Chapter 10- EMILY'S P.O.V
1242 Words
The weekend was over, and I was wondering how.
"Why can't weekends be longer than this?" I mumbled to myself as I got ready for school. I pulled on my usual hoodie, grabbed my bag, and made sure my phone was tucked safely inside.
"Emily, time for us to go!" my dad called from downstairs.
"I'll be there in a bit!" I yelled back, slinging my bag over my shoulder.
Soon enough, we were pulling up in front of school. My dad parked briefly at the curb.
"Love you," he said as I opened the car door.
"Love you more," I replied, giving him a quick smile before closing the door and watching him drive off.
I turned to face the school building when I suddenly heard my name being called.
"Emily... Emily!"
I looked over my shoulder and spotted Teresa running toward me like her life depended on it.
"Is everything alright?" I asked her as she came to a stop in front of me, huffing and puffing.
"I... I..." she panted, catching her breath with her hands on her knees.
I raised a brow, concerned. "You okay?"
She looked up, her face red from the sudden sprint, and gave me a sheepish grin.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just... I saw you and didn't want to miss walking in with you."
I blinked. "That's it?"
She stood up straight and nodded with a grin. "Yup. Just wanted to catch up."
I let out a short laugh. "You nearly gave yourself an asthma attack just to say hi?"
"What can I say? Friendship is a full-body workout," she said, flipping her hair dramatically.
We both laughed, and the tension in my shoulders eased a bit. It felt good-to have someone care enough to run across the schoolyard just to walk beside me.
"Well, next time, you can just wave. I'm not going anywhere," I said.
"Noted," she grinned. "Now let's go before we're late and have to sit in front."
As we started walking toward the entrance, she glanced over at me.
"So... how was your weekend?"
"Not that bad," I said with a small smile.
"Good. Mine was boring," she replied, groaning. "Like seriously, I didn't even leave the house."
"Sometimes boring is good," I said quietly.
"Tell that to my brain cells," she grinned.
We laughed again.
"Well, next time, you can just wave. I'm not going anywhere," I told her.
"Noted," she smirked. "Now let's go before we're late and have to sit in front."
We walked into the school together, side by side. And for once, it didn't feel like I was just trying to survive the day. It felt like maybe-just maybe-I belonged.
As Teresa and I walked through the hallway, still giggling about her dramatic sprint, we turned the corner-and almost ran into someone.
Teresa stopped short. "Oh-Ace."
Ace barely glanced up from his phone, his usual unreadable expression on his face. He stepped to the side without a word, letting us pass.
"Do you ever not pop out of nowhere?" Teresa asked, but Ace didn't answer. He just kept walking, headphones in, attention locked on his screen.
I watched him for a second, a little curious, but he didn't even look at me.
Teresa rolled her eyes. "Classic Ace. I'm convinced he's secretly a ninja."
I smiled faintly. "He's... quiet."
"Yeah, that's one way to put it," she said with a playful sigh. "C'mon, let's go before he vanishes again."
We continued walking down the hallway, the sound of Ace's footsteps already fading behind us.
As we kept walking, Teresa turned to me. "So, which class do you have first?"
"Literature," I replied, adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder.
"Ugh, lucky," she groaned dramatically. "I have math. Literally the worst way to start a Monday."
I chuckled softly. "It's not that bad."
"It is when your teacher thinks x and y are more important than breakfast," she muttered, making me smile.
We reached the intersection in the hallway where we usually split.
"Well... see you at lunch?" I asked.
"You better," she said, pointing at me playfully. "I need emotional support after math class."
"Deal," I said with a small laugh.
With a wave, we went our separate ways-her heading toward mathematical misery, and me toward literature.
I entered the classroom and made my way to my usual seat by the window. The room was still half-empty, the soft chatter of students filling the space as everyone settled in. I placed my bag on the floor and pulled out my notebook, already dreading whatever the teacher had planned for us this morning.
Just then, the classroom door creaked open.
Ace walked in.
The entire atmosphere shifted. A few students turned to stare-some curious, others clearly surprised. Apparently, this wasn't his usual class.
Mr. Thompson, our literature teacher, paused mid-sentence as he looked up from the attendance sheet. A smirk curled on his lips.
"Well, well," he said dryly. "What an honor to have you finally join us, Mr. West. I wasn't sure you even knew where this classroom was."
A few students chuckled under their breath, but Ace didn't respond. He didn't even look at the teacher. With that usual unreadable expression on his face, he simply walked past everyone and headed straight for the back of the class.
My heart skipped a beat.
Because the only empty seat back there... was the one next to mine.
Ace sat down wordlessly, pulling out nothing-not a notebook, not a pen, just slouching into the chair with his arms crossed and eyes half-lidded like he couldn't care less about being there.
---
BONUS CHAPTER - ACE'S P.O.V.
People always think silence means indifference. That I don't care. That I'm cold.
They're wrong.
I just don't waste words.
Especially not in that school where everyone acts like life is a game of popularity. Like words are weapons, or worse-currency. That's why I sit at the back of every class. Fewer eyes. Less noise. More space to think.
But today was different.
Mr. Thompson's class.
I'd been avoiding it for weeks, not because I couldn't handle literature-hell, I probably read more than half the people in this building-but because it meant sitting around people who didn't understand silence. Who feared it. Who filled it with noise and nonsense.
Still, Dylan kept nagging me about it. Said I couldn't just "ghost my way through the semester." And Zack? He just laughed and said it wouldn't kill me.
They didn't get it. Not really.
But I came anyway.
And that's when I saw her.
Emily Parker.
Hoodie up as usual. Eyes down. Tension clinging to her shoulders like a second skin. She looked like someone trying to disappear.
I understood that feeling.
What surprised me most? She didn't flinch when I sat beside her.
She didn't start whispering to her friends, or scoot her chair away like I carried some kind of disease.
She just... kept looking forward.
Silent.
Like me.
And for the first time in a long while, I didn't feel the urge to leave the room.
Mr. Thompson tried his sarcasm routine when I walked in-something about being honored to have me. I didn't even blink. Let him get his moment. I'm not here to impress anyone.
I just sat down and let the silence wrap around me like armor.
And maybe, just maybe, it felt a little less heavy with her sitting beside me.
- Writer
