Salvia High School

Chapter 62: Black Screen

The entire weekend had gone by after the meeting and the couple still hadn't heard anything from Kaila, nor had they stopped arguing about Lauren.

They ignored one another for what seemed like an eternity, casually passing the other by without a single wink of acknowledgment. It wasn't until another week passed were they able to push their dispute to the side temporarily to discuss more important matters.

Kaila.

The girl hadn't sent them a single call or even a text. The couple would have burst of talking time about her before ultimately returning to their ghosting mindsets.

Everyday they hoped Kaila would show up back at home or that they would find her waiting for them under the willow tree at school, but she never did. The entire group was different without Kaila.

Practice especially wasn't the same...

Mallix hadn't won a single match since she'd left and Lain hadn't even managed to get her foot into the water again.

Zander and Faye barely spoke to one another anymore. Without their middle ground they didn't know what to say to one another. Only attending their partners gyms, the two kids now barely even saw one another besides for morning time and at lunch.

Nina and Alex had been struggling in practice as well. Not nearly as much as Mallix and Lain, but nothing was the same. Everyone's scores and averages were lower than ever before and yet nobody spoke about the causation to their sudden decrease.

The group would occasionally spot Lauren walking with her girls in the hallways after practice, but they hadn't spoken since the meeting. She would exchange glances with them occasionally before blushing and turning away.

Grouping back up in the morning, everyone was on edge. Everyone was quiet and timid. Just sitting with their backs against the bark of the willow tree they all relaxed with their eyes closed.

Faye had curled towards Nina trying to keep herself from crying for another day in a row without her friend.

Lain and Mallix were besides one another barely touching as they tried not to think about anything while Alex was trying to comfort Zander as he ran his hand through the boys hair.

"Hey..." they all heard a timid voice say. With all the background noise they couldn't make out who is was, only that the voice was hurt and regretful.

Everyone sat up looking towards the source of the sound but were disappointed seeing it was only James.

They sighed returning to their positions.

Sighing especially loud, Nina angrily looked over to her side hearing the grass besides her crunching as he sat next to her.

She was about to tell him off but his apologetic face and sorrow filled eyes took her off guard. He shared a look of sympathy for what she and everyone else were going through.

"I'm sorry." He softly said to her with glossy eyes. Finding her hand, he locked fingers with her. "You mean more than the world to me." He kissed her lips more than thrilled to have her return the gesture.

Laying her head on his shoulder, he smiled leaning back. Faye wiggled in Nina's hold as the two of them had altered her comfortable position.

Rubbing her back gently Nina stayed hooked on James's eyes. "Why'd you really do it? Why'd you give Lauren our information?" She asked softly keeping the conversation to themselves.

"Because. You weren't there N. The night Lauren found out about Faye. She was drunk and out of control and when Faye slipped into headspace in front of her by mistake she flipped out. She told Faye the next day that she couldn't remember anything that happened, but she lied. She was still tipsy and planned to let everyone know how weird she thought it was once she got to school. And I couldn't let that happen. So I told her what I knew, and the rest is history." He said it with meaning in every word.