Scarred Hearts

8 | Friends

By lunchtime, Valeria had scoured every corner of the school she had been in throughout the week in search of her missing earring. She meticulously inspected the school gym, the classrooms she frequented, the hallways, her locker, and even the bus stop, but there was no sign of it. It wasn't in the lost and found either. She wished the day would end already so she could go home and inspect every nook and cranny of her bedroom. Hopefully, the little hoop would be there, waiting for her, playing hide and seek under her pillow.

Even though she had searched the cafeteria already, as Valeria walked toward a table with a tray in hand, her eyes continued inspecting the floor, just in case.

"Hey, Valeria, any luck finding your earring?" a kind voice asked behind her. Valeria turned to find Mina smiling softly at her.

"Oh, hey, Mina. No, no luck yet."

"I can help you find it after class if you want," she offered.

"It's pointless, I already searched this entire school for it. It's not here. But thank you."

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

Valeria felt a pang of regret when Mina turned and walked away, looking for an empty table with her tray. She carried a backpack in pastel colors featuring adorable little bears waving and hugging each other, and a fluffy bear keychain dangled from it.

"Mina, wait!" Mina came to a stop and turned to Valeria. "I wanted to say I'm sorry if I've been... unwelcoming to you."

"It's alright," she said, smiling, but her dimples were faint.

"No, it's not. It's just that... the others in our class, they don't like me very much. I didn't think you would want to be talking with me if you knew... what the situation is, basically. And then when you figured out how unpopular I am, you would just... yeah, not want to be my friend anyway. Not that I'm saying that we're gonna be friends, of course, I can just give you my notes like you asked, and we don't have to be friends if you don't want to. And I'm not saying that I don't want to be your friend, I do... I mean, if you do, then I do too, you know. I mean... huh..."

Valeria fumbled with her words, her cheeks burning with the nervousness and awkwardness flowing through her.

"Do you want to sit together?" she finally asked Mina.

The girl smiled, and this time, her dimples were deep. "I would love to."

"Cool." Valeria smiled back, and they walked side by side to the nearest empty table. "I love your backpack, by the way."

"Thanks."

"I must say I am terrible at chemistry, just so you know, so maybe you better grab those notes from someone else."

"That's fine. Chemistry is one of my best subjects. Nicholas said to ask Lana but... she scares me a bit."

"Yeah, Lana can be..." Valeria paused, looking for the right word. "Difficult."

They sat next to each other. "Can I ask, why don't they like you?"

"They... well, it's a long story."

"Maybe it's not that long. Maybe it's actually pretty short," Mina said casually as if she knew exactly what she was talking about.

Valeria looked at her, intrigued.

"They're stupid," Mina concluded, shrugging her shoulders. A mischievous smile spread on her lips.

Valeria laughed. Maybe she had finally found a friend in Ivy Crest. It only took her three fucking years.