Munch!

  I took a bite out of my bagel as I sat at the cafeteria table with Tristan and Nishimoya.

  I woke up late that day so didn’t have time to make breakfast at home. Leading to me buying a bagel and eating it at school.

  The bagel was pretty good. It was the perfect amount of crunchy and the jam and cream cheese on it worked well together.

  Unfortunately, those flavors weren’t enough to adjust my thoughts.

  ‘I didn’t think Aurora and I would have a rough patch so early into our relationship. This is a pain. Her attitude towards me feels even worse than before.’

  I had already gotten over my annoyance about the Monday situation and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stop thinking about my relationship with Aurora.

  It was Thursday, meaning a few days had passed since Aurora began acting weird and nothing had changed for the better.

  She even began to act weird when I talked to other girls alone and began to spam my phone when I didn’t respond to texts.

  It was honestly confusing.

  Soon later, I finished up my bagel and headed upstairs to my first period class, English.

  Honestly, I wasn’t even paying attention to class, I just went through the motions.

  I just wasn’t able to give it my all.

  In the class after that, Math, all of the friend group was present.

  Seeing that Aurora was there too, I just subtly observed her.

  I tried finding any hints or clues in her behavior to see if there was any reason for her attitude towards me.

  Unfortunately, I found nothing.

  So I just kept acting as normal, worked on my assignments and talked with the others until the next period.

  Once the Math ended, I had science with Aurora.

  There, I talked with her one on one.

  “That’s correct,” Mr. Bostav stated before continuing with the lesson.

  I let my arm fall back down to my side.

  I had just answered a question about the lesson and fortunately I got it correct.

  Turning my head slightly to Aurora, I spoke to her.

  “How was last week’s game?” I asked.

  Aurora, who was fiddling with a coin, didn’t even look up to respond to me.

  “Last week’s game was a bad one,” Aurora replied, somewhat coldly.

  “How so?” I inquired, in an attempt to keep that conversation going.

  “Both teams were making terrible shots and the ref wasn’t calling any of the fouls,” she answered simply.

  “Oh…did your team win at least?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we did,” She replied.

  I frowned internally.

  ‘She still has that tone and she seems disinterested when she talks to me, even when it’s about stuff she enjoys like sports...’

  As I continued to speak with Aurora, I made an agreement with myself.

  ‘If she doesn’t act normal by our 5th period, I’ll ask her about it.’

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  I was hesitant to ask about this, in case I was just overthinking, but I saw no other way to approach the issue.

  So with that in mind, I continued my day.

  **

  Gulp!

  I sip from my plastic water bottle and swallow a mouthful of water.

  It was now lunch time and I was sitting with Nishimoya at the lunch table.

  ‘How does she always manage to get here so early?’

  I was released from art class a minute earlier than usual but Nishimoya was still there before me when I arrived.

  ‘Is she using witchcraft?’

  When that slightly humorous thought came to mind, I saw Aurora, Tristan, and Soriel approaching the table.

  “Guys!” Soriel exclaimed as she sat down at the table.

  Aurora and Tristan sat down soon after, quietly curious about what Soriel had to say.

  “What makes jokes funny?” Soriel asked.

  ‘Huh?’

  Looking at her, I froze.

  ‘What actually makes jokes funny?’

  Everyone at the table seemed to be wondering that exact same question.

  Well, everyone except for Nishimoya.

  “One time my parents had me read a book on comedy. It said a joke can become funny based on timing, relatability, clever wording, or on its surprise factor,” Nishimoya answered.

  ‘Her parents really made her learn about everything, didn’t they?’

  I thought over Nishimoya’s answer for a few moments and then the question came to mine.

  “Wait, but if that’s what makes jokes funny, then why are some jokes funnier to some people than others?” I asked, staring towards Nishimoya’s direction.

  When I spoke to Nishimoya, I saw a subtle shift in Aurora’s facial expression out of the corner of my mind.

  ‘Did I imagine that?’

  Before I thought further, Tristan quickly spoke up to answer my question.

