Earn came out of the corner, he breathed heavily. He spotted me coming toward him then gave me a relieved smile and waited for me. When he saw Fee next to me, his face suddenly turned dark. He looked like a furious animal who found an enemy and was ready to strike first. An unpleasant silence filled the air.

This doesn’t look good. I know Earn and Fee doesn’t like each other. It’s more like they hate each other but what‘s with this threatened atmosphere?

Earn looked at me then gave Fee a warning look. This situation made me feel uncomfortable. I felt uneasy.

  „Earn“, i called, voice shaking from fear. I hope they didn‘t notice the anxiety hiding in my voice.

  „Where were you? I was worried about you“, he told me angry. „I thought something happened to you.“

Worried my ! I bet, he was deep in thought and didn’t knew that i disappeared out of the cafeteria until he went in the classroom and didn’t find me there. It’s clear, i’m not that important to him anymore so why the need to be mad at him for forgetting me. I’m keeping my distance from him so he can do the same to me too.

  „Your best friend is a bit slow, don’t you think Pete?“, Fee spoke to me.

  „Huh?“, i replied with a question.

  „You disappeared for about one hour and he only noticed it now“, he explained to me.

How did Fee know that i was sleeping here for almost one hour? He told me that he saw me outside as he was passing by but it’s impossible for him to know how many minutes i spent here. I want to know about this however i have a bigger problem to take care of. This problem is Earn.

Fee was right about Earn being oblivious toward me but i wanted to hide this fact to protect me from getting hurt again. Why must he remind me of how slow Earn can be?

My scared expression changed into a sad one. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. It was like i was stabbed with a thousand knives. It’s unberably painful.

  „As you see, i’m okay“, i said to him with an expressionless look on my face. „I only overslept.“

Fee remained in silence. He stared at me for a long time then gave Earn a warning look. He nudged at me. „I can’t wait anymore. I think we should keep moving.“

  „Oh sorry. I forgot about the workbooks“, i responded.

Fee and i walked past Earn. We left him behind. When i passed next to him, i saw that his brown eyes were filled with sadness. He looked confused and hurt. All the sudden i felt weird. I was angry at him for putting Noh above me but now i was mad at myself for hurting him. I don’t want him to be hurt because of me. I can’t bear to watch him being sad. Should i go back to him or keep going forward? What should i do?

The urge to go back to him overcame me. I prepared myself to go back to Earn as Fee packed his pile of workbooks on mine. It was so heavy that i struggled and lost balance. I was about to fall to the ground but controlled myself in the last second. I succeeded to stay upright.

  „Fee!“, i shouted angry.

  „Sorry, sorry. It was too heavy, i couldn’t hold it anymore“, he said, while grining.

  „Fee… I’m“, i wanted to apologize again. 

  „It’s okay“, he cut my apologize. He stretched his arms, „We should keep going before i collapse from fatigue.“  

Why were the books so damn heavy? They were supposed to be lightly but now they were heavy as if they weighed ten kilos.

  „We can go now“, i decided. Thanks to Fee i decided to move forward and leave Earn behind. I have to keep my distance to get over him. 

After Fee finished stretching his arms, he took half of the workbooks. We went trought the door and took the direction to the teacher’s room. Fee opened the door. One female teacher tipped something on her laptop. We greeted her with a bow and loaded the heavy books on the table of the physik teacher then left the room. Fee laid his hand on my shoulder.

  „Thanks for your help“, he said.

  „You’re welcome.“

  „As thank, i’ll give you something nice tomorrow.“

  „No need for that. I’m not a kid anymore to expect a present after helping someone“, i told him smiling.

He stretched his arms and yawned tired. Slowly he touched my back and leaned his arm around my shoulders. I felt awkward. It’s uncomfortable for me to have him so close to me. I don’t see him as a good friend yet he’s touching me like he knew me since a long time.

My body wanted to back away but i didn’t want to be unfriendly so i let him touch me. A few moment later he withdrawed his arm from my shoulders. I think he realized how tense i was due to his touch. My classroom was a few steps ahead of us.

  „See you later“, he bid farewell and headed toward his class.

I entered the classroom. The Students laid their eyes on me. The teacher didn’t look happy about my tardiness. Earn was the first person i laid my eyes upon. Our eyes met. He averted his gaze from me then turned toward the window. It’s broke my heart to see him acting like that but this was what i wanted. I decided to avoid him so i shouldn’t be mad at him that he ignored me too.

  „Earn told me you don’t feel well“, the teacher spoke to me.

I was so fixed on Earn that i didn’t care about giving the homeroom teacher an answer. Just now i told myself not to bother about Earn’s attitude toward me but somehow i can’t control myself. I was boiling with anger and clenched my hands into fists. Anybody could tell from my cold eyes that i was angry at someone. To hide my feelings from my classmates, i stared at the ground. Suddenly my mind went blank. I couldn’t think anymore, felt lost in the middle of a big forest. 

  „…te?“, i heard somebody faintly call.

  „Pete?“, the same voice shouted my name.

As soon as i recognized the voice of my teacher, i immediately woke up out of my daydream. All eyes were on me. It felt weird to be the center of attention.

  „Are you okay? Earn told me you don’t feel well“, the homeroom teacher repeated.

First, i didn’t understand what he meant. I was fine and didn’t have any physical complaints. The only problem i have was my unrequiered love for my best friend that’s torturing me since two months.

I shooted Earn a shy glance and when our eyes met, i could finally understand what the teacher was talking about. Earn found an excuse for my tardiness and lied that i’m not feeling well and would come later. Ealier he was angry at me for talking with Fee but he eventually helped me by finding an excuse for me. He also didn’t forget about his duty as my best friend. It made me happy that he helped me despite my cold baheviour toward him. A little smile formed on my lips.  

  „Yeah, but i’m feeling better now“, i replied the teacher and took seat next to Earn.

He didn’t even bother to look at me. We didn’t talk to each other either. We only sat there silently and watched the teacher writing something at the board.