feelings are fatal

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 — so much so that he almost misses the first couple minutes of class, despite always being notoriously early. His timeliness had nothing to do with the interest in the class material, and more so to do with the fact that he has nothing better to do during the day anyways. Never one of the chattier ones, he usually took the first couple of minutes to settle down, slip into a seat in the back despite the countless open desks by the front.

And perhaps it’s all of the eerie events happening around, or that he hasn’t gotten enough sleep that by the time he slips into class, most of the seats in the back are already filled. In fact, all of the seats are already filled, save for one right by the last person he ever wants to see.

Mr. Carlson? Will you? Their teacher gives him an expectant look, and he slides into the seat, head down, not daring to look over at the girl seated next to him. He’ll only have to get through the next fifty minutes, and then he can go back to sitting in the back, ignoring that part of his life —

Miss Chiara Angeles will be partnered up with Orion Carlson.

No. No — he bolts up, eyes widened towards… her. It’s almost too painful to look at her, and yet, this would be his life for the next couple of weeks. And get to work everyone! He doesn’t move; doesn’t even attempt to move closer to her, in fear of what he’d say or do. Or what she’d say or do. After all, they haven’t talked in at least a few months. 

History was never her best subject but it was the last class of the day and that was enough for Chiara to love it. It didn’t matter that she could hardly remember dates or names from people long passed - the only thing standing between her and the rest of the afternoon was a fifty minute window. With a grin, she greets her teacher and slides into one of the last seats at the front of the room, taking out her notebook after settling down. Lost in her thoughts for the afternoon plans, Chiara gets pulled back in at the sound of a familiar name. 

Mr. Carlson? Will you?

He slips into the seat next to her - not even glancing her way. Part of her was hurt that he hadn’t, still drunk on last year’s memories, but the other part of her immediately turned away. ‘It’s only fifty minutes...’ But she couldn’t dare look at him again. Chiara had meticulously planned her timing, her extracurriculars, even the routes she took to and from classes to minimize the chance of running into him. She had purposely chosen the front seats in classes they shared because she knew he wouldn’t go near them. Yet, there he was - only a couple feet away from her, seemingly fine with everything while Chiara tried her best to hide the upcoming wave of emotions. 

—

Miss Chiara Angeles will be partnered up with Orion Carlson.

“No.” The words come out before she can think about anything else. Their teacher raises a questioning eyebrow and for a second she thinks she can feel his gaze on her, which only makes it worse. At the beginning of class she had wanted him to look at her but now she wanted to hide from him. She had done it for months now so much that it had become routine to not notice she was doing it. “Sorry, I just...I wrote my notes down on the wrong notebook.” That feeble excuse wasn’t even enough to fool her, but their teacher let it go. 

And get to work everyone!

Chiara doesn’t move. Her eyes are focused on her notes, cursive letters in black ink that begin to blur with each moment that passes. Being near him again was already too much. Looking away, Chiara rubs her eyes to clear the fog in her mind, nervously hoping for her gaze to settle on anything - anyone - but him. Time had passed, and although she had seen him around he was always out of reach and that’s how she wanted it. It was easier for her to have him at a distance, to pretend nothing had ever happened and she’d never even said a word to him. 

Except he was too close - close enough that she could smell the faint sandalwood and cigarette smoke radiating from - ‘Wait. Stop.’ She is not doing this again. Taking a second to consider her choices, realistically she can just ask their teacher for a different partner, come up with something about ‘irreconcilable differences in the management of this project’. Something ridiculous that will guarantee they get someone new to work with. 

Except, a part of her wanted to work with him. Despite everything that had happened, everything that she had said and done up until this point - she couldn’t deny his presence had some power over the rest of the world around her. Her godmother had once said being a teenage girl was exactly like this, romanticizing everything from the falling leaves to the way someone smiled. If all her plans to avoid him had already been ruined maybe it was for the best. 

“Um, what would you like to do?” Her voice is soft, maybe a little too quiet than she had planned, but she turns to face him. 

It took a lot to stir Logan from a slumber, while his other classmates complained about the constant noise that came with the retreat, he found it soothing, reminded him of nights on the road with his parents. He found himself lulled into a deep sleep by the buzz of activity around him, it was a sign that he wasn’t alone, which comforted him. 

The sound that couldn’t be described as anything other than a clatter was not comforting. He sat up in his bed quickly, his head instantly going to the accident, and he had to take a few deep breaths to realize that he wasn’t back in the van but safe in the cabins. At first he thought that he had dreamed up the sound, it wouldn’t be the first time he dreamed about the crash, but then he realized his classmates had also awoken, rubbing sleep out of their eyes and getting up to investigate what had make the sound. 

He made his way towards the senior cabin in his pajamas, the pink hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up. Logan didn’t scare easily but he couldn’t denying the eerie feeling in the air. “This is giving me a weird feeling man.” He said to the person closest to him, rubbing his arm that was covered in goosebumps despite the warm weather. 

Though it was a school night, Chiara sat cross-legged on her bed with her bible on her lap. She’d had trouble sleeping for the past couple of days - as it was normal during high days of stress. Of course, when she’d reached out to her godmother she suggested Chiara open up her bible and read until her eyelids felt heavy. The issue with that was Chiara didn’t feel sleepy until after 3am regardless of what she was doing. Still, she scribbled on the margins of the pages, thoughts jumping from one question to another.

Then there was a sound. Not the sleepy breathing of her roommates nor the forest sounds she’d gotten used to. This was the kind of sound that told her someone had just made a mess. She sat still for a couple moments just to see if anyone reacted. Sure enough, people started opening their doors and she could hear talking on the other side of the walls. She was on her feet before she had a chance to think about it - surely the better idea was to stay in bed and get some sleep but her curiosity had once again gotten the best of her. It seemed almost everyone had woken up from their slumber although some were wide awake. 

She joined her classmates outside as some were trying to figure out where the sound had come from. Some juniors had even woken up and were already making their way over. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a faint flash of pink in the darkness - who else had pink hair?