Bubble Gum Kisses

**Kapittel 39** ***Vanessa***

**"Why would you do that?** Aren't you afraid to be called a wuss?" I asked, taunting him. I know he hated that word. That was what an opponent who he lost to called him back then when he hesitated to kick the goal or to pass it. He never once forgot about it.

My little ploy was effective since I saw his gaze harden for a second. But it turned playful again in less than a second, "You were the one who punched me out of nowhere. Consider the little ill fame a payback," he retorted, a voice so mocking that it sounded like he was scoffing while making fun of me.

"If you haven't been an ass and mentioned dad, I wouldn't have launched a fist at you!" I couldn't help myself but snap at him.

"What's wrong with talking about your dad now?" he asked sheepishly, "I just wanted to have lunch with my favorite, is that wrong?" His favorite? His favorite?!

"You..." I seethed through clenched teeth. Why was he so nonchalant about this, especially about dad? Did he want to torment me this much? "Don't you ever dare talk about dad and our past like the things that happened before never happened! Weren't you the one who said you never want to see my face agai..."

"May I remind you students that you are on school grounds, and according to the student handbook, violence is not tolerated inside the campus..." an austere voice suddenly warned that cutting me off mid-sentence, pausing me from raising my voice as well.

"Ms. Caswell, good afternoon," Friso was quick to cover his devilish facade with an angelic mask.

"....Just like what you have both done earlier," she continued, "Now, I don't know what you two have to unpack but let us not raise our voices, please." I felt her hand press down my shoulder. "This is Trinity Knight, don't forget to carry yourselves with dignity and temperance. So please... hold your voice in moderation," she stated while looking at me sternly like a judge holding someone in contempt.

It was like a bucket of cold water on ice fell above my head. A wave of unidentified force slapped me across the face, making me realize what I was facing. I was powerless. Just seeing the way her eyes looked at me with a dead-set gaze made me feel much so. I wanted to defend myself, but I couldn't find myself opening my mouth. Through my peripheral vision, I saw Friso looking at me with smiling eyes.

"I'll take note of that, miss," I answered, dropping my head down slightly. My temper slipped down the drain.

"Now, let's proceed to my office and discuss some matters, shall we?" she offered, pointing a hand towards the wooden door with a glass lite just in front of me and strutting towards it, the clicking sound of her heels softly drumming against the neat, polished floor.

I unconsciously raised a brow, figuring it was the door to her office as I followed behind her. Looking at how intricate and simplistic the door was, I had the impression that her office was probably a boring brown claustrophobic room possessing a suffocating atmosphere along with the scent of coffee blazing in the air.

But oh boy, I was totally wrong. The moment Ms. Caswell gripped the doorknob and pushed it open, the earthy scent of green tea wafted into my nose. My eyes averted to the front and realized that her office was an Eau de Nil delight bathing in the sunlight. Almost everything had the shade of pale green and woody brown, and there wasn't a spot that didn't have a potted greenery. It was completely different from what I imagined.

"Have a seat, both of you," she said and hurriedly ran to the chair behind the table. We both followed simultaneously, respectively sitting on the chairs facing each other.

I glanced at Ms. Caswell's table and saw that there was a candy box filled with a number of snacks, all falling in the hue of green and with flavors of either matcha or pistachio. My gaze brush forward and saw her hands were entwined. Her soft- gel nails were colored green too. What was missing was her outfit being brown and green all over. "All right..." she trailed off and released a deep breath. My toes curled.

I glanced at her and saw her shoulders rise and slump. "Seeing this afternoon's... unfortunate affair..." she paused to give at me with a stern gaze first, then to Friso who was wearing the same smirk as earlier. "... Your actions will always have consequences. Good actions will have good consequences. But reckless actions will have reckless consequences..."

Ms. Caswell spoke gracefully yet slowly like she was some speaker on a graduation speech. But instead of feeling inspired or motivated, I was growing nervous at every word that left her mouth.

I couldn't help it. It was my first time going against the school rules and getting sanctioned! This would get into my record, and that'd blow my chances of getting into a good college and scholarship!

