𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒆

chapter 26- i'm so happy

The next day- Lucas's pov

"So, let me get this straight. You called Nessa a couple of nicknames and now she doesn't wanna be with you?" Zay asked after I told him about the call with Vanessa yesterday.

"It sounds stupid when you say it like that. You should've heard the way she spoke."

"It doesn't mean she doesn't like you, dude."

"I asked her if she wanted to come over to my apartment and she said no."

"Woah. She never says no to hangin' at your house. Sorry, man." Zay sighed while rubbing my shoulder and I sighed. The bell rang for the first period and Zay and I walked into Mr. M's classroom.

"Vanessa," I said shocked. She was sitting back in her normal seat. I thought she was supposed to be at home. "What are you doing here?"

"The doctor cleared me." She said barely looking at me.

"Isn't it great!" Riley yelled from her seat. "My best friend is back and better than ever!"

"Hey!" Maya exclaimed.

"Oh shush. You know how much I love you, bubbles." Maya rolls her eyes at Riley, but her smile exposed her facade.

I looked back at Vanessa and saw her staring straight down at her desk. She looks tired with the dark circles under her eyes and her hair sticking up all over the place. Her eyes are tinted pink along with her nose as if she had rubbed them a lot. Even thinking about her crying makes my heart break.

I force myself to tear my eyes away from my (best friend, crush, princess?) and move to sit behind her.

"Hiya, class. How ya doin'." Mr. Matthews starts after the bell rings. Everybody groans at the enthusiasm he somehow has at 7 in the morning.

I tried my best to pay attention to his lesson for the day, I really did. However, I couldn't stop thinking about Vanessa.

I can't see her face because I sit right behind her, but I could tell she was in pain. The way she slouched in her seat, her shoulders tensed, and her head in her hand was a dead giveaway. But, then she started to shake her head, aggressively, as if she was trying to get rid of a horrible thought. She started to rock in her seat and I became even more worried.

"I can't do this anymore!" She screamed. It startled everyone and they all dropped the pencils they were taking notes with. Mr. Matthews stopped his lesson abruptly.

"What the heck, Vanessa?" I asked as I stood up. She looked at me at first, but then she turned in her seat. She put her arms up to her head and wrapped her face in them.

"Hey, hey. No, Listen, Vanessa." I whispered as I got up to stand beside her. She began chanting a string of 'No's' and dug her face into her arms.

"What is going on Vanessa?" I questioned, scared.

"What are you looking at, huh? Huh?!" She yelled at the class as she stood up. She smacked the desk in front of Riley and continued to pace. I saw Riley shrink back and look at Vanessa in fear. She's too innocent to watch this. We all are. I have no idea what's going on, but I do know that I need to get my princess back.

"Vanessa, sit down." Mr. Matthews told her.

"Everything's falling apart, Lucas," She starts crying. If I thought my heart broke earlier, I don't know what I would call this pain in my chest. "I don't know what I'm doing. I got expelled from school. I lost my friends. My dad doesn't love me anymore. No one loves me! Especially not you! I'm lost right now, Lucas. I have nowhere to go. Nowhere," She shoves her hands back into her face.

"Princess, I don't know what you're talking about. None of that's real. You're in school right now with all of your friends surrounding you." I tell her, trying to calm her down.

For a second, I think it works when she lifts her head up, but then. she smiles at me. Not the smile she gives me when I hand her my chocolate milk at lunch. Not the smile she gives me when we're screaming along to the lyrics of 'Hakuna Matata' and her dad bursts through the door to sing along with us. Not the smile she gives me as soon as she wakes up after our sleepovers. And definitely not the smile I fell in love with.

Her smile turns into a laugh and she looks hysterical. A big giant smile on her face, but a distant look in her eye. It was like she didn't even know she was smiling.

"I'm so happy." She whispers.

"Princess-" I start, but she interrupts me by yelling it again and again.

"I'm so happy! Lucas, I'm so happy!" She yells while throwing her arms into the air. "I know what to do! Yes! God dam it! Yes!" She steps onto the chair and climbs onto the desk. I put my hands on her waist, scared she is gonna fall.

"This is it, Lucas! I'm so happy!" A tear runs down my face as I look up at her and she looks down at me.

She looks at me for a second longer before her attention shifts. She looks at Mr. Matthews and then jumps out of my hands and onto the floor as she yells, "Mr. M! Mr.M! Yes! Yes, Mr. M! Come here, She says gesturing out to the hall. "I need to talk to you! Yes! Yes! God yes." She hugs me before she starts running out the door, pulling Mr. Matthews behind her.

Once Vanessa slammed the door behind her, it was quiet. Now I can hear the sounds of Riley crying and Maya comforting her. The sounds of Smakle getting up and wrapping her arms around Farkle's shoulders. The sounds of Zay's tapping of his fingers and feet, trying to distract himself, but failing. But worst of all, I can hear the sound my cry makes as I fall into Vanessa's empty seat.

*1070 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔*

𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕? 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕? 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕? 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.  𝑨𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕! 𝑩𝒚𝒆! :)