chapter 2.
—
[ triggers ]
—
none.
"SHIT I'M GOING TO BE LATE AGAIN."
I get up and hurry to my closet, throwing on a pair of jeans and a shirt, along with a hoodie and my socks. I put my hair into a bun and grab my backpack, running downstairs and slipping my shoes on.
"bye mom!" I run out the door.
"honey, you didn't eat breakfast!"
I run back into the house and grab the toast that was on it, holding it with my mouth and running back out the door to school.
"lorelai, wait up!" I hear Ranboo say my name.
"wh- what—" I say, out of breath.
"what are you in a rush for? it's literally eight in the morning. unless, you're going to period zero for help."
"you're kidding, right? you're kidding me." I take a bite out of my toast.
"no, look it's 8:02." He shows me his phone.
"oh my fucking god." I redo my bun as I start walking to school.
"do you listen to lemon demon?" I ask, looking at him.
"yeah, i heard you humming goosebumps yesterday."
I look down at the concrete. "oh- sorry.."
"it's fine. the silence was getting loud for me and the humming helped." He says, fixing his hair.
"i'm not that good at singing- but thank you."
"no problem." He says as we walk inside school, heading to our lockers. "i'll see you.. period 2, lunch, and period 4?" Ranboo adds onto his sentence.
"mhm." I nod and head to my class.
—
[ tine skip ]
—
"oh, and there's the bell! head to your lockers and new class." The teacher clapped her hands together as we got up and left the room.
I grab my books out of my locker and closed it, the slam echoing through the hallway of hushed tones. The halls were slightly crowded, I could hear talking from other classrooms. Some doors closed shut, showing their glossy black color with the numbered silver digits on them that match the handles. I hug my books to my chest and walk to my classroom, sitting down.
Ranboo enters the classroom, looking at me and giving me a small smile as he sits down behind me.
Instead of paying attention, I grab a piece of paper and start making an origami swan.
I fold the paper diagonal ways and unfold it, folding the lower edges into the center line. I flip the paper over and bring the bottom of the tail up to meet the top. I fold down the tip of the top layer, creating the beak. Flipping the swan over, I fold it in half vertically. I pull the neck and beak away from the body, pinching the fold to secure it.
I observe my new creation of the swan and smile.
"lorelai." The teacher says. "now, what are you doing?"
I look at him, his eyes glancing at me. I felt the class staring at me.
"okay. silence? i'll be silent too, i guess." He says.
I hear someone whisper yell a "yes!" from the back of the class, making everyone erupt into laughter.
"what's so funny?" The teacher looks up from his laptop and looks around the classroom.
"nothi—" The boy says from the back, but the bell cutting his sentence off.
"okay. period 2 dismissed. get ready for next period."
—
[ time skip ]
—
I finally got out of 3rd period. I hated that class, not because it's.. school, because only Leilani was in that class. Leilani and Jayne are in my 1st period class, what a way to wake up. Jayne was in my 5th period class.
I headed into the cafeteria and got my food, sitting down at a random table and eating.
Ranboo sits down next to me. "how was 3rd period?"
I mutter. "eh."
"oh- what happened?" I feel him look over at me.
"leilani." I sigh.
"i'm sorry, lorelai. i wish i could do more.. wait-"
"huh? no need to apologize and you don't have to do anything else, ranboo. it's fine." I rest my head on my hand.
"are you sure? they've been doing this since sophomore year." He asks.
"yeah. i'm sure." I reply.
"also, why did they start bullying you?"
"..it's all in my diary." I become silent after that.
"oh. sorry." He apologizes.
"ranboo. you say sorry too much. don't be." I look down at the table.
"but, i mean it." He lamented.
—
[ time skip ]
—
Entering class, Ranboo lifts his head up and gives me a little hidden wave. I wave back and sit down in my seat that was assigned next to him.
"ranboo." I whisper.
He looked over at me and I handed him my swan. "here, keep it."
"why?" He asked.
"just keep it." I say, looking forward again.
"what if i want you to keep it?"
"ranboo." I look at him.
"fine, fine."
I felt myself dozing off, probably staring at my desk. The thoughts in my head melted away, so did the teachers voice.
—
[ time skip ]
—
My head jolted up to someone tapping my shoulder, I look beside me and saw Ranboo staring at me.
"you slept through class." His voice says.
"it's fine.. school's almost over, right?" I yawn, getting up and following Ranboo to our lockers.
"hm. i mean- we still have 3 more periods left." He speaks, as we get our things out of our lockers.
"what? that class felt like 2 whole periods." I lean onto Ranboo's arm.
"are you okay, are you sure you're not sick? you look really fatigued."
"it's nothing, i swear." I lift up my head from his arm.
"what time did you sleep at?" He questions, looking down at me.
"five am."
"what? five in the morning- what were you doing?" He slightly widens his eyes.
"what- tell me that you don't sleep at five am." I rub my eyes.
"i- well-" He speaks but I cut him off.
"yeah. let's just say my mom didn't get a good rest." I giggle.
—
[ time skip ]
—
"everyone is dismissed. lorelai stay, please."
I raise my head up at her, tilting my head.
"come here." She said, I got up and walked to her desk.
"yes..?
"who are the people still bullying you?" She asks me, I hesitate to answer.
"..jayde and leilani." I say but it comes out more like a question.
"still? and do you know the reason why they're bullying you?"
"no." I shake my head.
"it's because you lost harvey. you lost her," She looks at me. "you've put on a facade of toughness, lorelai, but i still see the fear in you. you pretend you don't care for anyone, but i see your emotions when i see you writing in that diary of yours. you're a closed book to everyone, but you know what? i can see right through you."
"yeah." I mutter.
"have you made any friends this year?"
"i think?" I fiddle with my fingers.
"who?" She smiles.
"i think ranboo?"
"ranboo. okay, thank you. you can go now." She grabs her pen and a paper as I leave the room.
The cool breeze outside brushed against my face, making the emotions wash over me like a tide. I walk over to my locker where I saw Ranboo sitting by.
"oh hi." I open up my locker and grab my backpack, along with my diary and quill and sit down next to him.
"oh— hello! i was going to ask if you wanted to go to the park, but i bet you're still sleep. maybe tomorrow."
"yeah.. tomorrow." I say and start writing in my diary.
chapter 2.
—
[ words ]
—
1272.