Whistle in the Woods | Teen Fic ✔️

2 : Vice-President

"What you mean 'wide open'?" Nika said, crossing over the boundary. "I'm pretty sure I shut it tight last time."

Careful around the edges, Meldei slid the zinc panel across the narrow gap and closed off possibly the only entry to the school from the field beyond. The gate stretched far on either side, like a rumpled snake along Issara High's curves, etched with DO NOT ENTER graffitis.

A satisfying clang sounded.

Meldei turned, brow raised. "You also said you were pretty sure you brought our lunchboxes this morning." Nika handed her bag back, but she indicated at the gate. "Remember the sound. No sound, no bound."

Nika rolled her eyes. "That's just one exception."

"Just one?" Meldei smirked.

"I know you see only my mistakes."

"Unless you upgrade from a forgetful granny. Yey." Nika ignored her. The tip of a new ponytail brushed Nika's shoulder as she adjusted her skirt, pleated and knee-length like Meldei's own.

For ignoring her, Meldei added solemnly, "Wait. Did you lock the door when you came out just now?"

And she got the exact reaction she expected. "'Course I did," Nika said, but only after giving her skirt pocket a frantic feel. "I'm not that irresponsible, yey. Don't scare me."

"You know what's really scary?" She pointed to her own face, and Nika's hip hit her so hard she nearly tripped with her bag and hysteria.

"Go on. Keep seeing the mistakes on my face," Nika huffed and stalked up ahead of her.

Meldei caught up eventually, wiping her eyes. "It's a good reminder that not everything can happen with the speed of light." She glanced at the fading rash marks on her friend's light brown face, noting the progress. "And if you're still forgetful, you know that trick always works."

"Pulling my ear doesn't help me remember anything, okay?" Nika countered. "Look at my earlobes. They're looking like they're melting."

Meldei's mouth twitched.

Alas, this was the girl that took a potentially lethal situation to become her ever-lasting friend three years ago, when Meldei first transferred to Issara's old campus. When you were with her things were either already looking like something going downhill, or it's straight out unacceptable.

Soon, they left the isolated area and reached a secluded cluster of school buildings for advanced English classes. The vermillion roofs of those one-story buildings pained Meldei's eyes despite her attempt to not look. Reentering the campus felt like a grip stifling her neck, even if Issara High was probably wide enough to fit Phnom Penh's Olympic stadium in.

Many students were beginning to come together around the terrace, waiting for class, the white and dark blue of their uniforms fluttering in the cool air. Meldei could see her class building from here, the largest one with its own hall leading to the Director's office, near another which was still undergoing construction for eight months.

"Yey."

Meldei turned, only to have the girl bumped against her shoulder. The impact cleared Nika's eyes. "What?"

Nika spoke hesitantly. "How's bong Leak? Is she fine now?"

When Nika joined her in looking for Lea two days ago, Lea had been refusing to leave the bathroom stall.

"It's barely two weeks," she said, dismissing Youhei's image in her head. "Give her time. She'll come out of it."

Nika scoffed. "Does it always have to be the girl crying her eyes out? When was the last time I hear a story and the guy does something close to suffering?" She kicked a plastic bottle. "It's not fair."

Meldei watched as the bottle skittered to a bench. She didn't tell Nika about the encounter with Youhei, not that she often kept things from her best friend, but if she was domineering of her private space back there, then Nika was outright prickly when it came to prejudices against Lea's presumably unsympathetic ex.

Yes—it looked unfair.

"What about this morning?" Meldei said instead. "Maybe the new role will help. Put her mind off things a bit. Knowing her, I think it probably would."

"How's that going to help?" Nika said, glancing back ahead. Her butterfly hair-clip glistened in the sun before they submerged under the building's ceiling. "You saw how many people wanted that position. It's a matter of time before someone thirsty says something. I hope it's nothing serious."

"That sounds like people hunting for hidden treasures." Though deep down, she knew—if not as well as Nika—about the darker, unspoken persona underlying Issara's outward prestige.

"I just don't get the hype," Nika continued nevertheless. "What's the whole point of the student council? They had it last year and nobody ever did anything."

"That's why they're recruiting more members now."

