II

Ella's POV

August 07, 2020

Monday

11:30 PM

(30 minutes before Lunch)

»»♡««

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock

I maintained stillness while gazing at the clock, eagerly awaiting the end of Mrs. Yu's class. Admittedly, Mrs. Yu's lecture was all right, but the constant barrage of irrelevant questions and jokes from students hindered my focus and rendered the lesson ineffective. 

As time progressed, I lost interest in the discussion and Mrs. Yu's warnings.

Time seemed to move slowly and it was frustrating to anticipate something that didn't seem to come. The class continued to joke around instead of actually learning, which made it even worse.

I could not help but ponder the standards of this school, which was reputed to be the finest in town. The student's behavior was disappointing, to say the least. To take my mind off the situation, I recollected some of the terrible puns my friend Yugo and I had used to annoy Vivian. However, the sight of a student squeezing and disposing of gum under the desk was revolting. It's honestly disgusting.

»»♡««

Flashback

"Hey Viv, What do you call a hippopotamus that's gay?" Yugo opened his chip and took a bite. Clearly missing Viv's eyebrow's furrowing, this is how she express her opposition towards Yugo's puns.

Although, I gotta agree with Viv's opinion, it was indeed horrible. Like horrible. "What now, Yugo?" Vivian glared but Yugo didn't miss a beat in telling his proudly made pun.

"A homopotamus," he smiled.

His stupid jokes always bring a smile to my face, it was funny.

Yugo burst out of laughter, holding on the bedside for his dear life to support his weight to avoid falling off from bed. Vivian covered her ears, mumbling words incoherently to block off whatever Yugo's pun is attacking her with.

I also joined the moment by laughing, forgetting that VIv is still here sitting like a child who didn't receive her birthday gift.

Suddenly, the electricity went out and so as our laughters fading away. The moment earlier was immediately replaced by dead silence filling the room.

"Well, that just sucks," Yugo sighed while reaching his phone for a flashlight. Vivian chuckled as she turned on her flashlight, "More like a blessing."

We chose to play One Truth Two Lies to kill time, but when the game grew monotonous, Yugo decided it was a good idea to annoy Vivian with the puns he proudly made.

Yugo kept groaning, clearly wasn't enjoying any of the questions that was given to him. He thought of an idea to smack his hand on the pillow creating a loud sound, startling us. "What's an astronaut's favorite key in a keyboard?"

We looked at him not expecting his sudden action, "The heck, dude?!" Vivian yelled not acknowledging what he said.

"The space bar!" Yugo proudly yelled. He then gave himself a pat on his back thinking he accomplished a Novel Peace Prize.

Vivian facepalmed, "Seriously? That's so bad."

Yugo looked at her looking offended, "Excuse me? They are good. You just don't appreciate a good quality joke." Yugo looked away arms crossed.

"Yeah, right." Vivian pushed him gently.

I only chuckled at their interaction. This is one of the moments where I truly believe i'm in the right place with the right people. Yugo looked at me and smiled looking impress. I think he thought that I was laughing at this joke which was clearly not the case.

"I have another one-" Before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off by Vivian. "You know what? It's time for bed. Goodnight, assholes" Vivian pulled the blanket up to cover her body.

Yugo sighed in defeat, "Fine." Silence filled the room, like earlier didn't happened at all. Just three people breathing. Inhale. Exhale. I hated it. The silence is suffocating me. It was obvious neither of us are asleep anyways. Therefore I decided to speak up.

"Hey, guys?" I whispered and heard a 'hm' sound from both of them, a cue that I shall continue.

"What do zombies call their lover?" I said regretting my decision, but I knew this will end good.

I heard Yugo chuckle and before I could finish what I was about to say,

Yugo finished the pun for me, "Zombae." We were startled by Viv's sudden body sitting up, "FOR THE LOVE OF GO-" It was clear that she wasn't going to put up with any more of our puns.

