20th July

Wednesday is the only acceptable day, I feel, to have a wedding.

Have y'all ever imagined being on a podcast? Telling stories, having people to talk to as a living? Yeah, I know right? Socialising as a job? What the heck?

I guess it's for a group of people out there.

Count the days, it's already the 20th of July.

So, what am I doing today?

I have no idea. Dear Candace decided she wanted to 'change her ways' after bullying me for three years. I mean, what's the logic behind that?

After waking up, I rolled off my bed and onto my feet in one smooth motion before promptly getting a cramp in my left hamstring. I fell onto my bed again, clutching my leg while wincing. I muttered to myself, "That hurts… Dang, that really hurts."

I stayed still for a few minutes, letting the cramp come to an end before finally going to do my routine with a slight limp. My body had several bruises and cuts. As I stared at myself through the mirror, I reached up to peel off the already peeling-off bandaid. The injury had stopped bleeding, so that was good. My hand, too.

I even checked the cuts on my triceps where Candace dug her fingernails into me. That sucks.

Huh…

Whatever.

Routine over, get me out of the room to face my family. Fable was chilling at the dining table with dad over there reading the newspaper. My Mom had already finished making breakfast and was relaxing at the dining table for once.

I sat at my seat, asking, "Are y'all up early or am I late?"

"You're up later than usual," My Mom told me.

"Shucks."

I picked up a fork and dug into the pancakes. While I was eating, Fable told me, "Yin's coming to visit tomorrow."

After glancing up at my Mom, I replied, "Sure."

Fable raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "I mean, she's already seen me here, right? If you're gonna marry her, she's technically family."

"Marriage," My Mom repeated.

Fable let out a sigh, saying to her, "We're too young to get married."

"Well, I mean, if you're dating her now, surely you intend to get married, right?" My Mom stated. "Let's forget about your previous girlfriends and let's focus on Yin. She's a nice girl, surely you plan to stay long-term."

"Of course, I wanna be with her long-term," Fable grumbled.

"Say one thing about your girlfriend that I wouldn't know," I challenged him.

Fable gave me a look, his phone still in hand. "That's a sudden question."

"C'mon, I just wanna know a couple of fun facts about my future sister-in-law," I chuckled.

"I could literally say anything and you wouldn't know it," Fable told me. "How would you know anything about Yin if you've barely met her?"

"Good point," I agreed with him.

Dad was probably listening to everything that was going on. He's just reading the paper and not really doing much else.

"Tell us something interesting," My Mom backed me up.

Fable folded his arms, placing his phone on the table. He thought for a moment before telling her, "Yin is a big fan of anime and manga."

"You guys are complete opposites," I told him.

"Yeah, how?" Fable asked.

"You're a gamer who doesn't leave the house, doesn't read manga or watch anime while your girlfriend is a huge fan of anime and manga while still doing sports," I stated. "What kind of similarities do you guys even have?"

"Opposites attract, innit?" My Mom chuckled.

Fable sighed, waving me off. "If you ever get into a relationship, I'll pull these questions out on you."

"If," I emphasised.

My Mom clapped and got up on her feet, telling us, "Now, don't start fighting."

"This isn't fighting," I defended myself. "This is bickering."

"Same thing."

They started getting ready to leave. I left at the same time as them, walking down the hallway as a family.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the car?" Dad asked.

"Nope," I confirmed. "I'm taking the bus today."

We parted ways since the car park was on a different floor from the lobby of the apartment building. Alright, so let's just skip right ahead to when I reach the school, okay? I would usually be at school rather early, but today's a special occasion since I woke up slightly later than usual.

Why are there so many people rushing to school with me? Can't y'all go to school early for once?

And who else do I see but Fable's favourite woman at the moment?

Yin was walking with a couple of her friends, chatting with them. I was close by, coincidentally going the same route as them. Ever feel awkward when you're going the same route as someone else? Especially with strangers. Whenever someone happens to go the same way as me, I get ready to either scream or fight back.

Anyways, Yin must have seen me.

How do I know that? Well, she turned around and made eye contact with me for a solid few seconds. I waved at her when she did.

"Good morning," She greeted.

