Freefall ✓

19 | thousand

I was about to walk away but her voice gripped me. "When are you gonna apologize? I'm waiting." She brushed a lock of her almost glossy hair behind her ear with her perfectly manicured finger.  Did I really just get involved with this girl? 

I took in her formidable look. High leather boots, black miniskirt pulled tight with a loud Gucci belt, persimmon-colored cutout sweater, and a Gucci purse to supplement. Even her Starbucks Frapuccino suited her outfit. 

Frankly speaking, she was pretty. It was the excessive amount of makeup and artificialities she covered herself with that I didn't understand. Her natural hair was a beautiful shade of brown. The champagne-colored streaks were really unnecessary. I always found the psychologist in me over-analyzing her behavior: if this girl thought of herself as the Queen Bee, why was she so apparently insecure that she needed to hide behind all of this?  

"Do you have a problem with me?" I came back at her, genuinely interested. 

"Not at all. The problem is gonna be yours if you don't stay away from Cameron." Oh, so that's what this was about. 

I lifted my eyebrows up."Was that a threat?"

"Oh, of course not, sweetheart! It's just some friendly advice." She leaned in closer to me, lowering her voice, her distastefully sweet perfume almost stinging my eyes. "You see, boys like him don't fit with girls like you. I'd suggest that instead of embarrassing yourself, you'd go look for someone your own. . . size." The two burst into a contemptuous snicker at her joke— turning around theatrically and heading their way— as if she weren't wearing sky-high heeled boots herself. 

The encounter had been bothersome, but the feeling she aroused in me was sooner pity than any form of fury. I tried to forget about it whilst heading to the cafeteria but when I joined Syd at our table she immediately sensed something was off. Was I really that bad at hiding my emotions or was Syd just a very good best friend? 

"What's wrong? Aud?" 

"Nothing's wrong."

"Did you just buy yogurt and almonds for lunch?" She stared at my food with alarm.

"What's wrong with yogurt and almonds?"

"What's wrong with you?"

I scratched the back of my head and shrugged. "I've no appetite."

"That's because you haven't tried my mom's croquettes," she practically shoved the deep-fried dumpling into my mouth, all the while munching happily on her own. I accepted it, chuckling and taking an unhurried bite.

"Mmmm." I moaned at the greasy, crunchy taste.

"Delicious, right? Man, I love food," she then suddenly transformed her joyful expression to a concerned one. "Now tell me what happened."

I looked down. "I shouldn't have come to school with the buns."

She knitted her brows together. "Why not? Is that what the matter is? Did someone say something to you?"

"Yeah, quite the someone," I admitted reluctantly.

"Who?"

"Scarlett," I peeled the plastic yogurt lid open, realizing now that I actually didn't care so much about what she said. Why should I?

"What did she say?"

I don't know why but thinking about it retrospectively gave rise to a snorting laugh. "Pompom head —"

"She what?!" She stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. She'd raised her voice and I began to worry that people would hear us despite the racket. "Okay, tell this girl to run for her life because I promise you if I find her right now I will—"