Chapter 50: Thinking Of Her
- Glyndon Walton ( Song of the Chapter: The Hills by The Weeknd)
It’s another new day in Paris. The teachers have organized some sort of group lunch at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte, a popular spot for tourists and large groups. Right now, I’m sitting with Alex and our friend group...As usual. All the students are gathered, and the teachers are calling out our names for attendance.
But I can’t stop thinking about Kathrine.
The whole day, ever since I saw her this morning—almost half-naked—those dirty thoughts have refused to leave me and my mind alone. She completely ignored me last night, and now it feels like I’m losing my mind. I don’t know why I begged for her attention the way I did. Why I cried. It’s pathetic, isn’t it? But it didn’t feel pathetic then. It felt necessary. Like I needed her to acknowledge me, to say something—anything.
The teacher called out her name, "Kathrine Andrews," but she wasn’t there. A hush fell over the group as people started looking around. Then Alex broke the silence, smirking.
"Where’s the Lesbo? Think she’s off-cornering a girl somewhere?"
Everyone laughed at his joke. I laughed, too, even though I didn’t feel like it.
Then one of the teachers stepped in, saying, "Kathrine Andrews stayed back with her friends. Brandon isn’t feeling well, so Ethan, Ryan, Daniel, Michael, Lily, and Emma won’t be joining us today."
Disappointment hit me like a punch to the gut.
I should’ve been happy. Relieved, even. I should’ve been celebrating the fact that I wouldn’t have to see her face, hear her voice, or spend another second obsessing over her. But I wasn’t.
The day dragged on after that, even though everyone around me seemed to be having fun. At the restaurant, we ordered, ate, and laughed at more stupid jokes—some of them about Kathrine. Homophobic jokes. And I laughed along, too, because what else could I do?