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ONE - Amaya

"Coach!"
"Hey, Jada!"
"I've got my permission slip and I wanted to give it to you now, you know, before I forgot."
"Cool. See you at practice tomorrow, yeah?"
"Hey, Coach?"
"What's up?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm good. Have you been to get lunch yet?"
"No, not yet."
"I suggest you hurry up; you know what the queues can be like."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
"Bye, Jada." I let out a huge sigh as she closed the door to my office and skipped down the hallway. She's the purest soul I've ever met. In a way, she's like Noah; she doesn't quite fit in, but that doesn't stop her from being her happy, little self. You see, she has vitiligo. It's clear that there's not an exact "group" of people that she fits with. I see her at lunchtimes, and she never looks completely comfortable. Neither do the kids she's with, mind. I know teachers aren't supposed to have favourites, but (by no fault of ours) we do, and she's probably mine. God, I wish I could go back to when I was in school here. It's funny: I've always wanted to be an adult, but now that I've made it, I wish I could turn back time. I'd give the world to be able to see Avery and Aiden again: especially Avery. Our breakup was undoubtedly for the best, but I miss her so much. She's barely ever home and she never has time to message me anymore either. She and Aiden are literally everywhere. Avery's in so many big movies and Aiden's on the front of magazines and catalogues, but I can't say that I'm surprised he went into the modelling industry. And then there's Axel: we live in a small flat together, keeping eachother company. I don't know what I'd do without him. Neither of us have anyone else, so it's nice to be there for one another. Ever since Ma died, I feel extremely... alone. Outside of work, everyone in my life has all of a sudden disappeared. Even Oliver quit his job at Tilly's, so we very rarely see him and Ophelia now. Everything has changed so much in so little time. Scarlet was arrested for murder, but that doesn't change the fact that she killed my little brother. I stared longingly over to the picture of him on my desk. The tears that were forming in my eyes were soon forced into hiding at the gentle knocking on my door. "Come in." I called. The door creaked open, revealing the beautiful face of the newest English teacher. "Oh, Emelia. I didn't expect to see you here. How can I help?"
"I was wondering if you've seen whether or not... erm... Josiah is in today. I have to tell him something really important."
"Why would I know? I teach P.E, where boys and girls are separated."
"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry for bothering you."
"Emelia, why did you really come in here?"
"I wanted to make sure you're okay, Amaya. Whenever I see you, you always seem really down, and we all know what you've been through..."
"Define 'we'."
"All of the teachers. You and your friends were strong kids, and I admire you for that, but don't you think you should be able to move past it? Please at least talk to someone about it if it's troubling you."
"Look, I'm fine. I don't need to talk to anyone about anything, okay?"
"But-"
"No, I said I'm fine."
"O-okay."
"Thank you for caring, but I really don't need any help. I promise I'm all good." I forced a smile.
"Alright, well, you know where I am if you need me. See you 'round."
"Thank you." The door closed and I threw myself back in my chair. My hands covered my eyes like blankets, shutting out the world for a brief moment. Then, the sound of the bell dragged me up from my seat and out towards the field. "One more hour," I thought to myself. "Then you can rest."