Father already approved of us, don't make me kiss you again.
The paper completely left Arturia's hand and flopped to the floor due to its damaged state, "Oh so if it's her it isn't going to jeopardize your career, but if it's me it's suddenly illegal? Could you not have just said that you did not like me? It's not fair, what the hell is wrong with you? Am I just not good enough for you?" Her voice did not hide her rage and she was practically turning red with anger as her hands balled into fists. Her heart was beating in her chest but she felt it at her throat as her nose felt all tingly.
"Arturia, please, calm down and listen to me," Diarmuid cautiously too a step towards her, making sure she would not flee or punch him.
"What? Are my eyes not glossy enough? Is it because I don't wear excessive makeup that makes me look like a totally different person? Am I not girly enough? Maybe I'm too brute, like the principal put it, that must be it, right?" So, this was what people called a heartache; her chest felt as if it was being compressed by those machines in a junk yard—it was painful.
The male shook his head rapidly, "No, Arturia. Just let me explain." He took one step closer and he was close enough to reach for her, but he refrained for she was very mad.
Arturia stepped on the letter, "I don't want to hear why you kissed her!" She yelled as she felt her nose tingle and causing her eyes to begin to water—she knew this process much too well.
"But I didn't kiss her, she kissed me! And only once at that!"
"Is that supposed to make me feel any better? As if I would fall for that!"
"I knew her before we met, I've known her for almost a year now."
"Oh so I was just a rebound, huh?"
Diarmuid slowly reached out his hand to take her arm, "It's a misunderstanding, Arturia."
"A misunder—Ugh! You just—you think you can get everything just because you have a pretty face, well, newsflash! You can't! You can't get everything you wish for, you jerk! I'm not falling for this!" She smacked his hand away before trying to rush out of the room.
He took a hold of her wrist before she ran out and nearly growled, "Arturia let me explain myself."
Arturia tried to shake his hand off harshly, "Let me go, you jerk! Just let me go!" Her voice cracked halfway and when she turned back to glare at him, he could see the tears welding in the corners of her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Arturia," he slipped his grip from her and watched as she roughly retracted her own and gave him one last glare. He watched her exit the classroom and slam the door behind her.
"What's wrong, Artie, I heard yelling…" Jeanne tilted her head as she had jumped at the sound of the red door being slammed shut so loudly it resonated throughout the empty school halls.
Arturia turned to look at her friend, and the look in her eyes gave it all away, "We're going home. Now." She managed to growl it out before storming down the hallway.
"W-wait up!" Jeanne hurried after her before she heard the door open behind her.
"Wait, Arturia, let me explain!" Diarmuid called down the hallway, not even worried about a teacher hearing them.
"Leave me alone!" The green-eyed female continued to walk as the other two followed after her.
Jeanne turned around to face her teacher and frowned, "Sir, I think you should leave her alone. She needs space." She spoke as she looked up at the man who had stopped in his tracks a few feet away from her.
"But I just want to—"
"Sir," the Frenchwoman continued, "It would be best."
Diarmuid sighed loudly and nodded as he ran a hand through his hair, "A-Alright."
Jeanne could see the obvious desperation in his facial features before she bowed her head and then ran off after her friend, calling her name as she made her way down the hallway. The studious female had caught up to her friend only when she was standing by the car waiting.
"Open the door," Arturia had her arms crossed over her chest, anger still written all over her face.
The poor girl with the long braid ran to her car and opened the doors, sliding in before Arturia did so as well, slamming the door again, "What happened? I thought everything was going well, I heard giggles and then… and then you guys were yelling at each other…"
"Was he following us?" Arturia kept an eye out to see if he was around.
Jeanne shook her head, "I told him not to, I thought that you would prefer that."
Arturia took a deep breath and felt a warm tear slide down her cheek, "Just drive me home, we'll talk about it there."
Jeanne drove them in silence, not even letting the radio fill the empty space between them with songs because she could tell Arturia was irritated and she never liked to listen to music when she was like that.
They arrived at Arturia's house and Jeanne began to park her car in the driveway. She had not even finished parking the car before Arturia exited it in a rush to disappear into her room. After Jeanne turned off the car—one not nearly as luxurious as Grainne's—she followed after the other blonde.
Arturia was standing at her door frame before she grabbed the first thing closest to her and threw it on the floor; which happened to be a glass of water. "Grainne ruined everything! There was this stupid damn note she wrote to him. Apparently they kissed! They bloody kissed and here I thought maybe—just maybe—he had feelings for me." She walked over the broken glass and threw something else on the floor, "Turns out he's been with Grainne this entire time—even while we were dating!" She yelled in frustration and finally throwing yet another thing onto the floor; a plastic toy Diarmuid had given her when they went to the Amusement park. "Nothing ever goes my way, it's like someone out there hates me and is planning everything against me!"
