Whistle in the Woods | Teen Fic ✔️

8 : Unsaid

Meldei seldom drove her days with determination that, its reappearance now resonated over the final school bell. It was a heavy, solid sort of determination, one she never quite had toward a place she went for peace and escape. And she was walking between the trees by the time she grasped a hold of it, chatters fading to whispers of the wind.

She listened, slowly down, stopping her breaths momentarily. But no melody was drifting through the air, or hiding among the trees. The field sounded its usual ghostly song, undisturbed.

Dead black trees surrounded her like a ring of ancient dancers. The first sprout of doubt seeded as she listened more closely. Still, nothing. What if she held her hopes high for nothing?

She stepped out into the clearing.

As expected. She was alone.

Class ended only minutes ago after all. For all it looked, she might be the only one holding the end of the bargain.

Something shifted ahead. A second later—to her surprise—Youhei peered from a shrub that grew to spill into the lake. "Hey."

She didn't know what to say.

"I thought—" She broke off, feeling herself smile.

"Come sit," he said.

As she got close, she realized he must've saved the stump for her, seeing he was sitting nearby. She placed the bag on her lap.

None of them said anything for a while. Both watched the lake, but Meldei's mind swarmed. If he was here, then maybe he kept the end of his promise. But how should she ask him? What should she say?

Out the corner of her eye, his hair was dancing in the breeze like hers, although much shorter. She wondered if he could tie it. Then she thought if Lea ever tied it.

The silence was becoming infinitely awkward. The way Lea stared when they spoke in class was awkward. Now, sitting hidden from the rest of the world with her ex completely in his own world, felt like breaking an uncomfortable rule.

Meldei shifted.

"I'm just going to say it," she spoke.

It suddenly took effort to break through hesitation when he turned.

"Do you—still have feelings for Lea?" she asked. She forced herself to not look away.

At last, he said, "Why do you want to know?"

She felt like a fool. What was her place in it? She wasn't even his friend. But the pit had already been dug. Better to fall with answers than watch Lea wither from all the things unsaid.

She squared her shoulders, holding Noleak's regret close. "She still does for you."

The water lilies wobbled, rippling throughout the lake.

"She won't say it," she said, "but she wants you back—and all the things that were before. Surely you see that?" Her eyes turned hard. "You promised to talk."

He let out a breath. "Did she ask you to do this?"

"She might never talk to me again if she knows."

"Then why are you doing it?" He was looking at her now.

"I want to know what's wrong." Her nails absently combed the soft fur of her backpack. "I know it's none of my business, but Lea is my friend. Nobody wants to see their friend upset. She barely has anyone to talk to."

Meldei found the courage to up. "I know things you did from what she told me. But I don't know what she did—from you." She shrugged. "A problem can't be one-sided. Right?"

He didn't take his gaze off her. "You honestly think it's not all my fault?"

"I want to do her a favor—I'm trying to." She paused. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Looks like Noleak has a good friend," he said, then reached for a pebble before she saw the end of the vague smile.

Youhei tossed the pebble to the lake. It hurtled through the air, Meldei expecting to see the trick she couldn't do. But then the rock splatted against the water and disappeared underneath, gone.

"Was she a good girlfriend?" Meldei said.

"Don't you mean to ask: was I a good boyfriend?"

"You're not avoiding it this time."

He straightened. His eyes were black and firm when he said, "I appreciate you telling me all of this. But, well, I can't undo a decision."

"Just...why?"

"I think you understand why, Meldei. Or else you wouldn't be here talking to me instead of her."

Meldei stopped stroking her bag, lips pursing.

Had she been pretending to not know? Or was she hoping to find another reason, one that she could actually smooth and mend between them?

"I get that Lea isn't an...expressive person," she managed, struggling for the right word. "But she feels things twice as deep. It's showing for the past few days after you broke up with her, isn't it?"

"What's the point of feeling anything if she's afraid to admit it?"

"She's not afraid. It's just how it is here." Meldei straightened. "I mean, we're not allowed to be in a relationship in this school. It's the rules."

He looked up. "Seriously?"

"I'm not kidding," she said with a laugh. "You can even check the back of our handbook. Principle four: Refrainment of unseemly relationship."

Looking dubious, Youhei dropped the other pebble he was picking and drew out his handbook. Meldei leaned in as he flipped to the back cover.

She pointed at the fourth line. "See. They call it unseemly."

He shut the book looking amused. "Aren't most of them married?"