"Mornin'," I greeted back.

Her friends noticed us and started to quicken their pace a little, leaving Yin to slow down and walk by my side. She asked me, "Uh… if you're here, does that mean Fable's already in school?"

"No idea," I shrugged, letting out a comedic shrug. "We go to school separately. But how's it going between the both of you? I never got to see the gift you gave Fable, but it must have been something he enjoys!"

"I was going to ask you about what Fable thought of my gift…" She told me.

"Oh."

She laughed lightly before telling me, "I tried thinking of things Fable might enjoy, but I'm not too experienced in the gaming community."

"Huh, I'm sure anything you get him will make him happy," I encouraged her.

Yin stopped and pointed up the stairway we were passing by. She pointed up the stairway, telling me, "I'm heading this way."

"Aight," I nodded.

Yin hesitated before turning to me to ask, "Uh… —, could we speak after school? Just the two of us."

"Hm… I do have remedial classes though," I informed her.

"Then how about the break?" Yin asked.

"I'll see how it goes," I said. "Where do you wanna meet?"

"By the garden," She stated.

"Great! Meet you there," I saluted her off. "I'll make sure I don't drag a nuisance along with me."

"Nuisance?"

"Aight. In a bit, yeah?"

"See you later, then."

Yin disappeared from my line of sight when she went up the stairway. I stood there for a moment, thinking about how I'm gonna try to convert Candace back to normal. Personally, I rather not deal with the shitty version of Candace I saw yesterday.

To class!

"Good morning!" I greeted when I walked into the class.

Mr Dohl was at the front, marking attendance surprisingly early for once. Mr Dohl commented, "You're later than usual."

"Yeah, overslept a little," I told him. "Just a little though. Nothing too major. I mean, how serious can tardiness be?"

"Depends," Mr Dohl replied honestly.

I chuckled and turned to the class. I passed by Glasses girl, who watched me walk by. Unfortunately for me and everyone else, dear Candace was already present and ready to ruin everyone's days.

"---, I'm going to need to speak with you after the morning assembly," Mr Dohl informed me.

"Aw, but I'll miss a part of the first period," I complained. "Can we push this to tomorrow? Then you can lecture me about stuff."

"It's regarding your attendance," He stated.

"Aight, I'm all ears," I gave him a thumbs up.

The morning assembly ended not long after. Mr Dohl gestured to me, so I followed him out of the classroom, saying, "So what's poppin'?"

"I know Candace attacked you yesterday, but don't you think there is a limit to things?" Mr Dohl asked me.

"Hm?"

"You've been assaulting Candace for years, surely she has limits," Mr Dohl continued. "This new attitude of yours, too. Some of your classmates have come up to me and stated their concerns and complaints."

"Didn't you say we were gonna chat about my attendance?" I asked him with complete seriousness. "I didn't hear about how you wanted to question my personality."

We were on the way to his office.

"You used to be a quiet girl at the back of the class, no one disturbed you," He insisted.

"Teach, did you know who I was as a person at the time, hm?" I asked him. "I remember quite clearly that you would talk to students during the Parent-Teacher Meetings. I heard from the others that you had quite the insightful feedback to provide."

I spun my hand by the wrist a couple of times before pointing at my face. "Insightful about everyone… but me."

I tapped my chin with my other arms crossed. Looking up at the ceiling as we walked, I said, "What did you say again? I was a 'quiet' girl, I don't participate much in class and am an occasional troublemaker."

"If I've done anything wrong, I apologise," Mr Dohl told me.

"No, no," I laughed, faking a puke, then continued laughing. "I don't want you to apologise! I saw my dad's face get so confused when you said all that stuff! It was a great day man. Nah, you don't have a thing to apologise for."

We reached his office.

"Haven't been here in a bit," I commented when I walked in. "You still got the hard sour candies?"

I sat down. Mr Dohl sat at his seat as well. I added to my previous statement, "Why does 'hard candy' make it seem like it's a type of drug? Like coke, you know. It's like I'm asking if you got any hard drug I could do right now."

Mr Dohl pulled a file out, not responding to my comments.

"Teach, did you break up recently?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Why would you think that?" He countered.

