Chapter 6: School day

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The sun came out as the harbinger of doom for the new day. I would have to go back to school today. I wasn't looking forward to that. Begrudgingly I arose from my bed and got dressed. I tied up the strands of my hair as I normally would, but just as I was reaching for the extra two hair ties I remembered what Nathanael said: 'You look cute, but I much prefer your normal style.' With that in mind I decided to just brush my hair and let it fall down my back like I normally would. I then set out towards the kitchen, the house was quiet. Both my parents were already off at work. I didn't mind, it was the norm…I couldn't be angry with them now that I know they deeply regret leavening me alone so much. But, just because they wanted to change doesn't mean they can…work always kept them away…I sighed. However…they were with me all of yesterday, that's a start. Baby steps, Lila, Baby steps. I reminded myself.

Once inside the kitchen I decided to make myself a caramel cappuccino. As I was brewing my drink I saw a pink post it note on the fridge and a green one just below it. I went to see what it said. The pink one read: 'We bought some fresh croissants and bread rolls from a local bakery, please eat some they are so good Love you.' I smiled it was it Mom's fancy handwriting. I looked down to read the green post it note, which was clearly in Dad's handwriting. This one said: 'I love you more! P.S. It was my idea to buy the bread.' I giggled.

There it was…my school…My heart was racing and I felt frozen. I couldn't move, I couldn't think. I have never felt this much anxiety in my life…Okay…Breath in and breath out…Head high I have too much pride to turn back now! Finally I took one step forward…then two, then three and before I knew it I was inside my classroom. I could feel their eyes follow my every move and I could hear their hushed whispers…I made sure to convince myself that they weren't talking about me or looking at me, I was just paranoid. It sort of worked, but the illusion would be broken whenever I heard my name fall out of their mouths. Just endure it…Where the fuck is Nathanael?! My eyes scanned the room quickly. The bell still hasn't rung yet, so the students weren't sitting in their seats, they were instead mingling with each other talking about random topics relating to pop culture or gossip.

"Hey, there!" I jumped back in surprise. I wasn't expecting anyone to come and talk to me.

In front of me stood a girl with pigtails, her hair was a deep midnight blue and her eyes were as bright and blue as bluebells. She wore a grey blazer with black trimming and a white t-shirt with pink flowers and black leaves stitched on the right side corner. She also had on some light pink pants…her face seemed familiar but I'm sure I've never seen this girl before in my life.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to startle you…my names Marinette!" She said her voice full of perkiness and optimism.

"Marinette…? Oh! You're Nathanael's friend right?" I asked, recalling what Nathanael told me…his used to be crush…

Suddenly I felt something stir deep inside me…I wouldn't dwell on it…for now…Realizing that if Marinette was here Nathanael shouldn't be too far behind, right? I looked around impatiently with eager eyes searching for that familiar bright red color. I was so caught up in my search for Nathanael that I almost didn't hear Marinette's question.

"How do you know Nathanael?"

"Huh…? Oh, I…" I really didn't feel like telling her about how I broke down in front of Nathanael in a public park. "We met at the park and we really hit it off. Now we're like this." I said demonstrating her, my crossed fingers as a visual of how close Nathanael and I were…Even though I've only known him for three days.

"Oh…I see." Something in her eyes told me she didn't believe me and I frowned a little before deciding she could believe what she wanted to believe.

"Settle down students and please take your seats." Wait where was Nathanael? The bell still hasn't rung… "Oh, Ms. Lila you can sit in any available seat."

Was he sick? He didn't seem sick yesterday. Maybe he had a doctor's appointment…no he would have told me. What if he got in a car crash! Or even worse someone kidnapped him! What if he was getting beat up right now! The thought of him getting beat up made my blood run icy cold before it started to boil.

"Ms. Lila."

"Huh?"

"If you would please sit down the bell is about to ring."

