Displacement // Shawn Mendes

Five: Speechless

Forgetting Camryn had been a harder feat than I'd planned for it to be. I still couldn't look her in the eyes, but I began to hold my breath whenever she walked past me so the fresh aroma of vanilla and wildflowers she gave off wouldn't get to me. The memories were the hardest parts, though. I still remembered the scent, and that was enough to put me into another phase of depression.

Yes, "another phase of depression"; as in there were many more before that one.

I began to talk to people, too, but every time I looked into their eyes I could see the pity they felt for me. It downed the mood a lot, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. A few offensive humor jokes always did the trick.

It was still unclear to me what had triggered my sudden need alleviation from Cam's chains that hung around my ankles and dragged me further down the more I tried to leave her grasp. But all I knew was that this time, as my friend Aaron walked with me to eight period, I hadn't realized I'd forgotten to look at Wool Cardigan Girl until I was already in chemistry.

I smiled at how far I'd gotten and saw that we had a substitute for today. I was bummed I couldn't flaunt my confidence in front of Camryn, but when she walked through the door, I remembered that she was still the most beautiful person in the room; and just like that, she began to pull me in all over again.

And that's exactly how it was for the majority of the period, me on my phone "subtly" taking one too many glances at Camryn as she smiled and laughed her way through the long minutes. I kept on reminding myself of the whirlpool of endless suffering she'd caused me. None of it ever seemed to work though, so I gave up, eventually, and rested my chin in my hand, the desk supporting my elbow.

I hadn't even noticed that Rey's desk was empty until she came in frantically, pulling a note out of her backpack. She gave it to the substitute who seemed to not be aware of any of her surroundings, judging by the way she looked at Rey like she was waiting for her to ask a question.

"I was late." Rey said, raising her eyebrows at the substitute until she finally caught on.

"Oh, um, pardon me." the substitute (whose name I'd obviously forgotten) said, scrolling her emerald eyes through the pages of the attendance roster. "Name?"

"Uh..." she looked up, looking like she'd forgotten her name. I stifled a laugh and covered my mouth when she turned to figure out where the noise came from.

"Rey; Rey Alvarez."

"Ah, here you are Reyna. You're excused." She shut her eyes, embarrassed at the use of her full name; and headed back to her seat (which also happened to be next to mine.)

She barely sat down for merely a few seconds and I looked down at my cellphone screen, pretending that I wasn't watching her when she first came in.

"You're very pretty," I heard, and due to my current state of boredom, turned my head to see who said it.

It was Tori, a girl with tan skin and dark brown hair that didn't go past her shoulders. She was quiet mostly, but when she laughed, it was so contagious it made the entire class join along with her. I wasn't sure who she directed it to, but she was looking somewhere in Rey's direction.

Rey went through her bag nonchalantly for a second or two, as if Tori never opened her mouth. When the words finally processed, she looked at Tori, also curious as to who looked so pretty today. Tori stared back at her, and Rey finally realized the words were meant for her.

It was almost enough to make me roll my eyes in annoyance when she didn't respond; even though I expected the typical "What?! I'm not pretty! You are!" response that would eventually lead to a never ending "no you are!" conversation. It would've been more modest to accept the compliment rather than ignore it and make everyone think you're cocky.

I turned my neck to look at Rey, who had a serious expression on her face; still staring at Tori. She was turned in her chair to face her, and there was a slight grin on her face as if she were ready to burst into laughter– a look that reminded me of myself whenever I could see the cheesy punchline of a bad joke from a mile away. When Tori didn't laugh, Rey's expression then turned into a serious one.

"Are... are you being serious?" She asked quietly. If it were any other girl, I definitely would have already have rolled my eyes so many times they'd stay stuck in the back of my head. But, this wasn't any other girl. In an evident way, there was an extreme amount of sincerity I could see inside her eyes, despite the short distance between us.

"Yes, im being serious!" Tori let out a small laugh, as she answered in a 'duh' tone. Rey was clearly taken aback, and stared for a few more moments as the gears turned in her mind.

"Oh," she smiled sheepishly, "Thank you." I couldn't help but stare at her; she said it so honestly and sincerely, something I've never heard before. She had a dimple on the cheek that I was able to see from my position, and I found myself smiling at her reaction.

She shook her head as she continued to reach into her bookbag, her bright smile still plastered across her face from being complimented. And that's when it occurred to me:

She'd never been told that before.

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Prettttyyyy bad chapter but I've had this planned for awhile but uhhh yeah you guys should totally vote if you're reading this ;D