The Psycho Is Innocent | ꪜ

Chapter 3: The Photo

Past

SHE SASHAYED INTO the school; her head was held high, hazel eyes glimmering with excitement, curly red hair bouncing on her shoulders in wavy lengths. She knew that today, maybe...just maybe she could get through to Larson and at least find out the reason he ended their relationship for seemingly no reason.

          She missed him for many reasons, but solely because Ariel did not want to know that the last two years of her life and that all the memories she made with Larson were for nothing. She didn't want to admit that she let a simple boy waste her time. It all boiled down to her sitting on her bed with angry tears rolling down her cheeks as she pondered on the many reasons her relationship went south.

When she arrived at her lockers with the obvious swivel of heads and flutter of eyes as they widened in shock and or rolled in jealousy—she placed in her combination and pulled her locker open and proceeded to shove her bag inside carelessly, her gaze interlocking with her reflection in the compartment mirror hung upon the metal door.

After she was done giving herself a one over, she grabbed her Spanish book, frowning in distaste at her completely random schedule. Ariel had only one class with Larson and that was geography. She despised geography and would seek guidance from Larson when she either wasn't paying attention, writing notes or just didn't know anything in general. Now that they're broken up, she's failing—in her terms—falling below a b-average.

"Hey chica! You're looking hot today. Any guy that you're dressing for in particular?" Evelyn's chirpy voice bellowed into Ariel's ear as she appeared within her line of vision, her thick brows wiggling tauntingly. Ariel barked in laughter, "shut up, Eve." Evelyn threw a hand lazily over Ariel's shoulder as she beckoned her down the hallway, a sly grin temporarily plastered onto her pale face, "is it perhaps for Tobias?"

      Ariel's boots squeaked against the recently polished tiled floors as she halted in her footsteps abruptly, her head swivelling in Evelyn's direction within a millisecond. Her smile was momentarily nonexistent. The mere mention of his name gave her the urge to haul Evelyn across the hallway and out of her sight. But instead of resorting to physical harm, she forced a smile, "I don't like Tobias, Evelyn. Quite frankly just the sight of his face makes me sick to my stomach." 

"What!? Everyone likes Tobias." Evelyn whisper yelled in disbelief as they made a sharp turn to their left, disappearing into another corridor. Ariel chuckled through gritted teeth, "I dressed like this so that idiot Larson can see what he left." At first, Evelyn had failed to respond as her footsteps came to a screeching halt. She narrowed her head upwards to meet Ariel's gaze.

          "Larson huh?" She questioned. Something glistened in her eyes but before Ariel could comprehend it, Evelyn grabbed her shoulders, spinning her away from the direction in which they were headed, "I forgot something in my locker, come get it with me quickly and I'll walk you to class."

          "Class is about to begin Evelyn and you know I don't like being late." Ariel yanked her hand from Evelyn's vice grip, failing to see the fact that her best friend was currently preoccupied with the events unfolding a few feet away from her. Pressed up against the metal blue lockers was a certain dark curly-haired cheerleader, her fingernails digging into the brown-haired boy's arms, his own tangled in between the hem of her blue cheer uniform. Their lips were exploring one another, uncaring of the eyes that penetrated through them.

When Ariel finally realized that Evelyn was distracted, she took this opportunity to escape as she pivoted on her heels. Evelyn reached out towards her in hopes of blocking her view from the sight before their eyes but it was too late. Her red boots slammed against the tiled floors as she came to a screeching stop.