Requital hope

Forty-two

Yibo's Pov

I got off of the school bus, excited for school. I know that's an odd thing for most people but school is like the only place I'm surrounded by people who like me. It's like a temporary escape from my endless nightmare.

I stopped by the stairs to the school. waiting for Zhan. I didn't see his car in the parking lot so I'm assuming he still has yet to arrive.
After a couple of minutes, he pulled into the parking lot and came from around the corner of the school.

"Hey Zhan." I greeted excitedly.

"What were you doing here on friday after
class?" He asked suddenly, ignoring my greeting.

"What a way to greet someone." I said with satire.

"Answer the question!" He yelled, worrying me. Had something gone wrong, did I do something?

"A-alright." I stuttered, fear clear in my tone. I thought back to Friday realizing that was the day phase two of Operation Zhan took place. I couldn't tell him about that, could I? I mean I'm trying to win him over in secret, it wouldn't make any sense if I just said it out right. I quickly ran over every possible cover-up.

"I was getting some books and left over
schoolwork from my locker." Is that really what I settled for? Now that it was said out loud it doesn't seem as convincing. Zhan's gaze sharpened with his eyes becoming void of light. His dark expression made my heartbeat drop as if time itself had frozen. He just turned away, not speaking another word.

"Uh, Zhan... is something wrong?" I asked.
nervously following behind him.

"Don't talk to me." He commanded in a deep, heavy voice. His words almost stopped me in place, but I kept pressing. I wanted to know what was wrong. Zhan's never acted this way towards me before.

"Zhan..... wait! What's wrong?" I asked, trying to keep up with him. My legs were shaking non-stop, making it a difficult task.

"I need space." He growled, stopping me in my tracks. I couldn't comprehend what was going on. D-did I do something wrong? I was dying for an answer but he wouldn't talk to me, so I left it alone. He walked away, leaving me at the door.

I figured I'd ask Cindy what was going on with Zhan. When I got to my locker she was nowhere to be found. It was a little strange since she either meets me at the entrance of the school, in the halls or in front of my locker but I hadn't seen her once. She wasn't even near her locker.

I went to class feeling uneasy. I couldn't focus on anything anyone was saying. It wasn't until the next class that I snapped out of it, that was when I saw Cindy walk in. I sat there waiting for her to greet me but nothing... she didn't even look my way. I was beginning to feel petrified, something must be going on.

I called out to Cindy after class ended but she kept walking like she couldn't hear me. My words not reaching her made everything feel more like a nightmare.

During lunch period I headed over to the
cafeteria hoping to find everyone there. I'll just stroll in like everything is normal and hopefully, it's just Zhan that is upset with whatever I did. I went up to the line and got an apple, a carton of chocolate milk, two slices of bread, and some vegetables. I waited a moment, readying myself for whatever was about to happen. With every step it felt like the weight of my feet doubled, it got to the point where I almost fled, but I realized I couldn't leave things the way they are. I can't go back to living life like this... alone, I had to at least try.

When I finally reached their table all of their eyes locked sight on me, making me super uneasy. They sat there, watching me silently. It was the same for me, I didn't move, I couldn't at this point. I was too scared to do anything. They weren't wearing the faces of friends, their expressions showed nothing other than disgust and disapproval. It was like I was some stranger who decided to randomly eat lunch with them. A few more seconds of
awkward silence passed before Ji Li broke
it.