The students stared at themselves with anxious and annoyed expressions but no one dared to make a comment. The way Pete's intervention had been received had dishearten everyone and no one dared to make the slightest noise. After a few minutes, they settled in small groups all around the room and some left to go to the first or second floor. A lot of girls were silently crying and hugging. As for the boys, they tried to put on a brave face out of pride. Most of the people who had stayed in the cafeteria were still astonished by the news. Some of them closed their eyes to try to sleep and a few went to the restroom. Mark sat down on the cold hard tiles with Scott and two other friends. He wasn't paying attention to what was going on in the cafeteria. Instead, he was already lost in thoughts. He saw Jenna's face in his head. He remembered her smile, the special smile that was reserved for him only, when they were alone in her bedroom. And her eyes, her beautiful hazel eyes in which he would get lost for hours as she read into his soul. She was the only one who really knew him, who really got him. Every thought, every fear, every secret that he hid deep inside, she would see them just by looking into his eyes. And he remembered her voice. It was gentle and full of kindness but, at the same time, so confident sometimes, especially when she was angry. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind and to tell people what she thought of them. That's why he had fallen in love with her. She was the only one who'd stand up to him. Actually, they had had a fight that morning. Her last morning. She had seen him with that girl and she had gotten so mad, trying to make him stop and they had fought. And he regretted it. Oh, how much he regretted it ! He felt so guilty ! Sometimes, he felt as if there were two people inside him. It wasn't really him who got angry at Jenna. But thinking about it again was no use. She was gone now. And there was nothing he could do about it. He would never see her face, never hear her laugh and never listen to her telling him off again. Never. He missed her so much. So bad that he could feel the pain in his chest when he thought about her. That was why he didn't like to think or talk about it. He just wanted to forget. But, with this endless silence, he wouldn't be able to forget. After a while, he fell asleep and dreamed that Mr. Smith was singing and dancing to ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' while wearing a pink tutu and one of Nicki Minaj's wigs.
Mark suddenly woke up as he was hit on the leg. Scott sent him an apologetic look. He was shivering and all blood had left his face. Mark knew that he could be a wuss sometimes but, this time, he seemed truly terrified. Mark put his hand on his shoulder and tried to give him a reassuring smile but it didn't work as much as he would have wanted. Scott returned it halfheartedly and closed his eyes, trying to find some sleep. It obviously wasn't working but he kept his eyelids shut nonetheless. The sight brought a smile to Mark's face. Scott had always been so stubborn. The pair had met in kindergarten and had been best friends ever since. They lived in the same street. They had stuck together from primary school through middle school and to high school. In freshman year, they had parted ways a little with all the new people and the amount of homework. The fact that he had begun dating Jenna did not help either. Jenna and Scott weren't always on the best of terms so Scott felt kind of left out whenever he was with her. At the beginning, Mark had suspected that Scott could have had a crush on her but had been rejected in a humiliating way -as Jenna was quite capable of- and that he was bitter and angry about it. But it seemed that they only shared a mutual antipathy. Actually, Jenna wasn't the most appreciated person in the school. You could even say that her directness had given her a few enemies, like Charles Sullivan. Charles was the typical loser, he had everything: the stuttering, the greasy hair, the glasses, the out-of-fashion clothes and the annoying tone whenever he opened his mouth to talk about his favorites (and very boring !) subjects (which were Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones). He was the easy target and Jenna was the Queen Bee. Right then, a memory came to him. About a show Jenna kept telling him about. She was obsessed with it. It was called... Something with the word 'liars'... Little... Pretty Little Liars ! Yes, that was it ! It was about a popular teenager getting murdered and her friends getting threats from someone called A. Now, it seemed tragically ironic how Jenna and that girl, he believed she was called Alison, shared resemblances. There was even a Jenna on the show. It was a girl who had gone blind because of Alison. He would have much rather have his Jenna become blind than... No ! He mustn't think about it ! Angry with himself, Mark shook his head and started looking around the room. His eyes fell on a dark figure across the room. It was Charles, by himself, who was shaking as he was trying to read a book.594Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2DAlOSMej