"A vibe, kinda. You seem kinda down. You good?"

"I didn't break up or anything like that," He replied, his words taking on a stricter tone. "Nothing happened to me, I'm just doing my job."

"Teach… you don't like something, do you?" I grinned.

Mr Dohl set the file down, the file full of paper. He started rummaging through the shelves on the desk, not replying to my answer. Well, well, well. If the one and only Mr Dohl was trying to avoid a topic, surely it's serious.

"Is it the rule change?" I asked him.

I noticed Mr Dohl flinching slightly.

"I get it, you're really stiff on the whole discipline thing, so I get that you wouldn't want anyone to have dyed hair in school," I continued, leaning back in the chair. "Honestly, I don't like the rule change, either."

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"

"Of course I don't," I confirmed.

"Weren't you the one who was insistent on having your hair be green?" He stated. "I've tried for weeks to get you to change, but you've never done it."

"Please, y'all assumed what my intentions were on your own," I complained. "I always said I was going to dye my hair back when something was done, but y'all did the complete opposite and allowed not just me, but everyone else to dye their hair. What part of that makes it seem like I would dye my hair back to black?"

"It's like y'all gave up on trying to figure stuff out, so y'all just allowed it to pass."

I crossed my arms, staring at Mr Dohl, who had stopped looking for whatever he was looking for to face me. I did a complete spin on the chair before stopping myself. I sighed, shrugging and looking up at the ceiling.

"Well, nothing else I can do, might as well tell you what my original plan was, eh?" I started explaining my master plan. "I would assume that if you saw someone with very obvious coloured hair, you would reprimand them, no? Then logically, you would also crack down on other kids who also had dyed hair, yeah?"

"But no, I don't see the other students being approached or scolded, just the weird green girl everyone's making fun of. Not brown... or blond. Just me."

I let out a long sigh before waving it off. "Whatever. Let's talk attendance! I swear I've been trying to be good recently."

"You had a day where you came to school with a parent's excuse," Mr Dohl recalled. "And a day where you took half the day off. Couple that with your week's suspension and there is definitely much to be desired when it comes to your overall attendance."

"That doesn't sound too good," I commented.

"How have your studies been?"

"Uh… getting there, I guess? Been trying to remember as much as I can from Hamlet. Really tough."

"Take your studies seriously," Mr Dohl warned.

"I am willing to listen to reason," I agreed.

Mr Dohl sighed and looked through his desk drawers again. Eventually, he visibly gave up and just told me, "The school released an official notice to you regarding your attendance. If you're late or leave school without permission one more time, we will consider revoking your right to take the Finals."

"So I'm gonna repeat a year?"

"Yes, that is the case."

I shrugged and sat deeper into the seat. To the point where I'm accidentally pushing myself backwards. I told Mr Dohl, "Yeah, that's fine. It's only a year, what's the worst that could happen?"

"And there's the recent… quarrel with Candace. After her apology, the school decided to lift the No-contact rule."

"They're lifting the Restraining order? Why?"

"We believe it is unethical to intentionally prevent students from going near each other," Mr Dohl explained. "But if another scuffle occurs, we will be forced to take action. At worse, you may face expulsion."

"Meh."

"There's a printed form you need your parents to sign, but I haven't been able to find it. I'll give the notice to you sometime today."

"Sure thing."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Man, I'm really gonna miss that Restraining Order."

I left the office.

The first period had long since started, and I just left the office. You know what would be hilarious? If they used my tardiness for the first period as an excuse to expel me. Just imagine! A student was expelled because she was ten minutes late to class.

I would absolutely love to be on the front page of a newspaper.

Like, y'all don't know how much it would mean to me. People, most likely older people, would receive the newspaper from the milkman and see the headline 'Student expelled? Ten minutes late to class?'. Do milkmen still exist? And do they still give out newspapers? No clue, probably won't bother to figure that one out.

So so so.

I walked into class just to come face to face with the History teacher, who did not look too pleased. I shot a finger gun at him, asking, "I'm not gonna get expelled for this, will I?"

"Why are you late?" He demanded.

"Y'know, the ol' Mr Dohl had to talk to me," I replied honestly. "You know him, right?"

