Uncharted bonds

Ch-7 (Sudden proposal)

The next day at school, I felt nervous about facing Kerin. Oh God, just give me some space in the earth to bury myself. Ughhhhh... "Ruby, you can do it. Yes, you can do it," I reassured myself. Entering the class, I was relieved to find Kerin absent. Later, during our classes, I sat with my friends as we solved math problems given by the teacher. Eventually, we decided to head to the canteen for snacks during the break.

"I don't want to go to the canteen, please get me something to drink," Kate said.

"Me too," Jasmine and Claudia chimed in.

Tiya and I went to get snacks and drinks for ourselves. While standing in the queue, waiting for our turn, someone pushed from behind, causing the boy in front to drop his noodles all over his clothes. He looked at me furiously and said, "What the hell, man? Are you blind or what?" A boy from behind quickly defended me, saying, "Bro, she didn't push you; it was the boys behind the row." To my surprise, it was Alex(Jamie's best friend) I never even dreamed that Alex would help me someday.

The boy who ended up with noodles on him was from the commerce class and happened to be acquainted with Alex. The matter quietly closed, but the boys who had pushed us were still laughing, though we chose to ignore them as we retrieved our snacks. Claudia advised me not to engage with them, labeling them as trash, a sentiment echoed by Alex. Later, we encountered Kate's cousin, Jamie, who requested Claudia and me to wait for him after school. When Claudia asked .. do you want me to stay after school?or all of us Jamie clarified that he meant all of us , which felt a bit awkward, but he seemed harmless enough. Back in class, we distributed the snacks, and when Claudia recounted the incident, Kate and Tiya expressed their anger towards the boys involved, referring to them as garbage. It felt like deja vu hearing the same sentiments echoed once more, with Claudia even adding that they were nothing but a heap of garbage, eliciting laughter from the group. I casually mentioned to Kate that her cousin wanted us to stay after school, noticing her unusual expression but not dwelling on it. After school, as we waited for Jamie and Alex, Jamie approached me directly, saying he wanted to tell me something. It felt incredibly awkward that he singled me out from the group, but I agreed to listen. To my surprise, he proposed to me in front of everyone.

For a while, there was silence, and I wasn't sure what kind of expressions I was wearing at that moment. After a few minutes of contemplation, Jamie finally spoke up, confessing that it was all just a prank. As he exclaimed this, Alex, who had been drinking water, accidentally sprayed it all over Jamie's face, prompting laughter from everyone present. Amidst the laughter, Alex admitted, "Yeah, it was me," casting a mischievous glance at Jamie.

After everyone had left for their homes, I returned to my dorm and settled onto my bed. Today had been quite the rollercoaster ride for me, especially with Kerin's absence. I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had been at school. The mere thought made me feel as though I would have died of embarrassment. Why did these things always seem to happen to me? I'm not one to seek attention, or perhaps I am... I pondered these thoughts as I lay there, staring at my balcony. Suddenly, memories of the previous night flooded back, reminding me of the strange encounter. Unsure of what I was feeling, I realized that perhaps I was missing my mom. With that realization, I reached for my phone and called my sister, finding some solace in our conversation.