TWO

"Will he become Claire's admirer too?" Bethany asked, nudging Amelia.

"To be honest, I don't know." Amelia said. "What do you think, Jessi?" But Jessi was lost. She was lost in his eyes, his lips, him. She just felt something she had never felt before. Her gut said he was different. Different from everyone.

"Alex, you can sit beside that girl at the back." the teacher said, pointing towards Jessi. "Could you please help your new classmate, my dear?" His words broke her out of her own trance. Alex approached her.

"Hey! I'm Jessi. Nice to meet you." she greeted the boy who came and sat beside her. It was so hard for her to not blush seeing his sweet, wide smile.

As it was the first day of school, the teacher didn't start any lesson. He just had a quick introductory class and set the students free. Alex and Jessi became good friends in a short span of time and had a vivid conversation. Both of them had so much in common, SO much they could both relate to.

•••••

After leaving the classroom, Claire went straight to the rooftop. She did have a thing for rooftops. The view she got, from standing there, was an escape. An escape from reality. She could stay there all day, and not get bored. Claire was so frustrated that she threw a good number of marvellous punches on the wall she was standing beside. Her knuckles got bruised but she didn't care. Claire was used to it. Punching walls was one of her ways to get rid of anger. She kept punching the wall until her knuckles bled. As soon as she felt her blood drip from her knuckles, Claire jerked her hand to stop the stinging sensation. She quickly took out her bottle from her backpack and poured some water on her hand.

The rest of the time before the lunch break, Claire listened to songs trying to forget both her pain and anger. Finally, when the bell rang, she kept her phone in her backpack and left.

Keeping the backpack in her locker, Claire went to the cafeteria. Her knuckles still bleeding. She arrived at the cafeteria and walked up to her reserved table, where she would sit alone. She had no friends. What she saw next, took her by surprise. Jessi along with her friends, was sitting where Claire was supposed to sit.

"Get up." Claire said coldly, her expression hard as a rock. Jessi looked up with raised brows.

"I'm sorry but we came first and there's no table available as well." Claire saw what Jessi was doing. She was acting as the victim to avoid hate on the very first day of school. She was playing the innocent card.

"I said, Get Up." Claire's voice sent shivers down Jessi's spine. But she gathered up all her courage to continue speaking with flashing no expression of fear.

"But.. Where'll we sit?"

Claire grabbed Jessi's arm and dragged her out of the cafeteria which made Jessi gasp. Claire went to the nearest row of lockers, catching everyone's attention. Alex, who was about to enter the cafeteria saw they rebellious girl drag Jessi. So he followed behind them. Not knowing what to do, Cole and the others joined Alex.

Jessi was slammed on the lockers by Claire. It created a loud bang. Fellow students surrounded them. Jessi's back hurt. Claire raised her hand to punch Jessi on the jaw. But, before she could do so, someone blocked her fist. Tears had escaped Jessi's eyes in fear of being punched.

It was Alex who had stopped Claire. He noticed her bloody knuckles, but protecting Jessi was his priority. He ignored all the blood and faced Claire.

Claire glared at the new student and yanked her hand from his grip. She said, "Who the hell do you think you are, to stop me?"

"Her friend." he said boldly, guarding Jessi.

Claire scowled at Jessi for one last time, "That freaking wench." and left.

Everyone went to help Jessi. No one looked at Claire. No one noticed Claire's bleeding hand or the pained expression she tried to hide.

Just then, the bell rang, indicating the end of lunch break. Jessi was escorted to the infirmary to get a quick check up. Amelia and Bethany tagged along. The other students went to their respective classes.

As everyone continued their normal lives, Claire sat on the cold floor of the rooftop. Winds blew lightly and the weather was pleasant. She just stared into space, recollecting what had just happened. She was the most envied person of the school.

Why were all the people envious of her?

They envied her face, her body, her hair, her voice, her money, everything.

What else could they have been jealous of?

They were jealous of how happy she was with her life. Little did they all know, she wasn't happy at all.

"So this is how a friend protects another friend." Claire said to herself. Her eyes glistened and her voice cracked.

"What did I ever do to never have that?"

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