3 Chapter 3

"You guys won't believe what I just heard today!"Heather emphasised dramatically. We were all standing near my locker, the students rushing around to eat in the cafeteria.

I shut my locker loudly, annoyed. This was not what I had planned. Fawn had told Ayla and Saige about what had happened during the class, and we decided to confront her about it , once and for all.

But till now, we couldn't mutter a single thing, because she just kept blabbering. I look at my friends, trying to see how they were reacting. Ayla was standing beside me, reading my math notes upside down. It was clear she wasn't concentrating to the crap that Heather was saying.

I look at Fawn and Ayla, who were just looking down, comparing their feet sizes. I look at Heather, who just kept talking without catching a breath. "...and guess what? You know how Aubrey kept boasting about dating Nick? Ha! Apparently , her parents didn't like him when they met him over the weekend and asked her to stop meeting him. But she was so into that ass that she fought with her parents over him, and now she's kicked out! And even he got tired of her and broke up with her. Now she's homeless and dumped!"Heather says, clapping her hands .

I look at her dead panned, my eyes narrowed and my lips pressed, completely frustrated of her. She meets my eyes for what seemed like a second, before completely ignoring me again. She went back to talking, her eyes gleaming with delight at all of the juicy gossips.

I was getting angrier by the second. I really didn't like it when she just kept doing it without considering others. I sighed loudly, putting my head down frustrated. I felt Ayla's hand on my shoulder, lightly squeezing me. I look at her, and she slowly nods, telling her to calm down.

I bite my lip , trying to suppress my anger. I see Fawn and Saige walk towards me, standing by my side. I look at Heather, trying to see if she got the hint. She was so caught up in her own world that she didn't notice that we weren't even listening to her.

I sigh louder in disappointment, and see Fawn rub a hand across her face in annoyance. I look at Saige , giving me a hint to just start asking Heather. I nod and look towards Heather. "Heather look. I-" I calmly started , but she just simply brushed me off, going on talking.

I snapped, the anger raging through me. "Heather! Would you just shut your damn mouth for a minute and listen to others!" I shouted. She widened her eyes in surprise, startled by my sudden outbreak. She looked at the others, but their faces were grim in disappoint.

I was huffing, my anger not cooled down."Why are you doing this Heather?!"I said, looking straight at her, demanding for answers. She raised her eyebrows, as if she was confused. "What are you talking about?"She asked , as if she didn't know what was going on.

I wanted to slap her really bad, but Fawn stepped forward."Heather, we want to know why you would call out Hazel in the middle of the class, when you know she has panic attacks!" She said, calmly, but her face was grim , anger on her face.

Instead of looking even a bit sorry, Heather scoffed."Oh that? Are you all really ganging up on me because of that? Geez. What are y'all?"She said, her eyebrows raised up and her lips twisted with a smirk.

I was so angry at this point, seeing her attitude. Ayla spoke,"Okay. Okay fine, we'll ignore that.Okay fine! But tell me why you become so arrogant whenever there is someone? Why do you only talk to us whenever you feel like it? What do you take us for? We are not pushovers!" She said, her eyebrows furrowed.

Heather was still having a stupid smirk on her face, and I wanted to punch her real bad. "Oh my god! Are y'all even for real? I thought you guys knew it. Ha! Looks like you bunch are dumb!" she said, still smiling.

We were all pissed , our angers radiating. I couldn't believe her right now. Instead of trying to apologise , she was calling us dumb, for god knows what!

I crossed my arms , my eyebrows raised up as I looked at her with disbelief. Wow, she was worse than I had assumed . Turns out even her heart was as ugly as her face.

"You!" Heather said suddenly, pointing towards Ayla. "You're so damn weird and loud! Its annoying to listen to you. So shut the hell up!" she said, disgust on her face as she looked at her. Ayla looked so hurt, her head down,as she looked at the ground.

This wretch! Who the hell does she think she is to say that?

She moved her finger, now pointing it towards Saige."And you, god! Do you even have a brain? All your good for is talking. Grow some damn brain cells, you dense, good for nothing!."She said, her face twisted as she stared at Saige. She gripped her books tightly, shock taking over her.

Heather sighed, and then pointed towards Fawn."God, I used to like you before. You seemed different. But now even you turned out like them. Every time I tell you something , you just ignore me. Who the hell do you think you are, huh? Some kind of a princess? Stop being so damn arrogant." Heather said, biting her lip with anger.