End of Flashback

»»♡««

I smiled as memories of that night flooded back. I still wonder how Vivian was able to hang out with us after the endless torture we put her through.

Snapping back to reality, I glanced over at the person sitting next to me, the guy I can't seem to get out of my head. I checked the time to see how much longer I had to endure sitting beside him. Eleven minutes. Eleven long minutes, with him.

Out of all the people in the world, why did it have to be him? I'd rather sit next to a carbon copy of Yugo than him.

I then try to fixate my attention to class but failed. His intense concentration in class prompted my nosy side to glance at him once in a while. He must enjoy math, I suppose. I only intended to take a sneak peek, but I found myself returning my initial fixation on him. Despite his messy hair, he's nonetheless attractive.

His eyes are without a doubt the aspect of him that's captivating. His eyes remind me of hot cocoa. Warm and calming. And not to mention, his long and thick lashes. How is that possible?

Yugo was right. He is undeniably attractive, even dangerously so. I didn't even notice he was looking at me until he already was. His eyes were fixed on me, studying me. Blood was rushing through my face and quickly averted my gaze.

My mind was racing with thoughts that I couldn't seem to make sense of. Did he see me? Of course he did, you idiot! What if he didn't? Wait, am I seriously conversing with myself?

Before I got my thoughts to calm down, a familiar sound echoed in the room.

»» RINGGGGG ««

Flawless timing bell.

I hastily gathered my belongings and hurried towards the door. I was hoping that he hadn't noticed me. His eyes kept on flashing through my mind. It was getting hard to breathe. How can two pair of eyes can have this so much impact? I don't why, but my heart was beating so fast.

However, as I was about to flee, I swear I saw him smirk.

I quickly rushed to my next class and I tried my hardest to be attentive in class. Despite my efforts to do so, I can't help but think about our previous encounter.

As I finished my last morning class, I realized that I had completely forgotten about meeting my friends at the cafeteria for lunch. I quickly gathered all of my belongings and rushed towards the cafeteria.

Upon arrival, I was met with a sea of students crowding the area, making it difficult to spot my friends. I searched around for a good ten minutes before finally locating an empty table that was large enough to accommodate the three of us. As I sat down, I took a deep breath and felt the weight of my backpack slide off my shoulders.

I pulled out my phone and opened our group chat, hoping to find a message from my friends. While I waited for them to arrive, I glanced around the cafeteria, taking in the noise and bustling energy of the students around me. The aroma of freshly cooked food wafted through the air, making my stomach grumble in anticipation of lunch.

Before letting my friends know that I found a place and was waiting for them, I had an idea to modify their nicknames to something more "appropriate". So, I opened our group chat and did what I had to do.

The Hoes

Group Chat

InsaniTEA (Ella): Where are you guys?? I have been waiting for the past 15 minutes already. Hurry up, I'm starving.

Idiot #1 (Yugo): Yes ma'am. We're on our way there.

Idiot #1 (Yugo): El, seriously? Our nicknames last time were assholes, now u have the audacity to name us idiots?

InsaniTEA (Ella): Ur nicknames sucks, so I decided to help out. Like a good friend would.

Idiot #2 (Vivian): And you think your nickname sounds any better? Like, c'mon.

Idiot #2 (Vivian): What kind of nickname is "InsaniTEA"?

InsaniTEA (Ella): It's a kind of nickname that describes what I'm feeling right now cause I'm about to reach another level of Insanity from waiting for the both of you. I'm sooo hungry, I'm this close to eating first, and forgetting that I have 2 other friends wanting to eat lunch with me.

Idiot #1 (Yugo): Okay okay, calm down. Give us 5.

InsaniTEA (Ella): 5?! I'm going to starve!

Idiot #1 (Yugo): We'll buy you ice cream at your favorite shop.

InsaniTEA (Ella): 5 doesn't sound bad. I'll wait.

Idiot #1 (Yugo): You're such a child.

