„He talked to me, his skin as brittle as a fragile heart. His words were set in stone, but serenity would not wish to show itself to me. I couldn't listen, basking in the sun as my own phrases stowed away, and only then had I found myself at home. He was my light, the sun in which I was basking developing jealousy over us."- Hillary Wolf
The girl hurried with dry hands to put the new novel she had discovered in her schoolbag, turning to her right to check for it, but she realized she didn't bring her bag with her. She held the book tight and let the librarian know she borrowed the book, then walked forward to leave the room, but she would have went to the future if she touched the doorknob.
Her hands felt as hard as a rock and they weren't tingling anymore.
She used her elbow to open the library door and gave up on trying to close it on her way out.
Vivien ran back to her class, she knew Rachel and Grace were waiting for her.
She walked inside the classroom, hands clenched to her sides.
The way she was behaving would make it obvious she was trying to hide something, so she did her best to shove her awkwardness away.
Vivien was terrible at keeping secrets or lying, she almost always tried speaking the truth, even if it annoyed anybody.
Her two friends came forward and spoke to her.
„Vivien! We've been looking for you. Where have you been?", Rachel asked.
„At the library."
„Wonderful! What book did you get?", Grace asked.
Vivien told them both the title and author of the book-The Curse of Althemia- and the girls both made an oooo sound in synchronisation. Just then, Rachel picked up a piece of paper from her desk and showed it to Vivien.
„If you choose to brag about your love for books, I am allowed to show you my awesome work. Take a look, I wrote this during class."
The girl undertook an examination of Rachel's small writing, trying to make sense of the scribbles on the paper.
Rachel's writing has always been illegible, so Vivien wasn't sure what she received the text for. She stared at the page for a few second. It said: „Dear Vivi, please spend more time with us or we will get upset." On the left corner of the page just below the short text was a drawing which seemed to resemble an animal, but the girl wasn't sure which animal that was. It looked like a... gazzele?
„What is this for, and what is that in the corner of the page?", Vivien asked, pointing to the failed drawing.
„It's an upset horse! Can you not tell by its long legs? I think it's 100% clear what it is!"
„That does not look like an upset horse."
„I tried my best to draw it, okay? Don't patronise me." Rachel said.
„You should put that in an exhibition. Art people will love it and study it. I think it's great.", Grace suggested.
Rachel crossed her arms and shot up a defiant gaze. She didn't seem to like the idea of putting that drawing on display.
Vivien felt a little bit guilty for not having spent as much time with her friends, but how could she have told them she discovered she could travel in time?
She had to keep that information a secret. Meeting up with Sylas wasn't necessary for the matter, but she felt like being alone in the future with someone like Jude would bring her a feeling of danger.
Convincing him to come with her would have seemed like the more plausible option, and Vivien's anger for him had dissipated.
„Girls, I'm sorry we haven't spoken that much as of late. I find my time inefficient and get very stressed with academic pursuits. What is there not to stress about this year?", Vivien felt like she was lying and she hated it. The truth was she had been so caught up with her interest in the superpower she gained and struggled so much to keep Sylas at a distance not to embarrass her in front of others that she didn't have any will to socialize.
„That's totally fine, Vivien. Rember we're a friend group and we got your back whenever you need us. You're the one that strives to learn the most out of us. There's no point in worrying.", Grace reassured her.
Vivien didn't smile at Grace, she rarely let a smile grow on her face, but she felt relieved at the sound of her words.
Rachel also tried saying a few encouraging words to the both of them before the english teacher came in.
Everybody took their seats, and the teacher began the lesson by adding that they'll all need to make a final project for the year and present it.
The teacher would make all the students rate the projects, and whoever had the best rating would receive a bonus point for the upcoming test.
To add on top of everything, they would need to work in teams of two.
Vivien didn't enjoy working in teams of only two because she feared whoever it would be, she wouldn't get along very well with them.
If there were teams of three, perhaps the two people would get along with eachother instead if she didn't, but that was the case chosen by their english teacher, and the girl couldn't change it as much as she wanted to.
The woman began assigning projects to the teams based on bench placements. In her class, there were single-student desks and around twenty people, making it the perfect number to assemble two students per project.
Vivien was sitting in a middle row in the second bench, and Sylas was sitting right behind her. Both Rachel and Grace were far away from Vivien, leaving her to fend off for herself from the boys' kicks or anger inducing comments.
She waited for her turn to know who her potential work partner would be while thinking.
Their teacher had always assigned projects every year, making it enjoyable for them and always doing her best to enliven their spirits.
Once she finished with the first row, the woman moved towards the second row and walked towards Vivien.
To her surprise, Sylas was suddenly sitting at the seat in front of her. He didn't use to sit there, why did he exchange places? Vivien turned around and noticed her classmate, Lily, who usually sat in the seat in front of her, looking down as if nothing had happened.
„Sylas, my oh my, did you decide to change seats all of a sudden?", the teacher asked.
„I like the breeze from here, miss. I can breathe in the air better while I'm here."
„You don't say! It looks like you'll be assigned with Vivien!"
The girl didn't say anything, she just glared at Sylas and nodded at the teacher.
„Sounds pleasant! I'm all oxygenized now after knowing who my partner will be."
Half the students present chuckled. Their teacher settled the class down and told Vivien and Sylas that they'll have to work on the topic of self-love. Sylas looked pleased, but Vivien wasn't feeling the exact same way. She dreaded the idea of working with him, what if they argued again? That was almost all they did.
„Soooo... your house, or my house?"
Vivien didn't answer. She was thinking if it was a good idea to bring him to her house. Couldn't they just meet somewhere else?
„Your house or my houuuse? The project must be done!"
At his insistance, she answered.
„My house!"
„Good. Thanks for telling me, dopey."
„Can't we meet somewhere else instead?"
„But I wanted to see your room. I was so excited!"
Vivien felt bad to bring down his spirit, so she eventually agreed to finish the project at her house. She wasn't sure how Luis would react at the sight of Sylas. She never talked to many boys at school, so it would be a little shocker.