After my cowardly disappearance yesterday and with Jessica leaving me a series of voice messages, I return to school the next day carefully dodging the opening school forum.

It's compulsory a few days after resumption to carry out a general assembly at the gymnasium where certain rules and regulations are addressed.

This is the best opportunity for principal Habril to engage us in her long tedious lectures on how she spent every of her vacation studying, choosing work over pleasure, and how her children and grandchildren are all academically grounded with seven hours of study every day.
We know her speech by heart, it's nothing new.

No wonder she's antiquated and has a musty breath.

Rumor has it she doesn't bathe with scented soap but a strict homemade recipe she and her family share. And that her tubes of toothpaste are made with charcoal and salt extract, Ew.

The rumors are plenty, enough to earn her a bad reputation. I keep wondering why she's still allowed the office when we have more eligible teachers who can run the school better.

But one thing's for sure, that she isn't the most fashionable principal May blossom high has ever had but she's kind and considerate and seems to understand students more than the teachers themselves.

The issue with the opening forum is that it's where gossip reigns. It's a butcher ground for me especially, because the entrance is located right at the front podium where everyone can see you walk in.
You should never dream of arriving late to the forums.

Then again are the gossip girls, Yvonne, Chelsea, and Mindy Brookes who thrash every single person and event, the latter who by the way claims she's cousins with Landon all because they bear the same last name.

Then we have Chelsea, to me, she's the worst one out of the trio. Asides from her foul tongue there seems to be nothing left in her brain.

She's famously known for engaging in a horse fight with Shania, one of Landon's exes.
Shania's in science class and rumored to have been hanging out with some douchebag with whom Chelsea was madly in love with then.

The girls got dirty in a particular fight tearing at each other's clothes and hair. That scene was very fresh in my memory. I got a call one fateful break period from Jessica to rush to the school field that afternoon and I witnessed the mess.

I heard from someone that Chelsea had come to watch her boyfriend's game and after the activity which ended in a win for his team, Shania dashed to the scene and was all cozy with him right in front of his girlfriend.
It wasn't the first time Chelsea has warned the girl off her man but this time around the girls took things far and got into a cat fight.

Shania was sorely wounded, she got scratches over her neck and cheeks, her expensive leather skirt torn by the side. It was an eyesore but this was exactly what students loved the most. Fights!

I was unable to find out who the douchebag they fought over was, and Jessica who was supposed to get the full gist was more interested in capturing the last moments on her phone, reveling in it so much. Her only regret was that it wasn't Yvonne who got torn apart.
Yvonne Novald was her worst enemy in May blossom and for several reasons known to her.

I clutch my backpack firmly and corner into the infirmary. I don't wanna start my day with side talks and demeaning words. Then again I know deep down the reason why I'm currently at the school sickbay pretending to have a stomach ache, Landon.

I knew I was going to see him in class, but that's different, at least all eyes won't be on us unlike in the gymnasium.

I stretch myself properly on the six-inch spring bed pulling my fine handwoven nude sweater down to cover my exposed navel and opened a non-fictitious novel I stole from the school nurse, Betty.

She's such a simple woman, I'm guessing in her late thirties and unmarried.

We became buddies one time I had a breakdown in the girl's bathroom over the incessant words thrown at me at the time when Landon and Yvonne were still the school's power couple. Some girl found me wasted and helped me to the infirmary. I had lied about what was wrong with me.

I told the sweet nurse I had a belly ache, when she handed me drugs I threw them away behind her back.

I only needed my diary, it was my only friend. It helped me feel less like a loser. I could use a bit of advice from him at that time but I left him at home while rushing to school.

Nurse Betty understood I hide my emotions in writing and we'd have vague conversations about my feelings, my diary and my silly excuses for skipping classes sometimes.
She was so cool.

***

Lord knows that before he could utter a word I already felt his stimulating presence beside me. The hairs on my arms stood unanimously. It's undeniable, what I feel for him.

We have a free period so everyone's busy and Landon decidedly takes the opportunity to chat with me since it seems like I'm doing a great job at avoiding him.

His ever-fresh minty scent envelops my feeble senses in a jiffy and like morphine, I'm sedated, tongue-tied, and spilling gibberish that isn't required of me.

"K! I've missed you," he whispers in a low sensual baritone that he'd suddenly developed last season.

He's the only one that calls me 'K' and I love him for that.

I lick my parched lips, biting down on the innocent thin lips I inherited from my mother.

My gaze falls on him for a millisecond not able to withstand the intensity of his beautiful eyes. They were alive and spoke volumes of him.

It seems over the vacation without him, my silly heart has fallen deeper in love with him. I would daydream of Landon and I married with our kids running around the patio. Or wearing matching T-shirts, holding hands and wowing everyone as we step into the hallway right after he asks me out this term?

Shit! My head's messed up, focus girl!

He looks mature with the little beard evident on his jawline. His arms look sturdier than I last recalled, maybe it was due to the constant exercise required of an athlete.

I feel jealous for missing out on these little change in him. This is the second time we aren't spending the long vacation together.

The first time was Shania one of his exes and now it's his extramural training for an upcoming sprinter's competition which came at the wrong time.

Maybe if it didn't happen we would've bonded well through the vacation time, he would've probably seen me in a more beautiful way. I would've been his girlfriend.

