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VALERIE
Meet me at our old bench at three
-Fraya
I don't even need to read the name at the bottom to know who has written the note. The particularly neat, cursive handwriting is always going to be recognizable to me.
But I hadn't expected to ever see it again. Nor did I want to.
I was surprised to see the piece of paper under my desk, when I returned from lunch. I didn't even know she knew where I sat.
I folded the paper and stuffed it into the back of my pocket, settling down into my chair. I don't know why she'd try to talk to me after all this time. I don't want anything to do with her anymore.
**********************
At the end of the day, I find myself walking towards the back of the college building, where I know Fraya is going to be waiting for me. I stop in my steps, just before I turn the corner. Why am I doing this? What does she want?
My grip tightens around the piece of paper in my pocket, as the other hand rests on my scarf. Fraya would be standing a few feet away from me. Maybe if I paid attention, I might be able to hear her breathing. It's so quiet back here at this time.
We haven't spoken in two years. She was the one who decided to leave. She was the one who decided that reputation was more important than friendship. More important than what we had.
And now she thinks she can just summon me back when she feels like it? I spin around on my heel, and walk in the opposite direction, towards the entrance of the school. I will not be played.
I head down the street, and towards the store. This is the time when the town is busy; all the students are coming back from school and college. I pass the chattering friend groups and couples, as they laugh and chat loudly with each other. I'm approaching a group of girls who me and Fraya had dance practice with back in secondary. They briefly glance at me, and one of them, Mia, I think she was called, opens her mouth to say something, but I lower my head, and speed-walk past them before she can speak.
I don't want to hear anything. I'm tired of the gossip, of the insults, of the crude jokes that are not funny.
It's almost laughable-the way one single incident can change someone's entire life. I could've been walking with those girls today. I could've been hanging out with Fraya everyday after lessons, and we'd talk about how much we enjoyed our courses, and about our future plans for university next year. We would have still been doing dance together, every week. If things turned out differently- maybe I would've actually been doing a course that I liked.
Suddenly, I hear a loud and heavy sigh from next to me, and I snap my head around, immediately startled. I hadn't realised someone had been walking so close to me without me noticing. But when I look around, there is nobody there. The group of girls are far behind me now.
