Chapter 29: Apology Accepted

Instead of going somewhere else, I chose to go back inside our classroom to wait for our professor next to Professor Autre. I wanted to find him, but I still had a class to attend to and it would not be good to skip class again, like what I did when Zen cut my hair.

We waited for Professor Emerson, but he did not show his shadow to us until…

“Professor Emerson won’t be around. You may go home, class. Goodbye!" Professor Autre announced after she entered our classroom. I was right that she would not use the allotted time for her subject to discuss any lesson because she had already used Professor Toriko’s class schedule.

“Thanks, prof!”

“Noted, miss.”

“Alright!”

“Sounds great!”

“Very nice.”

“Go home, class. Do not go anywhere. Help your parents in doing household chores and other important stuff,” she instructed. Then, she left us. My classmates started packing their things and gradually went out from our classroom.

My mind was telling me to immediately go outside our classroom, but my body was not cooperating. I was just looking on the sheet of my notebook which was on my desk, there was actually nothing on it, but it successfully won my attention—even it was just like a blank slate.

“Hey!” she said as she tapped my left shoulder.

I did not dare to answer her.

“Talk to me please,” she said again and sat down on the chair beside me.

“W-what do you want?” I asked using a voice that seemed uninterested at all. I was not looking at her because I was not comfortable with her presence, and everything about her was not giving me any peace.

“I just want us to be friends. That’s it.” I could not believe her words. I should not believe her words. But she sounded so sincere, and I could feel that she was trying to win my gaze.

“I’m not sure.” I did not know what to say to her, I could not even find the right words to utter. It was the first time that she talked to me like a tamed tigress. I tried to look back to see if my classmates were still there when I could not hear any noise anymore. I guessed it right. No one was with us at that point of them. I started to feel that my heartbeats were racing as a thought had arisen, the thought that it could be a set-up. Sweat started to come out from my skin, and I could even feel it constantly flowing from my face to my neck. “D-don’t do anything nasty to me… please. Just don’t.”

“If that’s your condition, then I won’t do anything nasty to you.” She seemed to misunderstand what I had said and that made me sweat even more. “I promise to be a good friend of yours from now on.”

“I can’t be your friend. You don’t deserve me...I’m just a nobody.” I tried to look at her until I was able to face her. “What a beautiful being,” I thought.

“That’s not a problem to me. In fact, it’ll be nice to have a friend like you. I know that you’ll be a loyal friend. I really want to have you as my friend, Kaede. Let me prove you that I also have kindness. I’m not that bad. Seeing you suffer makes me happy, but I already realized things. I want change.” I could feel how persistent she was and that made me think twice. I was not a stone does not give her a chance.

“Are you sure about it?” I asked as I stopped looking at her face. I realized that I still could not look at her face for too long. I wanted to say that I did want to accept her friendship, but I was afraid to say it to her. I also did not want to reject someone. I accepted Draco’s friendship because of the same reasons.

“I’m super sure. Tell me, Kaede. You don’t trust me, do you?” I could sense sadness on her voice, but more than that, the certainty on her tone as she might be thinking that I was not buying her words.

“It’s not like that. I trust you.” She did not talk after I told her that I was trusting her. What I had said to her was true. I trusted her… it was just that I could not trust her always. I still believed that there was kindness within her and that I did not have the right not to give a person a chance to prove her kindness. “I’m accepting your friendship,” I uttered before I faced her and gave her a genuine smile. What I said brought me a feeling of satisfaction and happiness.

“Whaaa! Is that for real? Aren’t you joking me, are you?” she exclaimed before she hugged me. It was a tight hug from her, and I did not expect that she would do it. I never thought that a woman like Zen would hug me. I adored Zen’s beauty, she almost had everything. Almost everything.

The hug lasted for almost a minute. “I’m not joking.”

“You know what?! I’m really happy that you let me to be your friend! I promise to do my best to prove to you that I can be a good friend!” I was astounded when she hugged me again and I could not help myself but to hug her back. I was urged to trust her as I could not understand my responses to what was happening. “Sorry,” she whispered while she was still hugging me. My heart seemed to melt because of what she had said… because she said sorry to me for the first time. I felt sad that I was not able to see her reaction while she was uttering the magic word.

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for the bad things that I did to you. I know that saying sorry is not enough, but it can be a good start,” she said after she freed me from her hug. I thought she would just say sorry for hitting me using the pack of ice water. Unbelievable.

“Apology accepted.”