Chapter 21

I arrived at school early the next day. Gene was already in the classroom. I could tell he was feeling down. Years of friendship honed my ability to sense his mood.

I didn't want things to stay like this. Life is too short to let petty disagreements take away hours that could have been spent laughing together.

I took a deep breath and approached him. "Gene, sorry about last night."

He turned to look at me. "I'm sorry too, Beatrice."

I smiled. "It's a new day. Let's start it positively!"

He smiled back. "Yeah."

We sat beside each other talking about videogames and showing each other memes like usual. I liked how we could just easily put the negativity behind.

It wasn't long before the teacher arrived. Everyone quickly returned to their seats for the first period.

The day passed by normally. Gene, Momo, Cyrus, and I ate lunch together like usual, talking about the upcoming exams, plans for summer, and recent news. The phantom thief wasn't even mentioned once.