The Lies We Share ✔

Chapter 1

The morning sun crept out from beneath the clouds. When light came in at the right time of day even the dreariest of classrooms could look beautiful.

The dull, unforgiving math class looked renewed and less congested somehow. The way light brought life into a room was unimaginably brilliant. The cold drifted off Laura's shoulders as she sat in the back of Ms. Samson's class.

The scene was set, and all was calm.

Laura was supposed to be working on homework, but her mind wandered down a trail of nonsense. A new day of school approached, and the possibilities were endless because Laura had felt alive, even when she knew she shouldn't. After all, she was a turbulent adolescent with high hopes and no way to reach them.

Everyone in the room had grouped up to work on homework, except for her. She was the girl left deserted in her corner away from everyone else. Much like a petulant child who got in trouble for eating pencil erasers, she stayed in her own personal timeout corner.

The only difference between Laura and that child was she had chosen this spot, away from everyone else, she was practicing self-inflicted isolation. Giggles and mundane chat swept throughout the classroom.

Laura wanted to get out of school and enjoy this new day, but the clock moved at a miserably slow pace. It almost appeared as if it had moved backward. Laura checked the time again and realized she had read the time wrong. She groaned; she still had another hour left. Laura distracted herself further by listening to the gossip of her fellow peers.

Though she was far away from most, she was within earshot of the people two seats in front of her. They were whispering back and forth to each other, playing a game of tug of war with words.

She figured this was very interesting considering how everyone else during work time was practically screaming. The conversation they were having was one they wanted to keep secret.

"I'm so sorry, Elise! Listen, I'll make it up to you."

It was Todd, a boy who moved to this town a year ago. Laura had seen him around her neighborhood.

She let herself look up for just a moment. Todd's face looked stressed as he awaited Elise's reply. Laura ran her eyes down to his hands and noticed how he cracked his knuckles nervously. Todd seemed to look anywhere but at Elise. His eyes then drifted onto Laura and narrowed. Laura was surprised he had noticed her, and broke eye contact immediately, shifting her gaze down to her homework.

Laura could tell Todd didn't mean it. She smirked as she saw Elise, whom Laura had always pictured as a naïve and innocent girl, flip him off, and jolt her desk away from him. People around them stirred to look toward the screeching noise of the desk over the linoleum, but then went back to work as normal, now a bit quieter, curious as to the boy's next move.

Laura looked at Todd, his face was flush with malice. What could have caused such a happy couple to fight?

Todd's eyes turned from Elise to Laura, and a look of realization came over his face as he noticed that Laura had seen the whole rejection. Laura rolled her eyes and looked away. But she still felt his gaze burning a hole into her head.

Laura always knew when someone was lying. She was observant to the point of annoying those around her. People got sick of her attitude, but she was not going to let others bring her down to their level. The beauty of the day wouldn't lie, and she was not going to get involved. This she told herself and the world would listen.

The rest of class passed by as if the day wanted the next sequences of her life to unfold. Immediately after she walked out into the hallway, she felt an unwelcome hand on her wrist. She tried to loosen the grip, but it pulled her into an alcove in the hallway.