So Let Me Tell You What Happened

chapter 34: Sadness

Days had crawled by since the will reading, and now it was back to the grind--school time again. The holiday break was a chaotic blur, but reconnecting with my friends brought a sense of normalcy. I got to school early today because I needed to talk to Adam. I owed him an apology for how I lashed out when he was just trying to help. I hoped he could forgive me.

I waited for what felt like forever. Then, I saw him outside the classroom. He saw me too, but immediately turned and walked the other way. That hurt, but I wasn't about to chase after him--at least not yet. I knew we had to talk today, no matter what.

Back in the classroom, I decided to wait for Karissa and the girls. They showed up almost immediately, which was a huge relief.

"Thank God you guys showed up," I blurted out.

"Dena, what's going on?" Karissa asked, sensing my distress.

"Are you okay?" Jaelee and Xalia asked in unison.

"I'm fine, but I need to talk to Adam, and he's dodging me," I admitted, feeling frustrated.

"Oh no, I think it's our fault," Karissa said, looking guilty.

"We're so sorry, Dena," Xalia said, her voice soft.

"We truly are," Jaelee added.

"It's not your fault. When my grandma died, I turned into a total nightmare. That's what drove us apart," I explained, feeling the weight of my own words.

"I get it, but even if you had an attitude, he should have given you space instead of running away," Karissa said, her voice sharp with disapproval.

"Absolutely," Xalia agreed.

"I yelled at him, guys," I confessed, the memory still fresh.

"So what? You were hurting, and he should have understood that," Jaelee said, unwavering in her support.

"I don't know," I sighed, feeling uncertain.

"He'll come around. Don't stress too much, okay?" Karissa said, giving me a confident smile.

"Okay," I nodded, hoping she was right.

The girls tried their best to cheer me up, and just then, Adam walked into the classroom. He slumped into his seat, head on his desk, clearly exhausted or just not wanting to deal with me. I get it. The bell rang, signaling the start of the day. Today's agenda was all about writing a killer essay for college applications, something I was actually excited about.

Mrs. Murg stepped in, brimming with her usual enthusiasm. "You've got this!" she proclaimed, setting the tone for our session. She told us to start drafting our essays, promising we'd read them aloud for grading. I was confident—I knew I had this in the bag.

As we settled down to write, I quickly conjured up my ideas and penned them down. Time flew by, and soon it was time to present. One by one, we went up and shared our essays. Each one was impressive in its own way.

The session ended, and since graduation was just around the corner, we were dismissed early. As everyone packed up, I saw Adam bolt out of the classroom. I couldn't let him slip away again—I had to talk to him.

"Adam, wait, please!" I called out, chasing after him.

"Why are you following me?" he snapped, barely turning to look at me.

"I want to apologize for how I acted. I'm so sorry," I pleaded.

"You were mean for no reason when all I wanted was to help you. It's too late for apologies now," he retorted, his words cutting deep.