Secrets In The Garden / l.h ✔️

26

~Ophelia's POV~

My dad finally decided to go ahead and fly back to whatever pit of hell it was that he had come from, leaving the house to just me, granny, and my mom again. Finally, he was gone and I had no intention of seeing him again. I felt like I had aged ten years since he'd been here these past few weeks, just impatiently counting down the days before he'd be leaving. And now that he was finally gone, I felt like I could breathe well again. Having him around made me feel suffocated.

Because he was gone, I found myself in a very good mood when I woke up early on Thursday morning to get ready for school, feeling much more upbeat and happy than usual. It wasn't like me to be so excited this early in the morning, but I couldn't help it.

I practically bounced out of my bed and into my bathroom after I shut off my ringing alarm, noticing how much lighter my shoulders felt. Before, even having to do so much as look at him stressed me out to no end, so it was refreshing that all that stress was being let up now. I felt excited and relieved that he was gone, that I no longer had to deal with him trying to fool me anymore. He'd probably just go right back to pretending like I didn't exist and then continue to live his life, which was far more than fine with me. I didn't want anything to do with him.

After I showered and did my makeup I got dressed in a simple pair of dungarees and put a green t-shirt on underneath it before I slipped on some white sneakers. I just left my hair down after I brushed it out and grabbed my backpack before I left the house to go to the bus stop.

I walked into the school once we arrived, making my way down the hall and over to my locker. After I had put all of my books into my backpack from my locker, I put my backpack on again and slammed the locker door shut. When I had made sure that I had all of my books in my backpack, I walked up the stairs and towards the cafeteria, where I joined everyone else at the table while they ate their breakfast.

When I approached the table, Luke glanced over his shoulder to look up at me as I pulled out my chair, looping my backpack over the back of the seat. Some part of me had expected to see Stella sitting on the other side of him, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, gorgeous." He greeted me smoothly, taking advantage of the lack of Stella's presence. She'd never let that nickname slide if she were here to hear it.

"Hey." I muttered, having given up by now on scolding him for calling me that. I knew that there was nothing I could say to him that would make him stop, so I just accepted it.

Saniya spared me a glance, her cheeks stuffed full of whatever it was that she'd been eating from her tray. Whatever it was, she seemed to have eaten it all in one go because there was none left now. "Phe!" She exclaimed through a mouthful of food, making me scrunch my nose up in disgust. "Niya, that's gross." I pouted, scooting my chair in under the table when I sat down.

She covered her mouth and sent me an apologetic look, swallowing the food she had in her mouth. "You got here early." She mentioned when her mouth was no longer full, taking a drink of the strawberry milk she had. I wasn't sure how she could stand to drink strawberry milk, to be honest. To me it tasted gross, but to each their own, I suppose.

"Yeah, the bus ride took less time than usual." I said simply, shrugging my shoulders as I gave her a small smile. I ran a hand through my hair and diverted my gaze to Blade, who was just staring at me from where he sat on the other side of Saniya. It wasn't really uncommon for me to catch him staring, but he still never failed to get embarrassed when I did, his cheeks tinting a slight pink. The smile he gave me was shaky and adorable, quite the opposite of how he looked. At first glance, Blade appeared intimidating but was actually quite like a teddy bear.

"H-How was your weekend?" Blade asked me, leaning into the table more as he looked at me curiously. I smiled to myself at the thought of it, perking up a little more as I braced my arms on the surface of the table in front of me. "Pretty good." I said casually. "My dad went back home." I added as an afterthought, the mention of my dad making Luke look down at me. Despite the fact that I could easily feel his gaze on me, I didn't look up at him, instead keeping my gaze on the unsuspecting Blade. It was clear that Blade had zero idea about the bad blood between my father and I. "Sorry, Phe." He pouted at me, further confirming my suspicions.