"Yes, but we're apparently too young for that. You know, they went all the way to prevent the opposite gender from sitting together in Khmer classes."

He cracked.

"You never knew?" she said, surprised and about to laugh again. He shook his head. "I thought Lea would've mentioned it."

He combed his hair back with a hand, and Meldei saw how his previous cool and unattached face transformed in the golden late afternoon.

"We were mostly busy planning ways to impress her family," he said. "There was a time when she had an event at her house. I remember she told me to receive the guests and smile—she always wanted me to smile—but they mistook me for a server. I couldn't understand what they wanted."

It made sense since Lea came from a family close to being highborn. The higher a household stood, the more occasions rose for gatherings and affairs. "Was it cleared later on?" she said. "The misunderstanding?"

"No, I ended up serving wine. With the servants." He shrugged. "It kept me busy since I couldn't understand when Noleak spoke with others."

Meldei could imagine how it must've felt like, being the only one not quite understood. Judged only by things unsaid, on the outside. Her father's disappearance long cleared how their society spun.

"Feels like you're all they think you are," she muttered. She thought the winds carried it away, but his eyes flickered. He heard.

"I'm sure she's willing to change," she spoke before he could. "If you're willing to give her another chance."

Youhei looked at something across the dark lake, silent. There was nothing, so she assumed he was seeing something only he could see.

Her phone vibrated in the bag. Uncle Li must be waiting to pick her up.

"I don't know what she liked about me," he said, finally. "Sometimes I don't know if she liked me, or just too embarrassed to undo a mistake."

"It wasn't a mistake." The vibration stopped. Youhei acknowledged with a slight nod. She waited, but he said nothing else, besides rubbing his ankle.

She sighed, her head falling to her bent knees. "You're not changing your mind."

"If I knew half of what she showed you, maybe it could've made a difference back then."

Could've. No matter what she said, to him, everything would've already been past tense.

So many chances. Until there’s suddenly none.

Meldei buried her face in her hands, resigned. Lea knew this outcome from the start. She was naive enough to think she could make a difference.

Her father flashed across her mind. She shut her eyes, denying the thought before it took shape.

"It was nice talking to you," Youhei said a moment later. Meldei reopened her eyes. "You seem like an easy person to talk to."

She sank lower between her arms cushioning her face. Her failure, though, felt somewhere much deeper. "I'm sorry for being nosy. I just—"

"Expressing is good." She heard him stand up and straightened, thinking he was going to leave her to the defeat.

"Can I sit too?" He towered over her. "I think there's an ant nest there."

She saw him rubbing his ankle again and quickly scooted over. The stump was wide enough for her and Nika to share with their lunchboxes spread out.

Something pleasing brushed her nose as he settled down. Their knees almost touched. He was relatively bigger than her, but not in a way she'd expected from always being further away.

The wind blew stronger, coming from deeper in the woods. She debated whether she was smelling the lilies on the lake. The sun filtered through the trees, a reddish glow far away, signaling the birds toward home.

Meldei sighed. She was keeping uncle Li on his tuk-tuk when they were supposed to be halfway home now. He must be wondering, knowing she'd no extra classes today—and Thursday. Mak Yey must be wondering, too. The thought of her grandmother being sick and alone in the house was enough to move her. She gathered her bag and rose—and went still when a soft weight deepened on her shoulder.

Dark, wavy auburn hair touched her face. She blinked and, realizing it was Youhei's head, her spine jerked upright.

"What—"

"Would you make Noleak understand that I don't blame her?" He broke into a yawn. He sounded too close—she glimpsed closed eyes and curved lashes. "I hope for her recovery. She used to smile more before we were together."

How can she smile now? she wanted to say.

She pushed him off her shoulder, with a force that sent him against the silk tree with a loud grunt.

"Go sleep at home," she snapped, getting to her feet. She finally breathed, but she swore she still smelled his shampoo.

Youhei turned, rubbing the back of his head. The impact cleared his black eyes. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Huh?"

A rueful smile. "Sorry. The air feels too good here." He stood, stifling another yawn. "I barely slept last night because of class—Japanese class."

Meldei tried to shake the lingering weight off her shoulder, keeping her voice casual. "Other things might bite you if you sleep here. I wouldn't stop you though. I'm going home."

"I'm late for basketball," he said, sighing and lifting his bag.

She paused. "Maybe I'll tell Lea that you just love basketball more."

She said it with spite. But he chuckled, and the sound reminded her of a spring chime ringing.

"I can love many things more." His eyes wrinkled as he passed. "See you tomorrow, Meldei."