Maple Ridge

Chapter 32

A/N- SHORT CHAPTER COMING UP,, BUT I STILL LIKE IT :)

Nora Duan

"Okay girls, the exam is over now, you can leave now. Good luck on your next final." Mrs. Smith calls out, giving us a smile.

All the girls get up, collecting all their stuff up in their bags. As soon as I am done, I turn around to say something to Fiona, but I see that she isn't there.

I run to the door, seeing that she has already left with Alison and Ava, laughing at something Ava just said.

Sadness and maybe a little jealousy seeps into me, and I slow down, looking around to find someone else to walk back with. But just then, Fiona turns around, and comes running towards me.

"Hey, where did you disappear off to?" she asks, joining me.

"You all went ahead without me," I say with a laugh.

"Oh yeah, I am sorry, I was discussing something with Ava. How was your paper?" she asks, and with that, my sadness disappears.

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"Yeah, I will be back in some time, I am just going for a walk," I tell a distracted Fiona as I leave the room. She has been like this for the past few days now, and I just can't figure out why. Maybe it's because of finals, but I doubt it, she never frets about exams.

I walk down the hall, then down the stairs and finally out of the dorm building. I walk out into the airy night, the stars twinkling in the night sky above me.

I see two girls hanging out in the corner of the field, talking and laughing, making my mood drop.

Thinking about Fiona these past few weeks has made my mood drop quite a few times. Every time I think about her, the first thought that comes to mind is that we aren't as close now. When I first came to Maple Ridge, we became friends instantly. We connected from the time that she showed me our dorm.

And our friendship was so good, we started telling each other everything. But then, came Alison and Ava. They have been getting between our friendship these past few months. I don't know what happened between Alison and Fiona, but suddenly their rivalry ended, Alison stopped bullying Fiona.

That's around the time that we started getting a little distant. I found Fiona keeping things from me, hiding things. Lying to me.

She spent more and more time with Ava and Alison, leaving me alone. And that made me mad.

I had never had a real friend back home, I mean sure, there were girls who I spent time with, but no one that I really connected with.

I looked around at the girls behind me, they were suddenly looking into the forest, a scared look on their faces. I frowned, what were they scared of?

I started walking towards them, and asked, "Hey, what happened? Why do you guys look so scared?" just as I reached them midway through the field, them walking away from the forest and towards the dorms.

"We- we saw someone in the woods." The girl on the right stammers.

"What? That can't be." I say, looking around them into the dark forest. "It could have been the gardener or some teacher, or maybe you are just mistaken," I assure the young girls. They are probably in their sophomore year.

"Yeah, maybe," the second girl says, sounding a lot more chill.

I send them both back to their dorms, and continue roaming in the fields, my thoughts returning back to Fiona. Bitterness rises up in me, I really just want to ask Fiona if I have done something wrong, because I feel like she is always hiding something from me, and then I had also seen proof of that once.

But shaking all these thoughts out of my head, I spend the rest of my walk peacefully, enjoying the night wind in my hair.

Soon, after I am done with my walk, I go back to the dorm, to see Fiona lying in bed, reading a book as usual and that Ava and Alison had just returned to the dorm too, looking a little flushed.

I change my clothes and flop down beside Fiona, who makes space for me, still not keeping her book down.

"Listen," I say, trying to get her attention, taking her book from her hand. Fiona starts to protest but I keep it on the side table, away from her reach.

"What?" she huffs, turning sideways to look at me.

"Are you angry with me?" I ask.

"What? No! Why would I be?" she asks, confusion clouding her features.

"It's just that we have been a little distant lately," I shrug, sitting up on the bed.

"I am sorry, I am just distracted. That's all." She sighs, she too sitting up.

"Yeah, but you know you can talk to me anytime you want, right?" I say.

"Yeah, it's just-" she starts to say, but then she suddenly stops, and I look back to see her share a look with Alison.

She stops, and I literally feel her pull back, put up her shield.

"What?" I ask her.

"Um, nothing. It's just the exams. I am okay," she says.

I sigh, it's no use. I unconsciously give Alison a look of envy and climb up to my own bed.

Going to sleep without saying a word to any of them.

***

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