as long as you care

ii. ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES

chapter two,

one of the lucky ones.

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[unedited] 2.

i guess the teachers never got the memo, because even though it was my first day back and i can barely even remember the subjects that were taught, my bag was filled with homework. 

the bag harshly tore my right shoulder, making me grow annoyed. i've been back for only three hours, how were they allowed to do this?

finally, it was my lunch hour. i grabbed the five dollars i shoved in my pocket this morning, and walked to the cafeteria.

i hated lunch. clay had a different lunch hour than i, so i suffered alone, eating next to crazy kids who could flip their eyelids. the thought of them made me shiver.

i stood in line, tapping my foot patiently and waiting for the girl in front of me to get her food. i held a red tray in my hand, observing the tasteless food. 

in the morning, i was way too lazy to pack myself a lunch. to conserve myself some energy, it would probably be a good idea to do it a night before, but i just wasn't willing to spend ten minutes on that.

i watched different teenagers sit in their groups. it was funny, actually, because all the same numbers sat together. the tens sat at one desk, sixes at another. i guess that's why i sat alone. because i was the only zero here.

smiling to the number-4 lunch lady, i handed her my bill, asking, "i'll take whatever that gets me."

she smiled back, nodding. "coming right up." and scooped some spaghetti into my plate. it seemed good enough.

thanking her sweetly, i trudged my way through the crowd of students, trying my best to find a table that wasn't already occupied. 

after searching for a good two minutes, i found a table in a far corner that was vacant. rolling my eyes to no one in particular, i sat down, getting myself comfortable. 

that was when i took notice of the students. there was a group of tens sitting together, laughing loudly about something i was too uninterested to care about. i also noticed the boy from earlier, looking awkward and out of place in between them all. 

he didn't really fit the "perfect" stereotype. maybe he was just one of the lucky ones.

i admired him from afar, growing silently fond of his short but sweet smile and oh-so-beautiful twinkling eyes. he didn't look that interested in the conversation the group was having, but he still listened intently.

i seemed to be staring too long, because soon enough, he was looking back. he recognized me from earlier.

it was a battle with our eyes. i was too afraid to look away, but too awkward to actually hold the connection. he removed my worries with a wink, forcing me to glance away. 

oh my god.

i haven't even heard his voice yet, but even with the small sight of him, my cheeks turned red.