Summary: Another chapter from Naomi's point of view.

Dinner was quiet after he had left. We silently sat, eating our meals. The empty chair meant for our guest remained unattended, and I stared at it between bites. Part of me knew Anon had left, the other half was waiting for the door to open and he would come back, a smile on his face, ready to face my parents.
From the corner of my eye, I observed Mia, every time she inhaled before speaking my heart would sink. This is it, she was going to tell them everything. Mia was going to tell them that me and Naser broke up, that I was romantically interested in the human, that I lied about him just being a friend. My side eye glances slowly turned into a scowl. I had no plan, and yet somehow she still figured out how to throw a wrench in them.
Mia and I were similar in that regard, while I tried to plot success, she used her ample mental ability to cause instability and drama. That was just how she was, ever since we were children.

Of course I was worried, worried about Mia, my parents and now Anon. Half an hour had passed and my heart began to reach new depths. He wasn’t coming back. What if this was what ended our relationship, and it was entirely my fault? My stomach seized as the crushing weight of the reality of what I had done set in.

“Some phone call, huh?” My dad mumbled between bouts of digging into his plate.

“He… He texted me, he had some emergency…” I hated lying, especially to my parents, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. I had been checking my phone every five minutes awaiting an explanation. Maybe that was expecting too much.

“Hope it’s nothing too bad.” Mom spoke, wiping her face before inspecting her clothes for any remnants of food. “There’s dessert in the freezer if you guys are still hungry.” She stood, carrying her plate and escorting it to the sink.
I followed, my half eaten vegetarian meal looked much more deflated and depressed than before. “I’m not feeling that good, I’m going to call it a night.” I stammered, I don’t know what caused it, but the emotions that were all too familiar began to reappear with ferocity. To an almost annoying degree, holding back tears as I rinsed my plate, speed walking to my room.
I sat on my bed, placing my glasses on my vanity in their designated spot. I was ashamed, I fell for Mia’s stupid conniving scheme again. The tears I held back began to flood my sight. I wished I felt only the heart ache, but instead I felt this great warmth building within my chest. Mia. I held my head, leaning forward onto my legs that hung from my bed, a pseudo-fetal position.
My jaw clenched, hands gripping my scalp. I had never been this angry, distraught. I lost him, didn’t I? Because my bitch of a sister decided to fuck with me! I bit my lip to stop them from quivering. I can’t have anything! She needs to stick her snout in my life and- and!
I rolled to my side, burying my face into the pillow that adorned my perfectly made bed, sobbing as I failed to contain this primal feeling of previously unknown rage. The pillow cushioned and muffled my soft screams of obscenity and desperate cries. I am an idiot for thinking this would work, that I could “wing” this.

Despite the therapy session with my pillow, I didn’t feel any better, only embarrassed. I sat upright, hanging my feet off the bed again as I looked around my room again. The sunlight assaulted my curtains, I wanted to just sleep but I wasn’t tired physically, only emotionally. The mirror on the vanity caught my reflection. I didn’t see myself, but a disheveled parasaur. Who would want that person to be class president?
My hair was frayed, my eyes red with popped capillaries, my lips trembling. The rage had died down, but I was still… Broken. I pulled out my phone, opening Anon’s contact. I began typing, writing a formal apology-, It’s Anon. He doesn’t want a formal apology. Maybe something casual? My fingers traced the letters as they appeared on the screen, but I couldn’t hit send. My worst fear was him seeing my typing and not sending a message, not following through.
I couldn’t bring myself to even apologize, I didn’t know why. Nothing I could have said would fix this anyways. I hated this, everything about it. I just wanted something to cling on to, but whatever it was, seemed to be ripped away from me no matter how hard I tried. No matter What I tried. I plugged in my phone as I lie down, waiting for the hours to pass and hopefully sleep the pain away.

Maybe I slept, I wasn’t sure. Time had passed, since the sunlight had vanished. I was pulled from my almost comfortable stupor of laying on my blankets by a soft knocking at my door.

“Naomi? Are you good, champ?” Mia’s muffled voice emanated from my closed door. It wasn’t locked, it never was. An old rule my mom had for us growing up, which obviously didn’t apply anymore, but out of habit I kept it unlocked.

“What do you want?” I mumbled, covering my eyes.

The door slowly opened, Mia crept inside as she closed it behind her.
“Are you okay? Sorry your boyfriend left.”

“F-… Fuck you.” I could tell by her silence that she was just as surprised as me, I’m the innocent child that never swears, but that anger never left. If anything, it was reignited as soon as I was reminded that she existed.

“Naomi, I doubt he’s like… That offended by being called a friend, y’know?”

 

“No- No! ‘YOU’ Don’t know!” I wiped my nose as I stood to face her. “You don’t know how much it hurts! I wanted to be there for him, and him for me- And- And you just had to play your silly little game with me! I don’t know if he’ll- If he-...” My eloquent speech was cut short as I began to choke on my tears. I hid my face with my hands again, but I felt her hands on my shoulders as she pushed me back down to my bed.

“Shit, pal... I, uh, I didn’t know he meant that much to you. I just…”

“You didn’t know! You didn’t care! You didn’t care when Naser broke up with me, and you don’t care now!” I wanted to say I hated her, but I couldn’t bring myself to.

