37 A pale afternoon

"Your head still hurting bad?" Jean asked Clay while she lay an ice pack his forehead. They were now inside their tree house. Lynn is writing one of Clay's essays.

"Not much tho, thanks" Clay replied with his eyes closed.

"Oh you poor little baby" Mark teased and clay threw a twig on him.

They are now so close with each other that certain things doesn't seem so sensual to them. Clay can now talk with all of them with openness. Lynn has been more loose on her gender. Mark...well he's always been like that but now that he has someones else he doesn't have more time to be with his friends. Luckily, Mark have no plans together with Winston today, a very rare occasion to happen, which give them time together again.

There they say talking and complaining about the amount of schoolworks Clay had. Although most of the times their faces are on their essay papers, every time their eyes meet another they laugh for no exact reason.

.....

"Hey!"

Clay heard a girl behind her shouted. He turned his back around and stopped dead in his tracks. The girl has a pearly white skin and a deep shade of blonde hair. At first, clay thought that the girl must have some sort of skin problem because she looks ever so pale, but before she could even argue with himself, the girl is already in front of him. "I-i just wanted to apologize...i was the girl...behind the door" the pale figure apologetically said. Her mouth slightly grinning in embarrassment but her eyes transfixed on Clay's with a mixture of sincereness and shame. In an instant the rush of loathing flow through his veins when he remembered what happened yesterday but when she looked at the girl, he frowned and thought to let it pass.

The girl just stood in front of him, clutching a couple of book from her hands waiting for Clay's response. "It's fine, well not the slamming of the door but i'm fine now so it's cool" Clay said to her with a smile. The pale girl looked relieved. Clay, after all tries to be more non-conclusive to people since the holidays.

"I'm really really sorry, it won't happen again" then she strolled past him when Clay held him in her arm to face him again. The pale girl was caught with surprise and stopped walking. The girl turned around to face him. Clay curiously stared at the girl and after a moment he said "Are you new here?" With an inquiring look at her. The girl smiled and nodded her head in reply.

Not that Clay knew most of the students now, but since they always stare at people from the bleachers, he hasn't seen a very pale girl from there. It would have drawn his attention if he saw her at least once. The bleachers after all is just the opposite side of the Canteen.

"I just transferred here yesterday" she added.

"Oh, i'm also new here, well not as new as you though, i came here like one week after the first day of school started" he replied. The girl seemed awkward and turned her gaze to the ground. Clay, with interest, bowed his head lower to look at the girl's hidden face and ask.

"Are you alright?"

She then lifted her head, smiled and nodded.

"I'm Clay, by the way" Clay said stretching his hand on her.

"Belle" the girl replied shaking hands with Clay.

"I gotta get to class" Clay said dismissively and they broke ways smiling at each other. Clay walking backwards, his body still facing the pale girl he said "See yah Belle" before turning his body around to set off his different path.

...

A week have past. Everyone has been busy with their studies since they are all preparing for their pre-final exams. All of the candidates to graduate have to pass their final exam before they can ensure their diploma, the pre-finals is an exam to prepare them in their finals. Clay and the other studies most of the times at the tree house. Although they all sat down in the same enclosure, they rarely talk since everyone is reading and rewriting their notes. Clay, above all of others, is very tired. He had just done his make up activities a couple of days ago and now he's sitting there with notes on his face. Although everyone of his friends helped him, he still had done the majority of it. They are all focused on passing their pre-final exam since unfortunately they have one thing in common, they all hate to listen in lectures. So to make up with it, they have to study for their exam since they don't have much of a stock knowledge in the first place.

...

"What...is...this?" Clay irritably mumbled under his breath. He was now in his last and hardest subject, Science. It is the said subject that always pull him down, he doesn't quite get the catch of it. Although everything in the test paper is what he reviewed, the instruction requests to explain each part of a process he chooses to memorize.

After an hour and a half of blissful term guessing, he's now done with all his exam. Looking back, everything went well except the last. He's altogether glad though, at the very least he'll only fail a subject for pre-finals making sure to study it more the next time.

"You guys wanna come?" Said Lynn "Pancy, Jean and I will be going to the food court later"

"Nahh, i'd like to soak my helpless brain in my bed tonight" Clay replied. Then they set off their different path.

Clay agreed not to trouble them to ride him home. He decided to walk back his house: a reminiscing thing that seems a lifetime since he's last done it. He got out of the main gate and strolled through the school yard, turning several directions towards his house. It was all a very subtle and silent afternoon with a brush of cool breeze until he saw a stranger sitting in a bench three houses from where he is currently standing. And into Clay's astonishment, it was the pale girl he had twice an instant to meet, Belle. She was, unless Clay's mistaken, crying. He walked towards the direction of the girl even though he's supposed to turn right.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.