Daniel has left Ashton High.

That was the headline in literally every student's gist in school.

He had been absent since on Monday but it got confirmed around Wednesday evening and this morning it's buzzing round school.

I knew it had to do with Cheryl and literally everything that happened last Friday night.

But I still wonder why he had to just leave like that when we are just a few days away from our final exams.

Next week Monday is the commencement date for the exam and we have barely four days before it.

He would have sucked in whatever he felt and just write the exams atleast.

But then maybe, whatever happened or caused him to leave was more serious that I'm thinking.

On heading to class, I noticed Timothy, Claire and her friends just infront of his locker.

It seemed like whatever they were talking about was very fun.

I stared a little longer than I should subconsciously. I would notice her smile and blush atimes, then they'll all laugh together.

I just had to look away when I noticed her hand touching his hair.

His hair for goodness sake!

I'd felt it once once and it seriously felt like that particular hand escaped to heaven and left me behind.

I don't know what exactly was going on between them but I could tell that they've been really close in the past few days.

I wonder what she wanted from him because Claire is hardly ever committed to a guy. She's always curious about how each of them tastes.

My mind almost pictured the both of them on bed but I stopped it just in time. Atleast for my sanity.

On going to class, I heard someone call out my name.

I turned and noticed Laura..Lorrine...I mean Lorinda,  trying to get to me.

"Oh...hey," I briefly greeted.

"How are you, I was just hoping if we could walk to class together, My friends are kinda busy," she faintly said.

"Lorinda, right?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry, your name keeps switching up in my head," I confessed.

"It's fine...I mean even Jace switches up my name all the time," she muttered.

"Jace? Which Jace?" I asked.

There was a Jace in my class but I wanted to be sure if she was talking about him or someone else because I rarely see the both of them talk or anything.

"The Jace in our class," she said and I couldn't help but notice the slight blush in her cheeks.

Cute.

"You guys rarely talk in school, how do you two get to know each other?'

"He lives next door. He's cute and his family is nice but he's just an asshole. He calls me all sort of names but never gets my name right," she replied.

"And also ignores me in school like we're not even neighbors," she replied.

I could see what was going on there.

"I know right?" I replied as we made our way towards class.

*

I was in the cafeteria because Roxie literally dragged me out even when I tried to back out, she persisted.

But there was something wrong, Roxie only bought a salad and a smoothie.

Just that.

On a norms, the table will be filled up with every category of junks the school cafeteria could offer.

"See who's eating healthy, today," I said and she smiled.

"I guess Rielle bashed you with tons of advices before you came to school today," I continued.

"Not exactly, except the usual ones like 'don't knock anyone teeth off' or 'read and pay attention because your final exams are fast approaching', nothing about my diet," she replied.

"Then what in the world happened?" I asked.

"I need to be light enough to call somethings over," she replied.

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll see. In about a few minutes, be a little patient, will you?"

I couldn't be patient, she was giving incomplete information and it was making me really curious.

In about six minutes later, I noticed Lan coming towards us.

I bit harder on my spaghetti as he got closer.

He completely ignored my presence and drew his hands around Roxie before whispering something into her ear.

"I wanna stay right here!" She replied back but a little too loud.

Loud enough for people to turn their heads towards our table.

He tried to calm her down and whispered something else to her ear.

I don't know what he told her but it made her to stand up sharply.

"If it's about the letter, just leave me alone! I don't want to have anything serious to do with you!" She yelled.

Like yelled!

"Calm down...if you want more time, it's fine by me. We can talk about this somewhere else or some other time," Lan faintly said, probably noticing the attention it was grabbing.

"No. I want to talk about this right here and right now. Infact there's no better place or better time to do just that!"

"What are trying to say, don't tell me that...that..." He stammered.

"That what? What are you afraid to hear? That I don't wanna fuck with you? That I don't want to give you that thing you want?"

"Who said it was all about sex, it's...it's way beyond that. Roxie..I like you a lot...for like a very long time. It's serious...I don't just want your body...I want your presence..your company...you...everything about you! Your smile, your eyes.. Everything about you captivates me...please, please tell me this is just a misunderstanding. I'll do whatever you want from me, just to have you with me," Lan poured out.

Is what he feel for her that genuine?

"You said you can do anything...then please leave me alone. Because I don't love you at all, did I use you? I can't say for sure. You give me everything I want and no girl can say no to that, right?"

"Of course not. I don't want anything to do with someone like you! Someone that cause others pain. That feels joy when other people are defenseless. Has anyone ever told you how much of a horrible person you are? Well I will, because I don't sugar coat my words. You're a monster, brought from hell just to hurt others. Go fix your life, cast your demons before you ever think of crossing my path anymore....Landor Jackson.." She said, throwing the spoon she was using to eat at him and walking swiftly out of the cafeteria.

With that, I looked at the guy still standing, staring into space with glassy eyes before going after her.

*

I walked into the class where Roxie was already seated on her seat.

Only a few people were inside given that it was break time.

"What the hell..." I started when I got to her.

She looked up at me and gave a small smile.

"What you did back there..."

"I did it for you," she interrupted.

"It's..I..I..didn't...just," I stammers looking for words to express myself.

"I never really liked Landor nor hanging out with him or anything. I just wanted him to feel how it feels like to be heartbroken. To be used...and dumped."

"Come here," I said, dragging her up so she would stand up and I hugged her.

"You didn't have to," I said still in the position.

"Ofcourse I had too, what are friends for?"

"He hurt you, he's hurt a lot of people too so that is nothing compared to what he'd done to others," she continued before I broke the hug so that I can look at her in the eye.

"Thanks."

"No biggie, I enjoyed it though, guys piss me off all the time," she replied, shrugging it off.

Someone barged into the class and we turned and noticed that it was Maddie.

"Omg! That was sick!" She yelled as she walked closer to us.

"What?" I asked.

"Isn't it Roxie, she gave Lan a love bite just to shatter his heart. The boy is literally going crazy back there. He almost has tears in those captivating dark eyes," she replied.

"You know, guys like Lan and the rest can't be hurt physically but if you really want to hurt them, you hurt them from the inside, from the heart...emotionally," Roxie said and we both turned to look at her.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, I didn't know that it was going to be this bad," she argued.

"Fine," I said, before she opened her bag and brought out a doughnut.

"I thought you were going to keep a more healthier diet."

"What? I'm hungry," she said with a mouth filled with the snack.

"It looks good, where did you buy it from? Can I have a taste?" Maddie asked, walking closer to Roxie while I stood there and smiled subconsciously.

There was sudden this feeling of easiness and happiness in me.

Your friends doesn't have to be perfect, they don't have to do whatever you want, they don't need to do things the way you want all the time, they don't need to agree or say yes to all your decisions.

It's okay to fight as long as y'all will recognize your faults and come back stronger. As long as they care about you, they make you happy, they give you reasons to wake up everyday. As long as y'all can share secrets without fear of it being spilled, and run to one another at any point in time for help...

They're your friends.

And right now, these are my friends...

The bell rang, indicating the end of break period and I packed my things to leave for the next lesson period.

My final exams are already here and I need to be ready enough for it.

~~~~~

Thanks for the reading❤

So who recalls the first time Claire was mentioned in this book?

Which chapter was it and what happened in that particular scene?

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