THE VALENTINE'S DAY CONTRACT

CRACKS IN THE MIRROR

Cracks in the mirror

The next day, Elara strode into school, her head up, her heart throbbing as whispers followed behind her.

“Did you see her at the café yesterday?”

“Why does River even look her way?”

“Is he into the charity biz now?”

“Maybe she’s manipulating him, to think she’s something”

She thought as she walked, they would fade, but the further she went, the louder the voices became, so she walked faster. Once she got to her locker, she saw Clara standing there.

“What do you want now, Clara?” Elara asked about to open the locker

“What do I want? I don’t get you… today you’re an outcast, tomorrow… you’re trending,” Clara replied looking at her nails.

“Why do you care?” Elara asked

“I don’t… I’m only here because, one dumb move from you and it’ll affect us”

‘Us? What us?’ Elara thought to herself. “Just leave me alone,” she muttered

“I won’t let myself be found around you, we’ll deal with this at home,” Clara replied, flaunted her hair and walked away.

At the café, Elara sat at her usual spot, thinking. ‘What am I going to do now?’ she asked herself. ‘I still haven’t completed my fees,’ tears welled up in her eyes and it wasn’t long before they started falling. ‘If only I wrote that scholarship under my face, I wouldn’t be in this mess,’ the cling of a tray snapped her out of thoughts.

She wiped away the tears before looking up. “Oh, it’s you,” she sniffled.

He didn’t reply, but he sat and started reading a book.

She continued eating, she wasn’t eating, she was just poking the food on the plate.

“Stop,” River said still reading, but she was too deep in thoughts to hear him. “I said, stop,” then he looked at her, she was crying. Silently.

“Hey, is something wrong?” he asked a flick of concern in his eyes

“Nope, I’m totally fine, just got a little sand in my eyes,” she tried to hide the tears by turning her face the other way, so he wouldn’t notice, but he did.

“Don’t cry, lemme check it out for you,” he said and leaned forward, then tilted his head a bit like some kind of eye physician. “There’s nothing in your eyes Elara, so why are you crying?”

“it’s nothing, it’s just water falling from my eyes,” she lied

“Would you rather lie to me than let me help?” he urged rather more concerned than annoyed.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve been just so emotional lately.” She said sniffling at intervals

River leaned in, his voice low “Elara, I need you to calm down and tell me what’s wrong. I know you may not trust me since it hasn’t been long we met, but I may be able to help you”

“I work to pay my fees and it’s hard because this is an elite academy and I don’t even know what got me here, and now I can’t pay up,” she cried

“Is that it?” he asked

“That’s exactly why I wanted to keep this to myself because saying it out will only make you mock me for…” he cuts in

“Slow down Elara, I’m just saying, you could have said so when I asked from the beginning. And it’s only natural for you to cry. I’ll find a way to help you” he finally said

“Really? You’ll help me? Just like that?” Elara asked in shock

“Yes, I will, it’s the least I could do for my tourist,” he replied casually, then he pulled out a napkin and used it wipe the tears from her face. It made her heart flutter just enough for her to remain stiff till he was done. “Next time, with a student like me by your side, don’t you ever cry without telling me the problem first, okay?” he said with a small smile. Then after she nodded, he stood up and left for violin class.

Time passed really quick and it was time for dismissal, but Elara was not glad. School was hard for her, but home was worse with her horrible parents and sister.

She finally arrived home. She wiped her tears off before entering the house. Clara was sitting on the couch, her eyes on her phone, scrolling and the first thing Elara received as a welcome home gift was a slap hard across the face.

“You’re late,” her mom said

“I walked,” she replied

“You could have asked Clara for a ride instead of being so stupid at school,” her mother continued

She didn’t look up from the phone. “I’m not a chauffeur”

“Is it still a crime to give your sister a ride?” Elara asked

“Who said we were sisters?” Clara asked back, then Elara tried to walk out, but her mom stopped her

“You don’t get to leave till you apologise properly,” their mom said

“For?” Elara asked with a puzzled look

“I don’t owe you an explanation, do it now!” their mom yelled

“Then I don’t owe her an apology.” Elara replied and walked out.

In her room, she sat at the edge of the bed about to take a quick nap before going to walk Mr wiggles, but Clara wouldn’t just let her.

“Hey, little miss perfect… I don’t care about who you think you are, or what you think you can become under this roof, by using my fame, but I won’t let you drag my River into your mess, so stay away from him,” Clara said and tried to walk away

“I don’t think I’m anything Clara, you made sure of that. I must ask though, when did River become yours? He is a student of Rose Gate senior college. Besides River doesn’t even like you a bit, if he did, he wouldn’t have said you belong in a dumpster, although it’s true, but… you didn’t actually have to embarrass yourself, in front of him. Now, if you don’t mind, get the hell out of my attic!”

“How dare you raise your voice at me?”

“Want me to raise it higher? Get the f**k out!”

Clara turned around and walked out angrily, she collapsed to the bed crying, then her phone rang

Unknown number….

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, it’s me, River.’

‘How’d you get my number?’

‘The teacher?’

‘Oh…’

‘Your voice is shaky over the call, you good?’

‘I’m sorry River, I’m not in the mood for a talk right now.’

‘I understand, but I wanted to ask for your consent on something’

‘What’s that?’

‘You did say something about your fees, I want to help with those’

‘Come on River, stop kidding’

‘I’m not, I just need your consent to proceed’

Then Clara walked in and snatched the phone

“Give it back Clara!”

‘Hello?’

‘Oh my gosh, River, it’s you’

‘Uhm… who are you please, and can you hand over the phone to Elara?’

‘Come on River, don’t be mean’

‘Who are you really?’

‘It’s me, Clara’

‘Oh, the girl from the dumpster at school. Did you later find a cool home there?’

then, he ended the call

“He hung up on me”

“Okay, now that he’s done that, can you hand the phone over?”

Clara threw the phone at Elara and left angrily once again, while Elara sighed in relief that she didn’t do more than that.

Elara picked up her phone and called River back and he picked up. He wasn’t done talking

‘Is that you Elara?’

‘Yeah, it is. I’m sorry for the interruption. Are you really serious?’

‘You’re wasting my time, Elara’

‘You can, but you don’t have to’

‘Oh, good night’

‘Sure, good night’

The call ends.

Elara stared at the dark screen, her heart still racing. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t as alone as she thought. She took a quick nap, then when she woke up, she got dressed for her dog walk.

After the dog walk, she went to the restaurant for cleanup duty, it was her turn to wash the dishes at the restaurant.

After that, she went back to her room, to give River’s request a thought.