When Everything Seems To Go Wrong

Mimie and Crystal after packing their books into their bags, joined Lucretia and Jayden. Crystal robbed a hand over her shoulder assuredly,

"You don't have to keep hiding from your problems Luc..., it's not like they're just going to disappear anyway."

"Yes Luc..., if you should ask me, I think you should face it heads on rather than hiding. Moreover, you are not guilty in any sense. This attitude of yours will rather create room for more gossips. Face your battle girl..." Mimie chipped in.

"We are here for you.....Isn't that what friends are for..? Come on, let's go home." added Jayden but Lucretia kept glued to her seat, looking down.

Jayden, Mimie and Crystal glanced at each other and sighed. Convincing Lucretia took a great deal but finally, she stood up from her seat.

"I think you're right guys...I haven't done anything wrong to be hiding. The person who should be hiding now is Daisy."

She glanced at them with a sudden renewed energy which made her friends relieved.

"Let's go home." she took the lead, followed by the rest.

They stepped into the corridor to meet the school almost empty with little or no students around.

"I guess we missed the school bus." said Mimie.

"We sure did. So Luc, how far with Philip?"

"Oh Phil...," she winced in exhaustion. "He is still not talking to me."

"Don't worry too much about him. The most important thing now is to clear your name." commented Jayden. "Let's start by gathering some gists from the guests at the party."

"And how are you going to do that? Daisy being involved in this means that she carefully planned it out. I doubt if we will find any clues especially from the guests."

"Don't worry Luc..., leave that to me." he added assuredly, their voices fading through the hallway as they strolled towards the main entrance of the school.

Being left behind by the school bus, they had to work to the next public bus stop to join a bus home and that meant a 30-40minutes walk.

It was around 5pm when they finally got to the stop.

They were fortunate enough to meet the bus already there with passengers getting on board. They joined the queue and soon they were settled in their seats.

Mimie drew out her phone from her bag, touching the screen. She gasped at the sight that met her eyes.

"15 missed calls...? How come I didn't hear it ring? I'm so going to get nagged at when I get home."

"Then call her back. It might help out situations."

"I don't think so Jay..." she returned the phone into her bag. "It's rather going to worsen out situations. I better get home first."

"I'm so sorry Mimie..."

"Don't worry, I will make out an excuse." She rest her back on the seat,looking forward and so did Crystal.

With everybody relaxed now on their seats, Lucretia took out her phone and texted something to Philip. She stared at the screen patiently waiting for his reply which seemed not to come.

Unknown to her, Jayden was watching.

"Get me that." he took the phone, making her instinctively gaze at him with a surprised look.

"How long are you going to be like this? Can't you see he doesn't care whatever happens to you? You should get a grip of yourself."

"Don't judge him Jay..." she took the phone back. "He might probably be having a hard time digesting the issue too. He will hear me out when he is ready to. He just needs some time."

Jayden who couldn't believe his ears marveled at Lucretia's words.

"Look at how you're protecting him now. Does he even defend you the same way you do? I doubt if he can be anything more than a friend to you. And come to think of it, I don't believe he even sees you as a friend. A friend who can't be there for each other is meaningless."

"Please stop it Jay..." she ruffled her hair, taking in a deep breath as she tried to keep back the tears which were ready to drop from her eyes. "Can we not talk about this again...?"

They were staring at each other in silence when the automated announcing machine on the bus announced Jayden's stop as the bus pulled up.

"See you tomorrow Jay...." she turned away, looking through the window.

He slowly stood up from his seat, picking up his bag with his eyes still fixed on her as he stepped out to leave. Glancing back to Crystal and Mimie, he smiled, "See you girls tomorrow."

"Certainly..." they chorused as he strolled out of the bus. Noticing the awkwardness, they stared back at Lucretia.

"Is everything okay between them?" Mimie whispered to Crystal who just shrugged.

"Weird right?"

"Yeah...." nodded Crystal.

The bus drove off and soon, It was Mimie and Crystal's turn to alight. They picked their bags and bid their farewells.

"See you tomorrow." they said as they glided out of the bus.

When they had got off, they stood aside with Lucretia staring at them through the glass window as the bus turn on it wheels, about to speed off.

"Call me when you get home." Crystal murmured, gesturing with a hands.

Nodding to Crystal's request, the bus sped off. Lucretia rested her head on the seat, Jayden's words flooding her mind as silent tears round down her cheeks.

**************

It was around 6:30 pm. Philip was up in his room, sitting in front of the window staring out at Lucretia's as he glanced down at her message on his phone in deep thoughts, having no idea that she had not yet returned home.

He lifted his eyes from his phone to Lucretia's house when he saw her rushed into the compound, crying.

"Luc...?" he mumbled, raising from his seat about to race out of his room but stopped midway with the incident at school flooding his mind.

The mocking and teasing laughs, the pointing fingers and the hurtful words against Lucretia flashed before his eyes. Feeling guilty, hurt and devastated, he thumped the clock on the desk beside his bed, causing it to smash on the floor.

"This is all my fault." he exuded as he broke down in tears "Why couldn't I protect her?" he exclaimed, slowly sliding to the floor beside his bed "All this wouldn't have happened if I had kept an eye on her at the party."

Mrs. Angelica was clearing the table whiles Mr. Gilbert was in the sitting room watching a documentary when the door slammed opened with a heavy bang. They both turned to see Lucretia at the door with tear stained face.

"Lucretia...." uttered Mrs. Angelica slowly.

"Mum..." she cried, rushing into her mother's arms.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Wood stared aghast at each other, not knowing what was going on. They had not seen their daughter like that before.

*************

Daisy sat on her bed, feeling very satisfied with how her plan turned out well but then, she couldn't stand it been threatened by Lucretia.

"Who does she even think she is? I'm not going to let her win this time, not on my watch."

She took picked up her phone which was laying beside her. She scanned through it for a while and dialed someone's number. After a short ring, the caller answered.

"Hello Ethane, let's take this game to another level." she smirked.