I felt a small blush rise to my face but I managed to compose myself. My eyes searched for any available seats, but I only saw three. One was next to that scary guy, Ivan I think it was…no way was I sitting there. The other two were the very last two seats in the back of the classroom. I made my way up towards them. I felt like time slowed as I made the agonizing trip up towards the seats. Their eyes were locked on me, criticizing me, sizing me up. I could feel my shoulders tense. I finally made it and I set my stuff down…Still no sign of Nathanael…Maybe I can skip school after this class. I thought glumly as I rested my cheek on my hand. The bell was about to ring when…

"Sorry…"

My ears perked up. I recognized that sexy voice anywhere... My head turned towards the door and there stood little red with his art sketchbook, oversized jacket, and bright red hair. My eyes searched for any signs of bruises or scratches on his pale face and hands, and although his hair was slightly messy he looked completely fine. I let out a sigh of relief. The teacher merely instructed him to quickly get to his seat before the bell rang or he would be marked as tardy, Nathanael did as he was told and went towards his seat…which…was…next to mine… Hallelujah! God is real! I straighten my back and eagerly patted to the seat next to mine as I waited with anticipation for him to take his rightful spot next to me.

"Looks like Cinderella came in fashionably late." I said playfully. He just rolled his eyes as if he was annoyed but that smile said otherwise.

"Haha… very funny Ms. Foxy, I almost forgot to laugh." I blushed when he called me by childhood nickname. I stuck my tongue at him and he did the same before he sat down beside me.

"Alright roll call…" And so the school day began.

The numbers on the board began to dance with the alphabet in a confusing ritual that taunted my inability to understand the reasoning behind the dance. My face scrunched up reflexively as I played with my hair strands in frustration…What made it even worse, was that this was the last question. The monstrous equation stood tall awaiting my arrival at the end of the corridor as I crumbled before it; weak and drained from the previous equations that I had slain in battle.

"Fuck me…" I whispered under my breath in frustration.

"…Maybe later." Badump! I only barley caught myself from falling off the chair, I wasn't expecting that surprise attack.

"Is something wrong Ms. Lila?"

I turned to face the teacher and I could feel the hundreds of eyes turn to face me out of curiosity…

"Oh no just dropped my pencil!" I said laughing innocently as I showed her the pencil I allegedly dropped. Everyone then respectfully returned to their work. Nathanael stifled a giggle. Oh, it was on! If he wanted to play games, fine, let's play!

"Fuck you…" I whispered.

"Ok, if you insist, but I want to be on top." He responded with that stupid foxy smile of his. My face turned beet red and my palms felt clammy; my heart was beating at an abnormal rate. I quickly turned my head back to my paper and took out my frustration and embarrassment on the equation. I didn't make eye contact or talk to Nathanael for the rest of the period.

Ugh…Science…It was not my strong suit and I found it incredibly boring. The teacher ranted on with nonsense that failed to explain how things worked in simpler terms. This teacher didn't stop to elaborate on anything and went by so fast that I didn't catch most of the information that was fired my way. I could feel the heaviness of my eyes and my mind was at its ropes end. I didn't get enough sleep last night because I had been possessed by the manic muse that would occasionally come down to me and fill me with a short lived high of creativity and proactivity that eventually lead into a massive crash. The sweet promise of relief was tempting and sleep lured me in.

My eyes were heavy with the burden of sleep deprivation and my brain was flickering between the state of sleep and reality. Slowly the sweet hazy mist of sleep clouded my eyes and shapes became hazy and words were drowned out into muffled sounds. My body was floating in an ocean of lukewarm water that helped bring relaxation to my tired, aching body. It felt good to drift off into slumber and before I knew it my head was resting peacefully on my folded arms as I let out a moan….

The moan was loud and it was loud enough to break the hazy glass of slumber. The class was quiet and I could feel the burning eyes of a dozen students staring at me….The moan I let out was deep and sexual and I could only imagine what they were thinking about right know. My face heated up and my shoulders stiffened. I tried coughing to cover up the sexual moan I had let out. It didn't really work but out of polite curtesy they went back to work as if nothing happened.

