The Scorn

After quiet, not-a-long walk away from the cafeteria, Nia got to the washroom. She instinctively swung the door open with displeasure written all over her face.

Almost all the students present in the washroom spontaneously traveled their gaze to the door following the force that sent it opened but Nia gave them no audience as she scampered over to the sink– making them throw a skeptical look at each other as they whispered among themselves– something Nia could barely hear; whiles they dazzled out of the washroom.

Nia scoffed, taking her stand in front of the mirror while she deftly reached for the tissue– not interested in what was going on around her but how to get the stain out of her skit.

She sneered at every effort she made to get the stain off with the help of the tissue– cursing Cassie underneath her breath while stealing glances at the mirror that stared at her.

"Who–does– she –think– she– is?" She grumbled with some force in her voice due to the impact of the amount of energy she was deploying on the skit. Intermittently, she paused, blowing the strand of hair that had escaped from the ribbon–away from her face.

Back at the cafeteria, Emery couldn't help getting worried about Nia. He spontaneously hastened over to Iris who was about to hand the tray to the staff over the counter.

"Hey, what happened here?" He mumbled, which had Iris glanced deftly at him– following the familiar voice that hit her ear; probably not believing if it was who she thought it was.

"Are you talking to me?" Iris asked with an expectant gaze at Emery as she couldn't help being surprised.

"And does it look like there's someone else here apart from you?" He spat out the words– his voice devoid of any emotions.

"Ah, right." She buttered, swiftly glancing around as she allowed her gaze to return to him a few seconds later. With a slightly raised chin, she stared at him with a look that screamed she was all ears.

"What happened to Nia?" He blunted; out of the blue which sent a nagging feeling to Iris–making her a bit hesitant to disclose what had gone on.

"Well–, you see..." She stuttered, forcing herself to say something. "It was nothing serious." She replied, slightly scratching her head. Without waiting for another second, she made an excuse and glided off to find Nia.

*******

After a few minutes; which seemed like forever, Nia managed to get part of the stain off— leaving some traces behind. She finally lifted her gaze to the mirror, staring at her reflection. Just then, she heard a knock on the door. Instinctively, she jerked her head towards it. At that moment, Iris' voice cracked through.

"Hey, are you okay over there? " She heard her say. It was by then that Nia realized she was alone in the washroom. Instinctively, she lurked around just to be sure; forgoing Iris' question.

"Nia–?" She heard her call once again. This time around, Nia responded.

"I'm okay..." Her voice echoed on the other side of the door. "I will be out soon, just a minute. " She added, glancing at her reflection once again while she instinctively let out a sigh on an impulse.

After a few seconds, Nia resurfaced through the door. Iris stepped aside; giving her enough room to fully come out.

"Let's see.." Iris muttered, scanning Nia from top to down. "Are you sure you're okay?" She added– still staring at Nia's skit which looked slightly wet. "This is not good." She commented, glancing up at Nia. "What if Mrs. Bruce refuses to let you into her class?"

"She won't?" Nia queried with a furrowed brow as they strolled off. Affirmatively, Iris nodded— answering the former's question.

"By the way," Iris uttered as if on an impulse as they rounded the corner of the hallway leading to their class. "When did you guys get close? I have been totally left in the dark." She said.

"Who are we talking about here?" Nia asked, clueless as ever.

"Emery of course," Iris scoffed.

"We are?" Nia snapped in with a creased brow; not sure what Iris was talking about– forgetting all her initial question at the cafeteria in a blink of an eye. The latter on the other hand scoffed at her friend's outburst which she found to be absurd.

"Don't play dumb with me, Nia," She interrupted. "You and Emery had been on each other's neck for some time now. Funny enough, he suddenly starts getting interest in whatever happens to you. That surely raises eyebrows." She retorted as they finally came to a stop at the entrance of their classroom.

Nia stared at her for some seconds and sighed, "It's all in your head Iris." She spat while she pushed the door open – gliding in with Iris following in on her toes. They instinctively froze in their steps when they were met with the unexpected gazes of their colleagues like they had been waiting for them for ages.

Both Nia and Iris spontaneously exchanged puzzled gazes, not sure what was going on. Iris tried to figure out from their faces what might be at stake but she couldn't place a hand on it.

"What's going on here?" Nia muttered in a near whisper and Iris, in turn, shrugged– having no answers to her question.

"I'm just as puzzled as you." She whispered, "I don't know what's going on but those glares surely spake danger." She assured – hinting at the danger ahead.