Eleven

Night. Siren's lying lazily on the sofa in the living room with the TV almost on full volume. But despite that, her mind's still drifting off somewhere.

"Do you hate me that much, Siren?"

She can't help frowning when she remembered what happened earlier.

'I know I don't hate her... I don't even know why I don't like her, either. Okay, I admit my words are harsh but do she really have to act that way?'

Suddenly, the memories of them at the infirmary came flooding her mind, and it freaked her out a bit.

'W-why do I have to remember that?'

It's as if she can imagine Peach on top of her, slowly coming closer to reach the gap between them.

'No... No... Go away!'

A loud thud followed by an immense pain in her head emerged. She jolts up and glared at her sister who is also glaring at her.

"Did you just hit me with that spatula?!"

"You're annoying me. What the heck are you doing?"

"I-I'm watching TV!"

"You look like you're constipated. What are you thinking, huh? It's probably something bad."

'Yeah, real bad.'

"It's none of your business! That hurts, you know?"

"I don't care. Bring me back that spatula or I'll throw this casserole too."

She got up mumbling and gave her the spatula back with her sister hitting her one more time. Completely irritated, she went out and buy ice cream to cool herself up.

"This is all because of her. Why did she have to act like that?" She whispered and took a sit outside the convenience store while she was eating the ice cream.

"Did she know that she's at fault too? That her actions are so confusing? I'm a girl too but her mood swings are way worse than mine!"

She stops eating the ice cream. "So... Why do I have to be affected by it?"

She flinches when she felt a drop of ice cream on her feet. She quickly wipes it and when she looks up again, she sees Peach just about to go out of the store.

Siren could only follow her by gaze when she walked away without saying a word.

'Did she just... Ignore me?'

"Wow. She completely ignored me. Something must be really wrong with her head." She stood up and walked back home with the incident still on her mind.

She stopped walking midway and looked back at the store as if still seeing Peach standing there. She just could not believe what she did.

"Why... Why am I so troubled by this?! Isn't it good? That would only mean that she won't bother me anymore! That's good news!" She laughed, causing the other passerby to look at her. "You're crazy, Siren. Worrying over things like this."

Her walk back home comprised her stopping midway while convincing herself why is it a good idea that Peach is ignoring her.

-

"You look happy, Siren. Did something happen to you?" Lea commented when they greeted her with a loud and energetic Good Morning when she reached the classroom.

"Nothing. I just woke up feeling pretty good."

"I hope you wake up well every day," Hana whispered.

"What are you saying? I'm always good!"

Lea and Hana stared at her like she said the most awful thing ever.

"Don't you agree?" She asked coldly.

"O-of course... Of course, you are! Just ignore Lea. She probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Hana agrees while chuckling nervously.

With that, Siren's cheerful grin came back. "Yeah, I think so too!"

'So far... So good.'

"Oh. Good morning, Peach." Hana greeted.

"Good morning."

'Keep calm, Siren. Don't let it bother you.'

"That's new," Hana said while staring at Peach.

"What is?"

"You didn't-"

"Wow. I just remembered that I'm hungry!" Siren suddenly jolts up and slams her table. "Can you come with me to the cafeteria, Hana?"

"Huh? But the bell's about to ring-"

"We'll be fast. Let's go!" She grabs her by the arm and drags her outside before she could even protest.

"What's wrong, Siren? Is Peach mad at you?"

"Why would she be mad at me?"

"She didn't greet you."

"So? Is it required to greet me in the morning?"

"And you're acting weird."

"You notice a lot of unnecessary things. I hope you use that in lessons too."

"Peach is so nice that it's rare to see her mad. You probably did something terrible for it to turn out this way." Hana commented one more time before going back to the classroom leaving her behind.

'Why is it always my fault whenever something bad happens? Am I really that bad? Tsk.'

With that, Siren's mood went sour again.

-

"Tell me, what is wrong with you?!"

She blinked twice and let out a loud grunt before plopping down on the bed and kicking the blankets. She's been doing this for almost an hour now, with a teddy bear in front of her acting as Peach.

'Am I really at fault here?'

She sighed as she remembered what just happened earlier at school when she found out that Peach asked for a seat change far away from her.

'She seemed to really dislike me if she can't wait for another seat change.'

She turns around and sees the teddy bear staring intently at her, so much so that she's imagining that it was Peach laying beside her.

"What is wrong with me?"

She sits up, not leaving her staring at the teddy bear.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know what I did, but everyone thinks that I'm at fault here, and it's not good! You were the one who keeps playing with my feelings and now you do this? Why... I just want to know, so... So don't ignore me like that."

She stops, surprised at her own words.

"What feelings? I don't have feelings for her! I... I was just annoyed, and curious. Everyone would feel the same, right?" A loud grunt escaped from her mouth once again. "Who am I trying to fool?"

She lays down again and stares at the ceiling.

"I can't believe she's still holding a grudge at what I said that day. If that's the case this will be all over if I apologize, right?" She nods constantly as she came up with a conclusion on her own. "It's not like I'm bothered, okay? I just don't want people to avoid me without knowing the reason!" She grabs the teddy bear and hugs it tightly. "Yeah, that's it."