Jeanne watched her friend rant before she too walked over the broken glass and puddle of water towards Arturia. She took a deep breath and sat on the bed where Arturia had plopped down.
"I'm so stupid! Ugh! H-how could I even think that Diarmuid was interested in me? I'm so pathetic! How could I—why was I so stupid?"
A sigh came from Jeanne as she wrapped and arm around her friend as it to comfort her, "Arturia, that's not true. You aren't stupid or pathetic, it's just—"
Arturia shook Jeanne's hand and then rubbed her face, "Of course I am! I'm not pretty or anything and I somehow expected Diarmuid to prefer me over Grainne. Grainne, the one everyone is in love with."
"Arturia… You and Grainne are two different people; you cannot compare yourself to her. Plus, I'm sure Diarmuid has an explanation for everything, you could be misunderstanding. He seemed very genuinely interested in you and apologetic."
"Oh God, Jeanne, you're supposed to be on my bloody side! What happened to the whole 'you hurt my friend, I beat you up' stuff? Are you going to defend him and not me?"
"I'm not defending him! I'm just saying that you have to let him explain everything! I do think he was in the wrong anyways, but you have to patch things up. I trust him, and you know I barely trust anyone, Arturia. Come on, just this time."
"Jeanne, be on my side! Get angry with him too, It's not fair that you're my best friend and you aren't siding with me!" Arturia glared at the other female, balling her hands to fists again.
Jeanne rubbed her face, "Okay, I'll be on your side, I'm sorry. It's just that being angry like this isn't the right thing, we have to let him explain some day; that'll be the right thing."
Arturia groaned as she fell back on her bed, "Jeanne, am I just not good enough? Am I ugly or something?"
Her friend patted her head softly, "You're beautiful, and don't worry about Grainne, she'll get what's coming for her."
The green-eyed girl covered her face and took a shaky breath, "I am so fricken stupid. Why?" Her voice was shaky again and Jeanne only continued to pat her head slowly and soothingly.
"Babe, it's going to be okay," the violet-eyed girl soothed, "You're going to be alright, sweetie."
Arturia had seemed to calm down and Jeanne stood to clean the mess that the other had made. She went to the bathroom and picked up a towel and a broom before heading back to the room and picking up the glass shards and drying the hardwood floor. The broken glass had left a dent and some scratches that would need to be fixed later on.
After having finished, Jeanne went back to the bed and sat against the head board patting her lap, "Come on, babe," she smiled.
Arturia set her head on Jeanne's lap and the other began to play with her hair. The Frenchwoman knew that Arturia found it soothing when people played with her hair and so she began to make small golden French braids.
"Can I not go to school tomorrow?" Arturia whispered, staring aimlessly at the wardrobe.
Jeanne shrugged, "Why don't you want to go?"
"I don't want to see him… he pissed me off."
Another shrug and the braid continued, "You have to ask your father, don't ask me." She chuckled, "You can stay one day but you can't leave me alone for another."
"Okay, but I'll most likely stay home for two days, I don't even want to see anyone." The shorter blonde sighed.
"What if Gil shows up with a black eye and you miss it? You can't miss a bruise up Gilgamesh."
Arturia chuckled at the playful tone of her best friend, "Then you would have to take a picture, it lasts longer and we can blackmail him."
Jeanne giggled and nodded, "You blackmail him, I won't be part of that."
The girls continued to talk about other things that made Arturia smile and not curl up in a ball. Most of the talk was about Gilgamesh and how he most likely looked with a black eye. But it was soon late and Uther had arrived home, greeting both the females before Jeanne bid her farewell for the night.
The following day, Jeanne avoided all contact with her chemistry teacher—including eye contact, even if he called her name. He had hurt her friend, and Jeanne was completely upset with him, but she was still open to the idea of hearing him out. After school, Jeanne was unable to visit Arturia for she had to make her way straight from the private school to her part-time job at a convenience store.
She put on her black and white uniform before exiting the breakroom and heading towards the shop. Her hair was void of a long braid and was simply held back in a pony tail that stopped at her thighs. She fixed her name tag and began to clean up the shelves. Most of the time had gone by with her stocking the shelves of the convenience store until her partner had gone home early for personal reasons.
She usually worked closing hours so she was not expecting anymore customers so late at night until the little bell above the door rang. Jeanne sighed before setting what she was stocking down and walking over to the cashier casually. Once she was behind the counter, she saw a blue head of hair walk between the isles of the store. She recalled the deep-ocean haired man and shook her head.
Jeanne tapped her nails on the counter and waited for the person to make their way away from the candy isle and towards the cashier.