“Bye!”
Claire waved her hand as she watched Jess run towards her boyfriend, Greg, who was waiting by his parked car. The sun was already setting since the committee meetings were getting longer and longer as the camp nears, but impressively enough, Greg decided to give Jess a ride home as much as he could. He also offered to drop Claire off every time, but she would always make excuses like running errands or staying behind to finish extra work just so she wouldn’t get in the way of the two.
As Greg pulled out of the parking lot, Claire smiled as Jess continued to wave at her through the open window until the vehicle turned to the highway and disappeared from her line of sight. Stretching her arms and sighing in relief, she started to walk towards the bus stop.
It was late so she was expecting the
“We need more chairs here!” “There’s not enough energy drinks for everybody!” “Can someone dry these towels?!” The long-awaited camp was here. The committee had been in the venue a few hours before the buses arrived to make the final preparations. As soon as the rest of the students arrived, they had done nothing but scurry around to run errands and make sure that all the events go as smoothly as planned— from arrival until dinner time. Claire could catch a glimpse of Ethan every now and then, but even during the breaks, she couldn’t find the time to talk to him. She had something important to say, but despite that, she didn’t want to do it the whim, seeing as she was busy. The atmosphere would be crucial. “Ugh”, Patrici
Ethan clutched the straps of his backpack as he panted, trying to steady his breath. They were in the middle of a two-hour hike to the top of the hill, and his head was pounding with a severe hangover. He knew that it was a bad idea to give in to Luke’s offer to ‘have fun’ last night. He promised himself to get it over with a couple of shots, but his plan had obviously failed. It was especially warm that day. The sun shone brightly through the trees and the birds chirped as the students chattered excitedly about the apparently breathtaking view at the end of the hike. But the brightness and the happy noises only made Ethan’s headache worse by the second. “Ugh”, he groaned in complaint. Greg, who was walking alongside him, chuckled and threw an arm over his shoulder. The latter was a little bit shorter than he was, and the act made him stumble.
Jess groaned in frustration as she slumped into her chair. Her laptop sat on her desk in front of her, the screen showing an empty document page. For the past half hour, she had been trying to finish writing her application letter for university admission, but to no avail. Claire looked up from reading her book and chuckled. “Still nothing, huh?” “Yeah”, she nodded as she kicked to turn her swivel chair around. “Tell me how’d you do it” “Just tell them why you want to enroll in their university, that’s all”, Claire replied, setting down her book. She was sitting on Jess’s bed while her friend agonized over an unfinished letter. “You can also look up templates on the internet if you’re really having trouble” “I already did! But still nothing…”
“You got this part wrong, Greg”, Claire stated as she pointed at his notebook with the tip of her pencil. Then she leaned in a little bit closer to encircle the incorrect part. “Try to figure out what went wrong here”Greg groaned in complaint but he erased his answers anyway before starting to redo everything from the beginning. “This is so annoying. I’ve been answering the same problem for the past fifteen minutes”“That’s because you’ve been sneaking peeks at the basketball practice outside the window for the past fifteen minutes as well”, Jess retorted. Her boyfriend childishly stuck out his tongue at her in reply.Claire shook her head at them but a small smile was playing on her lips anyway. Greg was indeed the perfect match for Jess’s per
For the rest of the week, Claire didn’t really have enough energy to worry about Ethan. She was swamped with her responsibilities at school and her college applications. She was also pressured more than usual to do well during the exams while still helping Jess and Greg study after their classes, but this time, in preparation for their university entrance exams.She was so busy that once she got home, she would barely have enough time to do her homework before knocking out on her bed.“Claire! Don’t forget to eat dinner, okay?!” she heard her mother yell from the living room. “Or call Jess over if you want!”Claire looked up from jotting down notes on the margins of her textbook. “Yes, mom!”As usual, her mother was going o
“Class dismissed”A split second after the announcement, the once quiet room was now filled with noises of chair legs scratching against the wooden floor, shuffling of papers and books, and the happy chatters of students who were probably making plans as the long-awaited weekend wasfinally here. The school bell rang a few seconds later and Claire stood up before stacking her notebooks and books. A few classmates bothered to wave goodbye in her direction and she responded with a small hesitant smile.It was the first weekend of the school year and most students were suffering from severe summer vacation hangover. The weather was great, too— just enough sun so that it’s warm and the breeze was not as dry as the usual. So it was pretty much the perfect time to make plans, catch up and just enjoy the short calm before the storm. Claire had
“And make sure to return the book by Thursday next week”“Thank you”The girl smiled so Claire instinctively returned the gesture with a polite one. She was working behind the public library’s check-out counter for her shift today. Usually, she was the one who relentlessly puts away books or stacks them up for double-checking its borrower’s cards, which were too exhausting for her, so she liked working behind the counter more.“Claire”She turned around in her swivel chair and raised her eyebrows in question. “Hmm?”It was Katie, one of the public library’s part-timers, whom she happens to have the exact shift schedule with. They grew closer over the past few months, but not close enough to actually hang out outside work.
