Him and Her *ON HOLD*

Chapter 10- Apologies and Newbies

Rhys' P.O.V
At home, I try to place a smile on my face for Arelina.
"How was the first day?" I ask her gently.
"Good!" She beams. "The teachers are really nice, and I already have ten new friends!"
"Ten!" I holler, picking her up in a spin.
"Yeah!" She giggles.
Well, at least she's happy. That's all that really matters.
***

Crystal's P.O.V
Dawn is on the horizon. Shadows are chased by the sun, but the darkness that haunts me can't be chased away by light. It is deeper and darker than you can ever imagine, and it is made up of fear, loneliness, and hurt. Three strands that- when bound together, cannot be broken easily. Someone with a gentle touch, and nimble hands, must be the one to unravel these scars.

Crystal's P.O.V
I feel terrible about lashing out at Rhys the other day... And it's not just because I don't have anyone else to sit with, either. It's because... Well, now that I think about it, he must be hurting too. I just don't know what he's hurting from, yet.
I tap my chin, deep in thought.
Would he forgive me if I apologized? No.. He'd laugh in my face and scoff at me. Perhaps he'd just turn away and ignore me?
"Arrrgh!" I shout, startling a couple next to me in the hallway.
I slam my locker shut, letting a resounding clang resonate through the hall. Thankfully, it's noisy enough that no one else notices except for the couple, who have started glaring at me.
"Sorry," I wince.
The pair roll their eyes and resume chattering about their plans for their date night. Then it's my turn to roll my eyes. A jacuzzi? Seriously?
I frown. Should I apologize? My internal battle continues, until I step into Chemistry.

Rhys' P.O.V
I can see Crystal biting her lip as she steps into class. She seems to be debating something, and I think about helping her, but then decide not to. She's probably still mad at me for lashing out at her the other day. I sigh, and start to look over my notes, but startle as a shadow falls on my desk. Looking up, I start to see Crystal there, hovering like a ghost.
" I didn't mean to scare you," she says worriedly. "Look- I'm sorry about the other day... I just got agitated and-"
"No, no, it's fine," I interrupt. "I should have explained instead of just rushing off."
"Friends?" Crystal puts her hand out to shake.
"Friends," I agree, shaking her hand vigorously.

Crystal's P.O.V
I sigh. But this time, it's a sigh of content. I dip my brush into my pallet, blending hues of silver and ice-blue, creating a frost ridden sky.

"That's beautiful!" Mrs. Arlington gasps, stepping around me to take in the scenery.

"Thanks," I say, smiling shyly.
I step back and admire my own work. I nod in satisfaction, until I find a small detail gone wrong. I quickly touch up the spot before the paint dries.

"You should probably clean up now. The bell's gonna ring any minute," Mrs. Arlington advises gently.

I nod, then collect my brush and pallet; I bring them to the sink, working the paint out of the bristles and scraping it off the plastic.
Just as I finish, the bell rings, so I dry my hands, and head off to lunch.
***

I spot Rhys at his usual table, and, though hesitantly, I make my way towards his table, and plop down next to him.
As usual, all his friends smirk. I sigh.
"How was Math?" I ask, looking at the ceiling.
I don't need to see Damien and Asher teasing me about being 'such a caring lady'. Not surprisingly, Momo is the one who infuriates me the least-probably since he's always glued to that computer of his. If I ever see him unattached, I'll have a heart attack (figuratively. I hope not literally, 'cause I don't wanna die yet.).

"It was great!" Rhys says, snapping me back to the real world. "What about art?"

"Awesome," I reply, biting into my sandwich.

Damien and Asher are making kissy noises, and I glare at them vehemently. This just spurs them on even more, and I give up, albeit scowling. For once, Rhys is oblivious, reading his textbook, so I'm on my own.

"Why are you reading your textbook?" I wonder.

"I want to see what we'll be learning today, so I can follow my teacher's train of thought. It can really get me
mixed up when he goes into his tangents. He teaches while talking about other things, so he's hard to follow." Rhys rolls his eyes. "Crazy teachers," he mutters.

I stifle a laugh at his pout, then return to my lunch. How wonderful are the teachers at school.

Rhys' P.O.V

I press a hand against my mouth to press down my yawn. Mr. Yung (A.K.A Mr. Boring) is talking about the time he got his first pet fish, which has nothing to do with being an entrepreneur, and everything to do with his personal life. Suddenly, I'm so annoyed by the fact that my teacher can't teach us properly, that I start to get angry. The pen that I'm holding starts to bend in half, and I start to feel a hand on my arm.

"You ok?" My seat partner, Allen, whispers.

I nod, my jaw working.

"Sure?" He prods.

I nod again.

Finally, he turns away, and I try once more, to immerse myself in a boring lesson, taught by a boring teacher, in a boring school.

As if I wished for it, the fire alarm goes off. No one moves for a couple of seconds-it's as if we're desensitized by now, from all the years of drills, but at long last, we get up and file out into the courtyard. With the chattering of my fellow students around me, I look to see if Crystal is close by, and I can just get a glimpse of her chocolate hair, but someone yanks harshly on my sweater, and I turn to grouch at whoever it is, but stop when I see a petite girl with doe eyes and coal black hair.

"Why is everyone talking? Aren't we supposed to be quiet?" She asks, all innocence.

She must be a freshman. Everyone knows that it's ok to talk. The 'no talking' nonsense faded away, along with elementary school.

"There's no rule that we don't have to talk," I explain patiently.

"Ohhhh, ok," she muses, then disappears to wherever she came from.

I shake my head. Newbies are always so clueless. But I guess it's a blessing and a curse. There are some things in this world that you're better off not knowing.