❝ I don't even know why I even think of him so much, but I do, and it hurts.❞
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A boy by the name of Lucas Middleton dies of a terminal illness, and with an assembly in school, his death changes the lives of a peculiar group of people.
A story that...
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ISABELLA
CHAPTER ONE - "ASSEMBLY"
OCTOBER 1ST, MONDAY
"WHY WOULD THERE just be a random assembly in the middle of a lesson?" I heard someone question among the loud chatter as I walked down the steps that led to the speech hall, groaning as I realised what was in front of me.
"Well, fuck me," I mumbled under my breath.
Trying not to immediately off myself at the sight of people, I blended and made my way into the giant group of students who were lining up in front of the wooden doors, waiting for the students in front of them to declutter and spread, allowing us space to go into the hall and take our respective seats on the benches.
I yawned, silently regretting staying up until three to binge watch some random show I found on Netflix.
Suddenly, I was shoved backwards, pushing my back flush against someone's chest, and stepping on their foot at the same time.
Fantastic.
I panicked, a million thoughts and apologies running through my head. I looked down at the tiled floor, avoiding the person's gaze at all cost and quietly mumbled a, "Sorry," under my breath, not wanting to draw the attention of the surrounding people.
Five minutes without causing a social-interaction related incident? Not on my watch, apparently.
I shuffled through the crowd in a quick pace, bumping into some people and mumbling multiple apologies without looking at the people's faces, wanting to get as far away from the person I ran into and avoid any other further embarrassment.
After looking through the crowd and making sure that I am as far as humanly possible from the person I bumped into, I took a deep breath and felt my cheeks turning warmer and warmer.
As I slowly melted into a puddle of shame, contemplating my existence, I repeated the scene in my head, playing it over and over again as I fidgeted and fumbled with the sleeves of my sweatshirt nervously, my palms getting sweaty and clammy.
Eyes darting around the entire room, the usual steady beat of my heartbeat sped up and became faster, as loud as drums in my ears, deafening beat after beat ringing and ringing like a never-ending metronome.
Ah, the perks of being a new student with crippling social anxiety.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, waiting anxiously for the people to move as I chewed on my already short nails.
After a while of people murmuring to each other and others just standing in place, not moving an inch, the students in front of us that were inside the hall found themselves benches to sit on, resulting in the long queue finally moving after what seemed like a billion light years.