"Alright, hurry to your seat."

Walking by my classmates to reach the back of the class, I noticed something strange. Where was Candace? Did she ditch class? Made sense, since History is no one's favourite subject in this class.

Whatever, she's probably off trying to court Mr Popular again.

"Psst," the girl to my left tried to get my attention.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Candace said she went to find you, did you see her?" The girl whispered.

"Candace? Tried to find me?" I questioned.

"Yeah."

"Why though?"

The girl blinked a couple of times before tilting her head slightly, asking with complete seriousness, "But… aren't you two in a relationship?"

That rumour's still floating around? I swear it died last week when I spread it in the first place.

I shrugged. "I'm gonna have to ask her about it later then."

"Girls at the back, could you two keep your chattering to a minimum?" The History teacher requested with authority.

While I'm sitting through this boring module of a monotonous History teacher, could I talk about the superhero genre? I mean, love the stuff, but doesn't it get kinda repetitive? Hero comes along and faces challenges from the main bad guy before ultimately defeating the main bad guy at the end of the story or movie.

Love that format, but if every superhero story follows that format, ain't it kinda stale?

Then there are also the stories where they want to exploit the idea of superheroes and how they aren't actually such good guys, like The Boys.

Honestly, I'd rather be a villain than a superhero. Sure I'd get beaten, but at least I get to be cool while doing so, not that heroes can't be cool or anything, just personal preference.

"How many numbers of pi can you recite?" I randomly asked the girl beside me in a low voice.

"Uh… why?" She countered.

"Just wondering."

"Let's see… there's 3.14…"

While she started contemplating her life decisions over pi, I decided to focus on something else entirely. By something else, I mean doodling on a blank piece of paper.

"3.14159," She finalised her answer. "Seems like the least people would remember, right?"

"Yeah," I agreed.

I continued doodling on that piece of paper, perhaps looking too happy, cause my History teacher decided to pay my table a visit.

"What are you drawing?" He asked me.

I showed him the picture. "It's of King Louis the 16th about to get Guillotine-ed."

"Just pay attention, please," He insisted.

I behaved for the most part while waiting for the bell to ring. Let's see… I was going to go to the cafeteria and maybe get a sandwich, but I gotta meet Fable's dear girlfriend during this break."

By the garden, innit?

I managed to get to the garden safely. Not sure what dangers would happenstance to me, but you never know.

Also just arriving at the garden, was Yin.

"Hello," I greeted her.

We sat down on a bench.

"Reminds me of a Drama," I commented. "You wouldn't believe how this Hugh asshole cheated on his girl and somehow managed to get a happy ending with the girl he cheated on. Doesn't make any sense, huh?"

"What… kind of Dramas have you been watching?" Yin asked, looking slightly concerned.

What's there to be concerned about? I mean, I just randomly threw out a spoiler to a Drama I can't even name.

"No clue, just saw it on the tele," I shrugged.

There was a slight moment of silence between the two of us. Trust me when I said I made full use of the silence she gave me. I swung my legs and looked around the place, wondering whether or not I should visit the garden some other time.

"I just… wanna talk about Fable's birthday party," Yin told me.

"Mhmm," I nodded. "Continue."

I was sitting to the right of Yin, my hands holding onto the edge of the seat just for fun. I tapped the bench slowly with a finger on my right hand so that Yin couldn't see it.

"I heard from Fable that you're uncomfortable when people see you in your own house," Yin explained the situation to me.

"Yeah, not really my style, you know?" I said lightheartedly.

Yin shook her head before saying, "Lately I've been thinking about you and Fable's relationship together as siblings. I don't think I've ever seen you two getting along too well with one another."

"It's normal," I shrugged.

Yin let out a sigh. She looked around us, and then said to me, "I don't know if you remember me at all, but I've opened my heart to you once before."

I put a hand up to stop her from continuing. I asked a genuine question, "Sorry, are you trying to hit on me right now?"

"What? No!"

I laughed, waving that idea aside. "Sorry, sorry. Thank god though. I thought I was about to pull more women than men."

Yin didn't look very entertained.

"I notice I haven't seen you without a smile on your face," Yin commented.

