Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Wordless ❯ Her ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Please read carefully. The characters will not be named, and it may be hard following them and the story. It was a deliberate action on my part, because there is a certain atmosphere I am trying to achieve here. If you find it annoying, I apologize.
Disclaimer:is not mine.
Warning:OOC-ness, cliche, slight angst (?), and other whatnots.

Whoever said that time heals all wounds probably has a broken clock.

"Hey look, you...uhh…called at a bad time. I'll just…call you back, okay?"

You probably won't,she thought bitterly. The phone clicked shut and she sighed. She couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle at his feeble attempt to end the conversation.

How did it come to this?

No one saw it coming. None of their friends and [his] family knew how or why, but one day, everything changed between the two of them.

She started hanging out with the girls more; he stopped coming to the school rooftop for lunch. His calls were scarce and short; her visits to his home, even lesser.

They soon reached a point where they would feel awkward if left alone for a few minutes, and couldn't even hold a decent conversation about the weather. Calls were ignored, text messages left unanswered; greetings were short, eye contact was avoided and several excuses were made.

The once inseparable tandem was rarely seen together that by the end of junior year, no one dared to question why neither joined the annual school trip.

Both knew that there was an irreparable chasm growing between them.

And because neither was really good with words, there had been no confrontations, no apologies, no attempts to find a solution…There was no motivation to directly address the problem at hand.

Senior year soon started, and without catching a glimpse of him during the course of the entire school break, she was able to think things over and finally came to a decision.

She wanted him back. She wanted things to be back to normal.

But she had never been good with words. When someone didn't make sense, she'd literally pound it into them; when she was caught in an argument and on the losing end, she would even the score by giving her opponents bone-chilling haughty stares. If she failed to comprehend things, there would always be that crease between her brows and a confused look in her bright eyes before all hell would break loose.

So in all honesty, she was a nervous wreck. It wasn't everyday that you try to make up with your best friend over something you yourself do not know. She figured that if he didn't listen, she would just have to resort to castrating him.

The bell for lunch rang loud and clear in her ears as she reluctantly stood up and walked towards his desk.

She knew he had seen her approaching, and it pissed her off that he continued acting as though she wasn't there, avoiding looking at her general direction as he gathered his things for the one-hour break.

Knowing her for so many years, he should have expected that she wouldn't put up with such treatment. She wouldn't stop unless she had things her way. But he still couldn't help but jump a little in surprise when she slammed her hands on his desk and gave him a defiant glare.

"You, me. Rooftop. Now," she demanded. And knowing what was best for him, he nodded in acquiescence.

She was standing there with squared shoulders watching the school grounds when he reached the rooftop. There was a moment of silence between them as no one dared to utter the first word.

Finally, she gave a sigh of resignation as her shoulders dropped slightly.

"What happened?"vaguely asked.

Not really the best way to start a confrontation.

He scratched the back of his head and answered,"With what?"

It must be reiterated here that verbal expression wasn't their best points.

She loosely clenched her fists as she debated on what to do. Should she start withPlan B: castratehim

She took a deep breath and settled on looking at him over her shoulder, her eyes showing how vulnerable she was at the moment without her knowledge.

"I don't want to lose my best friend."

He briefly looked away at the sheer expressiveness of her eyes. It was very rare for the petite woman to show weakness to anyone else. This showed how much this whole thing affected her, and he didn't want her hurting like that.

But then again, there were those two words that unintentionally hurt him:best friend. He mentally cringed—that was all they would ever be perhaps, and if so, he should take it than completely lose her.

He closed his eyes to buy time to compose himself. When he opened them again, there was a genuine smile both in his amber pools and on his lips as he said,"Idiot."

And that was that. As they stared at each other's eyes with true smiles on their lips, they knew no other words needed to be said. They understood each other, and at the moment, they were fine with that.

Things were almost as they were before. Except they still didn't hang out as often, he still didn't call as much, and it was rare for her to drop by his house.

So no, things weren't back to normalshe thought they would be. But it was a big leap from the awkward silence and feigned indifference.

Perhaps thing canneverback to normal between them. Thought it stopped growing, there was still that chasm between them that she knew would never close.

But whoever said you couldn't build bridges to cross chasms?She could only hope he would meet her halfway.

The final stretch of senior year finally came, and everyone became busy racking up good grades and preparing for the highly-anticipated graduation ball. Gossips started filling the air—who would go with who, what kind of dresses to wear, which shoes to buy, yadda yadda yadda.