InsaniTEA (Ella): Proud to be one.

Idiot # 2 (Vivian): Hold on. We? Who's we?

Idiot #1 (Yugo): Ugh, okay fine. My treat.

InsaniTEA (Ella): You got a deal. But seriously, hurry up. You guys are going to give me an ulcer.

Idiot # 2 (Vivian): We'll see you there El, love ya.

Idiot #1 (Yugo): Wait, where are we meeting again?

Idiot # 2 (Vivian): Cafeteria, Yugo.

Idiot #1 (Yugo): Oh right, see you guys there.

Idiot # 2 (Vivian): Idiot.

Idiot #1 (Yugo): Proud to be one.

I chuckled at the silly antics of my friends and put my phone away. I shifted in my chair and rested my hand on the desk to prop up my head. After a few moments, I heard Yugo's voice and turned around to see my friends. Yugo was laughing and Vivian was rubbing her temple, looking exasperated.

It seemed that Yugo was telling Vivian some puns, which was typical of him. I waved to them to let them know where I was sitting, and they noticed me and came running over, waving back.

As we finished getting our lunches, we headed to our seats. Yugo settled down right across from me, while Vivian sat on my right. We shared stories about our classes, just goofing around and having a good time.

Suddenly, Yugo remembered something and slammed the table. "El! You won't believe what just happened," He had a look of excitement on his face, and I knew it was going to be that again.

"Let me guess, you met a really cute guy and now you have the hots for him," I answered like it was no news. Anything that comes out from Yu's mouth, it's always the same thing.

Vivian, who was already laughing, added, "You're so predictable, Yugo."

Yugo looked disappointed with our response, "You guys are the worst! I've been waiting all morning to share my news with you, and you just ruined it." He then put on a dramatic pose, placing one hand on his forehead and the other on his chest, pretending to be heartbroken. We couldn't help but laugh at his theatrics.

I swallowed my food before talking, "Anyways, spill."

Yugo's face lit up and his eyes sparkled, excited at what he was about to say.

"Okay, so I met this guy in English class and let me tell you something. He's definitely into me."

Oh god, not this again.

Vivian rolled her eyes and flicked his forehead "Yugo, you and your delusions are totally getting out of hand."

Yugo rubbed his forehead and stuck his tongue out at Vivian. He quickly recovered, though.

"C'mon, not even a single word of support? I mean, he kept glancing at me with those dreamy blue eyes of his," Yugo said, flashing a smile that made Vivian and I cringe.

"Oh god, there's that disgusting smile again."

I pretended to cover my eyes with my hands, not wanting to see Yugo's smile any longer. Yugo, however, ignored our reactions and glared at us, still holding onto his hope that the guy in his English class was interested in him, ignoring the fact that Vivian was laughing beside him.

"You know what, never mind. I'll save it for someone who has the care in the world to listen to what I have to say," Yugo said, throwing a napkin at Vivian's face, which almost caused me to choke on my food.

"Aww, is our Yuyu getting all grumpy?" Vivian teased as he removed the napkin and placed it on our table.

"Shut up," Yugo simply replied with a curt.

I can still hear them arguing but I wasn't paying attention to any of it as I kept picking on my food. Something has been weighing my mind lately and it won't stop bothering me. Or is it someone?

Vivian suddenly approached me and asked, "Psst, El. Watcha thinkin' about, aye?" Her face was just a few inches away from mine, and I couldn't figure out what she was up to.

I gently pushed her face away so I could keep eating. Yugo then chimed in, "Probably thinking about that guy she bumped into earlier this morning."

I immediately denied the speculation, "What? No, no. Why would I be thinking about him?"

"Hmm, probably because our precious Ella over here has a little crush on someone," Vivian teased.

Both of them started making the "o" sound while they continued to tease me relentlessly.

"Can you both please stop?" I whined as I covered my ears, hoping they would stop teasing me.