What in the actual hell is wrong with her. Here she is, talking about others,instead of self reflecting on her behaviour. She was so caught up in her own bubble, not seeing how her behaviour comes off to others.

She finally looked at me, her eyes filled with anger as she looked at me.

"Finally, Hazel. What can I say about you. At least I can somehow talk to them, but you...god...your the worst. You act as if you are the best, always walking ahead of the others, thinking we're all on a different level than you. You think the world is on your damn heels, and you can step on whoever you like!"She said, her voice growing louder.

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I treated them differently? H-How could she say that? I was supposed to be angry at her, but all I felt was this seeping pain through my body, as if I had been stabbed in the chest.

So she thought of me like that the whole time? All of the days we had spent together, all the times we had genuinely laughed or had fun, she was seeing me like that?

The pain that went through me was one like no other. I knew Heather had her shortcomings like everyone else, but there was never a day I had thought of her like that.

I thought of the days we had just become friends, the way her smile lit up whenever she saw me, they way we laughed, the trust that we had between us...everything. I tried to remember where we feel apart, but nothing distinct stood out. It was weird how you spend so much time with someone and share all your secrets, but then one day it just stops. We just drifted apart, the both of us not caring about each other anymore.

It hurt to remember how close we were. Whenever she ignored me, I acted like it wasn't a big deal, when really, it was breaking my heart. I guess I had never mattered to her, not one bit.

Before I could say anything, Saige suddenly spoke up,"You have no right to say that to her." I looked at her, completely shocked at the way she suddenly spoke up. She didn't look at me, but her face was resolved as she stared back at Heather."Hazel is a person who would give her everything when it comes to the people she loves."Saige said, as she slowly looked at me,a small smile on her face. My heart started to swell with gratitude, a small sob rising in my throat. She looked back at Heather, her eyes cold.

"She may take time to open up, but once she trusts someone, she would go to great lengths to just to make them happy. The fact that she trusted you with that, being so kind to you all this while still knowing about the fact that you behave so rudely to her, just shows what a Jem of a person she is."Saige said.

I put my head down, tears pooling in my eyes. My heart was hurting so much at what Heather had said to me, but seeing them take a stand against her for me, pained me even more.

I felt Ayla grabbing my hands, slowly squeezing it. I look at her, to see her smile at me. She turned to face back to Heather,her face filled with disgust."I don't care what you say about me, but don't even think about saying a word to my friends. They are my best friends. Hurt them...and you die."Ayla said harshly, Heather wincing under her glare.

"It just shows how awful of a person you are to use another person's insecurity to make them feel vulnerable. You are worse then trash you know? Your words are just spiteful. The only reason we aren't talking about you is because we don't want to swoop down to your level. We still care about your feelings, knowing that you'll be hurt if we say something. We aren't as heartless like you, saying such things to the people that care about you." Fawn said, her voice filled with with hurt.

I look at Heather, her face contorted with pain and guilt. She had her head down, her hair masking her face. But I knew what she was feeling. She looked so hurt, her frame suddenly small against the big hallway, that my heart pained to see her like this.

I opened my mouth to speak , but she suddenly spoke, her voice barely audible. "I'm jealous okay! I can't stand seeing Hazel being taken away from me. She was mine first! She was my friend before any one of you were , but then you guys suddenly came and took her from me.

Suddenly, I wasn't the one she always called for, it was you all. She started smiling and laughing with you guys! Do you guys even know what it feels like to lose your best friend? You won't... because you all have always had friends. You always had someone to play with you, or someone that sits with you during lunch, or even someone who would talk to you!

Not me! I never had anyone to begin with. I was alone, always sitting in the lunch table on my own, while all the other students laughed and ate together. I had always wanted something like that. Someone whom I could laugh with , someone who would be my friend!

But no one came towards me, no one wanted to be my friend. They called me weird, and that I was too clingy. I was always left alone, without anyone by my side. But then one day, Hazel approached me, and asked if she could borrow a pencil. I was so happy that day, it was the first time that someone had talked to me without looking at me weirdly.

I still remember how she smiled towards me after saying thank you , before skipping off and joining her classmates. She was different from everyone else. She started talking to me, she wanted to be my friend.