  “I know. It’s simple. It’s because everyone is different. Different circumstances will make different things relatable. Different pasts make different things acceptable. Different experiences make different things illogical. Just like how some people find different people attractive even if some traits are generally more appealing,” Tristan explained.

  ‘Huh, I didn’t expect my question to have such a simple answer. Maybe some things are simpler than I thought.’

  Without me realizing it, somewhere in my heart, I got a tad bit more relaxed with that revelation.

  **

  ‘You got this, come on Elliot. Chill out.’

  Our lunch period had finished about 10 minutes ago, and I was in study hall with Aurora.

  Her attitude towards me hadn’t improved at all since lunch.

  Which meant I had to ask Aurora about her behavior recently.

  However, I felt a bit nervous, leading to me trying to psyche myself up beforehand.

  ‘Alright, no more delay, let's go.’

  With one big but silent breath, I spoke.

  “Hey Aurora,” I whispered.

  Aurora, who was scribbling hearts on her paper instead of study, responded.

  “Yeah?” She responded, stopping her hand from drawing another heart.

  “Did I do something wrong? Or I mean like…are you upset at me?” I asked with slight hesitation.

  For the first time, Aurora looked up from her paper and at me instead.

  She made an expression that seemed to be a mixture of confusion and slight surprise.

  “No…why?” Aurora answered calmly.

  Looking at her, I observed her face.

  ‘She looks like she’s telling the truth. Have I really been overthinking things all this time?’

  I stayed silent for a moment, before finally responding.

  ‘Um no reason, I just thought you were acting a bit different that’s all,” I replied.

  Aurora looked at me with slight confusion.

  “I have? That’s weird,” Aurora said with sincerity.

  I let out a silent sigh.

  ‘I’m just overreacting, I’m sure now that I talked to her, everything will go back to normal. I guess communication really is key.’

  Honestly, I was relieved to know that nothing was wrong.

  Of course, I still had doubts about whether things would go back to normal or not, but I could silence those doubts.

  I calmed down.

  And I was finally relaxed.

  **

  “Mhmmm mmmm mm mm mmm mmmmm mmm mmm mmm,” I hummed silently.

  Classes had ended a few minutes ago and now I was walking to the locker room so I could get changed for track and field.

  ‘Ah, today’s such a good…wait.’

  I stopped walking.

  ‘I don’t have track and field today. Or for the next couple of months…’

  You see, Monday was actually my last track and field practice for the fall season.

  Since winter was coming soon, it would become too cold to be practicing outside.

  So, we’d start back in the spring where we’d actually compete.

  ‘I really need to work on my memory.’

  With that thought, I turned around and began to walk outside of the school

  Once I got outside, I noticed the area around the school was already empty.

  ‘Huh, I only spent two minutes on the way to the locker room, did everyone leave that quickly?’

  As I continued walking, I was about to shrug off my thoughts but I noticed something.

  ‘Huh? There’s still a person here?’

  I noticed a person had just turned the corner.

  I was going that direction anyway so I continued walking.

  Maybe I could’ve even seen who the person was.

  ‘What…’

  I turned the corner, and I saw two people.

  One was a boy with brown hair, wearing my school uniform.

  He was being pressed to the wall by another person in my school uniform.

  It was a girl.

  A girl I recognized.

  ‘Aurora…?’

  Looking upon the figure, I had no doubt it was Aurora.

  Brown hair with green highlights, emerald green eyes, and a pretty face.

  That’s when I realized…she was making out with the guy.

  ‘No…’

  That was the truth. There was no mistaking it.

  ‘I’m hallucinating.’

  I was not.

  ‘I’m seeing things.’

  I was not.

  ‘It’s not her.’

  It was.

  With a silent, small, shaky exhale, I lifted the hood of my jacket over my head.

  Aurora was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t even notice I walked by.

  That I had seen her.

  In that very moment, I felt an inexplicable emotion.

  No, that’s a lie.

  My emotion was explicable.

  It was betrayal.