Miraculously, they finally stopped their nonsense, but I could still hear them snickering.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, let's finish eating. We'll continue our conversation later on since we barely have any time left," Vivian said, finishing her food.

Thank god. Finally, some peace.

We quietly finished our meals together, forgetting our previous conversation about certain someone. I heard the bell ring and groaned knowing that I have to get to class early. Forget what I said about peace.

"Goodbye, pookies! I'll see you later. You both better be there or else no free ice cream from your Highness!" Yugo yelled, which, again, earned him stares from other people making him look like a fool.

I chuckled as I grabbed my schedule out of my bag to check what class I have next, and it looks like I have History. Great.

I packed all the things I needed and went to my next class.

As I entered, I noticed that the room was pretty empty as I realized that I was the first one to get here. I better have an award for being the most punctual in class

Nonetheless, I sat down and placed my head on the desk as I waited for the other students to arrive.

Help. 

I did not just fall asleep in class while waiting.

Now look where I ended up.

Principal's office.

Mhm, that's right. I swear this is all Yugo's fault. His yelling got my brain all tired and drained. It literally cannot stand him and his delusions.

Ugh.

Mom forgive me.

I swear I was just planning to take a nap, I didn't mean to fall asleep during the whole goddamn discussion. So much for being a good student.

After thirty minutes of lecturing, the principal finally decided that I had enough. Which I definitely did. He promised not to tell my guardian because this was my first warning but there will be no exceptions next time.

This just reminds me why I despise school so much. I remember one time in elementary school, I had asked my seatmate for her help since I was struggling and guess what?

The teacher sent me out of the room and told me that I shouldn't be talking in class since it was disrespectful.

Like Seriously? So now I can't talk? To anyone? Not even my own seatmate?

I can't wait for this day to be over already, I've had enough for today.

School's over and we're now having a picnic in the park while sitting on the grass. With a red cloth beneath us and some snacks, we prepared—chips, ice cream, and beverages (basically just sodas). Nothing fancy and all.

Vivian is seated at the right, Yugo sitting between us, and me at his left. The truth is, this is our first time gathering together like this, and I won't lie, it feels nice.

"I'm stupid to think that this is a normal picnic" Vivian stared at us blankly as she let her vanilla ice cream melt into her hands.

Yugo and I snickered as we continued to watch people. Not caring if our ice creams are melting.

Yugo's grandfather enjoys bird watching and keeps a collection of binoculars on his shelves. Yugo decided to borrow his grandfather's newest collection and brought the binoculars to our picnic because he thought it could be useful, and guess what? It did.

"Ella, you gotta check this out! The little girl just spitted on someone's bottle," he yelled and he gave me the binoculars.

I looked into his binoculars and saw what he meant. Although a guy, who seems like her older brother, grabbed and drank the bottle from the girl, clearly clueless. Poor guy, he has no clue what he just drank.

I almost choked on my ice cream laughing, "Dude, a guy just drank the bottle!"

Yugo's eyes widened and stole the binoculars away from me, "No fucking way, let me see!" He looked around to see what I meant and is now laughing so hard. I bet he pissed his pants.

Yugo finally calmed down, "Damn, that girl is a savage! Where can I adopt one like her?" Vivian rolled her eyes as she finished her ice cream and licked her fingers so no ice cream remained. "Are you guys going to stop acting like creeps and finish your ice creams? They are melting, you know. Especially yours, Yugo."

I looked at our ice creams and saw Yugo's ice cream melting, begging to be eaten. On the other hand, mine is almost finished. Yugo raised three fingers while holding his ice cream, attempting to do the stop sign to signal Vivian, "Hold on, people are much more interesting."He continued holding the ice cream in one hand while holding the binoculars on the other.

"Alright then," Vivian said, she then snatched his ice cream away and took a bite from it. Yugo paused what he was doing and gave Vivian a disbelief look.

