He looked over at me and closed his laptop, the 20 minutes seemingly had passed. "Well, I was asked to join and I thought why not."

"Yeah, but why?"

"You really can't imagine someone joining willingly?", he chuckled.

I leaned back in the beanbag. Couldn't I? The idea of the club seemed absolutely ridiculous to me but I guess there were some people that would have liked it, probably. But he definitely didn't seem like the type, without his cardigan on you could definitely tell he worked out and counting in his looks, he looked more like a jock.

He reached for his bag as he explained: "I wanted to join the Sports club but they were full. Is that a good answer?"

The Sports Club. Yeah, that suited him better. I couldn't picture him writing a page and a half for fun. Speaking of which.

"How long does the article need to be?"

"Oh, one page... I think. You should ask Nellie. She has different requirements for each assignment."

"Got it."

I quickly stood up and stumbled a bit. I was way too relaxed on that beanbag, I got really lightheaded when I stood up. Before doing anything else I went to look for Nathalie, or how Philip called her, Nellie. I almost gagged when he called her that. How can someone like that girl so much they give her a pet name? Philip was already packing up as I rounded the corner and found Nathalie, looking at some books on the shelves.

"Hey, how many pages do I need to write for the article?"

She thought for a moment before taking out a book and bluntly responding: "Three."

"Three pages? You're kidding."

She glanced over at me. "If it seems like too much you can always ask Philip for help. Seems like you two really get along."

Without thinking about it too much I just responded, hoping that I would shut her up: "Duh, I'm the foster kid at his house. He probably feels required to get along with me."

Nathalie stared at me for a moment. What I said clearly caught her way off guard. Didn't Philip tell her about that already? Come to think of it, I didn't really see these two talk much since I got there. Just a few shared glances here and there, and obviously the nickname he called her that suggested there was something more between them. Things weren't adding up. Nevertheless I tried to take advantage of the moment.

"So... will it be okay if I write just two pages?", I smiled.

She scoffed: "No. I want you to write three, or do you want to make it four?"

Her tone was quick and snappy, almost like she just wanted me to leave her alone. She was like that with me the whole damn day, did I annoy her that much? ...or maybe it was the hoodie I was wearing that she kept glancing at... or me sitting close to Philip. She definitely couldn't get her eyes off of me ever since I walked into the classroom that day. Bells started ringing in my head as it clicked: Philip. 

"Seems kind of unfair of you to give me more work.", I replied with a smug smile, now understanding what was really going on.

"Why's that?"

"Because you're jealous of me... and Philip."

She gave me an unimpressed look. But through her grey-blueish eyes you could see the slight hint of hesitation. She knew I was onto her.

"Come on, you're constantly mad at me, looking over at me and Philip. You're totally jealous.", I adjusted Philip's hoodie I was wearing as I happily watched her elegant façade slowly slipping.

"I'm not jealous. I just don't particularly enjoy spending time with people like you.", she tried to explain.

"People like me?"

She aggressively put a book back on the shelf before turning completely towards me, now you could tell she was getting annoying at me, good.

"Yes, People that clearly don't care about anything and expect others to just pity them because they don't have it as good."

She put her hands on her hips to stop herself from swinging them around as she talked: "Sorry Fifi, but I won't pity you and I'll definitely won't go easy on you just because you're a foster kid."

Foster kid. I never really liked other people calling me that, but for some reason it really really bothered me when she said it, it felt like my gut would twist out of my body. The heat in my cheeks started to grow while I desperately tried to get a hold of myself, but it was no use.

"Like I ever needed your pity!", I gave an annoyed scoff and pointed at her:

"I bet you aren't even that nice. The only thing you care about is what others think of you!"

She quickly slapped my hand away from her face and with hot red cheeks exclaimed: "Have you gone completely delusional?!"

"Not me, but you with Philip? Maybe.", I quickly remarked, now anger totally controlling me.

With her face fully red, something seemed to snap within her as she yelled out:

"Ah- well, at least I'm not hurting him! Do you have any idea how cruel it is that you're here?!"

I took a step back. Hurting him? Why would I-

Philip suddenly came around the corner with his phone in his hand and bag over his shoulder. We both froze. There was absolutely no way he hadn't heard our little discussion. He had an expression I never seen him have before. He was usually pretty relaxed, the only time I've seen him slightly annoyed was with Lola at lunch and even then he was fake smiling. But now, his face was serious, no smile nor grin. He just stood there staring at me.

"Fifi, my mom called. She wants us home.", he bluntly stated.

"But-", before I could even get a word in he already started walking to the door as he demanded: "Let's go."

