010

Jenna Brooks's POV

  Fear pricked at my heart, my eyes widening in a mixture of shock and embarrassment. I covered my stained skirt with my hands, my face flushing crimson at the realization of my predicament. Conrad's urgency urged me forward, and with a silent nod, i allowed him to guide me towards the ladies' room.

As we walked, my footsteps felt heavy, my legs losing their strength as fear gripped me tightly. Questions raced through my mind, wondering how he even knew about the stain, and why he was showing such concern for me.

Arriving at the ladies' room, Conrad firmly instructed me to wait inside while he headed out. I obeyed, leaning against the cold tile wall, my mind still reeling from the unexpected turn of events. I could hear muffled conversations from inside, the sound of running water, and the soft rustling of paper.

I felt embarrassed. How was I supposed to face Conrad after this? I fidgeted with my glasses as I looked down at my shoes, trying to sniff back the tears that threatened to trickle down my face.

My palm grew sweaty. I popped my knuckles until they turned white. I stared at the door three times for no reason. My legs kept shaking and I turned my head to look in the mirror every few seconds.

Minutes felt like an eternity as my anxiety grew, a knot forming in my stomach. Finally, there was a knock on the door. Taking a deep breath, I half opened the door. Conrad was standing there, his hand holding a small package. 

I tried my best to avoid eye contact with him as he handed me the package. His words were gentle and reassuring, "Here, I got you some tampons." 

I took them, my fingers trembling slightly as i realized he wasn't that fazed by the situation. Why would he? He wasn't the one in the centre of the embarrassing moment.

  *******************************************

  For about a week now, I had been avoiding Conrad. Not because of anything but for the last embarrassing encounter we had. It was hard to avoid him because he sat next to me in class but I did my best not to engage in any conversations with him or make eye contact both in school and at home.

As I sat next to him in art class, I tried very hard to concentrate on what Olivia was saying. Olivia and I had gotten a little close in the past few days. I had always had my judgement around female friends being catty and backstabby, but that couldn't be further from the truth with Oliva.

She had two distinct sides. One was generous and over-the- top complimentary. She could make anyone feel like the most important person in the world. I had seen her do this when she made the whole class give our class president, Bethany, a five-minute standing ovation for getting our class on the cover of the school's weekly magazine. Olivia had control over mostly everyone and she knew how to make someone feel important.

The other side was mean-spirited, controlling, and terrifying. Thankfully, she had never shown me this horrifying side of her but I had seen it once. Olivia could tear you down and humiliate you. I've seen her do this when she bullied a girl for stepping on her shoes. Olivia knew how to make someone feel bad.

That was why I learnt with time that, as much as I wanted the compliments to mean something to me, I couldn't let them, because tomorrow she might scream insults in my face that would hurt me just as much as the compliments raised me up. 

But it wasn't her fault, all rich kids always had that side to them. I had heard from some girls gossiping about how rich Olivia's parents were. They added that she lived alone in a big mansion because her parents were overseas and they hardly came home. By the way Oliva dressed and the kind of designer wears and shoes she wore, I knew her family's wealth was no joke.

But hopefully, she was never going to be mean to me. She was overly nice and I doubt she'd switch from being nice to being mean. 

"Make sure to leave as soon as the class is over, I heard they're trying to pull the newbie prank on you," Olivia said with a concerned look on her face.

The newbie prank? What are we? Kids? I thought they no longer did those stuffs in high school? This school's lame.

"Sure, Olly. Rest assured,"

Olly. That was my nickname for Olivia. I liked the fact that it was easier to pronounce and only I could call her that because she strictly told everyone else not to. I watched Olivia grab her bag and walk out of art class. I slowly turned my attention back to the art teacher whose eyes were obviously closed under those bulging glasses.

Then I heard someone whisper 'Jenna'. At first, I thought it was my inner voice because it had the habit of talking to me when it wasn't asked to. Then I heard it again, I stiffly tilted my head to my left. It wasn't my inner voice talking to me, it was Conrad.

Our eyes met and I felt a lump come up to my throat, this was the second time we were making eye contact in a week . The first time was two days ago when Autie Laurel asked me to accompany him to his group study session again. After what had happened last time at the supposed study session—which was more like a drinking session, I knew better than to agree. Using a stomach ache as an excuse, auntie Laurel let me off the hook. That was when my eyes met Conrad's and instead of the usual disapproving gaze, his face etched with concern. 

And now, he was doing it again. Looking at me with that are-you-alright kind of pity look. As much as I hated the disapproving look, this new concerned and I'm-kinda-worried-about-you kind of look was uncomfortable. Then he whispered, "Can we talk?!"

Talk about what? Why would he want to talk to me? I spiraled into a frenzy as my mind raced for an excuse before finally coming up with one, "I can't talk right now, I think I flushed my gold fish down the toilet. I'll be back."

God, Jenna! You could've done better!

I stood up and waltzed out of the room before he could say anything. As I walked down the corridors, I felt a masculine hand grab my wrist, pulled me into the quiet and dimly lit auditorium.

It was Conrad, of course. It had to be him. He gently let go of my hand and my gaze remained down.

"You've been avoiding me, Jenna." He started.

I raised my head to meet his gaze but I couldn't hold it for long. "I haven't." I lied.

"Are you embarrassed?"

Fuck! What was more embarrassing than asking a girl if she's embarrassed? You shouldn't have asked me that question, Conrad! You shouldn't have!

"Why should I?" I replied, acting like I was unfazed but only I knew my legs were slowly turning to jelly.

"That's what I thought. Mum has noticed you've been avoiding me and she thinks I did something to you." He explained then smirked. "So stop being such a baby."

I hate it when he calls me a baby. I'm eighteen for Christ's sake! I guess if auntie Laurel hadn't asked him about why I was avoiding him, he wouldn't even care to talk to me or ask me what was wrong. I was stupid to have thought that he wanted to talk to me because he wanted to.

"Sure, Conrad."

"Good," he added and left the auditorium.

'Good' I mimicked. He's so cocky!

I made my way out of the auditorium and down the quiet hallways and as I passed by the janitor's closet, I heard a strange noise. I decided to check out what was inside. Curse my curiosity! I stepped into the dimly lit room and not long had I stepped in did the door suddenly jam behind me.