"Hey, what the hell?" Yugo sounds pissed and Vivian still continues to devour his ice cream. "Poor ice cream was left alone begging to be eaten. What kind of consumer are you? Should I call the Ice Cream Protective Service?" Vivian jokes, but Yugo didn't let that slide. He threw the binoculars and attacked Vivian by giving her a tickle attack.

"Help me, Ella! This homo is trying to kill me." Vivian pleaded but instead of helping her, I took the binoculars and continue to do my business.

"You bitch!" Vivian chuckled between her words. I ignored her and finished my ice cream.

I looked around to see if there was anything interesting. I spotted soccer players, dancers, and a guy taking pictures of birds. Wait.

I took a closer look, and there it was—the same black messy hair I was so familiar with. The guy is wearing a grey jacket with a white T-shirt underneath it. He's here, peacefully taking pictures.

I bet I look dumbfounded right now.

Why do I always see him everywhere I go? What curse did he cast on me or is this just another way for the universe to give me signs that it hates my existence?

I ignored the fact that there were other people I could look at as I fixed my gaze on him. For a moment, it felt like it was just me and him in the park. Wait, what am I thinking?

I snapped away from my thoughts and looked away from him to watch other people who were more interesting than he was.

I saw two more individuals who seemed like they were on a date. Boring.

I moved to the next victim/s and spotted two kids sitting in their respective swings while holding hands together. Interesting.

But then a young boy, not older than five years old, stood up from his swing and walked closer to the little girl, and gave her a peck on the cheek. The boy got some games.

"These kids have a better love life than the three of us," I said as I lowered the binoculars and turned to my beloved friends. They stopped their childish acts and stared at me. To my surprise, Yugo immediately snatched the binoculars away.

He looked around until he saw two kids giggling together, holding hands.

"Holy shit, what a bunch of cuties!" He squealed, smacking my right arm like a goddamn fan girl.

"Let me see!" Vivian stole the binoculars and did the same.

Yugo crossed his arms while rolling his eyes, "And YOU call us creeps? Get lost, hypocrite." He is not wrong. Who's the creep now, Vivian?

"Shut up. Where are they?" Before we instruct where she should look, we noticed a boy about to kick the ball to her right. Yugo and I panicked as we saw the ball flying towards her, Vivian remained focused and unconcerned.

"TO YOUR RIGHT!" We both warned Vivian to look out for the ball, but instead, she looked to her left. "What do you mean? I see nothing!" Vivian asked frustrated as the ball was getting closer to her.

"WATCH YOUR RIGHT" Before Vivian can dodge, she got hit on the head by the ball causing her to fall down.

She hissed in agony as Yugo and I exchanged glances. Battling the demons that are beginning to loom around us. But it's getting difficult just by staring at Vivian. We eventually gave up and laughed hysterically.

People started staring at us like we were some kind of idiots, but we can't help it. This is just too funny.

"What the heck? Why didn't you guys warn me?" Vivian yelled at us as we continued to laugh.

"We did! Your ass thought we were guiding you where to look, I mean we did, but- You know what I mean! I can't with this- my stomach hurts too much." Yugo wheezed, trying to explain to Vivian. He eventually laid down laughing and I joined him.

Vivian gave us both stern looks before laughing. I suppose she too found the situation amusing. I stood up, wiped my tears away, and attempted to gather myself.

I noticed him staring at us when I turned around, we both made eye contact together. I don't know if it's because of my giddy mood that occurred to me, but I smiled at him broadly before I turned around to assist my friends.

Today wasn't so bad after all.

A little while had gone since the ball had struck Vivian. I must confess that it was hilarious, but Vivian threatened to murder us both if we spoke anything about the incident. Which, by the way, she cannot. We gradually cleaned up our mess.

Yugo and I cleaned up the trash while Vivian cleaned up the ice cream that had gotten on our picnic blanket.