He gives me that heartbreaking smile of his that sets me off for life.
"Are you alright? Jessy told me you had a stomach upset again this morning." I mentally roll my eyes at the mention of my friend.
When did he ever call her that?... I wonder.

"I was wondering why you weren't at the assembly ground," he places his soft palms on my forehead checking for my temperature.

If only he knows what his kind gestures do to me, it wasn't the food poisoning that made me speechless and pale at the same time, it's my heart.

"No, I'm okay. It was just a little upset and the nurse gave me some drugs." I croak hating my voice, it betrayed me.

Landon observes me with care like I'm some fragile object. It's one of the qualities that made me fell for him, he cared about the littlest details.

After making sure I'm alright, Landon narrates how his long vacation was spent and what the outing with his dad yesterday was like.

I'm half-listening to details because I can't help seeing all the minor changes in him and the way his plump lips move with each well-accentuated word he speaks.

Being from a wealthy family, he must've had the best phonetics tutor because his words are not just sounding nice, they are alluring and I didn't know I'm staring so longingly at him.

"K! will you be there for my sake? It'll mean a lot to me if you did, at least we'd have plenty of time to talk about stuff," I return his smile while juggling his last words in my head to make out what his request was but couldn't.

"Uh, where is it again?" I ask, hoping he didn't suspect a thing.

"Our regular spot... at the viewing center. Have you forgotten?"

"Oh yeah, I remember but I'm busy today I have to pick up Jordan from school you know," I lie hoping he'd give up and just leave things the way they are.

I'm pissed that Landon thinks we can both still hang out like we did back then when he was single. Jessica will always come in between us and I know it, he does too. So I lie my way out of this one.

"Maybe Friday then?" He smiles innocently and it touches my heart.

"Sure, maybe Friday," I whisper like the lovesick teenager that I am.

During break period, I avoid Jessica and everyone hoping to have alone time with my feelings so I go towards the school garden, a very peaceful yard a bit far from the school block.

It has large trees planted in a parallel line so one could walk in between them as they form shades. This spot is known by students to be the 'lovers' spot' especially during school bonfires.
I know countless times I've had to act as a middle man for Landon and Meredith when they'd have a fallout and Landon—wanting to ask for forgiveness, would beg me to get Meredith to come to the lover's spot and while they settle their differences I'd wait somewhere by the corner to take memorable pictures of them. Landon's request, Phew.

It's embarrassing I know, but I would do it over and over again for him but not with Jessica, Ew.

While in my thoughts someone shoves into me with such intensity that I feel my bony ass hit the floor and I yelp in anguish. Needless tears find its way down my face to my greatest surprise.

"I didn't see you there for a minute," A very thin and tall-looking girl said with no remorse.

"You should look carefully next time," she warns not even trying to help me up.

I notice how disarrayed her hair and lips are, So I guess I interrupted her moment with whomever she was with.

"At least help me up and don't blame me for everything, you should have been more private with your affairs not here." I retort once I'm able to put my feeble feet on the ground.

"Lisa, wait!!" a voice calls, we both turn towards the male voice, and who else if not the school's most notoriously avoided bad boy Terri?

Terri isn't the name his parents gave him, he acquired it from his favorite footballer and since then it became a part of him.

Terri stops on his track wiping his stained lips. I glance at both of them, connecting the dots. Wondering what a beautiful girl like her is doing in such a hidden place with HIM!

Not because of his ghetto environment but because everyone knows his story with his ex-girlfriend Sonia who accused Terri of molestation. It was a huge problem because Sonia's parents withdrew their daughter from the school and took it upon themselves to sue Terri, he was suspended for close to a month before the long break, and nobody knew he was back.

"Ken, how's it going?" he licks his lips giving me a nod, by then Lisa already fled the scene in shame.

I feel disgusted at him. From the moment I saw Terri, I never liked him around me or my friends.

The incident with Sonia only confirmed my fears, he wasn't a good story so I steered off.

"Did you miss me T-boy?" he teases, knowing how much I hate it when people called me a tomboy.

"Get out!" I sigh.

"You're already causing havoc when it's your first day at school." I roll my eyes at him.

He laughs hard and follows behind.

"I know you try to avoid this topic, but the truth is, let's face it, I like you. I've been thinking of you throughout the long vacation and needed to see you badly, but you were absent at the opening ceremony and the cafeteria as well, why?" he smirks knowing the answer to that question himself.

"Is that because of the latest couple in town?" he asks, I keep mute.

"No shit!" he exclaims, bursting into fits of laughter holding his belly, and I stand there in mortification.

Terri, aside from my diary is the only one who knows about my feelings towards Landon and how he discovered I'm yet to know.

Since then he's been pulling all cards to make me go out with him, but over my dead body!

"You're deranged Terri, believe whatever you want, you heard nothing from my mouth."

"Ah! it's like that then, let's see if he'd ever give you a chance, grow up T-boy!" he barks leaving me to an empty silence.

The silence is like a walk of shame, not saying anything but yet saying it all. Of how stupid I've been and still am for hoping and holding onto the idea that one day I'll be seen, that maybe one day I'll be loved and finally experience high school love. But time is no longer by my side. This is our final year. I'm a mess upstairs and maybe I dislike Terri because he's the only one bold enough to tell me the painful truth even if it isn't in his place to.

All of a sudden I feel claustrophobic, but by the time I gather I needed to leave the premises, my throat constricts, and let out everything I ate, shit!

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