"Literally two people." She shrugged. "Who cares anyway. Bong Leak's still heartbroken and none of us can do anything to change that."

Meldei wasn't sure if they could change it in any other way, other than to rip all of Lea's memory branches that had to do with falling in love. She'd fallen for Youhei during summer class that September, two months ago, and Meldei recalled glimpses of them together at class intervals, all soft words and shy glances, back when Lea's friend circle was still flourishing.

"We can't change it, but we stay with her." She took Nika's wrist. "Come on. I think she's back by now. Let's hang out there."

Nika shied away like a mule. "You go talk to her," she said. "I'm not that close to her. I don't know what to say."

"We're not doing a recital. God." Then she added, "Besides, if I'm heartbroken, I'd feel extremely glad to have supportive friends around me."

"If you're heartbroken, you stop being Meldei."

"So I'm one-dimensional?" She reached for her arm again. "Come on. Your energy works on heartbreaks better than mine. Quic—kly!"

Finally, she managed to tackle Nika along until they reached a room at the end of the gray hall. 12 A was etched into the lintel.

It was like entering a fish market. Any class was during breaks, but Meldei found hers particularly ringing thanks to the group at the back, huddling around a pile of Uno.

Noleak was slumped across the front desk, opposite the door, her arms cushioning and hiding her face all at once. Meldei had been coming to the same sight so many times she didn't know what else to expect Lea to be doing.

Nika instantly shivered as she entered, and gave the AC a withering look.

"Already dozing before class, Vice-President?" Meldei teased as she squeezed over to the right seat. They had been sharing desk since Lea could no longer bear staying back there—where he stayed.

Noleak's short hair gathered around her face like a luxurious, black makeup brush when she slowly sat up, barely touching her shoulders.

"Not one more," she grumbled. "Stop with the name already. Oh, hey." She waved back at Nika.

"How was class?" Meldei said.

"I didn't go. It's stressful enough without it." Noleak ran a hand through her hair, but she let it fall back to her face. Others may see it as fashion, but Meldei found it hard to watch. Lea was normally flawless—round face glowing with her hair neatly pinned—not withdrawn. "I want to cancel chemistry. Biology. Everything, basically."

"Cheer up." Nika touched her arm. "It'll get better. Crying ruins your face. Right, Meldei?"

Lea smiled a little. "I was just trying to sleep."

"I don't think you'll have a chance." The group behind exploded in cheers as soon as she said it. Meldei set her bag inside the desk pocket. "Enough sleeping for now. You haven't told us about the new role. What are you gonna be doing?"

"Oh." Lea tapped her temple. "I forgot." She went on to unzip her Chanel backpack and pulled out a folder to lay it on the table between them. Meldei realized it was the name list of their class, thirty-two columns in total.

"There's a new rule," Noleak said, taking out another separate piece of paper beneath it. She pointed to a block of text. "...mandatory for all students who remain on the campus during lunch break to participate in an activity of their choice." Meldei read on after she withdrew her finger. "Extra sports or classes basically. For an hour. Or detention in the Director's office."

Meldei frowned. Nika's face flashed as she flipped the paper over to see.

Sighing, Meldei propped her hands on the desk and leaned her chin on top. "I'm waiting to see what they'll do with our recess next.”

"I was told it was a way to raise funds," Lea said, almost unaffectedly.

"And the school's image." Didn't they always prioritize that, really? "Can't we just stay in class?"

"You can't. They'll lock it until class."

"This is so stupid," Nika fumed, turning to us. "Why not just directly charge us for staying at school?"

"That's the point," said Meldei. "The trash outside really didn't end well for us."

"It's not even our fault. Whatever." Nika tossed the sheet down as if though was a maggot. "As if anyone's following that."

Lea shrugged. "If you have problems with it, I'll recommend taking it to Sarak. Or the Principal. Either one."

Meldei already saw the futility of it. Keo Sarak had been elected as the student council president since last year, despite its inactivity. Everyone knew his reputation with the Principal even if they didn't know him in person. Meldei heard he was the one who planted the seed on reviving and prompting actions among the council in the first place. Hearing this rule now only convinced her that he was at the bottom list of the people she'd ever be friends with.

"Just don't care about it," Nika was saying to Lea, perched on the edge of the desk.