She found herself in the midst of it all, hearing rumors being passed back and forth, getting dragged from boutique to boutique, shop to shop. And soon, with the constant prodding of her friends, she finally found the perfect outfit for the grad ball.

The only problem? The escort.

No, she didn't have a hard time finding one, for she was after all a really attractive young lady, whose petite stature people often found adorably cute. Many male seniors from different classes had attempted to ask her to the dance. Often, she wasambushedlunch time when none of her friends were there to help her out. She, of course, rejected them all, subconsciously thinking with a smile that someone's hyperactive sense of protectiveness wouldn't let these guys get away unscathed had she said yes.

Days passed, and then weeks, yet the two never broached the subject of the dance. It was understood that they would be going together, she thought smugly. Everyone knew they were the best of friends, and therefore "unspokenly reserved" for each other. After all, best friends were supposed to accompany each other to social events like the school dance, right? Right?

A week before the event and a month away from the actual graduation found her humming happily as she ambled along the corridors one lunch time. She had found—or rather her brother's secretary had sent her—some jewelry that would go well with her dress for the ball. The said secretary heard about her upcoming dance and relayed it to her brother who, in a random fit of kindness and generosity (or so she thought), sent her late sister's jewelry to her. She tried it on the night before and found herself giddy and excited for the ball.

She wasn't good with words, so all she managed to say that time her brother called was, "Thanks." That was fine though, because her brother was a man of few words as well.

As she made her way to the rooftop for lunch, a handsome second-time senior with dark hair and ocean blue eyes—that could pass as her best friend's older brother— approached her and asked, "So, you going to the dance with somebody yet? Want me to go with you?"

The handsome [second-time] senior smiled flirtatiously and she recognized this guy as someone on her "jocks-I-must-avoid-at-all-costs" list.

It was a list of problematic guys her overprotective best friend compiled for her.

As she opened her mouth to say 'no', she caught sight of a familiar figure heading her way. Amber eyes stared at her questioningly as he cocked his head towards the handsome [second-time] senior.

She smiled at the new-comer before turning back to the handsome [second-time] senior and, as if hit by a sudden fit of idiocy (read: wanting to tease the scowling, amber-eyed boy 'til he turned green) she said,"I'll think about it."

The handsome [second-time] senior took that as an almost yes, and went away with a big grin. She turned to stare at her best friend and raised a brow inquiringly at him.

In hindsight, she thought of how foolish she must have been, rejecting guys, assembling the perfect outfit and assuming she had an escort to the dance. But how was she to know back then what was to happen next? How was she to know that the next words to come out of his mouth would shake her to the core?

"Why didn't you say yes?"asked with genuine curiosity.

The teasing smile that crept on her face faltered a bit as she searched his eyes for any sign akin to mirth. There was none.

"What?"she asked unintelligently.

"That guy, why'd you reject him? And I heard from the others that you've been rejecting every single guy who asks you to the dance. So, why?"inquired as he crossed his arms over his chest.

She sputtered indignantly,"I thought we were going together."was said without prior thought, having been at a loss as she faced this completely unexpected conversation.

He blinked at her, and with a quiet voice very unlike his usual brash self, muttered,"Oh. I…didn't know."scratched the back of his neck awkwardly."I already asked someone else."

Time seemingly went into slow motion as she continued to stare at him. Everything else around them became blurry to her, just some random mesh of colors, as her mind processed what had just been said. She didn't hear the clicking of heels, the random shouts, the opening of doors…she missed the curious gazes, the whispers, the pointed fingers.

And then suddenly, everything went back to normal pace as she blinked.

"Idiot,"he looked up as she let the half-hearted insult out of her mouth.

And then…she smiled.

"I didn't know you had it in you."

He smiled back; he was finally taking the first few steps to moving on."Yeah, well come on. Let's go get some lunch."turned around and made his way to the stairs leading to the rooftop.

She was never good with words, because she had always been afraid to take the risk. She found herself reflecting on that day on the school rooftop seemingly so long ago, when he had said he wanted her to be his girlfriend.

How, behind the laughter, he missed the real meaning of her tears.

How, when she said "Tell me you're kidding," she meant "Tell me you're not."

How, when she told him he sucked, he didn't catch the underlying bitterness for being led on, only to have her hopes crushed.

How, when she smirked and watched him return the gesture, he failed to see the tightness on her lips.

And now, as she watched him walk away from her, she couldn't help but hate herself for trying to contain feelings that had long since been bubbling up inside of her…

…for denying that she had indeed fallen hopelessly in love with him.

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