It Started In August

Chapter 11

There was a moment of silence when I finished. A sinking feeling lingered inside my chest. I was scared to even lift my head to see my classmates' reactions, but when I heard sobs coming from some of them, I immediately thought that I messed up.

I slowly lifted my gaze at them, and to my surprise, most of my classmates were quiet and wiping their tears. My throat ran dry, and my mind couldn't construct words. Waves of anxiety were continuously terrorizing me into thinking that performing was a bad idea, and that I was just being delusional that I could actually be picked as one of our class' representatives.

A slow clap stopped my intrusive thoughts. My eyes sauntered around the room to find who was clapping, and I did not expect that it was Roman who was the first person to give me an applause. He was looking down, like he couldn't stare directly at me, and his ears and cheeks were even redder than they were earlier.

One by one, my classmates followed him, until all I could hear was a commotion of hands clapping and my classmates cheering for me. I couldn't process it quickly, but a sudden hug from our adviser snapped me back into reality. "That was wonderful Miss Mckenna! You had impacted the whole class," she broke from the hug and then sniffled. "I did?" I was still in cloud nine, and I couldn't believe what was happening.

"S-so that must mean, that I-I'm..." I couldn't even finish a sentence since I was still in shock. "Yes, Aster! You're the main representative. Class, I guess you have already chosen, yes?"

I got back to my seat, and every classmate I passed were giving me nice compliments. I even heard someone say that I was their new crush, but I decided to just ignore all of them. This kind of attention was overwhelming and it might take a while before I get accustomed to it.

I sat on my seat and handed Nadia her guitar. "That was so amazing! I was touched," She was still a bit teary-eyed. A smile escaped from my lips. "You really think I did great?" Anxiety was still creeping inside my chest so I had to ask Nadia for assurance. She touched my shoulder in return.

"Of course, you did! You're even better than Blythe," my cheeks reddened upon her comparison, though I felt bad for Blythe, she was sure that she was gonna be the main representative of our class. I hope she wasn't harboring any hard feelings for me.

Right after that, discussions had resumed. Occasionally, I set my eyes upon Roman's back, and I could tell that he wasn't really paying attention to our intructors. His facial expression told it; he seemed to be away with the fairies.

When the bell rang for lunch time, I was fixing my things and put them in my bag, and right before I could stand and leave, some of my classmates circled around my desk.

"Hey Aster, want to join us for lunch?" a short brunette girl was the first to speak, but she was interrupted by a taller girl with curly hair and thick eyebrows. "Oh please Ellie, she'd only waste her time with you," I all looked at them.

"Girls, can't you see that Aster doesn't even like hanging out with so many people? She literally hated being in crowds. How about you come with me? Let's hangout somewhere peaceful," a blond boy had said. What was his name again? It was.. Uh, Matthew?

My mouth opened, I was about to reject their offers and apologize to all of them but I noticed that their expressions had changed. They backed up a little. A big hand suddenly rested on my shoulder and I flinched with how sudden and unexpected it was. When I looked up, I saw Roman who seemed to be eyeing them in a somewhat territorial way. I felt his grip tighten on my shoulder for a bit.

"Sorry guys, but Aster owes me lunch," the tone in his voice did not sit well with me. It stirred something in my system which caused my tummy to squirm. Then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me along with him, leaving my dumbfounded classmates behind.