the bell was about to ring when she noticed he was missing.

strange. math class was the only class he enjoyed. the bell rang at that moment, drowning the words of the teacher. she turned to ask the girl beside her about him. "natalie? where is. . ."

but before she could ask her sister the question, she slipped out of the room, dashing out before the bell finished ringing. strange. usually she would be the last, giggling with her arm around his, both of them looking like the perfect couple.

maybe she was going to search for him. she then remembered how he said he was taking natalie on a date today. her chest panged with pain, and she buried it.

no more space for pain.

no more tears to shed.

tucking her hair behind her ear, she walked across the yard to the school's library. it was a floor above the science lab in a separate block away from the main building, with the parking lot in between them. as she was walking, she could see her sister natalie's familiar brown curls whizzing in the air as she sped away on a motorcycle, her arms around the driver. him.

so that was where he was. planning the perfect date for her sister, and taking her on his motorcycle. he never took her on it, though she wanted. said it was too special.

too occupied with her thoughts, she did not notice that the motorcycle was not the same one he had, and the driver was too muscular to be him.

as she entered the block, she found herself hoping that she wouldn't find another hormonal couple making out under the staircase. it was a big one that lead to the library. under the staircase, there were a few damaged and old benches, where she found, er. . .busy couples.

she almost missed the sniffing sound as she climbed up the stairs. almost. straining her ears, she made sure she wasn't imagining things. what if someone was in trouble? what if that someone needed help? shaking her head free of protesting thoughts, she went back to the bottom of the stairs. peeping around, she steeled herself for the worst.

it wasn't the worst. it was more than that.

she found him there. crying his heart out.

.