See You, See Me

chapter 6

Another day, another round of torture.

Your shoes slid into the classroom, where before you entered, voices can be heard from the inside.

Well, the talking immediately stopped when you walked in the room.

You stared at them, and they stared at you. The group consisted of your friends; Nathaniel, Marinette, Kim, Nino, Max, Mylene, and Alix. They all formed a circle.

"Morning," you said.

"Morning," they all replied. You then proceeded to go to your own seat, still looking at them suspiciously when they began to talk again as if they have some plan going on.

Curious, you texted your best friend Alya. Maybe she knew what was going on.

But the bell beat you to it. It signaled for the class to start as students walked back to their chairs. You sighed as Ms. Bustier entered the room. Maybe it's best to just talk to her personally later.

Almost an hour later, being a generous teacher she was, Bustier had granted an early dismiss, so you all had free time to do anything. This is your chance to get to talk to Alya.

You watched her cleaning her desk when you decided to approach her and sit beside her, since her seatmate was out in the meantime. "Hey," you said, smiling tightly.

She smiled but then slowly frowned with her furrowed eyebrows when she noticed your forced smile. "What's wrong?" She tilted her head.

"Nothing, I just wanna ask you something-"

"Oh!" Alya's face brightened up. "Before I forgot," she said before rummaging through her bag and went to retrieve your favorite treat. "Here."

Your lips formed a small smile. "Thank you. Anyway, what-"

Nathaniel's loud laugh interrupted your sentence. It echoed throughout the whole room and you jumped slightly to the sound of it. It also shocked you how Nathaniel was able to laugh that hard and loud. It wasn't like him at all.

You and Alya turned to your table where Nathaniel was at the verge of crying from laughter. His chair was tilting backwards as he laughed hysterically. His table slamming was really the peak of it all.

You and Alya shared both concerned and amused looks. You wanted to know the reason why Nathaniel laughed. If he laughed this hard, then it really was a funny joke.

Meanwhile, the golden-haired boy across him, also your seatmate, was sweating bullets with his face turning red. He had his hands in front of him as he flailed it in front of Nathaniel's face. Looked like his mouth was forming an 'o' shape, having you to assume that he was saying "No, no, no!"

Nathaniel wiped his pretend tears. "Oh, Adrien!" He screamed. "You're hilarious, man! Can't believe you're head over heels in love with this girl, damn."

Adrien shushed him, "Do you want me to tell everyone about your crush on Mari-"

Nathaniel was unperturbed. "Nah! This is way more interesting. You're coming out and telling me that you love how she makes you laugh all the time, how she's pretty and all that shit. Ahh, Adrien-"

You tuned Nathaniel out and turned sharply to Alya. "Wait, he has a new crush?" You whispered.

"Who do you think that person is?"

"I don't know," you sighed. "But he has a new crush apparently, and I already know it's not me."

"Girl, no." Alya grabbed one of your shoulders. "Think, Nath said that the girl makes him laugh, and she's pretty. You're all of those things! Maybe, this time things will be different."