abruptly bought me to ponder on unnecessary things.

Ken had missed today's Photography club, having wanted to help Davis prepare for the race.

Everyone else was already gone, and after letting minutes pass in the library, my locker was now the next destination.

It wasn't something I would ever forget.

I can try, but the hopeless emotions of him still patronise me daily. The constant reminder jeapordises a broken record, screeching the sound of others. I could be dead, and he wouldn't even know that I was dying.

"Would I want him to know?"

How could he have been a parent?

How does Mum do it?

How does she stay so strong?

"I'm not into this." I announced quietly to myself, opening up my locker and retrieving my notebooks, for the sake of glorious homework.

I was still wondering if ignoring him was right. The man had at least contacted me, did I have the right to act like he didn't exist?

It was tough, I wanted to sympathise for him, but the cons outweighed whatever he had in his favour.

And it tore me apart.

"You can definitely win this."

Ken's voice nearly made my soul depart from this gloomy body in an instant, and I rushed to hide behind me new companion: the everlasting wall.

This time, I didn't have my best friends permission to eavesdrop, but I hated the idea of communication; not when my mind had began whirling through my dad again.

"Yeah, I hope so...but, Woody isn't exactly a friendly competitor." Davis's troubled tone made me frown.

"Why don't you just tell us what he wanted?" Ken pried, and I could hear the other rummage around his messy locker.

"Because, I know that it's better off this way."

"For who?" Ken sounded slightly irritated, "Davis, you can prioritise yourself too."

"It's hard Ken, because I don't know how much longer I can control these stupid feelings."

"They aren't stupid Davis, but I have to ask, is it really worth it?"

"I ask myself that too, but every time I doubt myself, she somehow turns up. From dozen of people in the crowd, my mind needs to search for her, and my eyes are comforted with her smile. I'd do anything to be by her side, and keep her happy."

The cold liquid drowned away my concentration as I rubbed my eyes, smothering my sounds as they continued.

"You're resilient Davis, but do you think this will ever work out? It's been years."

"Well I've waited all this time, and right now we're still moving closer." He had no idea how challenged my expression was, "I've got some hope left."

Their words hushed into a silence as the two boys walked out of the locker area, and once again I was alone. Feeling worse than before.

I can't imagine how much it hurts him, especially when he's been by my side. Deep down I knew that he was stirring my insides, taking me out of my comfort zone in order for me to acknowledge all these facts.

Nothing stayed the same, and I couldn't do anything to change it, or channel the conflicts.

I was left blaming myself. I was too scared to surrender to the truth, because then I'd be signing up for something that would inevitably end. Davis didn't deserve my cowardly excuses though.

I wanted to support him, tell him that everything he was doing was right. I wanted to paint over all of those misconceptions and brighten his hopes. I wanted to tell him that everything he had done, had worked.

But I've never been good with my words, so I don't.

A/N: Do you ever catch feelings, and you're like "I suck." "Wait no, you suck." "UGH, this sucks." ?

Because same. Baii!