She rocked my shoulders back and forth until she rested an arm around me.
“Don’t say that, Naomi. Of course I care. I just… Show it diff-”

“You don’t show it at all, and don’t you Dare pretend that y- you do!”

“Naomi…”

 

The silence was crushing, neither of us had anything to say.

“He hurts too, Naomi. This is… just a hurdle, y’know?”

My fists clenched tighter with each word.
“I don’t need hurdles! I- I just… I want to be with him, and you- You’re…”

 

“Listen, I’ll help. Okay? He’s stubborn, isn’t he?”

I parted my hair as I nodded, smiling weakly. “He’s… he can be an ass sometimes… In- in a stubborn way… He’s… hardheaded, cocky… He just wings it… I don’t know how… Even when he’s clueless, he’s so sure of himself…”

“Text him, tomorrow. Give him some time. You know what locker he uses, right? I don’t know, maybe cheesy high-school romance, write him letters? Explain what happened. Say uh… It was your bitch-of-a-sister’s fault.”

 

The resentment I harbored began to dissipate, until I started to giggle, then laugh.
“I’m Not writing that!”

 

“What, Bitch?” Mia smiled mischievously.
We both laughed as we formulated more asinine things to write, from blaming the Rhinochilds to pinning it on aliens. Despite the heartache, I was able to eventually sleep.

I awoke to my familiar, clean room. It was a new day, and despite my tiredness, I was already thinking about Anon. I opened the drawer to my vanity, old envelopes I hoarded when I was in the girl-scouts and one of the badges was for writing to local politicians. Mom bought too many and I kept the rest.
I tore a page from my journal, readying my mechanical pencil.

Anon, I’m sorry
I’m sorry I didn’t have confidence
You’re more than a friend. You mean so much to me.
I don’t blame you if you hate me. I still want this with you.

-Naomi

That should do, right? I placed it neatly into my well-organized backpack. I dressed myself in my un-issued school uniform, preparing for the day. I held my phone in my hand, nothing from him, and nothing from me. I still lacked the ability to even tell him I was sorry.
After I was properly ready, I climbed into the car. The sun rose up over the ocean, and colored the neighborhood a bright orange. I had seen this view hundreds, if not thousands of times before and its natural beauty didn’t phase me as much as it did before.
Eventually my short drive came to an end and I parked my car in the student parking section. The school grounds were quiet and still. I always arrived early to show up for my class-presidential duties, despite Principal Spears’ insisting I didn’t need to.

I made my way through the empty school, my footsteps echoing down barren hallways. The light to the principal’s office was off, which meant he wasn’t here yet, and the door locked. Maybe I got here too early, just trying to distract myself from the anxiety of what I was going to do.
Actually, now was the perfect time…

I snuck through the hallways, no one would see me if I were to slip that letter into Anon’s locker now. I already knew where it was, having abused my ‘presidential’ powers in the past. Approaching the numbered, yet identical locker, I slipped off my backpack, plucking the note from the organized contents.
The plain white envelope sat between my fingers. They were too plain, pulling a pencil out from my bag I hastily scribbled ‘To: Anon - From: Naomi’. Perfect. The envelope hissed silently as it passed through the thin metal door, softly landing on the bottom of the container. My neck craned left, right, still alone.
The telltale sound of keys jingling, Principal Spears. Time to start the day.

Almost skipping through the hallways, I felt better. Anon would see it and know. But… Maybe I didn’t write it well enough? Maybe I didn’t convey my thoughts and emotions well enough for him to care… I should have said that it was all my sister’s fault (With Her Blessing). Or that he wasn’t just a friend… My steps slowed as I pondered. Do I write another letter? As I began to formulate another letter, the metal shuttering of the school's main doors opening echoed through the halls, I’ll have to do it later.

The classes towards the end of the year started to blur, despite my best efforts to retain the educational lessons. And I hated to say it, but I did rather dread the graduation rehearsals, even if I was the one giving the graduation speech.
When lunch period came, I hastily wrote my next preplanned note. The class was quickly emptying the room as I scrounged for the extra envelopes, scratch paper.

‘Anon, I felt one letter wasn’t enough to describe my feelings’

No, no, Far too professional. I scribbled out the message, and flipped the page over. The teacher huffed as he stared at me, waiting for my exit. I chuckled awkwardly, apologizing under my breath as I picked up my belongings and entered the stream of students into the hallway.
Instead of a desk, I’ll simply use Anon’s locker as a flat surface.

‘Anon, I forgot to’

I scribble it out, moving down a line.

‘I’m sorry-’

…

‘My sister was playing her stupid games-’

I looked back and forth cautiously, my eyes itching as they grew wet. Why was this so hard? It’s not like I abused Anon’s trust, put him in a position he didn’t want to be in, to the point of him leaving without a word… Putting myself and him in a romantically precarious position if he hasn’t decided to end it entirely.
It must have been a raindrop, the small blotch of wet paper slowly spreading. I wiped my eyes, unable to think of any words that I could possibly excuse my behavior. I neatly slipped the letter into the envelope, licking it shut, and writing the To and From, before sliding it into the locker once again.