Chapter 2

The next day, Thea woke up from her sleep, she raised her head and the sun was shining on her eyes. She fell asleep in the same place. Her body ached a lot because of her uncomfortable sleeping position. Thea was still thinking about her mother's words last night, it made her sick. For her, that man is just another person, he will never replace a father figure in her life.

After taking a shower, Thea came out and saw her mother in the kitchen, she ignored her mother and left the house. Her mother hadn't a chance to say anything to her yet but she chose not to make a scene. She knew what she did really disappointed her daughter.

Thea walked alone to the bus stop to go to her school, she waited at the stop, she looked into her bag to find her earbuds but it seemed she left them on the bed.

"Shit, I forgot to bring it" Thea muttered.

Not long after, the bus came and Thea got on the bus, she saw Luna sitting alone in the back seat. Luna saw her and ask her to sit beside her but Thea chose to sit in another seat. She was sitting by the window until someone came and sat beside her.

"Ish, can't you see me? I asked you to sit beside me" Luna said, Thea just stared at her and looked back at the window.

"I'm sure you're not wearing your earbuds, but why aren't you answering me? You're not deaf are you?" Luna said and Thea still ignored her.

After nearly 25 minutes, they got off at their school stop. Thea went down first and Luna followed behind.

"Thea, can you walk a bit slower?" Luna tried to catch up with Thea so she could walk beside her.

"Why are you following me?" Thea said.

"We're going to the same school, I'm not following you" Thea stopped walking and Luna stopped too.

"Why did you stop?" Luna said.

"You said you weren't following me right?" Luna was silent.

They stopped right at the school gate, the sound of a horn startled them both, Thea turned around, it was Ethan and his friends. Thea and Luna stepped aside from the gate to let them in.

"Do they already have a driver's license? They shouldn't bring a car to school" Luna said and Thea left her.

•

She regretted leaving her earbuds in the room, now she could hear the noise in her ears. It pissed her off. The class was very crowded, very noisy. Thea decided to leave the class to find a quieter place. She chose the toilet. So she went there, but her steps again had to stop, he saw someone being bullied right near the toilet.

Karen, the only person who likes to bully other people at school, she feels she has everything, the daughter of the school's owner, making her not afraid of anything. Thea didn't want to interfere, she just wanted to find peace. But he also can't let Karen do that continuously.

"Stop" Thea said and Karen stopped scribbling on people's faces with lipstick.

"What? Are you her friend?"

"No"

"Then why are you telling me to stop?"

"Just go" Thea said to the girl in front of Karen, but Karen held her back.

"Who are you? How dare you tell her to leave, she's having fun with me" Thea didn't care what she said, she grabbed the hand of the girl in front of Karen and told her to leave.

"How dare you to do that? Don't you know who I am? I'm sure you're just a junior here" Thea didn't say anything, she just wanted to go past Karen but Karen pushed her down.

"Are you deaf?!" Thea tried to stand up and slapped Karen's face hard.

"No" An angry Karen tried to slap her back but someone held her hand.

"Stop, what are you doing?" Thea looked at the person, it was Ethan.

"She slapped me" Karen said.

"I saw you Karen, you pushed her first"

"So?"

"So you are wrong"

"Ethan, you defended her?" Thea just want to leave but Ethan held her back.

"What?" Thea pulled her hand and snapped at Ethan.

"Why are you mad at me? I helped you"

"I don't need your help"

"What?" Ethan said and Thea left, leaving them alone.

•

In the end, the library became Thea's next place to choose. She chose the shelf at the end and sat down on the floor, leaning her body against the wall. She closed her eyes, all the words her mother said last night replaying in her head.

She felt that there was no comfortable place for her, even her house was no longer a home. She doesn't want to go back there but only there she can remember the memories with her father.

"Isn't crying alone so painful?" Thea opened her eyes and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"It's none of your business" Sam walked over to her and sat beside her.

"I know, because I often feel it"

"I want to be alone"

"Why? This is my place, I was only 5 minutes late and you were here first" Thea wanted to get up and leave but Sam held her back.

"It's okay, we can share this place, You need a place to express your emotions right? This is the only place, no one will come here, besides me and now, besides the two of us." Thea was silent. She sat back down and leaned against the wall.

There was no conversation at that time between Thea and Sam, they just enjoyed the silence around them. Sam turned to Thea who was closing her eyes, then he smiled and decided to leave there. As Sam came out of the library he was met by Noah and Harry who greeted him.

"Hey, where have you been? We're looking for you" Noah said.

"Library, where's Ethan?"

"He's with his girlfriend" Noah said.

"What about Luna? Are you asking her to hang out with us tomorrow?" Harry said.

"I haven't spoken to her"

"Why?"

"Did you think it was that easy to ask someone out?" Sam said and not long after Thea came out of the library.

"Let's go to the canteen, I'm so hungry" Harry said.

"You two go ahead, I have some business to attend to" Noah said and left them. He ran after Thea who walked alone to her class.

"Thea" Noah tapped Thea on her shoulder, making her stop and turn towards him.

"Do you have any plans tomorrow night?" Thea just stared at Noah.

"Hello, I'm talking to you, that's a question you need to answer"

"No"

"Will you go with me and the others? Luna is also coming with us, you two are friends right?"

"No, she's not my friend" Thea just walked away but Noah blocked her way.

"Wait, you didn't answer my question, will you go with me and the others?"

"No thanks" Thea pushed Noah's body aside and left.

"Skylight, if you change your mind, we will be there tomorrow night" Noah shouted and Thea just continued walking to class without paying any attention to Noah's words.