Hollow Twilight - A LitRPG Novel

Chapter 35

Issac was making faces in one corner of the classroom. Maple would snicker and shoo him away. They both gave Reid a wave as he plopped down in an empty chair on the other side of the classroom. His entire body sank into the seat and his bag slid off his arm to flop onto the floor.

It didn't feel like everything had changed. There was the girl he had held in his heart since seventh grade with her new boyfriend, his best friend. They had finally gotten together, had a momentous dance together, been caught giggling in a corner well into the night. Everybody knew and nobody cared. They were one of a dozen couples that had revealed themselves during the winter dance, as happened every year, and people would gossip for an hour and move on to the next one.

It almost felt like this was assumed. Maple and Issac were known for hanging out together, there were probably some people who were surprised they weren't already dating. And it wasn't like they were making out in the hallways. They looked just about the same as they did every day.

Reid felt empty. It was a positive, as far as he could tell. The rock that sat in his stomach was gone. Everything was still.

Reid's classes went by in a blink. They were all so unassuming and normal. Reily gave him a smile in history, everybody laughed through another lunch period. There just wasn't anything left weighing on Reid and he was reminded how dull he had found his everyday life before. School wasn't going anywhere, the moments with his friends held some interest. But he was just passing time until he could get back into Hollow Twilight. It was waiting for him. Paragon was waiting for him.

Reid packed up his things for the day and took a different turn, down to Kari's locker. She was trying to cram an assortment of books into the tight space, pulling out some existing ones and twisting them then shoving in the remainder.

"It'll never fit," Reid remarked, leaning against the lockers next to Kari. "I've tried it a lot of ways, it's a locker of lies."

"How do you know where my locker is?" Kari grumbled.

Reid shrugged. "Cindy told me. She's very excited to talk about you, you know." Kari winced at the words and resumed attempting to close her locker. A few tumbled out onto the floor, one splitting open as it landed and crumpled some pages.

"Perfect," Kari mumbled. She bent over and began to gather up her stuff.

"She really likes you," Reid said, watching Kari with a slight smirk. Was it so wrong to feel good over petty things? When someone was petty to you, Reid decided it was fine. "It's kind of crazy how all of us started relationships at the same time."

"What are you talking about?"

"Like you and Cindy, Maple and Issac...all that."

Kari slammed her locker door in frustration. She kicked at some of the books on the ground. She blew out a huge breath, sending strands of hair up away from her face. She finally bent down and rounded up the remaining textbooks and shoved them into her bag.

"Cindy already knew I liked her for a year," Kari said. "We were already sort of going out. And weren't those other two dating the whole time?"

"Are you kidding me?" Reid rubbed his hands across his face. "You saw that they were...ok whatever, I guess I'm oblivious."

"Yes you are," Kari replied, staring down Reid. "So you know where my locker is. Why are you at it?"

Reid recomposed himself and resumed leaning against the wall of lockers. He heard something behind him and felt another thing pressed against his back. He spun around to find another student glaring at him as they tried to get into their own locker. They shoved the door to it against him so more until he stepped away.