7:30AM: Classes for the whole school started.
Iris' part:
She sat down in the second row in the middle. Her backpack was strapped on the chair right in front of her, facing her. Her ESP notebook is on her armchair, with her pen on top of it. It is a luxurious pen, costing ₱150 for its quality and brand name. Her uniform is still as clean as before this morning, her hair is not fully dry but still silky, and its gentle smell is still obvious. From the outside, she's perfect. Rich, elegant, smart and kind. But for her sitting near her with a self-brought chair, who just finished listening to her story about Marlan, she's an absolute idiot. An infant-levelidiot. And that friend's name is Claire.
"YOU'RE A FOOL!! WHY ARE YOU SO SOFT AND STUPID? FOR AN ICE CREAM?! ARE YOU SERIOUS? THAT—" She yelled at her, standing up out of frustration over her stupidity and for herself, who couldn't help her that time. But before she could finish her sentence, Iris had already covered her mouth with her right hand.
"Sheeesh, you're so loud! Quiet down, will you?" She whispered to her, her face barely a metre away from hers.
"Sorry, it's just that… you're very easy to manipulate." She silently answered her with a whisper back after removing her hand from her mouth, then sitting down.
"No… what do you mean? He literally waited for me right in front of our house... that's the very first time I saw someone care about me that much… that alone was enough for me to forgive him... that kind of care and consistency, you can only see that in films," she explained to her, her voice barely heard, not out of practicality and awareness of their surroundings but rather out of softness, her face turning red-apple once again, not slowly engulfing it; it immediately devoured her cheeks.
"Yeah, duh! That's the least he could've done. He made you cry after all; what else would he have done if not that? Just because he evened it out with you doesn't mean you'd have to be… like that with him already." Before she could finish, Iris interrupted her. "Exactly, he evened it out; that's why—" Before she could finish, Claire interrupted back, "Girl, that's not something to romanticise about. My mom told me that just because they apologise doesn't mean you have to love them back already; that's what he did with my father." She finished. "Maybe that's why they aren't together anymore," Iris replied, now slightly offended with Claire's reply and reasoning.
Claire's eyes widened out of shock and pain out of betrayal, because for her, she's only trying to help Iris, her best friend. But now, she's getting bullied? by her at that and over a guy she barely interacted with before. Tears slowly started to gush out of her eyes, turning red. She didn't reply after that; she merely slapped her out of nowhere, loud enough for the whole class to hear. As she stood up, her eyes were already drenched with her salty tears, her eyes already looking like a victim of chlorine with how red they are.
Iris was caught off guard, being slapped by her best friend. Not knowing what to feel at the moment, sorrow or madness? Which one? or both. For her, what she said was justified. Criticising someone's methods through available examples. For her, she's not being helped by Claire; she's merely being controlled by her using her own trauma. Her eyes started to redden as well, tears already pouring out of her eyes, but before she could speak—
Everyone currently present inside their classroom took notice. Seeing their perfect model of a president getting brutally slapped by her vice president, her best friend. Seemingly out of nowhere, it shook them; some stood up and were already screaming, asking what happened. Coming to Iris' aid first, then separating Claire from her.
"What happened? Why are you two fighting?!" a random, distraught classmate asked.
"Hoy, hoy! Everyone, don't bother them anymore!"
"Claire, why did you slap her?"
"Hey, Iris, are you alright?"
"Separate them! Don't let teachers see this! Close the doors and windows!
They all rushed down, covering up the mess.
"Let's talk this out, okay?" one female classmate asked, trying to calm both of them down.
"Okay, Claire. First, explain yourself. Why did you slap her?"
Claire, voice shaky and struggling to breathe from her nose, said, "Th-that's none of your business. You don't need to know why I did it." She then tried to wipe the tears from her face using her sleeves. Her nose was runny, and she was constantly sucking the snot back from falling from her face.
Iris didn't answer; instead, she just tightened her jaw, glaring very hard at Claire. And Claire turning back her treatment to her.
Everyone present merely separated them from each other, three rows away from each other. Others offering them both tissues to wipe their snot and tears away.
Both of them tried to compose themselves as much as possible after that slap, for they are very conscious of their image and how it could affect them if they were to tarnish it right now. Claire returned to her usual seat, away from Iris. Everyone comforted them both, even attempting to ask them again what exactly happened, to no avail.
8:00AM.
Class started as usual; the students' cover-up worked. But deep down, Iris and Claire knew that this incident would remain engraved inside everyone's mind, their image fractured over a sudden fight between them. Anxiety ran through both their mind and heart, fear of it leaking out everywhere, their teachers hearing about it, and then their parents. They are afraid that people would start using that event as a weapon against both of them, their school life now affected, and their roles in it threatened, especially with the upcoming student council election where both are candidates for the roles they currently have in their room. And for Iris, a new fear has been added to her, something Claire doesn't have — what if Marlan heard about this? Would she stop talking to her completely? Would he be ashamed to talk to her? Would he start avoiding and denying her in public?
Every destructive unwarranted thought starts overwhelming her; now her fear for her political position at school seems irrelevant to her, because for her, losing the person who seems to understand her more and want her, who would wait her out in front of their house and buy her ice cream just to apologise, is now being pushed away because of Claire's stupidity and emotional lash-out over her. Her hatred for Claire only deepened after that, blaming her for everything, for what she tried to force into her mind, for the slap she gave her because she was told the truth, and for the embarrassment of all of those combined threatening her newfoundfriendship with Marlan.
