White Light

Date: 31st August 2022

Time: 12:30pm

Location: Heavens Highschool Main Building Rooftop

On the rooftop of a certain school building, a girl with long ash-grey hair looked at the horizon with a melancholic expression on her face. She was waiting for someone who was late. She looked at the time on her wristwatch and it was almost time for her departure. She would give her friend another minute before she decided to take her leave. Speak of the devil, the entrance door of the rooftop slammed open, and the girl turned. She saw a girl with short blonde-hair looking quite exhausted as if she just finished a marathon. As much as she wanted her blonde friend to catch her breath, time was running out.

“Lilianne, there is something I have to tell you.” The seriousness in her tone caught the blonde’s full attention wondering if something had happened.

“I’m leaving school.” The girl’s voice almost cracked when saying that as she had deliberately hidden the fact from her friend till this day. The girl named Lilianne’s eyes started to widen in shock at the sudden statement. She swiftly went straight up to her friend and put her hands on her shoulders. After a moment of collecting her thoughts and looking at her friend in the eyes, she immediately lashed out.

“What are you talking about, Sakura?!” Lilianne said in a raised voice filled with frustration while her grip on Sakura’s shoulders became tighter which led to Sakura wincing a bit in a pain. However, Lilianne did not seem to care.

“Why tell me this now?! You are leaving today, aren’t you?! Why did you not tell me earlier?” Lilianne’s voice slowly lowered while her tone changed from frustration to sadness.

“If I had known, we could have spent more time together…” Lilianne now faced her head down with tears slowly flowing from eyes.

This was exactly what Sakura wanted to avoid, though she could not say it outright. Ever since they became friends, Lilianne always wanted to spend as much as time she could with her. Sakura welcomed her friendship and despite at times finding the girl’s clinginess overwhelming, she just could not refuse the girl.

Sakura was not dense. She knew Lilianne’s actions came from feelings more than just friendship. However, she was not ready to accept those feelings till she was sure she had mutual feelings. Sakura was afraid if she told Lilianne beforehand about her planned departure, it would cause their relationship to change too fast and she did not want to give Lilianne half-hearted feelings. Though, Lilianne probably would not mind at all.

Sakura gently removed her friend’s hands from her shoulders and brought her to a hug which Lilianne returned.

“I’m sorry, Lily…” Sakura apologized with a gentle soft tone and while stroking her friend’s back to calm her down. Lilianne was a crying wreck now and Sakura wanted the blonde to send her off with a smile.

After a while, Lilianne finally calmed down. Sakura then explained to her of some urgent family business she needed to settle in another city. She promised to return to school when all her matters were resolved. Lilianne nodded in understanding however Sakura knew her friend wanted to say something. She could garner a guess what it was and smiled. It took a while, but she was ready to answer those feelings Lilianne had.

Without warning, Sakura kissed Lilianne on her right cheek which turned the blonde beet-red in surprise, placing a hand on her right cheek and at a loss for words. Lilianne saw Sakura was blushing at her sudden moment of boldness.

“That should give you something to look forward to when I get back. So, wait for me, okay?” Sakura held Lilianne’s hands in hers while she said that.

“Of course!” Lilianne said elatedly. She was so happy that her feelings were returned.

Lilianne proceeded to walk Sakura to the gate and watched as she entered a limousine waiting outside. With a final wave, Sakura entered the vehicle and it drove off leaving Lilianne alone wishing her beloved friend would return as soon as possible.

xxx

Date: 4th September 2022

Time: 11:30am

Location: Heavens Highschool Main Building Faculty Lounge

Despite it being a day off, Lilianne was at the school main building drinking some coffee with her homeroom teacher, Leslie Hawkins, while watching television. She was helping her teacher with some student council matters in Sakura’s place. They were currently taking a break after been clearing up some leftover paperwork for the past couple of hours.

“You know, Evans. I did not think you were so dependable.”

Lilianne almost spit out her coffee at her teacher’s bluntness. Leslie laughed while taking a sip of her own coffee.

“I guess that’s love for you. It changes people.”

Lilianne could only blush at her teacher’s words, unable to mutter a word in response. They were about to continue with work when their gaze turned to the television which was showing some breaking news. Lilianne immediately ran out of the lounge room ignoring Leslie shouting at her to stop running.

‘Breaking News: Car accident at XXX City, one casualty revealed to be heiress, Sakura Kitou’

Lilianne ran to the school’s rooftop and screamed at the top of her lungs. The tears would not stop flowing. Her beloved Sakura was gone. She promised she would return to her. She promised they could pick up where they left off with the kiss.

“Sakura…”

Lilianne wished to see her so badly. She wanted Sakura to appear in front of her telling it was a lie. She wanted to spend more time with her.

“Please…Sakura…”

Suddenly, the school started to shake. Lilianne almost lost her balance and went to hold on to the rooftop guardrail. The shaking got stronger and the section she was standing on collapsed. It was if some higher power was granting her wish to be with Sakura. Lilianne only stayed silent as she fell, accepting her pending death. Maybe she would reunite with Sakura in an afterlife.

While falling, Lilianne saw something strange at the corner of her eye.

“What the-…”

Before she knew it, she was blinded by a white light.

xxx

Date: 7th September 2022

Time: 10:30am

Location: Outside Heavens Highschool

A purple-haired girl in the Heavens High uniform was reading the newspaper in the car on-route to Heavens Highschool. Her eyes were drawn to the headlines of the paper’s front page.

‘Mysterious tremors shook Heavens Highschool compound, authorities investigating!’

“Interesting…” was the only thing the girl said as she put the newspaper away as her driver had announced they had reached the school.