Even after nearly half an hour had passed since rehearsal had ended, I still felt... drained. It wasn't like I was pissed at the fact that there was still next to an hour left of literature class, I just really didn't want to deal with it at the moment.

Of course, the universe had no intention of cutting me a break.

Sometime in the middle of class, I heard, "Angelo?"

Slowly, I took my eyes of my table and rested them on Miss Delane's. "Yes?"

"Could you read out the poem, sweetie?"

When she saw my brow furrow, she nodded towards my desk. "That one, dear."

My eyes followed the direction of hers, landing onto the piece of paper that lay before me. Dimly, I recalled Miss Delane handing several sheets out before she started teaching.

As much as I really didn't want to read, I actually found the idea of rebelling against her wishes as even more stressful at that moment. Strangely, I didn't even see the point of it.

So after briefly skimming my eyes over the title, which was 'When Great Tress fall', I started reading.

"When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder, lions hunker down in tall grasses, and even elephants lumber after safety.

When great trees fall in forests, small things recoil into silence, their senses eroded beyond fear."

Maybe it was because of my emotional state at that moment, but the words of the poem started bringing certain thoughts up to my mind's surface. Thoughts I would have much rather happily done away with.

Of course, I tried to stop them from surfacing. I tried to convince my mind that there was no link between the words of the poem and those thoughts.

But that plan went up in smoke as soon as I set eyes on the next line.

I don't know how long I was still. All I know is that the next thing I heard was, "Angelo dear, aren't you going to finish the poem?"

My eyes flashed up from the paper and met Miss Delane's puzzled pair. Hastily, I tried to fake a shaky laugh. "Oh y-yeah, guess I kinda... zoned out for a moment."

Miss Delane frowned, but replied, "Alright. Just finish it, so we can start on the analysis."

Quickly nodding, I looked down at the paper and continued from where I had left off.

"When great souls die, the air around us become light, rare... sterile. We b-breathe, briefly. Our eyes, briefly, see with a hurtful clarity..."

And so I continued on, forcing myself to endure the frequent barrage of thoughts that were fired at me with every passing line. Thoughts about that night. Thoughts about Annie.

Thoughts about him.

Believe me, it wasn't easy going on.

But at last, I was done. And apart from the few quivers that had been in my voice as I had spoken, I would say that I did a pretty good job. At least good enough that Miss Delane simply said, "Thank you, dear."

I let out a large silent breath, then nodded at her while keeping my face as neutral as possible.

I still wonder if it was the nod I gave that encouraged her to add, "Also dear, since you read it, would you mind telling the class about what you think about it?"

My blood ran cold.

I used the pretense of needing to think of my answer in order to buy myself a few seconds. During that time, I tried my best to slow my breathing and will my racing heartbeat down.

When I was sure I could confidently give a reply without my voice cracking, I said in a bored voice, "What did I think of it? Well... I liked the fact that it contained animals?"

Light sniggers floated up all around the room as several people grinned at me.

Miss Delane frowned for a brief moment, then her face brightened. "Haha, that was a nice joke! But please give a serious answer now dear. Maya Angelou didn't make this masterpiece for it to be disrespected!"

I didn't reply. Luckily for me, everyone else probably saw it as my attempt to show my disinterest to Miss Delane. In fact, none of them likely even thought that the reason I was silent was due to the fact I was lost for words.

Miss Delane's smile slipped off her face for a brief moment, then she re-adjusted it. "Think about symbolism, Angelo."

An image of my parents flashed in front of my mind's eye.

"What do you think the poem is trying to say?"

The sound of Annie's sobs echoed within my mind's chamber.

"Why do you think the poem mentions dea-"

I stood up, pushing my chair back abruptly against the floor.

"Angelo, where are you-"

"Need to use the bathroom."

I didn't bother waiting for Miss Delane's permission before I burst through the classroom door. I could already feel my stomach turning as I stared at the image of the lifeless body within my mind...

As soon as I got into the bathroom, I dashed into one of the stalls, locked the door, threw up the lid of the toilet in there, and let out whatever food had been left in my stomach that day.

I heaved and puked until I could puke no more. My eyes began to burn and my head felt like it was going to burst, as if it couldn't withstand the force of my emotions anymore...

I very well might have given up then, just let the emotions come pouring out of me, if not for the fact I had the bathroom door open. Instantly, it was like strength rushed into my mental arms and I managed to shove the emotions and memories back into the chest I had made for them.

