CHAPTER 12

Time was 9 pm; Lazy students were already fast asleep and for the night owls the night had just begun. Sabrina climbed in bed and started to seek out sleep, wherever it was. Her roommates were everywhere, some inside, some outside. Like everybody else, she pretended to be asleep until she started to really feel drowsy.

Ah, success _

"Hey.", a soft, very familiar voice spoke to her from the side where her feet currently were.

She had to raise her head to take a look. And amongst all the names she could've guessed, Lessin wasn't one of them. Her body which previously faced the wall now turned to face Lessin. Sabrina's bed was a low deck, fortunately. Lessin preferred the floor to the bed. Distance was good, she thought.

"What are you doing here?", Sabrina asked, kind of sleepy now.

"Sorry. I never expected to find you asleep. But I was already here so I didn't want my trip to be wasted.",

"You want to have a seat?", she pulled her legs up to leave some space for her, "You can sit here.",

"No, I don't think _",

Sabrina smiled, "Nothing is going to happen. I don't bite.".

Together, they were already an awkward pair. She didn't want it to get any more awkward than that. So, she sat, right at the end of the bed. "I want to tell you something.", Lessin proceeded.

"I'm all ears.",

Lessin took a sharp exhale, "Thank you for liking me", she began, "but I'm afraid I can't accept your feelings.",

Before replying, Sabrina sat upright. She was chill, not at all hurt, on the outside, "I never expected you to.", she told her, "I know where you come from. People like us are the black sheep of our families. Benders of the social norms. I can't dare to dream of a happy relationship with a person that I love.".

"I didn't want to sound like I'm judging you because I'm not.",

"Lessin, I'm not a bad person. And I don't intend to challenge the Bible. I just love. That's it. If my feelings get reciprocated, I'm happy. If not, I accept it and move on. Your preferences lie on the other side, completely understandable.",

Lessin smiled. Her heart felt as light as a feather now.

"Can I still ask you one question before you go?", Sabrina continued.

"By all means.",

"You told me that you've been in love before. What happened?",

It suddenly turned gloomy. Obviously that wasn't Lessin's favorite topic to talk about. But that was a special moment, and for some reason she trusted Sabrina.

"We broke up.", she answered.

"Why?",

"We'd found out that someone was pregnant with his baby.",

Sabrina gasped, "That's a lot. Gosh, I'm so sorry.",

Lessin chuckled like it didn't bother her, "Why are you apologizing for somebody else's mistake?",

"When you get cheated on, there's a level of ugly you see whenever you look in the mirror. You feel like you're not enough. You feel like you didn't do enough. I hope your self-esteem healed. Did you find closure?",

Lessin shook her head, "I'm afraid not. This, I will take to my grave.".

…

Let me save you some time; So Freya and Cora did forgive each other and walked past it, or so they thought. Jackie didn't die, but she flinched at the mere sound of Ylle's sweet voice. We graduated with a blast and all the blood, sweat and tears we endured for 2 years of high school turned worth it after our national results came out and we passed with flying colors.

I'll say this; St. Philomena Girls High School was nothing before we joined. And we turned it into something after we left. Now parents fight for applications. What previously welcomed F-rated students now gained standards of its own.

And my favorite 8 girls embarked on a second phase of adulthood; Real life.

***