Chapter 5: “Well maybe I do”

                      ♫ I tried to empty my mind from the thought of you

                                        You lived in my heart but

                                     I cried like a fool for you and

                                            Looked for you and

                                          I thought I could die ♫

                                      *자리비움 from by Secret

~5~

       ”Hey Rizelle!” a guy cheerfully waved at me as I walked towards my desk.

       ”Oh hey Xander,” I answered. I glanced at the empty desk beside mine and asked, “Where’s Yumi?”

       He shrugged, “I guess not here yet.”

       So that was Alexander Artese. He’s one of mine and Yumi’s close friend. I met the both of them my freshman year of high school. He sits behind Yumi and of course, he annoys her a lot. I think Yumi has had a crush on him since we got to know him but she doesn’t show it and usually calls him —-

       ”Oh, so the almighty flirt is here,” Yumi annoyingly said with one raise eyebrow.

        Yeap, that’s it. Besides “Xander” that’s one of his nickname that Yumi made up becase Xander can be very flirtatious. Although, I noticed that he has his serious side too but, I think he doesn’t show it as much to Yumi.

       ”What happened? You two usually come to school together,” I asked confused.

       ”I don’t know. Ask him,” Yumi glared at Xander. “I’ve been waiting for this guy for a long time. I was almost late too and then I find out from his sister that he already went ahead.”

       ”My bad, I had to accompany my friend early to school. I texted you though, did you not get it?” Xander said.

       ”Oh…” she trailed as she took her phone from her pocket and checked.

       Xander added, “…plus, did you not see that my motorcycle was not in the driveway?”

       ”Oh whoops….” Yumi remarked, trying to cover her embarrassment.

       ”Yeahh… Uh-huh, I thought so. You better say whoops…” he commented, purposely annoying Yumi.

       Yumi just glared back at him again and she was going to start bickering at Xander again when I felts someone sat and sighed behind me and I heard Xander asked, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

        I heard the guy behind me complained, “Those girls won’t stop stalking me.”

       That voice was familiar and I was about to turn my head after he answered to see who it was when he suddenly said, “Hi, Zelle.”

       Oh right… How can I forget. It was that guy from yesterday… the one that called me Zelle… But, I don’t remember his name though.

       ”Oh yeah, Rizelle, this is Zane by the way. He’s my childhood friend. He’s new and they just moved near our house recently,” Xander said.

       ”You…” I said glaring at him.

       ”Oh cool, you guys already met?” Xander asked while I continue glaring at him.

       ”Ahhh, is that why you left earlier and didn’t wait for me?” Yumi interrupted.

       ”Haha, yeahhh. He had to get his basketball uniform,” Xander answered. “Wait—- so how did you two meet?” Xander turned his attention back to us and asked me. “I know I introduced Zane to Yumi yesterday at the cafeteria but you just walked off when I called you.”

       While I was busy on sending piercing daggers at Zane, he answered, “uhh I saw her sleeping here yesterday after basketball practice so I woke her up.”

       Xander and Yumi turned to look at each other and they both said, “Uh oh…”

       ”You shouldn’t have… That’s why we left her there because she hates being disturbed,” Yumi said

       ”Oh… umm… is that why she’s glaring at me?” Zane asked while pointing at me.

       ”Hahaha, probably,” Xander laughed. “Rizz, stop scaring my friend.”

       I turned to glare at Xander instead but Zane extended his hand and said, “Here. You left your phone on your desk yesterday, that’s why I run after you and grabbed you when you almost got hit by a car but then, you spazzed at me. Geez… not even a small thank you… or unless, you wanted to die.”

       I grabbed my phone and mumbled, “Well maybe I do,” while I turned to look at the window, feeling a burning gaze at my back.

—————————————————————————————————-

Hey guys! This is Icy ^_^ Hopefully you’re enjoying my story so far. I can’t really update a lot, that’s why my chapters are short. I’m also busy with studying so I can’t update as often as I like. I apologize if my writing skills sucks, I noticed that I can’t create great dialog haha. Anyways,  I just do this for fun and during my free time and I’m not a professional writing. But I hope that you guys like it and thank you for supporting and reading my story.

Chapter 4: My name

         When I try to forget the past times, I can’t forget it (I can’t forget it)

    Your voice that used to always call my name roams in my ears (Roams in my ears) 

                                      *from Back to You by Beast

~4~

       Zelle… did he just call me that? No one calls me that other than Joshua… why… why does everything reminds me of you?