Claire felt lucky that in all her classes, she managed to secure a seat beside the window. It was also a good thing that even though seating arrangements were never official, everybody just had the initiative to always sit in the same spot they sat on during the first day of school.She looked out the window and inhaled, breathing in the smell of the late summer breeze accompanied by the faint aroma of baked bread and coffee from the café across the street. From this distance, one would think that being able to smell the pastries they serve would be unlikely but because she was a regular customer, her nose could pick up the familiar scent from miles away.Claire wanted to freeze time and just take a break like this, but no, she could never. Even though she was living in a small town, she was living a fast-paced life.“Anyway”, Mrs. Myers’s vo
For the rest of the week, Claire didn’t really have enough energy to worry about Ethan. She was swamped with her responsibilities at school and her college applications. She was also pressured more than usual to do well during the exams while still helping Jess and Greg study after their classes, but this time, in preparation for their university entrance exams.She was so busy that once she got home, she would barely have enough time to do her homework before knocking out on her bed.“Claire! Don’t forget to eat dinner, okay?!” she heard her mother yell from the living room. “Or call Jess over if you want!”Claire looked up from jotting down notes on the margins of her textbook. “Yes, mom!”As usual, her mother was going o
“You got this part wrong, Greg”, Claire stated as she pointed at his notebook with the tip of her pencil. Then she leaned in a little bit closer to encircle the incorrect part. “Try to figure out what went wrong here”Greg groaned in complaint but he erased his answers anyway before starting to redo everything from the beginning. “This is so annoying. I’ve been answering the same problem for the past fifteen minutes”“That’s because you’ve been sneaking peeks at the basketball practice outside the window for the past fifteen minutes as well”, Jess retorted. Her boyfriend childishly stuck out his tongue at her in reply.Claire shook her head at them but a small smile was playing on her lips anyway. Greg was indeed the perfect match for Jess’s per
Jess groaned in frustration as she slumped into her chair. Her laptop sat on her desk in front of her, the screen showing an empty document page. For the past half hour, she had been trying to finish writing her application letter for university admission, but to no avail. Claire looked up from reading her book and chuckled. “Still nothing, huh?” “Yeah”, she nodded as she kicked to turn her swivel chair around. “Tell me how’d you do it” “Just tell them why you want to enroll in their university, that’s all”, Claire replied, setting down her book. She was sitting on Jess’s bed while her friend agonized over an unfinished letter. “You can also look up templates on the internet if you’re really having trouble” “I already did! But still nothing…”
Ethan clutched the straps of his backpack as he panted, trying to steady his breath. They were in the middle of a two-hour hike to the top of the hill, and his head was pounding with a severe hangover. He knew that it was a bad idea to give in to Luke’s offer to ‘have fun’ last night. He promised himself to get it over with a couple of shots, but his plan had obviously failed. It was especially warm that day. The sun shone brightly through the trees and the birds chirped as the students chattered excitedly about the apparently breathtaking view at the end of the hike. But the brightness and the happy noises only made Ethan’s headache worse by the second. “Ugh”, he groaned in complaint. Greg, who was walking alongside him, chuckled and threw an arm over his shoulder. The latter was a little bit shorter than he was, and the act made him stumble.
