Burning Willow

XIII

In the end, when there's a week left to the ball, I decided to call in the professionals. The walls were painted and decorated with ivy and medieval faux tapestries, and even the indoor balconies carried rows and rows of colourful flowers.

I let it take over my mind - the ball. It helped me forget everything that happened in the club, and so I let it.

Otherwise, I thought I would go crazy. Whatever 'downtown' was, I didn't want to be a part of it.

And yet... I couldn't help being a tiny bit curious.

Maya was still busy practising for the dance, and though the urge to tell her everything was very strong, I didn't say anything. She was working especially hard and the last thing I wanted to do was be a burden.

On Monday at lunch, I flopped down on the table with a couple of books in my hand. I was falling way behind my homework and half my teachers were already tempted to keep me back another year.

Pushing my hair out of my face, I stifled a yawn. Sleep was hard to come by these days, and while I tried to get some rest, it never lasted long.

So sitting at the back of the cafeteria, I set to work.

Problem was, I had no idea what I was doing.

Somebody scraped a chair next to me, and I turned around to see that it was Chase. He had a cup of coffee in one hand and an apple in the other.

I groaned. "Leave me alone, please." I said.

He didn't reply, instead choosing to sit down. He munched on the apple noisily. I decided to ignore him, but after a while it got too much.

"You're disgusting." I pulled a face.

"So she speaks." He gave me a crooked grin. "Why are you so pissed today? More than usual?"

I scoffed. "If you must know... Mr. Fletcher gave me till home room to complete two weeks worth of homework. And I'm tired and hungry but have no time for either. And the weight of last week is killing me."

"Last week?"

I threw him a look. As if he didn't remember.

"Right.." he said. He handed me his cup of coffee. "Here."

I picked up it up. He had only finished half of it.

Taking a small sip, I set it back down again. It was black - no sugar or cream.

"It's too strong." I said.

"It works." He replied. "And as for what happened last week, I suggest you forget about it."

"Forget about it? How does someone forget about something like that?"

"It's easy." He shrugged. "You focus on other things."

"Yeah?" I tilted my head. "Like what?"

He rested his elbow on the table and looked at me. Flustered, I turned my gaze to the table.

"Like all those books, for example."

I heard footsteps behind me, and turned around to find Maya approaching us.

"Hey guys." She beamed. If she was surprised to find Chase and I sitting together and not breaking into a huge fight, she didn't show it.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." She sat besides me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Where were you on Saturday?"

"Sleeping." I mumbled. "Didn't you have double classes on Saturday?"

She shook her head. "My ankle hurt, so the instructor made me sit out and just...watch I guess."