Chapter Text
Well.
Let’s see. A ver…
It’s always a normal day. You never expect it. You could wake up in the morning, thinking “Why the hell should I go to school today, there’s nothing happening” and something happens.
It was the middle of the fall. Like that mattered. Still hot as hell in the baking heat of south Texas. I walked down the steps of the bus, walking with Caitlyn, Carey and Yuri. That’s not her real name. But I’ve never actually called her anything but Yuri. So, the nickname sticks.
“How are we doing on this fine Monday morning?” I ask no one in particular. It wasn’t “fine,” so to speak. It was foggy and cloudy out. No sun in sight.
“Holy cornball Alex.” Carey proceeded to respond. I told her to shut up as we walked into the building. We were greeted by the sight of Kerina and Dennis waiting for us nearby the stairs.
We chat a bit about nothing before I walk towards my advisory. I sit near the teacher. Why? That’s just where I sit.
Chris shows up not long after. “How’s your Monday so far, Chris?” I ask, trying to make a little conversation. “Pretty good.” He replied. “Glad to hear it.” I said, sitting down and opening my computer. Damn research paper.
—
“Holy obsessed with Aubree Maze.” I claim, eyeing Kerina as we walked down the back stairs. “Holy NOT obsessed,” she defends, “just very…interested.” I know that’s a lie. “Pshh,” I start, “that was the worst fumble ever, Kerina.” She sighs dramatically. “Yeah…”
We walk to the end of the Art/Spanish hallway and pit stop with Caitlyn and Dennis. I pass Kerina the paper and she hurries off to science. I walk with Caitlyn and Dennis back towards our Spanish class. Or, as Señora Gonzalez would say, “La clase de español”.
I notice Caitlyn’s quiet demeanor and ask if she’s alright. “Yeah, I’m good.” She does her normal grin and taps her temple. I give a thumbs up as we split to our seats.
—
Lunch. Mi segundo clase favorito. First place goes to band. I place my bag on the lunch table and work through it for my lunch as Kerina tells me about her upcoming Social Studies presentation. “Week later and you’re still doing it?” I grab my sandwich and take a bite as she answers. “We had a test Friday,” she states. “Still weird you’re doing it a week after every other class…” I walk her up to her Social Studies class. I spot Ava walking one of her friends to their 6th period. I give Kerina a quick pat on the back and walk up to those two.
“Ava,” I greet. I wave a bit to my mutual. “Alex,” Ava says in her friendly, greeting tone. “How’s your day going?” I asked. Ava’s friend starts to speak. “Actually, we were just talking about—“ Ava gets all wide-eyed and shushes her friend. “Bye!” Ava says as she sort of ushers her friend away. I look at her quizzically. “What the hell was that all about?” I question. “Nothing.” Ava changed topics quickly, and we fell into our familiar conversation as we walked to the cafeteria.
We went our separate ways as Ava went into the line and I went back to the lunch table. I grab my grapes and start to eat them, thinking about WHY and WHAT Ava could be hiding. I save a few grapes for Nick and grab the strawberries. They’re looking…not great today. I’ll eat them myself.
When everyone got to the lunch table, it was oddly quiet. Not the comfortable silence at a sleepover, but more of an awkward silence after someone says something weird. Lilly and Dania were still chatting and laughing and yelling. I offer a few grapes to Nick and he eats the rest of them. I look between Ava and Caitlyn. Their expressions tell that something happened over the weekend. But what, exactly? I can’t help but ask.
“What’s going on?” I put it on the table. Dennis is the first to answer. “I don’t know, it’s pretty quiet.” I acknowledge him and look back between Ava and Caitlyn. Their eyes are down, avoiding anything that eye-contact could say. “If you don’t tell me, I’m gonna start guessing.”