sehnsucht ✓

chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the clips used above, or the song.

Hippo Campus - Passenger, in case you were wondering.

Enjoy the chapter.

It's Thursday following the party, and the school day went on as normal, aside from the day also being Halloween. I felt calm throughout my classes, except for English, which was a joyride as usual. It always was.

Mark and I had finally exchanged numbers.

As for how the class went, Mark would tease me, as usual, which would result in me getting flustered. Just the norm. The difference today was that the remarks he threw at me were halloween-themed.

"You're really channeling the look of an 8-year-old boy," he pats me on the shoulder.

"Well," I sit there for a moment, "I have no comeback to that."

"In a girly kind of way. I like it," he nods with a snort.

I shake my head in frustration.

"Shut up," I groan.

I wondered how we ended up becoming friends, or even getting noticed by him in the first place. Guys like him with their golden boy qualities and dreamy personalities weren't meant to give me more than an accidental side glance. I was not to be paid attention to when for all I knew, he could go for any girl he wants.

I died seeing Mark wear his retro, 80s-theme costume. I wanted to remark,

"Is that even a plausible costume? It's seductive and a question of moral to purposefully wear something that results in people looking at you like that."

His beautiful mane of hair was groomed and slicked back for that classic male love interest look. I just know he was doing it to ridicule girls who fantasized about what they couldn't have.

I saw him going for another girl, though.

Elle.

She was the embodiment of beauty, and perfect in all ways. I didn't identify with being beautiful.

I'm not the brightest, either.

I don't see any clear, redeeming qualities about me to attract guys.

The predicament I had landed in was astonishing, because I enjoyed hanging out with him as friends, even if it wasn't going to evolve into anything more.

Ingrid has constantly been calling me oblivious, but I beg to differ. He's playing a game, and he's nice. This flirting thing we've been going on is a fairy tale to the highest peak, and I'm probably not the first girl he's done it with.

I hadn't spotted his imperfections yet, but I had a hunch it would relate to being a teenage boy, insensitive and unaware of the girl right in front of him.

So, Mark. If you like me, it would be nice to give me a sign. Like, be clear about it. Don't make me have to guess then take things the wrong way, resulting in you rejecting and embarrassing me in front of your friends.

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I groan, taking loud footsteps down the empty hallways past the time most kids at my school left, in a particular rush today to start the night.

It was a tradition for the kids at my school to go trick-or-treating despite their ripening age, hence why the partying was done yesterday, to compensate for the fact that everyone would be out today.

However, given the fact that we were not excused from dance practice, we weren't going to be participating in the trick-or-treating anyway. Sure, it was only 6, but I was too burned out to endure another few hours of being out. As a result, skipping was not an option.