Iris merely stayed in her seat until recess. She's even more silent today in class now that she and Claire are no longer on speaking terms; it's unclear if they even still see each other as friends.
Some students tried talking to them, distracting them from their emotional intensity, slightly succeeding. Claire was accompanied by a guy; he brought his comic book out for Claire to read. It is thick, as thick as two of their science books they are borrowing from their school.
The classes went by very slowly for them, so slowly that they feel like they became snails. Every second is now being registered by her consciously. Their mind is still not past the issue; they are still unable to forgive each other, and even thinking about doing that irritates them, like forcefully punching a hollow block with your bare fist. It is unnatural and unimaginable.
Their teachers did not notice even the slightest change in them, merely discussing their lessons until their time ran out, not caring about a single student at all. They are too underpaid and overworked for sentimentality in this age and time.
At recess, they both went their different ways, silently joining other groups separate from each other to eat with. Laughing and sharing stories normally until the 30 minutes of freedom were finally up. None of them dared to mentionthe issue to each of them after all, as they deem it to be too risky, and they are wary of them now, scared to trigger them even further, not wanting to deal with something they aren't fond of anymore.
They all ate together; Iris ordered a 10-peso drink and a 30-peso burger, her usual.
And Claire ordered different foods, her usual now being cast away. She ordered a lasagna and three chocolate balls with a soft drink. Both awkwardly entered the class with their group, secretly staring at each other when the other one was not looking, the feeling of guilt still lingering alongside the undeniable pain that came from each other's betrayal. But deep down, they still long for each other; despite it all, they still see each other as their best friend. But their pride and image are simply way too difficult for them to throw; they may want to be with each other, but they are both worried about how the other one would start treating them after forgiving each other.
None of them wanted anything to change in what they already have, but unfortunately it already has. They already stepped in it; they are already in the middle. That awareness in the middle only made it sting for them; it sucks. Since now they are powerless, both trapped by their own consciousness and pride. Both lost in the middle of a pitch-black void, alone. No sound, no people, just them and their regret and longing for each other mixed with sorrow.
"I miss you. Please talk to me again. Just apologise to me and I'll immediately forgive you. I promise."
Their classes went by as normally as every day, with merely the slight difference of the presence of the tension between Claire and Iris.
In Marlan's case, he's with his friends at the back of the class, discussing World of Masters, a 5v5 MOBA game they play on their computers.
At 7:30AM, the same time as before, Claire and Iris foughtbecause of his indirect involvement.
Marlan's class, in contrast, is loud, with students talking loudly, seats all over the place, and the board uncleaned, filled with questionable letters and drawings all over it, with even a punch holepresent. Compared to Iris's, where the majority of her classmates are mostly academic achievers; thus, their section, 1. Marlan's is 3. Where mostly casual and laid-back students were put together with each other, stacking them all up in one place to avoid wide confusion and chaos throughout their school, trying to contain them with each other as accessibly as possible
Where almost everyone here, including Marlan, is considered a delinquent.
"Yo, Bro. Wanna come with us later in the computer shop? We're going to play again with Keight; he said he has a level 100 account with a lot of skins and claims that it's completely his. That bitch is obviously lying; I'd definitely ask him to 1v1 me," Kurt called out to him.
Marlan, without remorse, replied, "Hell no. I am going home with Iris later. I'll walk her home again." He explained with an arrogant grin printed on his face, obviously bragging. Wanting them to feel jealous towards him, not out of malice, but as a joke and pride.
"Sucker... stop lying for absolutely no reason, you monkey. Your stinky and ugly ass doesn't even fit right beside her." Kurt responded before laughing at him hysterically.
"Oh? I am being for real though; even if you were to ask her today, she'd just confirm it. I know where she lives. We are connected online. Oh yeah, here. Look." He replied as he pulled out his phone, opening his socials and Iris' profile, the label "friend" sticking on screen and the silhouette of their long conversation, Marlan's begging last night, that is. 5 long speech bubbles, at least 10 sentences each, could be seen before he opened Iris' profile, then immediately put his phone back into his pocket.
"Show us those long-ass speech bubbles you spammed then, bitch. What was that? And she didn't even respond. Were they even delivered? I saw the time; I doubt she's been offline for that long!" Justine pointed out to him, hysterically pointing at him with a dramatic effect and laughing at the same time. Teasing him. "Show us, show us, show us," he repeatedly added with a maliciously mocking tone, attempting to provoke him.
Marlan ignored him, looking away from everybody, not wanting to double down even further, clearly regretting his impulsive action with basically null thoughts. He tried to endure Justine and Kurt's laughter with everyone else until he snapped, bantering them back in an attempt to change the topic. Relieving embarrassing secrets and stories about Kurt, focusing all of his frustration on him.
"Well, at least I didn't get yelled at by my crush's dad in front of everyone in the family meeting! Even Trish was embarrassed; she left you and didn't even look at you. Tell me, do you still talk to her today, huh?! Huh?!" was his rebuttal to him, laughing with a child-mocking face and tone in his expression. Kurt tried to choke him out of frustration afterwards, unable to respond back at him. Only stopping because their teacher finally arrived.
"I wonder what she's doing right now, though. I hope she's thinking about me."
As class started, that same single thought echoed through the back of his head, silently eating him up from the inside. Barely holding up against his wild desire to meet her and make sure he's engraved in her very thoughts, wanting her to stray away from every man she encounters, only needing him and wanting him. He wants to make sure that happens, without telling her. His very presence was to be acknowledged and seen by her in a revolting, childishly possessive way.
"I can't wait to meet her."