       “This is why I can’t forget you…” I mumbled while wiping aggressively the uncontrollable tears that streams down my face continuously. Basketball… the dream… and the name you call me… I can’t escape them.

       Concentration, Zelle

      Ugh, even the voice that tells me to concentrate so I can stop crying is you. How do you expect me to stop?

      All these thoughts were swimming in my mind while I continue to walk.

      “Hey,” I heard someone behind me called out. It was that guy’s voice from earlier, what was his name? I decided to ignore him and continued walking while wiping the tears…

BEEEEEPPPP

      “HEY!,” someone suddenly grabbed and pulled me back. “I’ve been calling you so many times but you just continue on walking aimlessly like a lost puppy and you don’t even look where you’re going you almost got hit by a car. What is wrong with…?” the guy rambled on without taking a breath. He turned to look at me and stopped. “Are you crying?” he asked. His eyes were wide with shock.

       Embarrassed, I wiped my face quickly. “No. I. Am. Not,” I said angrily. I pushed him off to let go from his grasp. “And, leave me alone,” I glared at him and turned around to run off.

       ”But, hey wait. Zelle…” he called out

       Why does that guy keep popping out of nowhere? That was scary though. I shouldn’t have been mean to him but I didn’t know what to do. And it’s so embarrassing, he even saw me crying. Ugh… this day needs to be over.

Chapter 3: His Basketball

~3~

            I definitely lost all my concentration and it feels like the classes went by like a blur. Throughout the rest of the day, I didn’t even bother paying attention in class. As I looked out the window, I was dazing in and out of consciousness.

~~~

            …Suddenly I saw myself eight years ago as a girl, about the age of 10, who was running towards the house next door. She was so excited that her ponytail was bobbing up and down while she zoomed past through the bushes. At that moment, she didn’t care about anything. She just cared about getting to that house because, there sat an 11 years old boy on the steps of the stairs in front of the door.

            The girl stood in front of him with of her hands in each side of her waist. Her face was stricken like a mom scolding her kid. She was standing there trying to catch her breath, while the boy just sat there with a ball in his right hand. He was staring at the little girl, fascinated by her every move.       

             At last, she inhaled deeply and shouted, “Joshua Fox, where have you been?”  

            Even if the girl was mad, he just smiled, “Miss Rizelle Anne Sullivan, I was playing basketball,” he answered calmly.

           “Basketball?! Why do you like that sport so much?”

           “Come on, sit here,” Joshua gestured and tapped the space next to him. “I’m sure you’re tired from running to get here,” he laughed. “Let’s see, where do we start?” He contemplated. “Hmm, I like basketball because it’s not only a game of adventure. But it’s also a game of concentration and patience. Concentration: Because in order for the ball to get in the hoop, I need to calculate how much force to give. At the same time I need to be aware of anyone that might block my shot. Patience: Because not every throw goes in the hoop and in order to be perfect, practice is needed. Not just practice but PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. As they say, practice makes perfect. And also, it’s just fun!” Joshua explained

              Rizelle just stared at him with a confused look for a long time. Finally she pouted, “but, Josh, I didn’t have anyone to play with. I was so bored.”

            Joshua stood up chuckling and grabbed Rizelle’s arm, “Hmmm, how about I’ll buy you ice cream then.”

            The two of them walked together with so much joy and laughter.

            After a while… “Are we there yet? We’ve been walking for fifteen minutes.” Rizelle whined.

            “Zelle, remember to be patient…” Joshua’s voice trailed off.

~~~

            Then suddenly, I felt a shook and Joshua’s voice disappeared completely and was replaced by a gentle deep voice, “Hey. Heyyyyy. Wake up,” which startled and woke me up.

           I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times. Shortly, I realized that I had fallen asleep during class and by now, everyone had already left.

            “What do you want? Get your hands off me!” I said irritated.

            “Hmmph, temper much? Miss Rizelle don’t you realized that no one else is here? School is over. And me being the nice guy I am, I’m just waking you up so that you can go home and not be stuck here all night,” a guy smilingly bragged. He has short brown hair with a few droplets of sweat trailing down the side of his face.

            I glared at him and asked bluntly, “Who are you?”

            Then, the smile on his face changed into a confused and shocked look. “What? You don’t know who I am?”   

            I raised my eyebrow and continued staring at him. Who does he think he is? Does he think I’m some kind of psychic?