"I take it, it was a nice dream." Lila said teasingly. I buried my face into my folded arms on the desk.

"Fuck you…" I mumbled, face still hot from embarrassment. I just wanted to die.

"Daydreaming again, sweetheart? I'm flattered, I'd fuck me to, but buy me dinner first I have standers you know." At that moment I felt the entirety of my soul up and leave my body, was this karma getting back at me for teasing Lila? In any case I didn't talk to Lila again the whole period, I was too embarrassed.

The bell had cut the teacher's words with a screeching sound that vaguely remained me of a screaming raven. The bell signified that the period was over and we could all have our union regulated break and we no longer had to put on the show of interested hardworking students. Nathanael still had his head down, was he actually asleep or was he still embarrassed about what happened earlier.

"Nathanael." I said gently poking his head. He stirred gently. Guess he did fall asleep.

"Yes…?" He replied eyes still coated with hazy sleep.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" The mist of sleep had been lifted and his eyes shown bright with renewed energy.

"Oh yeah! Come on." He quickly got up from his seat and grabbed my hand, tugging me along excitedly. I giggled from his enthusiasm.

But it wasn't long before I felt the rushing flare of anxiety, upon have a nerve racking realization; the realization that I was going to have to meet and impress Nathanael's friends. What if they don't like me? They probably know all about the liar incident…and if they know about the liar incident then they probably won't let me hang around Nathanael ever again….I'll be back to square one, all alone…I can't have that happen! I can't let them drive a wedge between me and Nathanael. I was so busy drowning myself in questions and worries that I hadn't realized we stopped walking, but what I did realize was the cold empty space of my open right hand.

"Rose! Juleka! I want you to meet someone." He said calling out to his two female friends. "Lila, this is Rose and Juleka. Juleka, Rose this is Lila."

Rose was around the same height as Nathanael, which wasn't saying much, she was pretty short. Her gold blonde hair was in a short pixie cut hairstyle that screamed cute. She had huge bright periwinkle eyes filled to the brim with wonder and elegantly long eyelashes that fluttered open like butterfly wings. She was wearing a pink striped shirt, a pink mini skirt, white shorts underneath said skirt, and pink dress shoes. Everything about her radiated feminine kindness in a soothing pastel colored aura that surrounded her like a pink bubblegum bubble.

Juleka on the other hand was the complete polar opposite with long jet black hair that was dyed purple at the very tips. Her hair was so long that it effectively concealed one of her ambers eyes from view. She was wearing a dark grey sleeveless shirt with a swan-necked collar, dark fingerless gloves with gray lace and ripped purple pants and black high top sneakers. She radiated darkness and gloom, but there was no malice intent in her eyes. They were calm pools of amber that signified that the girl was merely more reserved and had a heart as gold as her eyes. These were the two girls Nathanael gestured to…two female friends…I felt a familiar burning sensation in the pit of my stomach that was akin to the one I felt when I was talking to Marinette, but this time it was more intense and refused to be ignored like the last one.

"Hi…" I said quietly as I sheepishly waved a hello to them. They looked at me nervously, sizing me up and they exchanged quick glances between each other. Silence filled the air and I could hear my heart beat within my chest and the rushing blood in my veins. I gulped…Out of nerves I made sure to stay behind Nathanael.

"Nathanael…Why did you want us to meet her?" Jukela inquired eyes slightly narrowed in skepticism, as if wondering what lies I may or may not have told Nathanael.

"She's my friend." He said confidently; back straight and eyes bright with innocence; he clearly could not read the tension that was hanging above us. "I thought it would be nice if my new friend could be friends with my old friends."

"Nath, is…is she really your friend?" Rose asked in a soft polite tone.