Everything started being good for me after that. People started to approach me from then. They wanted me to be their friend. For the first time, I felt like I was part of something, not someone who was left all alone. Things were good for me with Hazel by my side. She was my happiness, the reason why I used to come to school."She said, tears flowing from her eyes as she spoke slowly. I hadn't realised that I had started crying.

She felt like this all this time? How could I have been so inconsiderate of her feelings? Why didn't I ever know how she had been thinking this whole while? I thought that everything would be fine if I introduced them to her, but she had always felt alone.

She looked back up, a sudden anger replacing her."But then one day, you guys came and asked to be her friends. Because she was such a nice person, she gladly accepted. You guys started hanging around her, always talking to her, while I was left alone. She always wanted us to be friends, but I knew that you guys were bad. I knew that you wanted to steal her away from me.

We started drifting apart, the both of us talking to each other lesser and lesser. She didn't want me anymore. She was always with you three, laughing and hanging out. At first, I was angry. I couldn't believe why she would do this to me. I was so hurt because of her. So after that, I started ignoring her whenever she approached me, blocking her out.

I started to hang out with everyone else, just so you could feel jealous. But even till now, you don't feel a single thing towards me. You just don't care , don't you! You don't care about me even one bit!" She screamt, the tears flowing down continuously from her eyes.

I didn't know what to say, after hearing what she had just said. To know that she had been thinking and keeping that all to herself all this time, made me hurt so bad. We had tried to approach her, every single time, trying to ask her to talk to us, but she would always shut us out, and then ignore us for days.

If , at least once, if she had opened up to me about what she had been feeling, I would have done something...anything...to help her out. But she didn't . She had always pushed me away. She only came to me whenever she wanted to vent out her feelings, as if I was just a person who revolved around her life.

I remembered countless days when I would be feeling down, and when I told her about it, she would just tell me to move on. Yet in her worst days, I had been there for her, always lending her my ears to listen to, hugging her as she cried.

I realised right then how one-sided our friendship was. She had been using me all along, and now seeing me open up to someone other than her, it made her angry and left out, when it had been me all the while.

She couldn't stand seeing me be happy with someone else. Suddenly, she was not the centre, and it drove her crazy. Instead of realising what had gone wrong, she started to blame me for everything, trying to make me fall.

Fawn tried to speak, but I held out a hand. I looked at Heather, wondering how such close friends turned so distant from each other. "I realise how alone you had been feeling all this time, and I'm really really sorry for that. I know I am at fault." I say. My friends try to interrupt me, but I speak up again.

"But there's one thing you need to realise about friendship Heather. Not everything is about you. You can't expect someone to only listen to you, when you don't do the same to them.

Friendship is a two way thing, Heather. Its something that both should enjoy. There needs to be trust and understanding, a feeling of happiness when they talk to each other. Friendship is understanding, not an agreement you know? Go on, tell me . Is there anything you remember me telling you when I was sad?Do you remember me telling you anything when I was happy? Anything?" I ask her, my lips in a grim line.

She looked lost, as if she was trying to remember something,but there wasn't. "No. You don't know anything. Because every time I try to talk to you, you never cared. Even in my worst days, I had to rush over to you, sit with you as you kept crying . I was the only one you called to complaint, or vent out your feelings, but you never listened to me. " I say, as the tears kept flowing , lightly gliding down my cheeks.

"I thought it was my fault. I thought that maybe I needed to work harder, so that one day, you would come up to me and ask me to share my thoughts or feelings But you didn't. Every time you reached out to me, it was always about you!

Did you even know my grandpa is in the hospital? Did you know Heather is in her second year of college, or that Hailey is going to second grade? Do you even know that I want to be a doctor, and that I'm scared of not being one? Do I ever even cross your mind? You don't , do you?" I say, with a scoff.

She looked like she had been slapped, realisation going through her as my words kept going through her mind. Small things like this, all friends know about such things. But she had been so stuck in her own thoughts that she didn't mind what was going on.

"I hate how we've drifted apart, but then again,if you won't make an effort to keep me in your life...Why should I ?"I say slowly, hurt going through my voice. "I did everything I could do for you. But you never texted me or talked to me anymore. You never keep conversations with me anymore.

You pushed me away. So I did the same." I say, my eyes meeting hers.

