A Little Death ; 5sos

two

After making absolutely no friends at school, Elaine slowly walked to her therapy session by herself.

She was dreading it because 1. she could be scrolling through Tumblr eating peanut butter off a spoon while in the comfort of her bed, and 2. she had to socialize.

Elaine noticed that the clouds were clearing up from the sky, leaving it's beautiful azure color visible. She has always liked gloomy weather though. It was the perfect time to sit down and read a good book or watch a good movie.

Soon enough, the girl approached a giant brick building and walked inside. Automatically, she was greeted by a blanket of cool air surrounding her.

As she drew near the room where she was supposed to meet with a new therapist and some other teenagers, she began to grow the slightest bit nervous. She was never good with meeting new people. Elaine was just a naturally awkward person.

The plastic, school-like chairs were pushed into a circle in the middle of the room, which looked like a smaller version of a school cafeteria. With it's cinder-block walls coated with thick layers of white paint and the matching white linoleum floor, the place looked the least bit welcoming.

Elaine sat down and started reading yet another John Green book. He was her favorite author. Yes, it was a little cliché that she liked him (doesn't every teenager?).

It was difficult to read in the dingy lighting of the space. You would think that the walls would light up the place because of how seemingly-luminous and bleached they were, but almost all of the fluorescent lights that were hanging from the ceiling were burnt out, making the place look especially sketchy.

Elaine wasn't really paying attention to what was happening in the group discussion, that is, until her name was called upon.

"Huh?" she meekly replied to the middle-aged counselor while lifting her head up from "An Abundance of Katherines."

The man wore a bored expression on his face, which matched his beer belly and pepper colored hair. Overall, the counselor looked like a bum (which he more than likely was).

Elaine found his appearance quite amusing actually; he was supposed to be getting these kid's lives back on track when he looked like his own life wasn't in order. His mismatched socks and food stains on his tie further confirmed her idea.

"I said," he sighed, "can you please introduce yourself to the group." It sounded more like a statement than a question to her.

"Hi...well, umm... I'm Elaine..." She slowly explained with her gentle voice.

There wasn't much to say about herself, so she just left it at that.

"Hi Elaine," the group chorused.

She looked around the group. It was just the regular, bored looking teenagers that looked like their parents had forced them to come here, which they probably did.

No one seemed interesting to her.

The banal kids were either nodding off to sleep or just staring at those weird stringy things in the air (the ones that aren't really there, but your mind tricks you into believing that they are).

The dim lighting made their faces look gray and almost sickly. None of them displayed smiles on their faces, which didn't surprise Elaine at all.

She was just about to return to her book when a boy with bright blues eyes caught her attention. The electric eyes were accompanied by light blonde hair styled into a high quiff, and a metal lip ring pierced through his bottom lip. His black jeans matched Elaine's and mud covered his all-black Converse.

His features made him look like a surfer dude, but his clothes would make you think otherwise. The boy was gorgeous to say the least and it was fascinating how radiant he seemed to appear, even in the dingy lighting.

"Ok, you guys can talk freely now." The bovine councilor spoke, snapping Elaine out of her daze.

So much for counseling us.

"Hi, I'm Luke. What book are you reading?" the boy Elaine was previously staring at whispered into her ear from behind, scaring her.

"...Wha-" he caught her off guard by sneaking up on her.

By now, the rest of the therapy circle had broken off into it's own groups and started chatting amongst each other.

Well, more like occasionally mumbling words at each other.

Luke took the book right out Elaine's hands and started flipping through it.

"An Abundance of Katherines- John Green." He mumbled out quickly while reading the front cover. "Hmm... Never heard of it. I'm actually more into music rather than books." The boy admitted.

"Oh?" Elaine finally spoke up with raised eyebrows.

"If you don't mind me asking, why is a pretty girl like you at a therapy group like this?" Luke inquired while handing Elaine the book back with one hand and motioning to the humdrum circle of kids with the other.

Elaine paused for a second,"That's kind of a personal question, don't you think?"

"Eh, I don't mind," the tall boy started, "I'm here because I tried to kill myself about a year ago."

The pair sat in silence for a moment.

"So what kind of music are you into?" Elaine questioned, attempting to break the awkwardness that surrounded them.

Somehow, Elaine succeeded and with those words they ended up talking non-stop for the rest of the night.

Luke wasn't normally this talkative or enthusiastic; he was usually shy and reserved, but there was something about Elaine.

Neither of them made friends easily, so it was very peculiar how well they got on together.

"Can I walk you home?" Luke asked Elaine at the end of the group. He pushed his hands into his pockets nervously, losing his gregarious attitude from before.

Elaine simply nodded and then led the way to her small house. They talked even more on their way and then bid farewell to each other at Elaine's doorstep.

That night, Elaine stayed up thinking about the cryptic boy who was now her new, and only, friend.