Distant

Author's POV

-"That's all for today, class. You can pack your things" the students started grumbling because Ms. Kelly obviously held it for a great idea to cut their break short with five minutes.

Kehna didn't really care if she took the whole break to mumble some irrelevant stuff. She packed her things and was cut off by Ms. Kelly asking her to wait. "Kehna could I have a minute with you?" Kehna couldn't choose if this was a question or a statement but for the remaining students in the classroom, this question or statement wasn't clear enough.

So Ms. Kelly made to make it clear. "I'd like to talk to Ms. Arellalo alone! If you know what I mean" with that, the remaining students left that premises and actually went out. "So... Ms. Arellalo, I'm sure you why you are here, right?"

'Oh, what did I do this time? It's the first day of school' she thought. "I'm sorry, about what happened. I hope you can accept my condolences" Kehna grew even tenser than she was before, she didn't expect it to be such an easy matter. "You know as your teacher I'm not allowed to visit or have any close relationship with you" she explained and Kehna stood there in agreement. "Anyway, the main reason I wanted to with you was because of the chance you got because of your situation" Kehna gave her a look of 'Could you be more specific?'

"You know like, every student you also have to write tests and exams to see if you're qualified for the next class" she stared at Ms. Kelly intensely, which led her to continue her explanation. "Now that you are in the 9th class you have to pass through that, but no worries we'll just sum up all the important topics together and you'll have to write it all at once" this was no big deal for Kehna because she already knew all topics since she got everything explained by the one and only 'Ruby'. "I can take the test whenever you want" she blurted out in an arrogant way, which left Ms. Kelly a bit taken back. "Uhh... you don't need any extra time to prepare?" she shook her head as in 'No' and Ms. Kelly didn't know how to react since she expected something else. "Okay! Then I'll fix a date with the other teacher's" another nod of acknowledging and a cold stare led Kehna to pick up her things and also finally going into the break.

As it was a final decision to her that going to the cafeteria was a tabú she decided to stay in the hallway, but to her surprise, there were more students than she expected. Now, she had to pass through everything once again. It didn't feel like she had already been familiar with the school, even the people she thought she was familiar with, seemed even more of a stranger to her than anyone else.

All she wished for was someone who could read her feelings and expressions to know when she had enough or when she needed comfort. She needed someone who wouldn't ask her stupid questions or force things out of her mouth or even someone she would be in terms with but suddenly be ignored by that person.

She went into the break like everyone else and sat next to her locker. She was by a few girls, she could reconsider some of them because they attended her mother's funeral. One of those girls was Olivia, out of all encounters she's had in Tacoma the encounter with Olivia was the one she regretted the most. "Hey!" she greeted as response Kehna waved her hand. Olivia waited for Kehna to offer her to sit down, but Kehna just stared at them like 'How can I help you?'. "Umm... I was at the funeral" she spoke out, maybe it wasn't the best start because it sounded like she wanted something like a 'Thank you.

"But we couldn't talk. we wanted to send you our condolences" Kehna nodded feeling a bit pressured by their presence.

After a long time of staring "Can we sit?" Olivia finally asked and Kehna had never wished for the bell to ring so badly. "Sure," she said plainly, which was the first word she exchanged with them since the break. "So...?" Kehna gave her a confused look, asking for a detailed explanation "Umm..., I mean how are you dealing with the situation at hand?" all Kehna did was chuckle. "Well," she answered blankly as she stood up and picked her things ready to leave the girls. She left them dumb folded there sitting.

It definitely felt right to leave like that, but what she didn't think of was that she'd have to look for somewhere else to sit since the break wasn't over, yet.

Meanwhile, Ruby had to watch the whole drama run in front of her without even thinking of doing anything. She also saw Kehna leave the girls and even if she promised to give Kehna some space she couldn't bring herself to do so.

So she eventually followed her and ended up running to catch up with her since Kehna was stubborn to stop walk when she nicely asked her to. "WHAT THE HECK?"

"What do you want, Ruby?" she asked trying not to show any emotions and was very successful at it. "What was that?" she asked so calmly, that Kehna wanted to finally give up the cold act and just hug her, but obviously she grew even more stubborn since her mother's death.

"Ruby, what do you want?" she asked again, but this time she asking in expectation of getting an answer. "I want to know why you were so rude" Kehna chuckled slightly being impressed with the unforgettable answer Ruby gave "Are you kidding me? Who do you think you are to tell me about being rude?"

"Kehna get a hold of yourself, just because you don't want help from others doesn't mean you have to behave like a brat," she said in return, but Kehna just gave her a look of 'Are you serious?'.

"You know I could easily do the same I did to those girls who couldn't understand simple body language, to you"

"Is that some kind of threat?"

"Take it as whatever you want to take it. I'm not in the mood to discuss or argue with you so don't follow me... understood?".