For those who don't know, this is the edited and heavily revised version of the story Admiring a Blank Canvas that is also on my profile.
Floating would be the only way to describe how I traveled through the hallway. It seemed freshly cleaned, it smelt better than usual and it almost glowed with light. I was weightless in this moment, my fingers reaching out to my locker and turning the dial delicately. Each number of my three-digit code felt important, even though they all held no meaning to me. The locker swung open, and I placed the books needed for my first class into my backpack, the new weight still not holding me down. I hesitated as I started to close my locker, the apple I placed in there when I arrived in the morning catching my eye, the light bouncing off the shiny red skin making it look like it was winking at me. I bit my lip, reaching my hand out to grab it before pausing; my hesitation was nothing new, but the feeling of the smooth skin gliding over my fingertips as I wrapped my hand around the delicious fruit was. The burst of flavour that greeted my tongue as my teeth crunched through the skin made me sigh in resignation. I pushed my guilt to the side as I took another bite, I would not let it win today. With a thud and a click my locker was closed and secured, and I was back to floating down the hallway, taking in everything my eyes found with a renewed hunger, having not realized how colourful the walls were, how shiny the floor could be, how interesting the people around me were as they gathered in their groups before class. I turned the corner, continuing to drink in everything around me when my eyes drifted over a flickering light. It was at the end of the hallway, casting the end corner in foreboding darkness every time it lost the battle to stay on. I quirked my head to the side in question, biting into the apple again as I made my way towards the classroom beside the light, the door to it cracked open. As I neared, I could hear mumbled voices and heavy breathing. The sound of papers hitting the floor was distinct. A small grin etched itself onto my lips as I prepared to peak at who it was, knowing I would have juicy gossip to share. I leaned against the wall as I looked into the empty classroom, scanning across the room until my eyes spotted what they were searching for.
Everything went grey.
My shoulder connected with the door beside me as my whole body reacted to the scene displayed in front of me, the half-eaten apple rolling out of my hands before meeting the floor. My breath caught in my throat making me choke as I slowly backed away. Distantly I recognized the shrill sound of the bell and noticed the way the air settled once it was devoid of people stirring it up. My hands landed on the cold concrete wall when I held them out to steady myself, my eyes staring intently at the grimy floor as I blinked furiously. They adjusted rapidly to the dim that started to surround me, and as I looked around it felt as if a fog had settled around me.
"Oops, I think she found us." The voice was coated in false concern and I could picture the cruel tilt that the speaker's lips had surely taken. I didn't want to look at the face to confirm my suspicions.
I turned, feeling dazed as I moved forwards, feeling my foot connect with the floor as I started towards the exit. My hands desperately gripped at my backpack straps, clutching onto them as if they were a lifeline.
"Who cares now? I got what I wanted from her last night anyways."
The voice of the respondent commanded my body to turn, to look back at something I never wanted to see in the first place.
Amid the monotonous colouring of the wall and tiles was a beacon of gold, warm and bright and inviting. I wanted nothing more than to wrap myself in him like I did with my blankets, to let him invade my senses and protect me from being hurt.
But instead, he wrapped his arms around a girl that wasn't me.