Iris drove off in her direction, bidding her fair share of goodbyes before exiting from the vacant parking lot and headed home. I yawn, eyes slightly droopy as I made my way over to my car — before being pulled back by a strong hand.
The sudden jolt cause me to wake up; as if a kiss with death has occurred, my back slapped into a chest and I look up, green eyes were backwards as they stare at me with a teasing smile. "Wow, Francena, no goodbye?"
"I forgot!" I shrieked, a tired smile played on my lips. Graham chuckles, releasing his hold on me as he twirls me around, steadying me as he drops both hands on my shoulders. The smile still holds, my head slightly tilted to the side, "goodnight, Graham."
"There it is," as Graham leans forward before planting a phantom kiss on my forehead; his lips barely touch my skin, "goodnight, Francena."
"You're so annoying, you know that?"
His eyes twinkles, "yeah, but you love me anyways."
—
"Someone bring me coffee right now, because I'm about to die," I complained, the throbbing headache bulks against my skull, like a gunshot every five seconds. I felt like a concert is playing in there, and the first song is dedicated to my misery.
"Stop being dramatic," Iris rolls her eyes, turning off her phone to look at me, "that's my job."
I would shot back a smart-mouth comeback, but my head hurts too much for this. I close my eyes, two fingers pressing down on my templets as I attempt to cool down the throbbing beats. God, I can't handle this.
Arms wrap around my frame, and the familiar warmth provided allowed me to know it was none other than my best friend. My eyes peak open, seeing slight dangles of chestnut locks fall into my view, "good morning to my two favourite girls; Francena and..." Graham looks over to Iris, a forged puzzled expression on his face, "sorry, who are you?"
Iris rolls her eyes at Graham's lucid comment, as he presents himself as the jokester in the group. Graham laughs, a low chuckle bottled his throat, as he reaches over, his long arms running a hand to dishevel Iris' dark curls. "I'm kidding, Rose, I know perfectly well who you are."
Iris shoves his hand away, backing herself up a step, "you better, Rivera. I'm the one who's been keeping you afloat for the past couple years of high school," she warns, a joking tone spread across his speech.
"I know, and I'm forever grateful, Miss Bhatt," Graham teases, "can I come over tonight? I have some Calc."
"Yeah, six?"
He nods, his chin brushes slightly against my head. I close my eyes once more, leaning into my best friend dependently. "What's wrong with her?" I knew he was referring to me, but I was too exhausted to reply.
"Her brother made her chug a gallon of milk as an apology," Iris explains, "you know the whole thing with his friends? Yeah, her brother said in order for her to be fully forgiven, she needed to chug a gallon of milk for sincerity."
"And now...?"
"She has a throbbing headache of a million period cramps," I finished, referring to myself in third person. Graham chuckles removing his arms around my body as the warmth disappears. I straighten myself up, opening my eyes as the sound of unzipping was heard from behind me. I turn around, seeing Graham digging into his bag.
"What are you doing?"
He doesn't reply, his hand rummaging into the backpack before he stops, clearly finding the item he was searching for and pulling out a small bottle aspirin in his hand. He uncaps the top, sprinkling out two pills and handing it out for me. "Here," he declares as I warily take them from his hand. I look at him, finding the story behind carrying aspirin a bit more dire than my headache. "The team always parties hard, and sometimes I drink on school days. I keep these just in case." He saw my look of curiosity. I nod, throwing the two pills into my mouth before dry-swallowing — not having a water source near me.
"Here," Graham shoves a water bottle in his hands, and curiosity runs deeper as I wonder what more does this boy carries in his bag. "Drink." Not questioning it, I unscrew the cap and chug a fair amount of water before the pills begin to settle down in my stomach. I hand him back the bottle.
"Thanks."
"No problem," he replaces the bottle back to his side pocket of his backpack. The bell rings, declaring warning bell. Graham looks up to the overhead speaker, before looking back down at me, "if you need another one, you know where to find me." I nod, and with that, he begins to walk towards the opposite direction, his 6'1 frame begin shrinking with each step before disappearing into a classroom.
I turn to Iris, seeing her gathering her things off the floor, "bye, B, see ya at lunch!" She takes the similar route down Graham's direction, her dress swaying side to side as she walks. I find it a bit funny, noticing the clear difference between my two best friends as it takes two steps for Iris before she appears to shrink down to midget size.
I head to my direction, the hallway begins filling up as the packs of students scramble over to their friends while others dart across the crowd like a game, getting to their class. Once I took my turn, and entered through my own classroom, the whiteboard scribbled in the same cursive as the first week of school: Forensics, I went over to take my seat in the long two-seat desk.
My backpack on the chair when I notice the raven-haired boy in the background. His hair styled in a tousled manner, spreading in different directions. It seem he didn't give much of a care once he had exited from bed. His eyes were concentrated on the black desk before him, a piece of paper to be exact. He sighs, sights leaving the paper as he runs a hand through his hair.
Julian takes the paper off the desk and stuff into his backpack. From my perspective, it seems to be a small notecard. He looks back up, meeting my eye.
He smiles, something that doesn't reach his eyes. Fake, I declare before I quickly return the gesture, scuffing into my seat. I threw the backpack off, setting it on the floor next to me. Mr Patterson, our senior teacher, begins to call for the attendance as I zone out in thought.
Julian looked tired. His eyes had slight bags under them, a good distinction from his features as his gaze seem distant and out of reach.
I couldn't help myself but turn back around, taking in the boy I once liked. He's dressed in Adidas track pants, and a soccer sweatshirt with our school's name embolden in the front left breast — Allegheny High.
I won't lie, even though I don't harbour any romantic feelings towards him at the moment, I still think he's hot.
Okay, maybe hot is a strong term to describe him. However, he is very good-looking indeed. His olive skin blending well with his distinct Asian features. He takes after his other heritage strong, with a define jawline and soft pink lips; not too big, or small. Pale freckles that spreads across his tall nose, and thick dark brows. His portions bends out well.
"Francena!" Mr Patterson's voice boomed the classroom, ceasing classroom activity as they focus on me. I look back around, seeing Mr Patterson's light blue eyes scanning my features as he waits for me to answer. His expression impatient.
"Sorry sir," I found myself mumbling, heat rushing to my cheeks, "I was distracted." I found my excuse to be lame, and nonetheless, embarrassing, "Here."
"Hmm," Mr Patterson muses, shoving his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He doesn't say anything, as he begins to move on to call the next student; I begin to sink deeper into my seat, hugging myself as I silently hoped I would magically disappeared off the face of the Earth.
A light chuckle emerges from the background in the silent classroom. I found myself twisting around in my seat, seeing the culprit to be none other than Julian; a small smile tug at the corner of his lips.
And this time, it's real.