Tick Tock….
Tick Tock…
A clock ticked endlessly in a silent classroom empty except for the two girls who sat in the back of it, sharing a desk, sitting across from each other by the window.
Lena stared down at the paper that sat infront of her, the ticking of the clock echoing impossibly loud in her ears in the near-silent room.
Tick tock…
She slowly raised her gaze and looked at the girl sitting across from her. The only other girl in the empty classroom. She had long black hair that fell in soft waves, fluffy and wild, her bangs casting shadows over her eyes. Her eyes were a dark black color, a beauty mark decorating the corner of her left eye. She was, without a doubt, beautiful.
The girl wasn't looking at her, she wasn't looking at the book that sat infront of her either; rather, she was leaning back in her chair, the front legs lifted slightly off the ground, one leg swinging lazily as she absentmindedly played with a pencil in her mouth. She looked impossibly bored, and Lena followed her gaze to see her eyes were on the clock that hung infront of the door of the classroom.
Despite the reason for them being there being for the girl to help Lena study, the girl hadn't talked to her much at all. The only evidence of the girl acknowledging her existence was her waving at her to follow her before taking a seat at the back of the classroom as the other students filtered out to go about their day as the school bell rang.
Lena looked down at the girl's worksheet that the both of them had been working on, and her eyes widened as she saw that it was already completed. Her own worksheet sat infront of her, not even the first question.
Tick Tock…
The clock continued to tick loudly in her ears and she took her eyes away from the opposing paper and went back to look at her own. Her head spun as she looked at the math problem… She had no idea how to even begin solving it. Still she had to atleast make it look like she was doing something…
Lena, not knowing what else to do, simply started to rewrite the equation in her notebook. However, once she did that, she was once again stuck on what to do next. She began playing around with the numbers helplessly trying to find what on earth x equaled. Eventually, she resorted to retracing the equation over and over with her pencil, pressing harder each time until the numbers grew thick with graphite. The paper beneath began to wear thin, threatening to tear from the relentless motion.
She didn't stop until her pencil finally broke through the page, forcing her out of the trance-like repetition. When she looked down, the once-neat equation was now scarred with smudges and holes, the numbers bloated and uneven beneath layers of lead.
Tick Tock…
The clock once again ticked endlessly in her ears, grating her nerves and making her all the more painfully aware of the girl sitting across from her. She was tempted to sneak another glance at the pretty girl but stopped herself.
Despite the girl supposed to be helping her study, she hadn't uttered a word to her…she had probably been annoyed at being forced to help her. A nervous weight settled in her stomach, heavy and cold, the kind that made her chest tighten with the quiet fear that the girl hated her. To distract herself, she started sketching aimless scribbles along the margins of her paper again, trying to escape the awkward silence her teacher had trapped her in.
Tick Tock…
Scribble Scribble…
A long, drawn-out, unapologetic sigh thick with boredom snapped her out of her dizzying, trance-like state of doodling.
She jumped at the sudden sound and looked up, meeting the other girl's gaze. Her eyes—impossibly dark, like black pools—were fixed on her, the pencil still dangling from her mouth. The girl's head tilted slightly, causing strands of her soft, dark hair to cascade over her face, framing her snow-white skin in a way that felt both delicate and unsettling.
"Ah…" Lena breathed out instinctively. It wasn't loud, but it wasn't exactly quiet, either.
The girl's eyes didn't move—still locked onto hers.
"Umm…" Lena murmured, lost for words, not knowing what exactly to say. And yet, she couldn't look away. It was as if something in that gaze held her still.
As the girl continued to look across at her and take Lena in, something in her eyes changed. The boredom that had before clouded the girl's expression melted away like mist burning off under sunlight. In its place, something else began to surface—a glimmer, a shift, a flicker of something alive and unspoken. Her dark eyes stared into Lena's with sudden clarity, sharp and intent, making the air feel heavier between them.
