All My Friends Are Dead

"You know, this is a school. Not a fashion show," Jen huffs.

Jen is really cute, she's like everyone's little sister. Clearly, she doesn't like Rosaline probably because she wishes puberty would hit her the same way.

"Who cares, she can step on me all she wants with those heels," Cody says staring at her ass.

The bell rings, it's the first period with Mr. Welch.

"C'mon, Nathan!" Jen calls, dragging my arm. I begin to leave, but I realized that Kyle hasn't said anything.

Kyle Kalani Hardin is the loud one in the group. He also has the biggest heart. So, it's weird that he didn't say anything.

...

"Hey Nathan, want to see pictures of Coco? She's so cute. Earlier today I fed her coconut and now she's coo coo for coconuts," Jen squeals.

I remain distracted. Kyle is going to die, there is no doubt in my mind. Does he know that too? Is that why he was acting weird? Or maybe it's just in my head, sometimes when he's studying, he doesn't really pay attention to the conversation.

Jen stops talking and she looks upset, maybe a little sad. "Okay, I see that you're not interested. I'll talk to you later," she leaves to take her seat.

"Okay class, today we start with a quote. 'Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth' by Marcus Aurelius. What does that mean to you?" Mr. Welch questions.

I can see him scanning the room full of Seniors and realizing that we're still half asleep to be talking about philosophy. I also see the disappointment on his face as he waits there patiently until someone answers.

"It's Socrates. There is only one good which is knowledge and only one evil, ignorance," I answer.

Mr. Welch smiles. "Nathan, yes, one can take the quote that way. What about this, the truth is whatever someone believes in. The right and wrong thing, what is good or bad, varies from people to people. Who can say who is correct?"

"God?" a guy from the back questions. He got a few chuckles.

"Yeah but, we, in general, have an idea of what is good or bad. Is killing someone bad? Most people would say it is, so how can you say it's good when everyone else agrees it's not. The majority wins," Jen reasons.

Mr. Welch nods at people's answers. He has a personal philosophy to take any answer into consideration no matter how jokingly it is presented because it is an organic thought. "Does that mean we should stop thinking for ourselves? We have politicians, leaders who decide based on what they believe the people want. Yet, we don't agree with everything they say."

"Mr. Welch, we can think for ourselves, but what good would that do? People judge other people on what's correct or wrong. I mean you do it all the time grading our essays. There are just people whose opinion is better than others," I reason.

I can see the gears turning on Mr. Welch's head, this is about the time he segues into his lesson for the day. By the end of class, we would leave feeling to enlighten. The majority of the kids just take the class for an easy A because all we really have to do is show up and write down our thoughts. I'm actually surprised when people don't pass this class.

After a few classes, it's lunch period. We all go back to our usual spot; some just go straight to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. I see Ralph there first.