I had only a few seconds to look back at Nathalie, who was now awkwardly looking at the books again, trying to pretend like nothing just happened. To be honest she was really good at hiding it, you wouldn't have known she just yelled at someone and got mad, she was just standing there with a completely blank stare. But I knew what happened. I knew she was faking, somehow having that knowledge made me feel like I was above her.

I followed Philip out the door, wondering what he would say about what he had heard. He was probably flustered. I mean, I literally just implied that Blondie had a thing for him and was jealous of me. I know I would have been flustered as hell. But instead, he just walked with me. He said nothing, and that annoyed me for some reason. I really wanted to talk about Nathalie behind her back with him, but he seemed so closed off. I wanted to yell at him; Dude, Nathalie North is crushing on you?! Any thoughts?! 

But I just bit my tongue and twisted my face, trying my best to hold back as I blurted out:

"So? Why aren't you saying anything?!"

Okay, I definitely didn't want to say that and I definitely didn't want to raise my voice at him, but I did. At least it finally caught his attention.

"What do you want me to say?"

Finally, that statement seemed to push me over the edge for some reason. No longer could I hold my thoughts back.

"Something! Like, haven't you noticed how she looks at me?! That little princess thinks she's somehow above me!", I yelled.

I grunted, clenched my fists and kicked the first thing that was in front of me, which was a trash can. It filled over and the trash inside spilled out on the stone path. Before I let my mind slip away from the anger I shouted: "She's so annoying! Did you hear her?! Like it's my fault I'm here! I didn't ask for this!"

I kicked the trash can again as my voice cracked a little at the last part of my sentence. Usually I wouldn't attack something that was already down but at that moment I really couldn't control myself, it was better for me to kick the trash can than a person, or something more valuable. In some way I was a bit proud of myself that I had remained somewhat in control, but it was still like my mind went into violence mode, like it always did. 

I looked over at Philip, usually people were anxious around me when I was like that, they would carefully step away, they would call and get rid of me, but he just stood there. Just waiting like a parent watching their kid have a temper tantrum. Somehow the calmness on his face made me calmer. I took a deep breath, the cool afternoon air filled my lungs.

"Would that have been Nellie?", he gestured to the trash can. 

I looked over and slightly kicked it with my foot.

"Good thing you got me out of there.", I chuckled, still slight heat brewing in me. 

Just the thought of that Nellie made me mad. Her constant judgment, glancing, useless assignments, stupid blond hair- 

I violently kicked the trash can again, sending it a meter or so away for me.

"Are you done?", he asked bluntly.

I huffed: "No."

I turned around and almost headed for the book café where Blondie was but Philip quickly stopped me. He tried grabbing my shoulder but I swiftly moved away from him.

"Don't touch me!", I hissed.

He took a step back and sighed, clearly done with me:

"Okay, you need to cool off. Come on."

He started walking away again and I glanced at the book café and then asked him: "Where are you going?"

"You'll see.", he said without looking back at me.

I huffed and hesitated following him. How did I always end up like this? I kicked the trash can again before walking to Philip. 

As we walked he took off his cardigan from his waist and put it on. I guessed it was getting a bit dark and cool. I never trusted myself with temperatures. I was the type that would wear a green jacket during summer, and only when it was extremely hot would I take it off. I wasn't invincible to the cold though, a slight breeze would send chills down my spine. Just like that afternoon. Once again distant wind gently froze as we walked across the bridge and towards his house.

Great, I thought. He will snitch on me. He will tell Lyana what happened, he will tell her and she will get mad. I know she will, they always did. Why are you so out of control? Can't you stand in line one time? That's it, we're standing you back! That's what they always did. 

It was a bit of a relief to be honest. It wasn't like I hated it there, but I definitely didn't want to stay. Definitely not while knowing that Nathalie will be pissed at me and will tell me to write 20 pages instead of 3, when I already didn't want to write that stupid article anyway! 

Even when we walked inside I had her on my mind, that little blond girl was driving me crazy. I almost slammed the door shut, but Philip stopped it with his hand and looked over at me with an exhausted expression that told me to behave. I rolled my eyes and looked back at him fine, I'll behave. We kicked off our shoes and just as I thought he would walk into the kitchen where the light was one, instead he went upstairs. While I still followed him he opened the attic catch. Okay, we're definitely doing something.

His parents told me to go into the attic after asking for permission. Well, a little rebellion sure as heck would make me feel better. I climbed the ladder shortly after him. The attic was small and very dusty, it was full of furniture and boxes upon boxes. They really weren't kidding when they said they had decorations up there. I looked around and noticed a rug leaned against a wall, I couldn't really tell what design was in it because it was rolled up but it was definitely green, a nice shade of green.

"Fifi."

I snapped my neck back and saw Philip, outside, on the roof, holding the skylight open for me. 

How insane does he think I am?!