The both of us were crying, one with regret while the other with hurt. I look at her again, trying to keep my voice from breaking,"I would rather you tell me you don't want me around than have you ignore me."I say, as she squeezes her eyes shut, tears flowing continually.

I slowly walk towards her, and stand a couple of feet away from her,"Please don't mistake me, I still care for you, as you were one of the friends I treasured the most. I don't hate you, I've just lost all respect for you and have nothing to say to you anymore."

I walk away from her, trying to keep myself from crying, but the tears were just breaking through. It hurt to realise that I didn't lose a friend, I just didn't have one to begin with. I felt stupid for realising it so late, after so much of heart break. I was ashamed of letting myself stick around a person who made me feel like this.

I hear a thud, and see Heather drop to the floor, as she cried. "Please...please don't go. I'm sorry. I'll try ...I'll try to be a good friend. So please, please don't leave me."she sobbed, as she looked at me with her tear-filled eyes. My heart tore looking at her like this. For a minute , I thought of running back to her and hug her, telling her that I was sorry.

But then Ayla comes beside me, her arms over my shoulder as she looked at Heather sharply."You still don't realise how self-centred you are. Even now, she's debating about what she just said, feeling guilty even though what ever she said was the truth. So for once, stop with your victim mentality and grow up." Ayla spat out harshly, and slowly dragged me away from her crying form.

"Hey, hey..Its okay...we're here for you okay?" Saige says, slowly coming and standing beside me, as I cried. "She didn't deserve you, it was about time she got what she deserved okay? Don't cry over a person who made you feel like that."Fawn said.

I was so glad to have friends like them, who stood up for me even after they were hurt. I look up to them, smiling slowly."Thank you. For standing up for me."I say, my nose all snobby and red from crying. "Eh...why are you saying thank you between us?"Saige says, smiling softly at me. "Look at her face. She looks like a tomato from crying so much!"Fawn jokes, as I hit her arm. We all laugh, trying to put everything behind us.

Suddenly the bell rungs, signalling us to get back to classes. "Ah shit! We missed lunch!"Fawn says, as she rushed over to her locker. I open my locker to grab my books , and turn to them."We'll head to that new cafe that opened. My treat!" I say , as they whoop with joy.

Saige comes up to us, her hands filled with books,"Me and Ayla have history, and Fawn has math. So we'll go now. Our class is in the other block."she says. I nod and wave them goodbye, as they go.

The warning bell rings, and I look around to see that it was just me who was left in the hallway.I sprint , trying to get to class, while trying not to drop my books.

Ah shit...I'm so hungry after crying so much. I wonder what will be in the menu when we go-

I suddenly bump into someone, the both of us hitting each other with so much force, that I fall back on my butt, my books flying around me.

Aaahhh shit... what the hell! I'm already late , and now this! Ugh...can't they even look while they're walking! What the hell is their-

I see a pair of sneakers walk over to me, and I look up to see a handsome boy looking at me with his hands stretched out. His hair was a mix of ash blonde, and he had freckles splattered over his cheeks. But the most breath-taking feature was his eyes, a stormy grey as he looked at me with concern.

Oh holy mother of Namjoon...who was this gorgeous man?

I look at him with wide eyes, my cheeks turning pink as he still looked at me with his hands stretched out."I'm so sorry. I was in a hurry and didn't see you. Please pardon me."He says, as I still gawk at him.

Forgive ? He was already forgiven! With him walking around with a face like that, anyone would forgive him.

He was still looking at me , his hand stretched out as I look back at him, the world suddenly still as I look at this gorgeous boy. How do people like him even exist? I suddenly realise how long he had his hand stretched out to help me, so I quickly take his hand,standing quickly as he pulled me up.

Oh my god, why is his hand so soft? I realise I had been creepily feeling his hand, and quickly take my hand out of his. I look around , picking up the books and papers scattered around, trying to cover my beetroot coloured face with my hair.

He comes over and hands me some of the papers, smiling at me. I smile back, my heart easing.

"Let's get to class." I say, and turn , trying to run away from him. I take a few steps, when a sudden deep voice speaks up."Felix?" .

I whip my head, my head spinning at the familiar voice. Standing at the door was Luca, his startling green eyes trained on mine, before looking over at Felix.

My heart stops, my breathing suddenly on hold as I realise I was standing in the middle,Luca and Felix staring at each other, a weird aura around me.

What did I get myself into?