Chapter 4

Sixteen missed calls and yet no answer. At this point, Pandora started to fear that something dreadful had happened to her male best friend. She had woken up this morning hoping to see a message or call from Braxton but just as the previous might, her calls got transferred to voicemail. She weighed her options and the most promising one was to just put her thoughts on hold till the time was due to hear from the horse's mouth.

With that little strand of hope holding her from snapping into despair, she rose from her king sized bed and headed for the bathroom to freshen up. When she was done bathing, she slid her dark blue uniform on, and ran downstairs to meet her parents eating, in the process forgetting to brush her hair in order. She settled down at the table without a word and proceeded to munch through a few of her mother's pancakes. Before her mum could call out to her, she hopped off to school with some pancakes stashed away and her hair knotted in a messy bun.

Her driver almost immediately decoded that something was up with the urgency with which Pandora entered the ride. Without any other ado, he ignited the engine and sped off at a reasonable pace to Claritin Elementary School.

Today was no different day except that the quadrennial fashion show tryouts was steadily drawing closer. Just a month to go and students in their numbers were already flocking in the locker room and discussing the fashion lords who would hunt for scouts that day. The whole school was in a buzz until the bell dispersed the kids to their allotted classes. Meanwhile, Pandora's hawk eyes were in search of Braxton. It was already time for the first class and he was yet to show up.

Mr. Johnson strode into the classroom in his usual charismatic form. Pandora watched as his eyes landed on Braxton's desk and unlike him he seemed unperturbed by the former's absence. From the way he acted after his gaze left that seat, one could tell that he had something digging into his chest that he needed to let off.

" Good morning class!" He chorused, showcasing his clean set of bright teeth.

" I have some news for y'all. Braxton Goldman won't be joining us again for this session. In his place, I have been informed that they'll be a substitute student joining us soon," he said resting his arms on his mahogany desk.

A whiff of silence swept across the entire room. Pandora sat motionless not knowing whether to feel pain or anger. How could he leave her in such a cruel way, without as much as a decent goodbye? She kept wondering what could have warranted such a prompt move. Everything around her seemed blurry. She felt weak, heartbroken, crushed and betrayed.

His absence was sordidly felt. He was the class chatterbox, trouble instigator, and social persona. Even the teachers felt his departure. But they all had to suck it up, after all, they had a big event coming up and they had to be prepared.

After the first lesson, Pandora's head was laying on her arm and she could be heard sniffling quietly. She wasn't ready for their piano lesson. In fact, she wasn't ready for any task that required her attention because she was losing it with her love not being around. She felt a palm rest on her shoulder causing her to lift her rise and face this stranger.

" Hi!" The girl waved lightly at her. " I'm Coraline and we're meant to be in piano class," she said shyly, helping Pandora stack up her distorted books.

" I know. And I'm ain't gonna go. Coraline, please can you just go?" She responded hesitantly, with a questioning look on her face.

She watched as the blonde haired girl sat nervously on Braxton's previous seat and then she carefully began, " I had a crush in 4th grade and he had told me he liked me. I believed him but when I caught him telling another girl the exact thing, he told me to go to hell..." she trailed off when her voice cracked and finally gave way to sobs.