Since, A Novel

xi. ONLY ONE HAD A THROAT & THUS DESERVING

xi.
ONLY ONE HAD A THROAT
& THUS DESERVING

                October 2018. Every student had occupied themselves with their exhibits on the first day of the school fair, engaging other young people from several different schools, some were even from bigger academies. Everyone was thrilled for the big week since the school headmaster had approved of the upper-grade students' proposal that there ought to be more events and activities to recognize everyone's distinctive talents and artistry. A student had once said to another, 'I never really understood why we should even be petitioning for these things—I mean, I'm amazed this school is still standing up!'

There were enjoyable food booths in the cafeteria—it was extended to the outside so that enough people would be accommodated, as well as little theaters and movie screenings on the west side of campus. The stand-up comedy acts, mini concerts, and music festival were all in the east. Then, to the north, were the art exhibitions, handmade fanzines, and book fairs—the reason why the students had raised funds for the canvases and supplies needed for the special booth, where all was encouraged to create their own pieces of art and bookmarks for the reading materials that they had picked up from the bookfair. Some had suggested that it would be somehow more enthusiastic to welcome visitors and potential new students on the front side of the school, where they would be in favor of collected and worthwhile hobbies—or the calm hobbies.

Then on the south was the school's last building. On the top floor of that building, the quietest, there laid a girl on the last row of the bleachers with an open book covering her face and taking a nap, away from the people, and most of all, away from Georgette Wills, and her dangly bracelets that would often signal the girl that she was near.

     Yūn had thought about all the times that Georgette would indiscriminately appear in the most random time  in the most random places, like she's never had a conscious choice; her appearing in the school library while Yūn browsed the shelves, scaring the heavens out of her while Georgette's all smiles and winkies, and her cutting into the queue behind Yūn in the school cafeteria resulting to all the other students to grunt and just leave the line, and for that Yūn would say 'What are you doing?' and the other girl would just smile like she just didn't cut 30% off the pocket of the cafeteria staffs—And Yūn would apologize to others on behalf of Georgette.

     Her annoyance with the other girl had swelled the more Georgette did things that Yūn couldn't understand, especially the day Yūn's best friend, Kate, had suddenly left the school and had transferred to another. The two hadn't been exchanging messages a lot those days, until it was a month with no contact with her friend. Yūn had met Kate one day after school when she was biking on her way home when she had heard another girl shouting, 'The ball! The ball, kid! The ball!' Yūn tried to look behind her to see what the fuss was all about, when a ball had hit her straightly to her temple. She had crashed the bike into a large bin, bruising her left knee.

          "Man!" huffed the girl, Yūn saw how taller the other girl was. "The ball! I told you there was a ball coming. Didn't you hear me?" she was out of breath.

Yūn had grunted between the sensation of the sting.
          "I heard you,"
          "Then why didn't you duck, man!" she'd exclaimed, putting a hand on her temple.
          "I'm a girl."
          "Yeah, I know that," she said, bending on one knee. "Here, let me see," she inspected the cuts. "You
          from here? Where's your house? I'm Kate by the
          way. And we need to get this cleaned!"

          "Oi, Kate!" called a guy from a little far.

          "That's my brother," she said without turning to look at the guy, wiping the wound with the last piece of the wipes she snatched from her cargo shorts' pocket.
          "you ain't have to know his name, though, he's a
          scumbag,"