            Then, his confused and shocked look was gone and his face lit up as if a realization just hit him and laughed, “Oh right… you were barely paying attention earlier. I saw Yumi had to poke you when the teacher was calling you. Well, Zane Andrew Turner is my name,” he said coolly extending his hand.

            Huh? How does he know Yumi? I just stared at his hands then I took my bag and left the room and him. As I was walking in the hallway…

            “Nice to meet you, Zelle!” I heard him shout cheerfully.

Chapter 2: Him

~2~

The bell rung and it was lunchtime. I remained sitting down while looking out the window while the others scrambled out of their seats to go to the cafeteria.

 “Hey Zelle, you ok?” a voice beside me questioned.   

I turned and saw a girl with white creamy complexion, she wore her shiny black hair short, just above her shoulders with her tiny onyx eyes staring intensely at me. It was Yumi, my best friend.     

“Yeah, just bored,” I lied, not meeting her eyes.   

“Oh,” she remarked with her suspicious piercing eyes. “Right,” she shrugged off. “I had to poke the hell out of you earlier so that you’ll snap out of it,” she continued with her warm smile. “Well, how about we go outside so you wouldn’t be bored.”     

“Nah, I’m fine here, you can go if you want,” I said     

“Rizelle Anne Sullivan! Stop being lazy and unsociable. Get your butt up here and come with me,” she exclaimed irritated while crossing her arm. Here eyes were staring fiercely at me.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go with you,” I complied.

“Yayy! Come on, let’s go quickly,” she shouted cheerfully while she took my arm.

 “Yumiko Charlotte Lee, you’re unbelievable! What are you bipolar?” I exclaimed.

Yumi continued on smiling, “Uh-huh yea I know.”

I continued staring at her amazed. What the hell? That’s the thing with Yumi she can be bipolar at times. One second she’s mad serious and the next she’s happy and excited. Yumi was even skipping while we walked towards the cafeteria.

“You know, you love me,” she commented. “Oooo, look at that,” Yumi pointed at one of the lunch tables that’s surrounded by a crowd of students.

I turned to where she was pointing and noticed that it was mostly girls surrounding this guy and his other friends. Pshhh. Who cares? It was just nonsense so I continued walking and left Yumi while she observed the crowd. I got my food, and then I looked for a table to sit down.

 “Heyyy, there you are. I was just talking and then when I turned you weren’t there anymore. I didn’t even realize I was talking to myself,” Yumi frowned and sat down. “You know, it was that new guy in our class over that crowded table. He’s kinda cute too,” she said pointing towards them.

 I smirked and said, “Well, I guess you were too busy ogling at him so you didn’t even noticed I left.”

“But he is cute and I heard he plays BASKETBALL,” she enunciated the last part and raised her eyebrows.

 At that instant, I dropped my forked and looked up at Yumi with a smug face on.

“Who cares?” I responded annoyed. Out of anger, I stood up and threw out my half-eaten spaghetti.

 Then I saw from the side of my eyes, two guys were heading towards Yumi and I. “Yo, Yumi!” Xander greeted. Because I was still annoyed of Yumi, I started storming out of the cafeteria. “Hey Rizelle, where you going?” I heard Xander yelled out but I didn’t even stop and just ignored him.

My thoughts were filled with that single phrase as I continued on walking in the deserted marble hallways.  Basketball. It kept ringing in my mind. Why did Yumi have to remind me of that word? A phrase that I hated and loved at the same time. By then, I realized that cold teardrops started cascading down my cheeks.

If you’re wondering what’s the big deal about basketball.

It’s because…

                                     It reminds me…

                                                                           Of…

                                                                                                HIM

Chapter 1: His Gaze. Star. My Tears.

~1~

       “Class, this is…” I heard Ms. Miller’s voice fade while l look out the window up to the sky as my mind started to wander back to a memory from a year ago:

~a memory~

       I was sitting on a bench in the backyard and next to me sitting was, a young man with  jet-black hair. This has been our usual hang out place since we were little because, our houses were next to each other. It was one summer night with a slight breeze that made ripples on the reflection on the lake of the dark glittering sky and the smell of the green grass and the frolicking flowers mixed with the aroma of the coffee I was holding. It was a memory so distinct with the embrace of the sweet crisp air that sent shivers throughout my body…

     …that was disturbed by a piercing poke in my right arm by the girl next to me who silently whispered, “Rizelle”

       “Rizelle Sullivan~” Ms. Miller’s shouting brought me back to reality. 

