More Than What They See

CHAPTER 12: Avoidance and Confusion

Rhian’s POV

The next day at school, my eyes kept wandering toward Francis every now and then without me even noticing. Every time he moved, every time he spoke, I remembered what happened the night before—how he carried my heavy bags, how his voice was soft and gentle, and how he told me I was worth more than I thought. But the moment he stepped inside the classroom, he acted like a complete stranger. When our eyes accidentally met for a second, he looked away immediately, shifted his attention to something else, and acted like he had never seen me before in his life. It was so hard to believe that this was the same person who walked me part of the way home and spoke to me with so much concern.

When our teacher announced that we would have a group activity and asked everyone to pair up, Gio and Jace called out to Francis right away, waving their hands to get his attention. He nodded once and walked straight over to them without even glancing in my direction.

“That is much better,” Jace said loud enough for me and everyone nearby to hear clearly. “We should just stick together so we do not get dragged down by other people who do not even belong here.”

I lowered my head slowly, that familiar feeling of being left alone creeping back into my chest. I gripped my pen tight, ready to work all by myself again like I always did. But before I could even open my notebook, Liza and Mae stood up quickly and walked over to my table.

“Can we join you, Rhian?” Mae asked softly. “We would really like to work with you.”

“Just ignore them,” Liza whispered quietly as we started writing down our answers. “They act tough and mean only when everyone is watching. But all of us… we can see that Francis looks at you differently. There is something there that he is trying so hard to hide.”

I shook my head slowly and kept my eyes on my paper. “I think you are just imagining things. He does not care about me at all. He is just like the rest of them—cruel and proud.”

At lunch break, the three of us sat quietly in our usual corner, sharing our simple food and talking softly about our lessons. Then I heard loud footsteps coming our way. Gio, Jace, and Francis stopped right beside our table. Gio leaned forward and pointed straight at my small pack of bread and plain water.

“Look at that,” he said with a mocking laugh. “It looks so sad and empty. You could have just asked us if you did not have enough money. Maybe we could have given you something to eat that is actually worth eating.”

My face burned with shame and I did not know what to say. But before I could even open my mouth, Francis spoke up, his voice tight and short.

“Let us just go,” he said, pulling Gio gently by the arm. “We still have a lot of things to do before the next class starts.”

He turned them around and walked away fast, but not before I caught him glancing back at me for just a split second—one quick look full of so many things he could not say out loud.

That night while I wiped tables and washed dishes at the eatery, my mind was full of nothing but questions. Why did he act like this? Why was he gentle and kind when no one was watching, but colder and crueler than anyone else when his friends were around? Why did he keep pushing me away when he looked at me like he wanted to say so much more?

I knew deep down that this was not over yet. And as more days passed, I had a feeling that the truth behind all his confusing actions would slowly come out, whether he wanted it to or not.