No one thought much about Mavi leaving the lunch table except for one person, Ryker. Even Jayce didn’t give it much thought.
Ryker’s carefree nature was popular in the school. But who knew, he was observant more than anyone. Every single movement of Mavi couldn’t escape his eyes. He saw her clutching her skirt, breathing heavily and even her sotto voce caught his attention. He quietly left the table to follow behind her.
Mavi went behind the labs’ block. The place was mostly deserted and quiet. She threw her bag on the floor and started kicking the bench in frustration. She kept hitting it for 5 minutes and after that settled back on the bench behind her. Ryker wanted to go up to her but somehow his legs betrayed him when he heard her voice.
“You’re an idiot! You’re an idiot!” She kept repeating it to herself. She leaned back a bit and closed her eyes.
She was still clutching her chest and wasn’t able to control her harsh breathing. She quickly retrieved her cell phone from the bag and dialed a number. After a single bell, the other person picked up the call. “Take me home. I’m tired,” She said in a normal voice without showing any kind of discomfort and shoved her phone back in the bag.
A black car stopped right in front of her, after exactly a minutes. She got in without sparing a glance around. Ryker saw the whole scene unfold before his eyes. But he kept his distance.
Suddenly, his eyes caught the sight of a lunch box sitting alone on the bench which was previously occupied by Mavi. He came closer and opened the box to reveal Xoan’s favorite pasta. He always thought that Mavi was stupid for always pestering Xoan but even he acknowledged that she cared for him. Otherwise, the girl wouldn’t bring lunch for a guy persistently for the past 6 years.
Friday night.
The whole group decided to meet at the party and Mavi was no exception. Habitually, Mavi was late even that night for the party. Valerie and Xoan grew comfortable in each other’s presence as they started talking and found their mutual likes and dislikes. Yara was busy dancing on the dance floor under the dazzling lights. Ryker was talking to a group of girls near the pool and Jayce was restless because of Mavi’s absence. Mavi arrived at the party around 9 o’clock.
Every passing person greeted her with a big smile. Mavi wasn’t sociable like Yara but her radiant personality made her approachable. Jayce walked up to her with a can of coke in his right hand. He was dressed in a casual navy blue shirt and black jeans paired with a leather jacket. As he approached Mavi, he stretched the coke towards her.
“You really think, I’ll drink coke? That too, at a party?” Mavi asked him with a brittle smile. “I’m not a baby anymore.”
“You’re still a baby to me,” Jayce replied, meaningfully. Mavi wasn’t in the mood for an argument so she simply took the coke from his hand. “Stop trying to push me away,” Jayce said after a pause. His voice held a touch of sadness and pain which was reflected in his chocolate brown eyes. “I’m back for good. Can’t we go back to the way we were?”
Mavi looked down at her leather boots to hide the hurt visible in her own eyes. She was wearing a gray knee-length dress paired with a belt. “Do you think it’s that easy? ” Mavi asked with a challenging expression. “You might be able to go back but my life will never be the same again.”
Jayce didn’t want to argue with her. So, he changed the topic, “What’s up with you and Xoan?” Jayce asked out of curiosity and concern. Mavi gave him a grave look. “Is he more important than me?”
“The one beside you is the one who matters and the rest are just history,” Mavi replied with a chloric expression before walking up to the beers table.
The Feelings Corner 