Obstinate Elitists

1

You heard that phrase all the time: that you were being paranoid. Friends, teachers, and even your own parents had been saying that to you. It annoyed you immensely whenever you heard it and because you usually hated confrontations, you tended to just ignore it. It was the easiest way out: ignoring.

Staying silent for a few minutes, you stared into the distance, forcing your eyelids to stay propped open. The sidewalk seemed to stretch on forever and the heat was beginning to get a little unbearable. What a situation. You pulled at the hem of your shirt to fan yourself from the new beads of sweat forming on your body.

"I can't believe I finally persuaded you to hang out for once... though technically, we're still just studying at the library. At least you're out of the house, I suppose," Riki said.

Side-eying her, your [e/c] hues narrowed with a warning. "You better not try and distract me. I will leave if you do."

Her mouth pouting, she crossed her arms and groaned. "You're kidding me. Can't I whisper to you some juicy tea? You can multi-task can't you? What talented queen are you if you can't even multi-task?"

"Riki."

Reaching the library, your footsteps faltered in front of the large place. A brown structure with beautiful, clean glass doors and windows, it was your favorite place to go to, to study. It was quiet and the librarians were generally really strict with any noise, which could anger some people, but had quite the opposite effect to you. It was one of the most productive spots for you in the world.

Riki pushed the door open and you followed her in. Taking in the smell of books, you smiled happily at the homely feeling of the area. Bookshelves upon bookshelves, filled of books that could further educate you about anything and everything. Why, it was an exciting place to be.

Your pink haired friend scowled at your expression and you stuck out your tongue at her.

Making your way round a wooden table, you planted yourself on the cool seat and relished the air condition. A nice contrast to the heat outside, you were already itching to get your hands on the textbooks. Pulling materials out of your bag, it wasn't long until half of the table was used up. Your friend only rolled her dark eyes at you and snickered.

That one small snicker was enough to catch the attention of the librarian.

"Shhhhh!" the lady behind the counter shushed. Flinching at the sudden sound, Riki whipped around and cowered at the sight of the librarian. She looked back at you with a face paler than the full moon. She regretted this. She now knew that there was no chance to even talk to you here. You smirked at her victoriously while she glared at you.

She slumped down in her seat and reluctantly pulled out her books as well.

******

Another productive day it was. For once, your friend was just as productive. Having finished a lab and three assignments, you were starving as it had been a few hours since you came. The look on the girl's face sitting in front of you said the same as well, her eyes pleading and begging every few seconds.

Pushing your stiff limbs upward from the chair, you motioned her to do the same. Her lifeless face immediately shifting into pure joy, she scrambled up and hurried to stuff everything in. You did the same in a slower manner and then hurried after her, who ran out of the building as if she had her life on the line. When you went outside, the darkened sky greeted you instead, with a Riki panting for a minute at her run.

Waiting for her to catch her breath, you then noticed something in her hand. Upon closer inspection, you quickly realized that it was her phone. It was on some sort of page.

"What were you doing with your phone?" you inquired. She shot up like a deer in headlights and hid it behind her back.

"It's nothing," she responded.

"You're such a bad liar," you laughed, reaching for it again. She took a few steps back from you and held away from your grabby hands. You wouldn't relent and continued to play this stupid, little game of tag.

Since she had already run, she easily grew tired of this. "Fine... fine!" she snapped, grumbling under her breath. "Yes. I was reading a webtoon on my phone. It was getting boring, okay? We've been studying for literally... hours! And a new chapter was released so of course I had to take a little break. Happy now?"

"You didn't need to hide it from me. I'm not going to scold you nor am I your mom..." you assured her. You hated to admit it, but her actions hurt you a little; were you really that overbearing that she thought you'd get mad for not studying? "I was just curious, that's all."

She saw the hurt on your face before it disappeared and frowned. "Hey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assume and tried to hide it from you."

"No... No... It's okay."

"It's not!" she protested. "As an apology, would you like to hear what it's about?"

You smiled. Forcing her to be quiet for hours was unfair to her, so it'd be nice to let her just speak about anything she wanted at this time. "Yeah, I'd love to," you told her.

Grinning, she began to talk about the so-called webtoon. Listening intently, you followed through her words and learned about the summary of it. It was... actually really interesting.

The bus station soon appeared in the distance with a bus awaiting for any latecomers. This was where you had to part with Rika. Hurrying over to the long vehicle, you waved your friend goodbye. "Bye Riki!"

"See you tomorrow!" she called behind you.

Climbing up the steps of the bus, you scanned your card and stumbled through the aisle until you found a seat. The door of the bus shut and the engine began to move, the view of the scenery outside blurring all into one dark mass. You leaned your head against the window, your eyes fluttering shut due to the blue-ish lights above. Maybe... a quick rest would be no harm. It was fine... you were pretty sure you could force yourself awake in time for your stop.

A loud sound jostled you awake. In confusion, you were met by an unholy scene before you.

The bus was flipping sideways.

People's screams echoed into your ears. While the bus rolled down the grassy hill, people tried to hold onto anything they could latch on, but it did not help much. You were all flying around at this point. It wasn't until the bus did that last roll did people stop yelling and screaming. Was it because the danger was gone or that they were dead that the screams stop? You had no clue.

You crashed onto the ground and an excruciating pain suddenly entered your torso.

You looked down to see warm, red liquid seeping from a horrifying wound.

You tried to scream, but the pain only got worse. You couldn't die... not when you were so close. Tears prickled at the corner of your eyes as you laid there on the ground, totally immobilized. It hurt everywhere.

Unconsciousness befell you and the sounds of distant sirens faded away.