It was the day after the party.
I was sitting on my chair, trying to focus on my work. My books were open in front of me, but my mind wasn't really there. Everything still felt a little weird after last night.
Suddenly, Mariah walked in.
Thank God. She came today.
I honestly thought she wouldn't show up. I expected her to be absent, especially after everything that had happened. She usually comes early, earlier than most of us. But today... she was late.
As soon as she sat down beside me, I looked at her and said, "You're later than usual."
She looked a little sleepy and mumbled, "I woke up late and also missed my bus."
I tilted my head and asked, "Did you sleep late?"
She quickly replied, "No."
But I knew she was lying.
There was something in her voice, something in her eyes. The way she avoided looking at me. I could tell. She hadn't slept early, and she was definitely hiding something.
Before I could say anything else, the teacher walked into the classroom.
She didn't waste any time and immediately started with the lesson. Then she gave us a lot of homework. Like, way too much. Especially in maths. Ugh.
I absolutely hate maths.
And today, I couldn't even concentrate properly during class. My mind was somewhere else. I kept thinking about the text. That one text that had made my brain go all foggy since last night.
And then there was Mariah—she was acting different today.
I watched her for a while and finally asked, "Are you okay?"
She looked at me and said, "Yeah."
That's it. Just 'yeah'. No explanation, no smile, nothing.
Soon, the recess bell rang. Everyone started moving around, chatting and eating. I walked outside with Mariah, and then we saw Sarah.
She came walking toward us confidently and said "Hi," as if everything was normal.
She stood there smiling, acting like the party had never happened. Like nothing weird had gone down last night. She talked about studies, asked us what classes we had next, and pretended as if nothing had changed.
Mariah was actually talking to her. She responded to her questions, smiled with her, even laughed a little.
I couldn't take it anymore, so I said, "I'm going to the classroom."
I left them and walked back to my seat, still thinking about how strange everything felt.
As I sat down on my chair, my eyes landed on Mariah's phone. She'd left it right there on the desk. I didn't really mean to snoop, but I glanced at the screen.
And that's when I saw it.
A message.
It was from Peter.
The message read:"Don't tell Jenny that I like her yet, I'll tell her myself."
I froze.
My eyes widened.
My mouth literally dropped open and stayed that way for a whole minute.
I couldn't believe what I was reading. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode.
I quietly placed Mariah's phone back exactly where I found it. I didn't want her to know I saw it.
A few seconds later, Mariah walked into the classroom.
I couldn't look at her the same way anymore.
I was staring at her... completely stunned.
Too stunned to speak.
I sat back down on my chair silently, still in shock.
Mariah looked at me and asked, "Are you okay?"
I didn't answer.
Because how could I?
So... Peter liked me.
Mariah knew.
And I was the last one to find out.
Of course.