CHAPTER 35

                                    

                                          
All I can hear is the deafening sound that echoes in my ear while I watch Mark approaching us and trying to stop his girlfriend. When the sound stops, everything is silent, I just see the couple arguing. I can't hear anything, but I'm sure that Mark is questioning her behavior while she's expressing her anger.
                          
"Whenever we're alone, you always talk about her", I hear the young girl complain as I regain my listening ability. 
                          
"I don't just talk about her", Mark says in his defense, "I also talk about Haechan". 
                          
"Yeah but that's different", She argues.
                          
"How's that different? They are both my friends and I talk about both of them." 
                          
"He's a boy, Mark!", She explains, "He'll never try to come between us". 
                          
"How many times do I have to tell you that Swan is just a friend too." The Canadian passes his fingers through his hair in vexation.
                          
While the two of them continue to fight, I stay in front of them, quiet, completely oblivious of why all of this is happening.
                          
I see Lucas rushing to stop the couple from shouting at each other. 
                          
"What is going on here?", The taller furiously queries Mark, wondering what the younger did again to upset his sister. 
                          
"Why don't you ask her?", The other boy replies in a frustrated voice back. 
                          
Lucas looks at his sister with questioning eyes, but the girl doesn't say anything, she just stares back at him with tearful and angry eyes. 
                          
"She has lost her fucking mind because of jealousy", Mark speaks instead, knowing that Minah won't tell her brother why she slapped me for no reason. "She slapped Swan because I didn't want to sleep with her", Mark blurts out without even thinking about what he's saying in front of almost the whole school. He seems so done with Minah's attitude that he doesn't care anymore about the fact that he might have humiliated her right now.
                          
"What the hell is he talking about?", Lucas grabs the girl's arm as he questions her in a very low but angry voice. 
                          
The girl doesn't answer and her silence infuriates him. 
                          
"I'M ASKING YOU SOMETHING", He yells at her which makes me, Minah and a few other students jump.
                          
"H-he's cheating on me with her", She bursts into tears while looking at her brother. 
                          
"Do you have any proof?", He asks her, not understanding why she still thinks that there's something between Mark and me. 
                          
"How much proof do you guys need?!" She exclaims with exasperation. "I saw her with my two eyes cheating on you with Taeyong." My eyes widen at the new information. I didn't know that Minah saw me that night. I wonder why didn't she say anything to me, to Lucas or Mark. "I knew you guys wouldn't have believed me because you both think that she's some kind of an angel, so, I took their picture." In rage, Minah reveals the whole truth about that picture of me and Taeyong and just like that, the mystery is solved.
                          
"Did you send that pic to everyone?", Lucas queries, raising an eyebrow. 
                          
"I-I didn't want to hurt you", Her voice trembles once she realizes what type of details has come out of her mouth. 
                          
"Did you send it to everyone or not?!", He shouts at her again, losing his cool. 
                          
"Y-yes, but I didn't want to do it like that. It's just that Mark was acting so strange with me after that night that I had no choice." She finally admits her doing.
                          
"Do you ever think about anyone else? How can you be so selfish, Wong Minah?" Her tears roll down her cheeks as she listens to her brother's questions. 
                          
"I'm sorry", She apologizes to the taller, but he just shakes his head at her as he sighs. Lucas loves his sister a lot, but this time, he can't forgive her easily. She has disappointed him. 
                          
While all the conversation is going on, I'm still standing in the middle of everything. I don't even want to argue with Minah. I just want to disappear from here. So, I just turn around and push through the crowd to leave. I can hear Mark calling me from behind, but I don't turn around. I don't want to see everyone's eyes fixed at me. It gives me anxiety. 
                          
"Swan, are you okay?", Haechan asks, but I ignore him too. 
                          
All I can see is the exit door and I continue to walk towards it, avoiding everything else. 
                          
I walk in the empty dark street while trying to call my mom so she can come and pick me up. 
                          
"Hello?", After ten tries, my mother finally answers her phone. 
                          
"M-mom", I try to speak normally, but I can't help it as my voice cracks. 
                          
"Are you alright?", She queries in a worried tone. 
                          
"Can you come and pick me up?", I ask, without replying to her question as I couldn't say 'no" or lie and say 'yes".
                          
I guess she understands by the sound of my voice that I'm not alright. So, without any more questions, she asks me to send her an address. I enter the nearest coffee shop and wait for my mom. 
                          
During the ride way back home, my mother doesn't say anything, knowing that I'm not ready to tell her what happened. She verifies from time to time if I'm alright as she drives. Even if right now more than anything, all I want to do is to cry, to empty my heart, I control myself in front of her. I just stare out of the window to avoid my tears from falling. I tell myself that once I arrive home, I'll let my heart explode when I'm all alone in my room. 
                          
As we get inside the house, I run to my room. Hours pass, but nothing happens. My eyes refuse to shed tears while my heart can't hold this heavy feeling anymore. I don't know if I'm hurt or angry at what happened. All I feel is emptiness.
                          
I can hear my phone buzzing on my bedside table, but I don't bother to see who's calling or texting me. 
                          
I toss and turn on my bed, trying to find the perfect position that can make me fall asleep. I guess tonight I won't be able to sleep alone, I need my mother's embrace to comfort me. So, I get up from my bed and go to her room. 
                          
I crawl into bed beside her, feeling her warmth. She hugs me the same way she used to do when I was a little kid.