"I can't. They're serious about working on it. You only have three days to decide, so I have to announce it to every single class in this building."

Meldei skimmed over the listed options. Reading. Vocabulary. Grammar. Or sports: soccer, basketball—her eyes paused. When she looked up when realized Lea was staring at the same thing, and it worried her seeing the rim of her eyes. They were bloodshot.

"If I didn't have extra classes in the afternoon, they'd probably make me walk around the sun to make sure everyone's doing what they're supposed to," Noleak said dryly.

"I'd...rather do that." Nika smiled sheepishly, revealing a dimple.

"It's fine," Meldei said. She began stacking the papers back into the folder. Nika caught her glance. They wouldn't be in class the majority of lunch breaks anyway. "Lea, we'll help you spread the word."

A few minutes later, they were out on the corridor waiting for Nika to dispense her bag. The minute they stepped out of the class just now though, Meldei tripping face-first herself would've been less obvious than the way Lea kept turning at every stranger that passed them.

"Looking for something?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

Noleak's doleful eyes glued on the entryway ahead, where more students filed in toward their classes. Her face said it all.

"Is he...here yet?" She spoke so quietly.

Unbidden, the event at the lake resurfaced in her head. Meldei nodded. It was nearly class, so maybe he'd already come back.

She turned Noleak so that they stood face-to-face, and said gently, "Still. How are you going to move on if you keep looking for him every time?"

Lea finally lowered her eyes. "What can I do? I can't control it."

But he acts like he barely even remember you, she wanted to say. Seeing that Nika was quickly catching up with a friend, Meldei spoke in a voice only they could hear. "Have you thought about talking to him again? Maybe try to work things out one more time?"

"After what I told you about what he said?" Lea's look told her she was being ridiculous. "There's no way."

"That's because your brother was the one who talked to him," she said. "I mean you. You talking to him." Lea's older brother was a medical intern, whose entire career could've ended up in catastrophe if he'd laid his hands anywhere near Youhei that day, according to Lea's retelling. "Tell him how you really feel. He can't be that heartless to not listen. Is he?"

Noleak's gaze suddenly flew up. "Meldei. You didn't say anything to him, did you? About anything I told you."

She was tired of this, of how Lea always had a reason to shield her emotions as if they were shameful. "We barely even talk."

Noleak settled back on her heels. "Don't tell him anything about me. Just don't."

"Lea..."

"I mean it, Meldei." Her eyes were hard. "Swear that you won't. It's between us only."

Meldei held her gaze for a moment, and finally nodded.

The tension eased off Lea's face a little as Nika approached them. "You're the only person I have left," Noleak muttered. "I trust you."

_____._____

"That went better than expected," Lea said, dusting invisible stains off of her now-transparent folder. They managed to announce near halfway through the total numbers of classes and stuck the name lists on the walls of each with repeated instructions. All that was left was to wait for the magic.

"That's because you were there," Meldei said, side-stepping a group of boys blathering in the middle of the hallway. She retook Lea's side and caught the look on her face. "No—not just because you're the Vice-President. Well, maybe. They were curious about you. If they're curious, they'll listen to whatever you have to say at first."

"What's there to be curious about me?" Lea raised a thin brow at her.

Meldel kept a smile to herself. She said curious, but really, it was more envy that reflected in certain eyes. But Lea wouldn't think of it that way. Of course not, if she cared for things like that she wouldn't have been one of the top senior students on the campus. Her future was far more secured than the padlock securing Meldei's home.

Meldei admired her because she was flailing for motivation in the teachers' expectations and her mother's pinched gaze.

"You're still ignoring me," Lea said presently. Their classroom was a few steps away. Nika went to hers a while ago.

Meldei settled for the answer that she was sure Lea wouldn't deflect. "I'd be curious about the new Vice-President if I wasn't friends with her," she said.

Noleak looked unmoved as she reached for the door. Inside, Mr. Foster was already behind his desk addressing the class, but Meldei bet her life it wasn't their teacher that just turned Lea to stone.

Across the room, Youhei had moved up to sit right behind their desk, and his eyes were on her.

———————

Don't forget to add it to your library if you liked it! See you next week!