I heard a voice that I recognized to be Seth's call, "Hey, Angelo? You in here?"

After taking a few moments to compose myself, I opened up the door of the stall and found myself staring into his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. My stomach just felt a bit funny, that's all."

"Oh... okay. Well then... I'll see you back in class I guess."

Nodding, I walked past him and headed to the bathroom door.

However, before I left the room, I heard, "Hey Angelo... you know you can talk to me, right?"

I paused in my step, then looked back at frowned at Seth. "What?"

Seth winced as he met my gaze, then he gave a smile.  "Well... you haven't really been yourself lately. I mean, don't get me wrong, it might just be in my head. But anyways, if it isn't, I just want you to know that... that you've got a friend in me, okay? If you ever want to talk, then I'd be there."

Honestly, I was at a loss for words at that moment. But unlike the time in Miss Delane's class, when fear had overwhelmed my mind's rational thinking process, then I was... well, I was still overwhelmed.

But... in a good way.

I felt my cheeks grow warm as I looked away from Seth and scoffed, "You're right. It is all in your head."

"Oh yeah, o-of course!"

I didn't reply that. At least not until I was already halfway out of the bathroom.

Without looking back, I murmured, "But still though, thanks. I... appreciate it."

I didn't bother waiting around to find out whether Seth heard those words or not.
.      .      .

I didn't go back to class that day. I spent the rest of school hours asleep in the sick bay, then got my stuff and walked out to the car waiting for me not long after closing bell rang.

I felt a bit lighter after the nap. Light enough to look at the day's events through rational lens anyways. As I did, I eventually realized something: Seth was right. I didn't seem like myself. The fact that he, someone who can't exactly be referred to as the epitome of observance, noticed that was a dead giveaway.

So that day, I made a decision. From then on, I focused my energy on playing the role of popular kid, Angelo Smith.  I smirked, drawled, and threw jibes at people, just as I knew​ that I normally would.

Not to blow my own trumpet or anything, but I did a pretty good job at it. Hell, even Aimee didn't notice anything off about my behavior! It was like everything had practically gone back to normal.

In fact, I'd say that the only person who wasn't fooled by my act was I myself. Try as I did, I couldn't deny the fact that interacting with people felt a lot more like a chore than it had once upon a time. But since it kept people in the dark about my true feelings, I was fine with that.

At home, I spent a lot of my time keeping myself busy by studying, doing assignments, playing video games e.t.c. There were the few times when despite my attempts at distracting my mind, those certain unpleasant thoughts still managed to break through my defences, sending me into a cripple-like state where I felt like all I didn't have the strength to get out of bed. But hey, better in private than public, right?

The next few days passed without major incident. Finally, the day I'd been waiting for arrived: the day of Annie's return (the moment she'd informed me over the phone that she was arriving home that Friday was hands down the happiest moment of my year then. Granted we were just in January, but still).

Oh, but before that happened, I found out something that eventually ended up twisting the path my life was taking even more.

Was it for the better or worse? Well...

... all I'll say for now is that you might want to pay attention to what you're about to read.

It happened on the Friday Annie and Tony were meant to arrive. It was during lunch break, and I had been hanging out on the field when I heard:

"Hey, Romeo."

I looked up at Aimee and automatically smirked. "Yo. You look stressed."

"One word: Chemistry." Groaning, she sank down beside me onto the stands, running her hands through her tangled hair as she did so. "Honestly, fuck that subject!"

I sniggered. "Thank the lord I didn't force myself to sit through that subject."

Aimee rubbed at her eyes and gave a huge yawn before replying, "Ugh, lucky you! I don't know why I even chose this freaking subject when I can't understand shit in it. And to make matters worse, Mr Orselo just asked fucking Dylan of all people to mentor me in the subject! I mean, seriously? Like of all the Chemistry gurus in my class, he has to pick the one who happens to be my ex?"

"My heart goes out to- wait-" I shot up to my feet, "-what?"
.     .       .

For anyone who is interested, the poem in this chapter is called 'When Great Trees fall' and it's by Maya Angelou. I read it recently and it really reminded me of Angelo's situation so I included it in the chapter!

What did you think of this chapter? Leave your thoughts in comments and please don't forget to vote on this chapter.

Till next time !