I found myself looking around and noticed that the guy wasn't there anymore. A hint of disappointment crossed my face because I had planned to try and start a proper conversation with him once we were done, but it seems that he had left early.

I shrugged it off since I know we'll be speaking eventually. I hope.

But out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of something. A man and a young child playing with bubbles. The little girl kept saying "more!" and her dad complies. Their moment together was filled with laughter and love. A father and daughter bonding. What does it feel like?

It's not that I don't appreciate having my mother around, but the longing is always there. I frequently wonder what it would be like to have a father in your life or throughout. I envy people who can say "dad" casually because I know that word will never be in my vocabulary.

Sometimes I feel ungrateful for wanting more since I know my mother is doing everything she can, to be the best she can be right now. I feel so bad for feeling this way, but is it wrong to be selfish for a little while? Goddammit.

It stings.

Vivian noticed my sudden change of mood, "What's wrong, Ella? Want more ice cream? Well, too bad, because you ain't getting one for another week."

"Nothing," I responded while dozing off.

"Ella?" Vivian said, hands on my shoulder.

"I said it's nothing" I shrugged off her hands on my shoulder and continued what I was doing.

With worry written all over their faces, Yugo and Vivian exchanged glances. Being aware that asking would only make matters worse, they made the decision to remain silent.

We exchanged our goodbyes and parted ways after finishing. I kicked the rocks as I made my way home, the guilt still eating inside me. I arrived at my destination and took a deep breath before I wore my usual smile.

I grabbed the keys from my bag and unlocked the door. When I entered, I could smell freshly made cookies. Yum.

"Mom, I'm home!" I said as I put my shoes away and placed my bag down.

"Welcome home sweetie. How was your first day of school?" Mom asked me as she was taking her cookies out in the oven. Heaven

I stared at her blankly.

What am I supposed to say to her?

That I felt like the shittiest daughter and met this really handsome guy that kept on bothering my head every chance it gets?

Really, El? On the first day and you already have problems with some guy you barely talk to?

I mean, he was a jerk. Can't blame me.

"El? Sweetie? Are you good? You zoned out for a minute there." She questioned as the memories of what happened today were still running through my mind.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just wondering that since Adam and Eve were the first people here on earth, does that mean we are all blood related?"

"Really funny, El." Mom chuckled as she took the cookies out of the oven for me to devour. Yum

"Mhm, School was good though. I met new people." did not.

"I see." I swear at the corner of my eye I saw the corner of her mouth lift up.

Did she just smirk?

What does that mean?

I saw my mom grabbing plates near the kitchen sink, seems like she is about to transfer the cookies. I still want to ask her something, but I'm not sure if today is the right time. You know what, fuck it.

"Hey, mom?" I said.

My mom stopped on what she was doing, "What is it, precious?"

I really want to ask her but I can't seem to let out the words that I want to say. My mom looked at me expectedly, but I stayed silent.

Couple of seconds passed and the words still didn't come out.

"Nevermind." I said in defeat.

My mom gave me a warm smile and nod.

I feel like a coward.

Mom suddenly placed 5 fresh baked cookies on a plate in front of me, "Here take these cookies and take a rest, I know you had a long day."

She kissed my forehead and I gave her my warmest smile. She is the best.

"Yeah, yeah mom. I'll go upstairs now. Goodnight, Love you!" I told her as I grabbed the plate of her freshly baked cookies, went up and got myself ready for bed.

Oversize shirt. Shorts. Socks.

Perfect.

I went ahead and finished my homework as I munched on the cookies my mom made. Delicious

It's been an hour since I started on my homework and I finally finished them.

I placed my things aside, turned off the lights and turned on the lamp.

I placed my head on my pillow as I stared at the darkness. Somehow, I ended up thinking about him as I slowly drifted off to sleep, mentally preparing myself for tomorrow.

»»♡««

This was a long chapter to write...

But it was worth it anyways :)

Word Count: 4,652

»»♡««