A Teenage's Guide To: Die The Best

Step 3 : Make friends

Closer.

Please stop.

Closer still.

Oh my God.

Darcy panicked real hard now, wandering what in the wide world Elrond Collymore was doing in a library. She wasn't used to breaking rules and sneaking into the library during class hours, and the presence of another student did nothing but work up her already guilty heart.

But Darcy soon realised that Elrond was going nowhere but towards the PC behind which she was sitting. Did he even know that she was there? Lowering down her head, she tried to hide her face behind the screen. Below, her eyes strained on the narrow gap between the screen and the desk. She gasped when she saw two feet coming to a halt right in front of the desk.

Darcy looked up.

That's when she saw him.

Bending over the computer screen, Elrond Collymore was trying to reach out his hand towards her side of the computer, but had stopped mid way noticing someone already seated behind it.

Both of them jumped out of surprise; Elrond drew his hand back in a hurry while Darcy almost fell off the chair.

"Oops! I'm extremely sorry. Never noticed that you were working here", Elrond said with a friendly smile, which highlighted his handsome facial features, making him look more bright than what he already was

" And, by the way, I am Elrond. Elrond Collymore. Got transferred 'ere last week, and though I am doing a good job at knowing my classmates, I am afraid I haven't introduced myself to you yet", he said holding out his hand towards Darcy, who was still too dumbfounded to speak. It wasn't difficult to understand that Elrond Collymore was an extremely friendly person bent on knowing his new classmates, but guess what, Darcy's shyness and insecurities wasn't helping at all.

When he noticed her hesitation, he however drew his hand back, the smile slowly fading from his face. She noticed it, and tried to make up for it quickly.
"Nice to meet you too. I am Darcy Sullivan. I wasn't doing well so I hadn't shown up last week. Hope you are have a good time here", she said awkwardly, trying to end the conversation politely so that he might leave her alone.

But Elrond seemed to have other plans. Encouraged by the fact that Darcy spoke to her instead of turning him down for interrupting some important task which she was at, (as was his initial idea) he now rounded the desk to take a seat in the chair beside Darcy, and she hurried to close the window , lest he would see that she was surfing non educational sites on the school computer.

"Watcha doing? ", he asked in his slight southern accent, as if speaking to his childhood friend. His friendly attitude was contagious, and Darcy found herself relaxing with him. She wasn't used to being spoken to so friendly. Except for Joanna and her best friend Eva, she could hardly remember anyone who had spoken to her nicely without pointing out how ugly she was or (casually) asking whether she was ill.

"Err.. writing", she said, not accustomed to making up lies that fast.

"What? Articles? Vlogs? Or rather, sending love letters? ", he asked teasingly, a smug smile making its way unto his lips.

Was he crazy? Love letters and she! Didn't he see how ugly and nerdy she was? People like her weren't supposed to fall in love. Love is only for the pretty.

" No. I was writing a.. well.. a story".

Elrond was leaning back on his chair, and now he straightened himself, clearly amused.

"You write stories? You mean real ones?"

"Yeah. Real ones. What do you even mean by real? Stories are never real, they are fictional, and if you are talking about non-fictional stories then-"

"No I didn't mean that. It's like I've never met an author before. I like to read, and it amuses me, the way authors weave up those beautiful plots around us, making us feel safe, enclosed within a warm cocoon, away from the Big Bad World as you say. But writing? Hell, that must be so difficult. Making up the plots and dialogues and typing those out".

"It isn't that difficult as you think it to be. Moreover, I don't write any serious novels or something. Just short pieces here and there, mostly online".

" On which platform do I find your stories on? " he asked, his eyes darting towards the screen in hopes of catching on what she was writing.

"I used to write for a number of platforms, but these days I'm working on a particular story. I finally decided to write an original novel of my own. And it's always a better option to sneak into the library than bore your ass out studying plant anatomy. Hey, it's time for lunch break already ", she said getting up and switching off the PC.

Of course, she had to change the subject. She wasn't telling him her Wattpad username. She wanted to remain anonymous. Unknown to the world. Another reason why she loved to write. It let her express her inner virtues without requiring her to be good-looking to be good at it.

" You're right! Bye for now then! "he said, as if catching the hint,and headed for the canteen.

Walking back to her locker, the realisation dawned on Darcy.

She couldn't publish her story.

That also meant that she would have to survive through another set of tiresome hours till she could publish her work and hang herself.

Well, fuck. Again.