Just Another High School Story!

When she woke up the next morning, she was greeted by her mother, "Hey, mom!" Leah yelled as she hurried down the stairs, she had to be on time, she would miss this trip for the world. "Here, take vitamins with you, and I put your favourite chocolates in that duffel bag." Her mom kissed her forehead, and said, "Be safe!" Her mom and dad had decided to get back together, after all, they did not understand when and why they grew apart from each other, they couldn't even remember why they had gotten divorced, it must be over some little thing, they concluded and realised that they loved each other.

Leah's mom had advised that she had gotten too busy with her brand, not giving her father enough time, he was always left to take care of the kids, and she said that she knew it was unfair to him, but she did not want to be held down, now she had finally found her balance, she could work with her family, he knew she overworked herself, he wanted her to be happy, he could not take it back then though, he said that no matter what happened in the past, he would cherish their relationship in the future. Though she had not realised it before, Leah was a lot like her mom, and with their improved relationship, her mom wasn't the devil, Leah had thought she was, in fact, her mother seemed more and more affectionate as each second ticked by.

By these events, Leah had concluded one thing: Nothing is ever just a 'small thing', if you think it could even slightly, just slightly slur a relationship, it should be talked about, after all, there isn't enough time to waste on gossiping, your life comes first, do not be a busybody, and stick your nose into other peoples' businesses, it might seem funny to you, but by saying something mean, you could possibly, though unintentionally harm someone, don't become a criminal for naught. Leah finally understood her mistake, instead of telling Ethan when it hurt, she kept it in, expecting him to know, when she felt annoyed by him, she should have said so, rather than smiling, our facial expressions, and gestures can be deceiving, if you are smiling when someone is annoying you, or you're experiencing pain, what reaction do you expect?

Your smile signifies comfort and happiness, in this world of fully social connectivity, we have forgotten how to express emotions, just like when you are a little uncomfortable by something, you send the 'smiley face' emoji to ignore the thing politely, and when you are angry, you send the 'angry face' emoji, not too many though, 2 for slightly angry, and multiple for super angry, but what is the use of emojis when our own faces betray our feelings, we have gotten used to not showing what we feel, gotten used to swallowing emotions up, why else do you think is the world so explosive? Teenagers, so moody? Adults so cranky, and Elders so apprehensive of our 'world', the teenager world, it is because rather than having a real life conversation, we text people things like 'Whatcha up to?', we call people when we are really free, but we do not ever stop to think, did I make that phone call and blabber on the phone for two hours nonstop because I wanted to, or because I really care about the person on the other end of the phone? You will not be surprised by the answer, but rather disgusted by it. Everything has its own time, right? Now is the right time to change, the person reading this story, the writer who is writing this story, both of us have the power to change the world, let us do it together.

Leah arrived at her school, they were going to go in a bus, to a near campsite. It was near but kind of in the middle of nowhere, not only were they going to experience the wilderness but they would have to find food, play games, do fun stuff together, everyone who had signed up for this camp was from the VB team, but there were not a lot of people, Leah, Ethan, Mindy, Xin, Mia, Kara, Luis, Percy, they were all set when it came to choosing a college, Leah had recently gotten offers from a couple of IVYs, her SATs had been great too. She could just relax. Other students were still looking up up campuses, and settling other things, it was the week before graduation. They were looking forward to the "Farewell Prom", their dance had been cancelled because of a couple of incidents the past year, therefore, for their batch, it had been ultimately decided that they could just have their Prom after Graduation, it would obviously be at school, to close the "High School" chapter of their lives with melodious music, and a divine dance. They were all looking forward to seeing who the Orator on Graduation would be. Everyone knew, unofficially though, it would obviously be Leah. But no one dared to say that in front of Mindy, Mindy was in a really bad mood these days, not only did she bomb her SATs but rather, no college seemed to fit her taste, but that was not the problem, the problem was that she was unsure of what she wanted to do. She realised that she had wasted her high school life, being all high and mighty, and trying to bring Leah down, she was sick and tired of herself. So, naturally, everyone at Wilson's High was facing the wrath of her frustration, she had been on a frenzy, bullying even the meek girl in their cafeteria, scaring middle school kids, she was relieved she could spend some time with Ethan.

She had started falling for his cold ways a little, the way his lips were curved at the end suddenly seemed interesting. Before agreeing to put up this show for Leah to burn, Ethan had told her one thing, I will not ever like you, therefore, do not dare take this as an invitation, take it as a warning, do not let your feelings get involved, do not make a mess out of this. Be forewarned. He had stated these things with a fire in his eyes, she had initially not wanted to do anything with him, she was happy, she had an ally, someone who hated Leah just as much as her. But somewhere in the middle of acting like she was his girlfriend, she had caught herself wishing that this could be real, what she had with Ethan, she hoped it could become real. She wanted to use this trip as a chance to really get closer to him. She had the ultimate weapon to make Leah back off, she would hate Ethan, if Mindy got Ethan to kiss her, even if it was through a game. She wanted to fight till death.