Nothing Happened

Hawthorne, Pennsylvania

United States.

A peaceful morning was ruined yet again. I woke up groaning and glaring at my clock.

6:03 a.m.

I wasn't a morning person. I hate-loved my school, but what else could I do? I dragged myself out of my comfortable and warm bed when I heard my mom shouting from downstairs.

“Nora! Do you want to be late on your first day of sophomore year?”

“Coming, Mom! Give me five minutes,” I said as I walked to my bathroom, glaring at my reflection in the mirror as I grabbed my toothpaste and toothbrush to brush my teeth. My usual morning began.

After showering and putting on my uniform, I ran downstairs and saw my mom packing my lunch.

“Morning, Mom! Morning, Dad!” I said as I sat down on the chair and ate my breakfast.

Today, my dad made breakfast. He made the best breakfast. I could see him making chapati and bhindi aloo.

“Bhindi aloo from last night,” I said as my father set a plate of hot bhindi aloo and chapatis in front of me.

“Should I take it back, my sweetheart?” my father asked me with a smile that said, ‘eat it or leave it’.

I immediately shook my head. “How could I not eat it? You made it for me, with so much love and care,” I said as I scooped up some bhindi and aloo with my chapati.

My mother chuckled as she also ate chapati and bhindi aloo with me.

“Nora, eat fast. It's 6:43 already. Your classes start at 7:45.”

I nodded.

“I know, Ma... There's still a lot of time left. Don't worry,”

I said, my mouth stuffed with food.

After breakfast, my mom dropped me off at school, while my father worked from home. So, my dad worked from home, while my mother worked at a tech company.

I was very nervous. But it was natural to feel nervous when doing something new.

So, I walked inside my school.

Millbrook High School

I stepped inside, taking a deep breath before continuing down the hallway.

The hallway was filled with students. Sophomores like me, juniors, and seniors were rushing to their classes, while teachers weaved through the crowd. Posters for clubs and sports covered the notice boards, and everyone seemed to be talking at once.

“Hey, Nora!”

A voice called me, and my entire day lit up. It was my best friend, Avery. We'd been best friends since we were in middle school.

“Good morning!” Avery said with a bright smile.

“What is so good about this morning, anyway...” I said, rolling my eyes.

Avery laughed. “It's the first day of sophomore year!”

“Exactly. That's the problem.”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the stairs. “Come on! We're going to be late.”

“Avery, we're fifteen minutes early.”

“Details.”

Avery laughed. She was always like that—bright, energetic, and somehow excited about everything. I, on the other hand, preferred quiet mornings and being left alone until I'd fully woken up.

We were complete opposites, yet somehow we'd been best friends since middle school.

While walking to our classroom, Avery looked at me.

“So, what's your first class?”

“English..”

“Yes! Twinsies! I have English too, let's go. What a great day!” Avery said with a bright smile.

I cracked a small smile, seeing her smile somehow made me smile too every time.

“Yes, twinsies whatever, let's go.”

With that Avery and I went to our class, our homeroom teacher walked into the classroom.

“Welcome to sophomore year. Good morning, class! I'm Elizabeth Hamilton. You all can call me Mrs. H or Mrs. Hamilton. So, there are many new faces here… How about we start with introductions?”

Mrs. Hamilton stood at the front of the room, a stack of papers tucked beneath one arm. She smiled as everyone slowly settled down.

Everyone introduced themselves, giving their names, ages, ethnicities, and what they wanted to achieve in the future. It was Avery's turn next.

“Hello, everyone! I'm Avery! Avery Carter. I'm sixteen years old, and I'm Greek-American! My great-grandfather was Greek before he came to America, and I really want to be a veterinarian!”

Mrs. Hamilton nodded as Avery sat down. It was my turn next. I stood up and smiled, a bit forced, but hey—at least I was trying to smile.

“My name is Nora Xalxo. I'm sixteen years old, and I'm Indian-American. And I haven't figured out what I want to do yet.”

I sat down as Mrs. Hamilton nodded, and the rest of the students introduced themselves.

“It's nice knowing everyone, now let's start with today's lesson.” Mrs. Hamilton said, as she turned toward the board writing something with a marker.

Ring-Ring

English was over, I breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Avery who was checking her schedule.

“Ohhh! We both have Maths together, yes!” Avery cheered as other students were walking out of the classroom.

“You have my schedule too?” I asked.

“Yeah!” Avery sang.

“Oh... okay, anyways, let's go.” I rolled my eyes playfully.

I loathed

Maths

. I questioned its existence. Why did it even exist in the first place? But on the other hand, Avery thought Maths was one of the best subjects to study, and it always helped her relax. Yeah, it gave me trauma while it helped her relax. What a great thing.

Our next class went just as smoothly, but the numbers and calculations went through my head and evaporated away. Avery, on the other hand, understood everything. She was going to be the valedictorian for sure. I just knew it.

My next class was Computer Science while Avery has Botany.

“Oww, shucks. I have Botany and you have Computer Science.” Avery said with that exaggerated cuteness which always made me laugh.

I cracked a smile and said.

“Yeah, but what can we do?”

“Don't miss me too much in your Computer Science class, yeah?”

“Miss Carter, your confidence is flying high up in the air, I can see it.”

I rolled my eyes at her comment.

“Yeah whatever, bye. See you at lunch.”

I said as I walked towards my class and Avery went to hers.

After our classes ended, I came to the cafeteria and spotted Avery, who had spotted me first and was already waving at me. I jogged over to the table where she was sitting.

“You grabbed me a plate too?” I asked, and Avery nodded.

“Can't let my best friend do extra work, when I have already done it for both of us.”

I sat down beside Avery.

“Nora, do you know…”

Avery whispered to me. When I leaned in, she whispered again.

“Jessica and Ryan broke up.”

Avery's whisper made my eyes go wide because Jessica and Ryan were dating since middle school and they both were a popular couple and now they broke up? That didn't make any sense.

“Oh, that's… that's sad.” I said taking a bite of my sandwich.

Avery shook her head.

“Girl, it's odd! They both were madly in love with each other! How can they just break up?”

“I don't know. Leave it.” I said, taking a sip of my milk.

“Girl, it's so.. weird, they were so close and so lovey dovey towards each other. Apparently Ryan said that Jes–”

Avery’s voice was cut off.

A scream pierced through the hallway.

Everyone stopped eating.

I turned towards the sound.

Everyone rushed out of the Cafeteria to see what happened.

Jessica stood near the end of the hallway, screaming hysterically while several teachers rushed toward her.

My eyes widened, Jessica was screaming loudly, pulling on her hair and scratching her arms hard, that they were bleeding.