The girl lowered her leg, and a slight clang rang in the room as her chair now rested on all four legs. The girl raised her arm and took the pencil from in between her soft pink lips before resting her head in her hand as she continued to stare at Lena; her dark black eyes staring into Lena's light brown ones, the sound of the ticking of the clock growing louder and louder in Lena's ears as the two girls stared at each other in near silence, a slight wind came through the window they sat near blowing the black haired girls hair slightly making her look as if she were at a movie shoot.
She really is pretty…
Lena thought to herself as she took in the girl's skin, which was clear of blemishes and had delicate facial features.
"What's your name?" the girl asked, eyes still on Lena, finally breaking the silence.
"Ah…Umm, my name is Lena!" she stammered out the answer, evidently aware of how the girl seemed to be leaning slightly more towards her.
"Lena, the girl repeated softly. Something seemed to be playing in her head behind her eyes, something Lena couldn't fully see, but it felt slightly unsettling.
"Uh…What's your name?", Lena asked back not wanting the awkward silence from before to come back. She broke out of their shared gaze and played with her hands that rested on the table.
However, despite asking the question, no response came for a while, a feeling of dread slowly began to build up in Lena at the silence and she raised her head to look at the girl once more.
"Umire…my name is Umire.", the girl Lena now knew as Umire responded. "You're new here, right?"
"Uh...yeah, I just moved here…" Lena answered, her voice trailing off as she nervously scraped the skin near her thumb's nail with her other thumb, avoiding eye contact.
A small smile crept onto Umire's face, it was a soft smile, an almost hopeful one, however, it didn't fully meet her eyes.
"Do you have any friends?" Umire asked her dark hair flowing down now touching the table as she tilted her head that rested on her hand.
Lena was caught off guard by the question but answered honestly, "No, I don't know anyone here yet."
The smile on Umires face grew something unknown playing behind her eyes. "Have you… ever had a best friend?", she asked softly. However despite the softness of her voice their was a strange sort of desperation that lied underneath the confidence and the softness. It was a strange question, especially from someone she had just shared words with today. However Lena stil found herself answering it.
"No…" she said softly. "No, I haven't," she repeated, even quieter, more to herself than anyone else.
She had never had someone she could confidently call a friend, never mind a best friend. Deep down, she knew no one had ever seen her that way, either. She was always just there…an acquaintance to others at best, never an important part of their lives. Watching others her age laugh and speak so freely with each other only deepened the quiet ache inside her—a particular kind of jealousy, the kind that came from longing for something you were certain you'd never have. Something you weren't capable of having for reasons you could never truly figure out why.
Tick Tock
At Lena's words, Umire's smile softened into something gentler—sincere and glowing, the kind that reached her impossibly dark eyes and brought a slight trace of light to them. A faint blush bloomed on her cheeks as she looked at Lena with quiet warmth. She let the hand that wasn't propping up her head drift toward Lena's until their fingers barely touched—just a light brush, but enough for Lena to feel the delicate warmth of her skin seeping into hers.
"Do you…" Umire began softly, her smile still lingering but now touched with something indescribably fragile, a sort of desperation…or maybe it was hope leaked from her voice as she spoke.
Tick Tock…
She shifted slightly, placing her hand fully over Lena's. With delicate care, she pulled Lena's other hand away from where it had been nervously picking at her thumb—where a thin line of blood had begun to form. Umire didn't comment on it, just held her hand firmly, grounding her.
"Do you…Want to be my best friend?"
Tick…
Lena's eyes widened at the question, and Umire opened up Lena's fingers before lifting them up to rest against her own before carefully intertwining their fingers together, holding onto Lena's tightly almost as if she was a lifeline, their fingers interlocking. She held on tightly—like she was afraid of being let go, like Lena's hand was the only thing keeping her anchored.
"No…Do you want to be best friends?" she asked, repeating the question differently.
Tock….
The difference in the question was subtle—so subtle that Lena wouldn't understand the true meaning of the request…of what Umire had truly meant, ...not until much, much later, when it would be too late to undo what had already been set in motion.