Nathanael nodded in response. This clearly wasn't going anywhere. I could already tell they weren't going to accept me as a friend…but there was no way I was going to let them take Nathanael away from me.

"Hey, little red, would you mind waiting for me at our next class? I think it would be best if me and your friends had a nice one on one chat…Don't you think?" I asked innocently…

Nathanael seemed reluctant at first but he complied none the less. As soon as I was sure Nathanael was out of ear shot I dropped my smile and looked at Rose and Juleka as a professional aura emitted from me. It said 'I'm here for business.'

"Okay, Nathanael isn't here you can say what you really think now."

"You're a liar." Juleka said. Wow…at least she was blunt, straight to the point, I like that.

"And…?" I asked raising an eyebrow…

"W-we don't want Nathanael to get hurt and we don't want him to hang around the wrong crowd…He's very kind, you know…" Rose said shyly as she hid herself behind the taller Juleka as she spoke her mind.

"I know he's kind…That's why…I would never hurt him. I want to be his friend, I want to be close to him, and I want to take care of him and make him smile…I want to repay his kindness…" Silence…. "I know you may not think I'm trustworthy and you probably want nothing to do with me….but please…for Nathanael I implore you to at least be a friendly acquaintance. I don't need or want your friendship…But I want Nathanael's...Let me put this in a more straight forward way, no bullshit. You don't have to like me, you can hate me, but I don't want you to come in-between me and the only other person in this damn school who has shown me a slimmer of true kindness… I want a truce…" I held out my hand. Silence met my ears again but, both Juleka and Rose took my hand in agreement.

"For Nathanael…" Juleka said.

"If Nathanael thinks you're a good person than I should be willing to give you a shot. Everyone needs a second chance." Rose stated gleefully. I nodded my head and a smile tugged at my lips, before I knew it I had enwrapped both of them in a huge hug.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea what this mean to me!"

"Haha…don't sweat it, but remember if you do anything to hurt Nathanael, emotionally, physically, psychologically…I won't hesitate to tell him the truth about you." Juleka said in an overprotectively fatherly way.

"Just make him happy okay." Rose said motherly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" I said joyfully, relived that we could all come to an understanding.

In my ecstatic state of happiness I gleefully skipped my way towards Nathanael.

"You seem happy." Nathanael politely acknowledged. "I'm guessing you guys got along well."

"Yup! All thanks to you, Super Nath." Nathanael flushed when he heard me call him Super Nath and gave both a sheepish laugh and a modest replay.

"I really didn't do anything."

"You did more than anyone else in this school has." I said as I patted his head affectionately, successfully ruffling his hair into a messy bird's nest.

"Lila." He whined in joy as he fixed his messy hair. I just responded with a toothy grin and a cheeky wink as I entered the classroom, with Nathanael following soon after. I felt secure with the notion that I no longer had to worry about being separated from Nathanael…but just to be on the safe side…

"Hey Nath, wanna go the Louvre?"

"The louvre?"

"Yeah, I wanted to go for a while now. I thought since you're an art freak you may wanna join me…I don't want to go alone."

"Oh yeah, sure! I was planning to go to the Louvre anyway. What time?"

"Hmm…How about Friday after school."

"Ok." He nodded happily. "It will be nice to actually have someone to talk to." That piqued my interest.

"You've gone before?"

"What self-respecting artist wouldn't go to the Louvre if they could?"

"Point take, but what I meant to ask, was you've went alone?"

"Yeah, I go there to study art styles and body proportions, plus it's a good place to get inspired…Most of my friends find it boring, though…"

"Oh, I see." I said a smile tugging at my lips.

I was going to be the first person Nathanael took to the Louvre. This was a step in the right direction, if I wanted to secure Nathanael's friendship and loyalty. I got to have him like me so much that he won't be able to get me out of his head. He'll like me so much he won't even remember who Ladybug is. I couldn't wait until Friday.

"Very well Nathanael, it's a date." I said.

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