Crestfallen

23: I Tied With The Quarterback!

Today was day A so I had social studies with Liam and Chris. Over the course of the past few days, I found myself liking their presence, especially during lunch. When I entered the classroom the boys were already seated which surprised me considering they were always late. I took my new seat in between the two of them and sighed. "Do either of you have a piece of paper I could borrow?" I asked them exasperatedly. Liam smirked.

"You wanna borrow a piece? Well sure, when are you going to give it back?" he asked teasingly. I frowned for a moment, confused. Oh, I asked to borrow a paper, not have one. Normally, I would have laughed along with him or gone along with the joke but that required at least eight hours of sleep. 

"Sorry, can I have one?" I repeated politely, staring at Liam. His eyebrows creased confusedly but nonetheless, he reached into his bag and handed me a piece of paper. "Thank you," I said as I placed the paper on my desk and waited for class to start. I could sense Liam staring at me, or perhaps making eye contact with Chris behind me, but neither of them said anything. As class started, I felt my eyes drooping. I leaned my head against my hand and felt my imagination zooming off into all different directions. Suddenly, a wave of delirium hit me.

I came home to find my mother there, only this time she wasn't here to take me away. Instead, Valerie was back and my father was sitting on the couch with them. "Hi Casey, how was school?" my mother asked, smiling over at me. I was confused for a moment, but suddenly everything seemed normal. 

"It was alright. I mean, as far as social conformity goes it was pretty good," I replied jokingly as I went to my room to put down my bag. As I entered, I smiled at the decoration. I didn't always like sharing a room with my sister, but somehow the bright purple paint and tiny bunk bed filled me with immeasurable joy. I placed my bag on the floor and returned to the living room to join my family. We didn't have many channels, but we had the game show channel where we watched Jeopardy and Family Feud on occasion. I took a seat beside them and snuggled into my mother's side while Val was beside dad. It was a perfect day.

Suddenly, I felt a jab in my side. My eyes jolted open and I looked around frantically only to find Liam staring at me concernedly. I quickly looked to the front of the class to see if the teacher had noticed, but thankfully they hadn't. "Casey, are you okay? I let you sleep for most of the class, but I think you should be paying attention," Liam said caringly. He was right, I should be paying attention. School is something I have to succeed in no matter what-- for my father's sake.

"Thank you, I appreciate it," I said, trying to listen to whatever the teacher was talking about. Oh, great, the basis of liberalism. My favourite. 

"Hey, uh, do you want to hang out after school today?" he inquired, his posture getting a little stiff. I thought about it for a moment. I have nothing to do on Thursdays, right?

"Sure," I replied with a light smile. I felt a little more awake thanks to my recent power nap but it didn't feel like enough to get me through P.E. Even though I was still tired, I noticed Liam visibly relaxed at my acceptance. I smiled to myself. Cute.

---------------

"Fitness testing today!" Mme Drinnan yelled across the gym. There were audible groans throughout the gym and I would have been one of them if I had the energy right now. The rejuvenation I had felt from that nap had quickly faded the moment I stepped into the gym. In fact, I felt slightly loopy due to sleep deprivation. I zoned out of the teacher's little speech when I noticed James standing beside me.

"Hi," I whispered with a little giggle. Oh no. Sleep deprivation, stage two. The giggly phase. I had already passed the dead stage and this was not good.