Someone was watching me again. I didn't turn my head to look, but continued the façade. The laughing with my friends, the smile on my face, all of it to hide the pain that I felt as graduation drew nearer.
"Can you believe we're about to graduate?" Aimi said as the laughter died down.
Her words struck me like a physical blow, but I did not flinch.
Graduation, I thought. Three weeks. After that, it'll be too late.
"Ren?" Aimi said, waving a hand in front of my face. "Don't look...but Dark is looking at you."
"I told you, I'm done with boys," I replied bluntly. "After…you know…I just can't do it. I'm sorry. I-I…I'm going to go have my lunch in the library. I need to study for finals, you know.
The library was quiet. No one came in during lunch. I pulled out my brown paper sack. I looked inside.
I had forgotten the lunch. All that was there was a sad, solitary apple.
I ate it mournfully. Sour. I crossed to the trash can and threw it away.
I sat down and opened my datebook, counting the days. Three weeks.
I sighed. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started to cry, head down, shoulders shaking with sobs.
"Why are you crying?" Dark asked, appearing randomly beside me.
"W-What do you c-care?" I sobbed.
He looked surprised at that. "Why wouldn't I care?"
I laughed sarcastically. "You're the most popular guy in school. And I'm just…never mind. I'm going."
I got up to leave. Dark grabbed my shoulder. "Wait a second."
I winced. "L-Let go…"
Dark let go of my shoulder. His hand was stained with my blood. "You're bleeding. Sit down."
I started to sit down, but I fell, and the chair tipped over.
My last conscious thought was: How are they going to get the stain of my blood out of the floor?