"Class, could you please open your textbooks and read pages 211 through 215, then complete this worksheet. You have the hour to work, you may begin."
Mr. Lee doesn't even care what we do in this class. I had him last year too because he taught my English class. I guess they moved him up this year. He's pretty laid back, he gives us the work and the choice of doing it or not doing it. Most people choose not to do the work and just fail the tests, but I don't really want to work at McDonalds, so I choose to do the work.
Only three people in this entire class do the work. Me, a straight-A student named Timothy, and Hayden Brown.
Hayden sits next to me in this class. He usually keeps to himself. I rarely hear him talk. Apparently he's friends with my brother, but I find that hard to believe.
I sneak a look at him through the corner of my eyes. Let me tell you, just because he keeps to himself and doesn't talk to anyone, does not mean he isn't attractive.
He always wears dark jeans and black sweatshirts or shirts. On rare occasions, gray or brown. Never ever bright colors. His dark hair is always styled up and messy.
Having your hood up in class is against the school rule, but Hayden does it and nobody stops him. I honestly think it's because they're too intimidated to talk to him. He's not really that scary once you think about it. He just chooses not to talk to people, so that makes him intimidating, apparently.
Hayden looks up from his worksheet to me. I quickly dart my eyes up to the clock, suddenly desperate to get out of class.
So much for him not being intimidating.
I feel his eyes burning holes in the side of my head. Heat rises from my neck up to my cheeks, making my whole face hot.
"Excuse me," he says, his voice hoarse. I give a sharp intake of breath and turn my head slightly towards him.
"Didn't you mom ever tell you it's rude to stare?" His brown eyes don't break contact with mine.
"Didn't yours?" I ask, shocking myself with the confidence in my voice.
The corners of his mouth pull upwards slightly but drop back down into a straight line. He looks back at his worksheet and continues doing his work, so I do the same.
I finish up the last problem just as the bell rings. As I pass by Mr. Lee's desk I turn in my worksheet and walk out the door, where Amelia stands to wait for me.
"So, what did you do today?" She asks.
"We had to read pages 211 through 215 and then finish a worksheet about it. Pretty easy if you ask me." We stop at my locker so I put in the combination and open it up. Taking my books out for my next class, the only one I share with Amelia, then close the locker.
"Oh yeah," I nudge Amelia with my elbow. "Guess what happened."
"Spill." She says, eyes glistening in excitement and anticipation.
"Well, you know Hayden Brown?" She nods swiftly. "You know, I was maybe just a little bit checking him out, and he caught me." Amelia's eyes widen slightly. "He told me it was rude to stare." I hear Amelia snicker, so I turn to slap her arm.
We turn into the classroom and take our seats. I take out my homework from the night before and set it on my desk.
The bell rings and the teacher Mrs. Jameson walks in.
"So, as you guys know, in this class we deal with some very serious topics. The one we are going to talk about this week is depression." I take a quick breath. I don't like talking about depression. It just makes mine worse.
"So today we'll talk about the basics. I'm going to show you guys some videos of people talking about depression." She goes to sit at her desk and pulls up a video on YouTube called "Jade Burke's depression story". Great, this will be so much fun.
Her story ends up a little like mine. She feels lonely, no good friends. Nobody cares, but in the end of the video she committed suicide.
By the end, tears are streaming down my cheeks and my face feels all puffy. Great. I probably look like a mess.
"Ok, tomorrow we will be getting deeper into the depths of depression." Mrs. Jameson goes on about all the random things she talks about at the end of the day.
I look up and realize that I have the feeling of being watched. I scan my eyes across the room, looking for the culprit. My eyes meet with Hayden's. I didn't even know we had this class together. He staring at me intently, his mouth turning down into a frown.
The bell rings and I get up quickly, dragging Amelia along with me.
"Slow down Olivia!" She pulls back on my arm, making my speed slow.
"What's up?" She asks suspiciously. I look around us quickly, checking to make sure Hayden is no where in sight. When I'm sure the coast is clear, I look to her.
"Hayden was staring at me, but something seemed off. He was frowning." I feel myself frown at the thought. What was he frowning at?
Suddenly I realize something. We were watching a depression video. I'm depressed. Depressed me+depression videos=more depressed me.
I feel the blood drain from my face and I feel suddenly nauseous.
"I have to go," I get out quickly, before bolting to the nearest bathroom. I turn on the faucet, cleaning the makeup off my face.
Oh shiz, this is bad. Hayden could have found out about my depression. He could tell people, I could be bullied, and bullying would just make it worse! I have to come up with a plan.
I probably shouldn't skip class. I still feel pretty nauseous though, so maybe I should go to the nurse's office. I get out of the bathroom and start heading to where the office is.
Ok, so Hayden and I have at least two classes together. I'm pretty sure we don't have anymore though. I'll try to avoid him and ignore any contact with him. I haven't actually talked to him besides today, so maybe that's just a one time thing. Hopefully.
Suddenly I run into a wall. Wait a second, why does this wall smell vaguely of mints and cologne? As I look up from the ground I feel myself paling again.
The wall that I just ran into is actually not a wall, but Hayden. Man, Monday's are the best! He gives me his hand to help me get up, but I don't take it. I have to ignore him and act like he's not there, I have to stay with my plan.
"Haha," I laugh awkwardly. "Seems like walls are just popping up everywhere these days." Hayden makes a confused face but doesn't say anything. I take it as my chance to escape.
I quickly walk away but hear him call after me. I hear his footsteps not too far behind me, so I start jogging down the hallway. Whoops, a school rule has been broken.
Hey, this is actually fun! I should run down school halls more often.
My feet tangle up and I go sprawling through the air, landing in the ground with a hard thud. Good thing I'm not feeling nauseous anymore. This would have been the death of my stomach.
I hear Hayden's footsteps getting closer and closer. How is he not breathing heavily? I'm like a dying pig over here!
His face comes into view and I panic. My wonderful plan is about to be ruined, thanks to my stupid clumsiness! My breathing becomes shallow from my anxiety and I do the only thing that can save me right now.
I faint.
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Saving Olivia
Teen Fiction(Completed) "Excuse me," he says, his voice hoarse. I give a sharp intake of breath and turn my head slightly towards him. "Didn't you mom ever tell you it's rude to stare?" Olivia Allen is in her last year of high school. Four years without being...