"You two have been caught on video that has been circulating online for a while. It has been deleted repeatedly since then. However, many eyes have already seen it and that can equate to the ruination of the Trinity Knight's reputation. With this, I am obliged to send the both of you to compensate for your reckless actions, and that is community service." She finally dropped the bomb. My shoulders felt heavy. It was just community service like cleaning a part of the school and whatnot. But it still meant I did a major offense.

"Ms. Hatherne," she suddenly called stunned me, but I was quick to respond.

"Yes, Ms. Caswell?"

She leaned close. "I heard from your former guidance counselor, Mr. Higgins, that you're a straight-A student in your previous school. Your teachers even commended that you're smart enough to be qualified in schools like Princeton... he even asked me to let you off this one time. Especially that you're going through things," she trailed off, her eyes stuck on me "That is why as a favor, I will be lenient for this circumstance, and will not be documenting the misdemeanor in your record."

I couldn't help myself but thank her. I thought she was uptight, I'm glad she was lenient. I should take note of thanking Mr. Higgins next time. "But still, you need to do some community service to reflect on what you have done." "I understand." I nodded. It was fine, as long as I don't have a mark on the record.

"Good. As expected from a student like you." She grinned, then turned to the guy facing me. "Friso, in trouble again, I see. But with a female student this time," she stated with a sigh while pulling out a paper on a clipboard and began scribbling on it with the pen stuck in her front pocket.

"Now, come with me." She got on her feet and opened the door, leaving it open for us.

I looked at Friso and found him looking back at me. I immediately looked away. Why did I look at him? I shuffled off my seat and followed behind Ms. Caswell, while Friso followed behind me.

My steps were minute and almost silent compared to his which were heavy and profoundly wide. I bit my lower lip as the bothersome feeling arose in my chest when a realization hit me. How could Friso be nonchalant about getting a record with the guidance counselor? He was a star student, he would have hated having even a single report in the office too. Not to mention... Ms. Caswell also mentioned him being in trouble again.

So he had been in trouble once? Hang on, it might not have been once. He may have done things twice or thrice too. I shook my head and brushed the useless thoughts off my head. I shouldn't worry about him. I may have felt guilty before and during our first reunion but it was no use to feel the same way right now, especially with how he was treating me and the way those gray eyes of his were looking at me right now!

Silently, I assuaged the growing self-consciousness in my chest as we all walked to an isolated part of the hallway where there was an elevator. I heard that they were only accessible for the faculty with a certain card to swipe on it, which was it could be hardly seen by anyone getting towards it. From behind, I saw Ms. Caswell lift her ID and swiped it over the access control.

Almost immediately, the doors slid open and we headed inside with both Friso and me behind Ms. Caswell. My surroundings began to reverberate and the elevator began to descend. I stared at my blurry reflection, and there, I caught him staring behind me.

My breathing hitched. I was already used to him looking at me. He had always watched me with a gaze so mocking and playful that I felt belittled. He also glared at me which would make my chest ache. But now... I couldn't read what emotions he was holding with the gaze he was giving to me this time.

But one thing was for sure, it was making me uncomfortable. That scrutiny from those tempestuous orbs felt like invisible hands that were choking my neck.

I remained glued on my spot. The elevator was cold, and it was making my hands more gelid than they should be. The silence cast upon this small space was so deathly that even the slightest screech from a shoe would like sound released from a hundred-ten decibel speaker.

Continuing to stare at my blurry reflection, I felt small and inferior with his significantly larger figure looming over mine. As far as I could remember Friso reached 6 feet at the peak of 8th grade. I stopped growing at that time too. I only managed to reach his shoulders.

Heck, now I remember that time when we used to each other about our height since I was growing taller than him before. I boasted that I'd be taller than him when we become adults, only to be proven wrong in 8th grade, that is. He was still looking at me with that ambiguous gaze and I wanted to bark at him to make him look away but I didn't want the woman in front of us to have a bad impression of me. All I could do was just to stand still and wait. Oh God, this was getting awfully long. When are getting to our destination?

Like an answered prayer, the elevator rang and it stopped moving. The door slowly opened and from that verdure-like office that smelled like green tea, I was immediately aghast to get in face-to-face with an actual verdure. "Vanessa and Friso, you two will be weeding and watering the entire garden."

**

Thank you for reading Bubble Gum Kisses! To keep up with my work, future works, and endless frustrations on Twitter: https://twitter.org/RiosMorpheus**