“COACH I swear! I didn’t do anything. It was just a misunderstanding.”
“I know.” Coach breaths, closing his eyes and opening them after.
Vernon is taken aback by the response. Staring confused at his coach, he waits for an explanation.
“It's not about the truth, Vernon. News travels fast. Look at how quickly I found out. I know nothing happened and that this thing isn't much of a big deal, but when gossip spreads, the truth gets distorted."
“I was just trying to find my bracelet." He mumbles sadly, looking at his naked wrist.
Coach places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I know you didn’t do anything wrong, Vernon. But we had to be careful. You are our best swimmer. People might show friendly smiles, but they could be waiting for a moment to push you down. If the situation got out of hand, you could have been possibly -"
“Kicked off the team, and all my scholarships stripped off.” He finishes off understanding his coach.
Coach nods.
“I know you, Vernon. I have been your coach for the last five years. I know I couldn’t do much to defend you, but I will make sure that not anymore people hear of this."
Vernon begrudgingly nods, his mood worsening every passing second.
Coach squeezes his shoulder. “Get to class. You’re already late.”
~~~
After a series of apologies and a crap excuse to the teacher, Vernon manages to get through his class without much trouble. Judging by his classmate’s tone, no one seemed to know how he had been called to the Principal’s office about ten minutes ago. Vernon unknowingly lets out a sigh of relief.
“Why were you actually late?” Laurence asks, placing his food tray on the table.
“The nurse had to monitor my shoulder for longer than intended.” He says using the same excuse he had told the teacher.
“I don’t believe you.” Laurence says, pointing his fork at his friend. “Your shoulder wasn’t that much bruised. You would have been back a long time ago.”
Vernon ignores his friend as he shoves a large bite of fries in his mouth. He feels someone staring at him, causing him to turn his back.
There she was. The cause of his misery.
The girl stood a few meters away from their table, a food tray in hand. She sends a wave that Vernon decides to ignore and turns back to listen to his friend’s nonsense.
He was already having a terrible day. He didn’t need that girl to worsen it even more.
“Hi, is this seat taken?”
Vernon could promise he felt his sanity escaping him. What the heck was this girl doing here, now, in his space?
“No.” Laurence responds quicker than Vernon. “Please sit.”
The girl lowers herself onto the chair next to Vernon. He takes a quick glance at her before fully deciding on ignoring her.
The girl extends her fork to steal a fry of Vernon’s tray.
“Eat your own food.” Vernon mumbles.
Whoa, grumpy much?” The girl chuckles.
Vernon sends her a glare.
“Do you guys know each other?” Laurence asks after witnessing their interaction.
“No.” Vernon answers.
“We will, soon.” The girl smiles and looks at Vernon. “Hi, I’m Olivia. My friends call me Olive.”
“Vernon nods mutely. "Can you go now?” He says as he bites into one of his chicken strips.
“Is this your way of denying our friendship?”
“Yes.”
“Ouch! Cold.” She jokes and nudges the boy’s stomach.
“Why are you here?”
“I want to be your friend.”
“I don’t want to become yours. Now, can you leave?” He repeats.
Olivia shuffles closer to Vernon and presses her elbow on his shoulder. “You know Vernon, I am known to be persuasive.”
Vernon shrugs off her hand. “I am not interested in becoming your friend.”
“We'll see."
Vernon looks at her, pleading for her to leave him and his friend alone. Taking the hint, Olivia gets up from her chair.
“My friends are calling me.” She says, pointing at the group of friend two tables away from them. “I’ll see you later, Vernon!” She says and walks away.
Vernon drops his gaze back to his half eaten food, feeling his appetite slowly escape him. It felt like such a nightmare to be within range of Olivia. He grabs his bottled water, and finishes it in one go before shoving some of his salad into his mouth.
“She’s the cause of your somber mood, right?” Laurence asks, leaning on his hands.
Vernon nods, not bothering to deny his friend’s sharp eye.
“What did she do?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“And your bracelet?”
Vernon shakes his head. “Haven’t found it.”
“That’s rough, man. I’m sorry.” Laurence sympathizes.
“It has to be somewhere. There’s no way it disappeared into thin air.”
Vernon was correct about that. His bracelet did, in fact, not vanish into thin air. It vanished or appeared in the hands of another.
Vernon’s precious bracelet was in the safe hands of Olivia.
“Why do you keep looking at that thing?” One of her friend’s points out curiously.
“Yeah, what’s the big deal about that thing?” Another adds on.
“Nothing.” Olivia whispers, staring at the piece of jewelry that was safely secured in her hand.
~~~
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