Asper

The school corridors were overflowing with noise, loud laughter, and conversations that trickled off the walls like dirty water. Everywhere I went, eyes turned upwards. Some smiled. Others whispered my name as if it were more important than it actually was.

I kept moving forward.

And in the midst of that crowd that adored me, there was you.

Always this emptiness around you. Two meters of silence that no one dared cross. As if the other students were afraid of catching your loneliness just by brushing against you. No one sat near you. No one remembered your name long enough to pronounce it correctly.

Except for me.

They didn't understand why I was with you.

The “perfect” girl with the one we barely looked at.

At first, it amused them. Then it bothered them. Now, they just avoid the subject.

But today, your chair was empty.

And it gave me the impression that the whole school sounded fake.

I left class without asking permission. The heels of my shoes clicked against the tiles as the teacher called my name from behind me, but I didn't care. I already had my phone clutched in my hand.

The girls' toilets were deserted.

I locked myself in a cubicle before sitting on the closed edge of the toilet. My fingers were trembling slightly as I started our conversation.

I haven't heard from you since this morning.

Just :

“I think I have a fever.”

And then nothing.