the courtyard [j.hs] ✔️

[7]

Jaelyn

The day went smoother than I thought it would.

I honestly thought that Josie would be back for more, to ruin my day even more. She wasn't around, and neither were the boys. I was partially grateful for that because it gave me time to calm down and forget about what happened.

I could go home early since it was free period now. I didn't have to stay, just tell my teacher that I was leaving. They still had a teacher monitoring the free period class, but all she did was make sure to keep the people intact. They told her where they were going, and she let them.

I was in the hallway now, ready to wander a bit more and then go to Opal's house. My dad didn't come home until later tonight, so I normally stayed at Opal's house until then.

I leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down to the floor. I sat on my skateboard, rocking myself from side to side.

"Having fun?", I look up, seeing Opal standing in front of me. She smiled down at me, before dropping to the floor. She sat in front of me like we used to when we were kids.

"Yeah, I guess," I mumble, looking down the empty hallway. "I just keep thinking about her leaving."

"It's not your fault, no matter how much you think it is."

"It is my fault," I protest, my throat tightening, as well as my chest. "You don't understand. I told her to leave. She was with another guy, in my house, and it wasn't my dad. She listened to me when I told her to leave."

"You were an eight-year-old girl! Why should an adult, who can make their own decisions, listen to their kid?", she argued, stating the facts. "She would've left anyway. Since you caught her, she knew she couldn't stay any longer. This time and I mean it, it isn't your fault."

"Okay," I whispered, looking down into my lap. It had taken ten years, but I finally believed her. It wasn't my fault.

"Let's go home," she offered, while I silently agreed. I stood up, grabbing my skateboard from under me, while we slung an arm around each other's shoulders. "I'll have my mom make cupcakes."

I lightly laughed at her, walking out the already open doors. "I'd like that."

--
Hoseok

We all silently stood at the end of the hall, watching the two mysterious girls leave the building.

"I feel like we are stalking them," Jungkook shifted on his feet, while we all stood in a circle. "We probably just listened to something personal."

"No kidding," Yoongi scoffed, looking back out the door. "They obviously wouldn't talk about her mom leaving that easily."

"It didn't look easy," Namjoon said, starting to walk toward the door. "Let's go, maybe we can talk to them at Opal's."

"Sure," Yoongi shrugged, following after him. Everyone followed in suit, just going along with the idea.

--
Opal

Jae was quiet the whole ride home, although it's only a few minutes to get to my house, it felt like hours. She was only this quiet when she was thinking.

I reached over, grabbing her hand as we turned down my street. I saw an unfamiliar car in front of the house, but I ignored it. My mom had people over from work sometimes.

I shut the car off, sighing as we both climbed out at the same time. "She might have a co-worker over."

She nodded, before walking slowly up the driveway. Yoongi's car pulled into his driveway, waving as he got out. I weakly waved back, hitting the lock button for the car.