       “Oh, Ms. Miller she’s right here,” the half-japanese, half-italian girl next to me shouted while pointing at me.

       “Thank you Ms. Yumiko Lee but I am not talking to you unless for some reason you’ve become Rizelle,” Ms. Miller reprimanded

       I raised my hand, “Here.” I sighed while looking back at the window

       “Tanner, Mary,” Ms. Miller continued taking attendance while her voice becomes muffled as I thought of the memory from earlier.

~a memory~

        “Josh…” I called his name while looking down at the cup of coffee.

       “Yeah?” Joshua responded as I turned to look at him. His hands were leaning at the back of the bench and his eyes gazing up to the sky so intently.

       “Nothing,” I replied turning my gaze back to the coffee cup in my hand. “Never mind,” I added while tracing the rim of the cup.      

       There was something special about his gaze that I didn’t want to disturb. It was as if he’s looking at something so beautiful…dazzling…stunning. Joshua has always been like that, everything he does, he does with such attentiveness that I can’t help but to be engrossed with it and little did I know I’ve become absorbed with his every action.

       Joshua pointed at the small shining star in the middle of the sky and asked me, “See that bright star right there?”

       “Mmhmmn,” I nodded as I looked up. That one star was so bright that it outshined the other stars that surrounded it.

       “Look at how small that star is,” Joshua continued. “The smallest one from all of them up there in that dark sky. But yet, it’s the brightest. So noticable. That’s. You,” Then, he turned to look at me, his soft gaze made my heart beat faster. “No matter how much you try to blend in the crowd, you will still catch everyone’s eyes,” he finished with a voice…

                                                                                                …a voice…

                                                            …which felt so bittersweet…

…that sent tingles up to my heart.

~End of memory~

        “Well, since someone seems to be already bored and slacking off for the first day of school, Rizelle Sullivan, why don’t you to tell us the class rules?” again, Ms. Miller’s voice brought me back to reality

       Ugh, she’s so annoying. I turned my head from the window to look at her. Everyone’s head turned in my direction.

       “Umm, well…” I stalled, thinking of what to say.

       A smirk slowly formed in Ms. Miller’s face. What the hell? You think I don’t know the class rules? I’m not that stupid, you know.

       “You’ll assign groups of two for a week and they will be the class cleaners,” I said lazily and yawned. “You’ll rotate groups every week. You will be the one who tells us the announcements. There is no fighting in class. No vandalism,” I continued in a monotonic voice.

       “Ok, that’s enough.”

       “Hmmph, You think I’m stupid? Just because I look like I’m not listening doesn’t mean I can’t answer your stupid questions,” I mumbled under my breath. I was so annoyed but all I can think about was him saying,

       ~No matter how much you try to blend… you will still catch everyone’s eyes~

Looks like what he said is true.

                  His sweet voice kept repeating in my mind…

                                               the sadness slowly crept up…

                                                                 while tears trickle down…

                                                                                                      …

                                                                                                           …

Prologue: My Story

                                             Listen to my story

                                 I will start now with a familiar voice

                                         Stories are the ordinary

                                      But the special thing is you

                            The relationship between this song and us…

                                     *from Niji/ Rainbow by Beast

~Prologue~

        It’s that time of the year again. I sighed while entering the brightly lit classroom with huge windows all the way at the left side, a board in the front and desks aligned perfectly in four rows. I walked lazily towards my usual seat in the third row all the way at the left besides the window. The azure sky was clear and scattered with round and fluffy clouds.

       *sighs* What a waste. Why is it so nice out during this dreaded day?

        So here goes the first day of school… 

       I slumped in my chair while a middle-aged woman carrying a folder in her left hand entered the room. Of course, it was Ms. Miller. She has been my homeroom teacher for the past three years of high school. By now, I have probably memorized her introduction which goes like, Good mor—’

       “—ning class, I will now introduce the new students.” Ms. Miller finished.

       I glanced to the woman talking and exhaled in disbelief. I can’t believe that Ms. Miller will be my adviser again for my last year of high school. Although it’s been a long time, I’m not tired of this routine. Well I wasn’t tired of it… but now I am. All my strength has been drained and by now, I refused to listen.  

                I’m just too tired,  

                                    sick of it,  

                                             of everything.