"Surprisingly, you ain't the first person to say that to me," I replied.

Yin adjusted her posture a little. A couple of people walked by us, but from the looks of it, they were just strangers. When they were some distance away, Yin continued, "You must be a really happy person to be able to smile like that."

She shook her head before turning to face me again. "Is there some family trouble at home that I'm not seeing? I know it's not my place to speak about your family troubles, but I really want to know."

"Honestly, nothing's been going on," I insisted. "I was a little late to the party cause I went out early to try and find an extra birthday gift for Fable."

I showed her my hands which held nothing. "Couldn't find it though. Real tragic. I probably shouldn't have gone in the first place, huh?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, yeah," I nodded. "Time ran a little long, so my Mom had to pick me up. Let me tell you, she was not happy."

"I almost died that day," I added on for fun.

Yin breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good… I thought you were intentionally trying to skip out on his birthday party or something."

Yeah, good.

Imagine trying to skip out on your brother's birthday party. Pfft, couldn't be me.

"So, I heard you like anime," I started a different topic.

"Did Fable tell you?" She asked.

"Yeah. Also, how do you have time to hit the gym and watch anime?" I questioned Yin. "Do you hit the gym, go home then watch anime or do you watch anime on days you don't hit the gym?"

"I used to watch some anime whenever I would work out at the gym," Yin answered. "Not anymore though."

"Why?"

"I've been going to the gym with Fable. I'm sure you know about this," Yin explained. "Fable doesn't really like anime and manga, stuff like that. Besides, I've been coaching him when we're there in case he did anything wrong, so not much time to actually watch anything."

"Were you the one who asked Fable to follow you to the gym or was it the other way around?"

Yin cracked a small smile, commenting, "Feels like I'm being interviewed."

I leaned in real close, to which Yin leaned away.

"So? Who engaged it?"

Yin pushed my face away, the both of us returning to our original sitting positions. She answered me, "I told Fable one day that I hit the gym, so he suggested that he accompany me."

"Ah, I see."

"But what about you? Do you have any hobbies?"

Okay. Pause.

Let me think about that.

"I like acting," I stated.

Wait, hold on, that came out a little wrong.

"I mean, I'm kind of an actress, but I haven't found any gigs at all," I elaborated. "So… basically a Starbucks employee minus the barista and minus the pay."

"Oh," Was the only response Yin gave right after hearing that.

"That's cool," She commented. "Too bad this school doesn't have a Drama Club, huh? I'm sure you would be amazing on stage."

"I do some voice acting too," I added.

Yin's expression lit up. "Show me."

I cleared my throat before attempting to do some of the voices I've practised in the past. In a deep voice, I told Yin, "Hello, are you here to find the sacred treasure hidden inside the Dragon's ass- I mean, lair?"

Yin laughed out loud.

"I also do this high-pitched voice that makes me wanna kill myself when hearing a recording of it," I said in a high-pitched voice.

"Have you tried to get a role in anything?" Yin asked me.

"Nope, but I'm willing to try if I ever get an opportunity," I said. "There's this play I wanna do, but I haven't fully thought it through on how I'm gonna be able to perform it."

"What kind of play?"

"It's basically a story about two guys fighting for this girl. But since they keep thinking they aren't good enough to compete with the other, they start picking up skills that the girl might be attracted to, pushing her away as they spend a ton of time doing it. Normal stuff. Girl dies at the end though."

"What? Why?"

"Uh… sickness? Suicide? I don't know."

Yin nodded. "Tragic end, then?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Never much one for a happy ending in a cruel story."

There was a slight pause.

"Maybe you could change the ending of that story?" Yin gave some input. "Make it so that the girl doesn't just die? I think that everyone deserves a happy ending."

Not everyone.

"I'll think about it."

Yin glanced around once. She then got on her feet, telling me, "I'm glad we could talk. I really enjoyed speaking with you."

"Awww," I clasped my hands over my heart. "That's sweet."

"If you ever have difficulties in your relationship, feel free to tell my Mom. she would absolutely destroy Fable for hurting you."

Yin chuckled, waving me off. I waved back. She signed off. "Bye."

"Buh-bye."

Byebye.

