I tried to focus on the math teacher, but it was useless. My brain just kept replaying that one image over and over. Nina and Tyler on the roof.
’Why does that bother so much?’ I thought, my pen just hovering over my notebook. ’It’s none of my business.’
But it felt like it was. It felt like she had told one thing, and then I’d seen another. And that tight, sinking feeling in my chest just wouldn’t go away. It felt a lot like disappointnt. And I hated it. I hated feeling this way over sothing that I shouldn’t even care about.
’You’re an idiot, Kofi,’ I told myself, finally managing to write down a number from the board. ’You wanted to be left alone, and now look at you.’
Just then, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I carefully slid it out, keeping it hidden under my desk. The screen lit up with her na. My heart skipped a beat.
I opened the ssage.
> Nina: are you serious right now?
I stared at the words, my stomach twisting. I knew exactly what she was talking about. Before I could even think of what to type back, another ssage ca through.
> Nina: i wait for you. we walk to school. and then you just completely ignore in front of the entire class like i don’t exist?
> Nina: what is wrong with you?
’She has every right to be pissed,’ I thought. I read her words again. I was a jerk. There was no other way to put it. I just sat there, my thumb hovering over the keyboard, trying to figure out what to say. ’Sorry’ felt too small.
> : can we talk after school?
Her reply was instant.
> Nina: no.
> Nina: there’s nothing to talk about. you made it pretty clear you don’t want to be seen with .
My chest felt tight. That wasn’t it at all. It was the opposite. I was just a coward who didn’t know how to handle people staring.
> : that’s not it. please, nina. just let explain.
> Nina: explain what? that you’re embarrassed of ? or that you just like playing gas?
> Nina: i’m done. leave alone.
I stared at that last ssage. ’Leave alone.’ It was the sa thing I’d wanted just a few days ago, and now hearing it from her felt like a punch to the gut. This was my fault. All of it.
I knew typing anything else would be pointless. She was too angry, and I couldn’t fix this over the phone. Words on a screen weren’t going to work.
A quiet sigh escaped my lips. This was a ss, a complete ss I’d made all by myself.
I pressed the button on the side of my phone, and the screen went dark. I didn’t reply. There was no point.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket.
’Well’ I thought, my resolve hardening into a quiet, simple plan. ’I’ll find you after school.’
A few hours later, the final bell rang.
My head snapped up, ’Ti to go.’
But Nina was already going. She didn’t even pack her bag, she just shoved her books into it, slung it over her shoulder, and was out of her seat before I could even process it. She was heading straight for the door without looking back once.
I watched her go, and the plan I’d made just deflated inside . ’She’s running off’ I thought, slumping back in my chair a little. ’She doesn’t want to talk to . What am I even thinking?’
The rest of the class was a swarm of noise and movent, but I just sat there, not sure what to do.
’Maybe I should just let it go,’ I thought, a wave of exhaustion washing over . ’She said to leave her alone. Forcing this is just going to make everything worse. Yeah. Just... let her be.’
It felt like the right thing to do. The safe thing. The loner thing. Give up before you get hurt more. That was my whole strategy for life, wasn’t it?
And just as I was settling into that familiar feeling of retreat, the air in front of shimred. That damn blue window popped into existence, floating right over my desk.
’Oh, you have got to be kidding .’
[New Mission Available]
I stared at it, a feeling of dread coiling in my stomach.
[Objective: Find Nina Shoka and make up with her.]
[Reward: 1,000 NAD]
[Ti Limit: Before you go ho.]
[Penalty for Failure: Severe Diarrhea for 48 hours.]
[Accept Mission? Yes/No]
I read the penalty, and then I read it again.
’Diarrhea?’ I thought. ’Severe... diarrhea?’
The vomiting from before was bad. It was humiliating and awful. But this? This was a whole other level of terrible. The thought of being stuck at ho, still sore from everything, with... that? No. Absolutely not. There was no way I was going through that. It was a non-negotiable, soul-crushing, absolute nope.
This wasn’t a choice. The system wasn’t asking . It was telling .
My brief mont of wanting to give up vanished, replaced by panic. I smashed the ’Yes’ button.
The window disappeared.
I was out of my chair so fast it scraped against the floor, earning a few looks, but I didn’t care. I grabbed my backpack, shoved my phone in my pocket, and just bolted.
My ribs scread at , but the panic was worse. I limped-ran out of the classroom, my eyes scanning the crowded hallway. She couldn’t have gotten far.
The whispers started up again, a wave of noise that followed . "There he goes again," soone muttered. I ignored it. I had to find her.
Crap.
I did a full lap, my eyes scanning every face, but she wasn’t anywhere. I saw her friends laughing with a group of guys near the vending machines, but Nina was nowhere in sight.
My heart started to sink. ’Where else would she go? The roof?’
I took the stairs two at a ti, my leg aching in protest. I shoved the rooftop door open, not caring about the noise this ti. The roof was empty. Just and the wind and the view of the city.
She was gone.
’Shit. Shit, shit, shit.’
I leaned against the wall next to the door, my chest heaving. She wasn’t in the school. That ant she’d gone ho. The final bell had rung a while ago now. The mission was to find her before I went ho. And I was still at school, while was already gone.
I had failed.
The panic drained out of , replaced by a cold, heavy feeling of dread. I was going to spend the next two days in absolute misery, all because I was a coward who couldn’t just talk to a girl in class.
’This is what I get,’ I thought, my head falling back against the brick wall. ’For everything.’
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