“We need more chairs here!” “There’s not enough energy drinks for everybody!” “Can someone dry these towels?!” The long-awaited camp was here. The committee had been in the venue a few hours before the buses arrived to make the final preparations. As soon as the rest of the students arrived, they had done nothing but scurry around to run errands and make sure that all the events go as smoothly as planned— from arrival until dinner time. Claire could catch a glimpse of Ethan every now and then, but even during the breaks, she couldn’t find the time to talk to him. She had something important to say, but despite that, she didn’t want to do it the whim, seeing as she was busy. The atmosphere would be crucial. “Ugh”, Patrici
“Bye!”Claire waved her hand as she watched Jess run towards her boyfriend, Greg, who was waiting by his parked car. The sun was already setting since the committee meetings were getting longer and longer as the camp nears, but impressively enough, Greg decided to give Jess a ride home as much as he could. He also offered to drop Claire off every time, but she would always make excuses like running errands or staying behind to finish extra work just so she wouldn’t get in the way of the two.As Greg pulled out of the parking lot, Claire smiled as Jess continued to wave at her through the open window until the vehicle turned to the highway and disappeared from her line of sight. Stretching her arms and sighing in relief, she started to walk towards the bus stop.It was late so she was expecting the
“I think we can wrap it up here”Claire sighed in relief before dropping her pen and stretching out her arms. The camp was finally coming up, and the committee has been working harder than ever to finalize everything. It was fortunate that they never had to revise their draft plan outlines since even the principal himself was being lenient— as long as they stick to the allocated budget, that is.“Justin”, Patricia called out, and the boy perked up almost immediately in response. “Make a follow-up call on the t-shirts, don’t forget”Justin nodded. “Will do”She looked at her notebook. Her meeting notes were usually organized and neat, but because of the incident at the library last weekend, she couldn’t seem to focus at all. Her mind automatically drifted to the memory of kissing Ethan which was then immediately followed by a strong feeling of guilt.For the past couple of days, she h
Claire pushed the cart down the aisle as her eyes quickly scanned the signs attached on top of each shelf. She mumbled ‘history’ over and over under her breath as if the enchantment would help her get to the history aisle faster. After arriving at the row of shelves containing history books, she parked the cart at the side.“Ugh”, she groaned as she carried the stack of books. Every shift at the library was a workout for her since it meant she had to reshelve heavy books.Books were supposed to be arranged in an ascending order based on the numbers taped on their spines for easy location. And despite the weight of the stack that she had to arrange, she held it with an arm while her other hand was busy placing the books back onto the shelves.The last book in the heap had to be placed on the top shelf. So, of course, being the petite girl that she was, she had to use one of the footstools that were normally scattered within the area. She t
Claire clutched her textbooks against her chest as she stepped out to the school corridor. The bell rang a couple of minutes ago, signaling the end of the morning classes and she was supposed to have lunch that day with the committee as the trip was right around the corner. She cursed under her breath as she struggled to push her way through the hallway. The conference room was on the opposite hall where the cafeteria was, thus, she was literally going against a wave of bodies. As she concentrated on getting herself past the crowded corridor, a student suddenly bumped into her and she gasped in surprise as her textbooks flew to the floor. “Sorry!” Claire craned her neck to see the culprit running away while waving a hand over his shoulder. His attitude annoyed her but instead of calling him out, she sighed and bent down to pick up her stuff. She tried to pick up everything as fast as she could as she was in the middle of the hallway but unfortunately, she was