I sat around for the next ten minutes, just staring at the plants. Afterwards, I got up and made my way deeper into the garden which people rarely ever went to during breaks. Yeah, it's a lot quieter.

Ding.

Someone must have sent me a text. But who cares? I'm busy at the moment sitting on a bench and staring at plants.

You know what?

If I ever reach the age of retirement, maybe I should have a garden of my own. Yeah, pick up gardening, grow out my own little paradise. That is if I ever reach that age.

Oh dear me!

Did the bell just ring?

I got off the bench I was sitting on and made my way back to class. I swung my arms as I walked, humming a soft tune to myself. I wonder, oh I wonder, will I be able to graduate from this school?

Think about it. What if I get sick again?

Sounds pretty bad, huh? Getting expelled just because I get the flu. Hell, I'll probably have to drag my dead body to school in order to graduate. But then again, I wouldn't need a graduation certificate if I'm dead, would I?

"My God in God we trust…" I whispered to myself right outside the class.

When I walked in, I had a great smile on my face. I looked around and made brief eye contact with Candace, who turned away, ignoring me.

Lessons went on as usual.

I mostly just sat at the back of the class, playing around with one of my pencils. Random fact, I bring about three pencils to school, and I got a funny story regarding that whole situation.

So basically, I go home one day thinking I gotta bring a pencil to school. So I brought a pencil to school like any other person. I went home another day and realised I accidentally left that pencil in school, so I used one of my spares. After finishing my work, I ended up putting the pencil into my stationery box. After going to school, I end up with two pencils in my stationery box. So listen up, okay? I was drawing random stuff on one of my worksheets with another one of my extra pencils, but when packing my bag, I ended up putting that pencil into my stationery box.

Since I keep forgetting to take these damn pencils out, I've submitted to my fate of just constantly having three pencils.

Y'all ever try to be Wolverine with three pencils or pens? Fun times.

"Reach for the Moon," I heard my English teacher say to the class.

Isn't the saying 'Reach for the skies'?

I don't know, and I don't think I want to argue with my English teacher today. What if she assigned an essay to me, you know?

Ding dong Bing bong.

Lessons are over.

Mr Dohl approached me after school holding a slip of paper. It was the consent form to notify my parents regarding the situation I'm in at the moment. How tragic. I still gotta attend the supplementary lessons.

Usually, I'm an attentive student. But for some reason, I couldn't get myself focused on whatever was being taught in front of me. At some point, I think I just spaced out and stared in front of me with a smile on my face.

"---," The supplementary teacher who was not Mr Dohl called out my name.

I looked up, asking, "Yes?"

I heard snickering across the room.

"Get your head out of the clouds," She told me. "I've been calling your name for quite a while."

She sighed and gestured to the board. "Could you explain this statement?"

Right, it was Chemistry.

Looking around the classroom, I was greeted by the faces of strangers. People I don't know and don't care much for. And some of them were amused by the situation I'm in. Huh, maybe it isn't just Candace, huh?

What's everyone like?

I gave the answer and that was it.

The room was quiet except for the squeaking of the whiteboard marker on the whiteboard… But never before had it been so loud.

I crossed my arms and let my line of sight drift downwards a little before the girl sitting to the side of me poked my shoulder, asking, "Are you alright?"

I faced her. "Is there a problem? Why would I not be alright?"

"Uh… Just that you aren't as energetic as the last time I've seen you?" She elaborated in a short and concise manner.

"Nah, I'm fine," I told her. "Just a little tired, that's all."

Just a little tired…

When I got home later that evening, I was immediately greeted with the sight of absolutely no one. I quickly made my way to my room, slamming the door shut behind me. I sat down on my bed and pulled the piece of paper Mr Dohl had handed to me.

Tick. Tick.

I don't remember how long I spent staring at it.

Tick. Tick.

I took a shaky breath and gently placed the piece of paper on the desk. I buried my face in a pillow and remained that way for about an hour when my Mom came home.

"---, dinner!" She called out.

I pushed myself off the bed. I rubbed my eyes and stretched a little before walking out with a brilliant smile on my face, holding that consent form in my hand. "Coming!"

And I think to myself…

What a wonderful world~