We're Not Alone

Chapter 5

The bell rings and I gather my stuff, only one more period and then lunch. I stand up a little too fast, hitting my thigh on the desk and wincing in pain, the red splotch from last night now a deep purple bruise, after I hit it one too many times. I shake it off and head out the door, handing my paper to my teacher.

The first three classes have gone the same as yesterday, a little small talk, and a few assignments. I walk to Biology, getting there before anyone else, I sit down in the same spot as yesterday. When the bell rings Leo isn't here, i'm not sure if he's late like normal or if he's skipping.

Mr.Hart starts explaining that today we're doing a basic lab, just to practice using the microscope, in case anyone forgot since last year. He has us turn on the microscopes and goes over the basics then passes out a worksheet, he explains this is a partner project, so there is 1 worksheet for each group, and reminds us to put both our names on it. I glance around, everyone else is in class today so I'm the only one without a partner. When he reaches my table he pauses after handing me the paper

"Since your lab partner is absent, you can either do the lab by yourself or you can join another group and the three of you can do it together. Which would you prefer?" I quickly glance at the worksheet, and see it's pretty basic, I give Mr.Hart a quick smile "I'll work alone," he nods and finishes passing out the papers.

I basically just have to add dye to a few slides, and look at the cells under the microscope, then draw and label what I see. There's 10 slides total. I get through the first 2 quickly, when I hear the door open, I glance up and see Leo walk in. He hands a late pass to Mr.Hart then makes his way over to the table.

I give him a small smile "Hey," to my surprise he returns the smile, "hey, I'm sorry I'm late," he tosses his bag on the floor and sits on the stool next to me, "Don't worry about it, we just have to turn in one paper that we do together," I push the paper and pencil towards him "here, add your name." He takes the pencil, glancing at the worksheet "We basically just have to add the iodine to the slides, and then draw what we see in the microscope and label the different structures." Once I'm done talking, he nods and I slide the third slide into the microscope after carefully dropping the brown liquid onto the slide. I quickly draw what I see, and start to label the drawing, assuming by the way he's doodling in his notebook, he has no plans to help me.

To my surprise he digs in his bag for a pencil, putting away the red pen he was using and looks up at me "do you wanna draw what you see and I can label them?" I look up at him, "uh, yeah that would be great," I slide the paper to him, internally shocked he's helping "it's just plant cells right?" I nod "yeah, I wrote a list of the things we're supposed to label" I use my pencil to point at the top of the page where I had written it. He nods and starts labeling,

Without looking up he adds "you're good at drawing" I can't help but smile, "thanks, you too" I nod towards his open notebook that he's been sketching in he follows my line of vision till his eyes land on his drawings "eh I mainly just do them when i'm bored, nothing special." I shift my seat, having to stretch over the microscope to get the next slide "same here ''. We both have small smiles, before falling into comfortable silence.

We don't speak for the rest of the class, taking turns passing the paper back and forth, me drawing and him labeling. We finish right before the bell rings, while I put my notebook back in my bag he grabs the worksheet, "I'll turn it in." I look up and before I can say okay he's already out of ear shot, handing the paper in and disappearing into the crowded hallway.

The rest of the day is identical to yesterday, reading in the library during lunch, history and math passing quickly, Tommy and Zeke following behind me to my car. Noah had asked me to drive them again.

The three of us hop in the car, waiting for Noah and Max, my phone lights up, I tilt the screen towards me to check the notification. It's my mom texting me and Noah to ask if one of us can stop at the store and get milk, strawberries, and flour. Evidently she's making tarts for her office tomorrow, I respond letting her know I can and start the engine as Noah and Max get in.

They both say hi, Tommy pulling Max in his and Zeke's daily heated discussion. I glance at Noah. "Mom needs one of us to stop at the store,I'm just gonna do it on the way home, okay?" he nods "yeah that's fine." He turns around and lets the guys know, but I'm willing to bet they didn't hear him. That thought is proven when they all look up in confusion as I pull into the local trader joe's parking lot.

Noah informs them that he already told them about the stop, Tommy shrugs and goes back to his argument. I glance In the rearview mirror "Does anyone want anything?" Noah looks at me "Can you grab me one of those canned vanilla lattes?" This apparently gets the guy's attention, as there's a chorus of "I'll have one too." I laugh "I'll pay you back later" I just nod at Noah and head into the store.

I go to the produce section first, grabbing the strawberries. I suddenly feel dizzy, I grab the edge of an aisle and steady myself. I think back to today, I skipped breakfast because I wasn't hungry and I skipped lunch too. "Shit" I mutter to myself, I recall the past week, realizing it's getting bad again. I haven't eaten more than 1 meal a day in a week. I go through waves of it getting better and worse, and sometimes I slip into the habits without noticing.

I think of how gross I felt looking in the mirror this morning, moms making dinner so you have to eat then, so you can't eat anything big now. I know this isn't healthy but my brain pushes away any logic, my reflection from this morning in my memory, reminiscing on how proud I feel when I skip meals.

I stand up straight and grab a pomegranate, then head to get flour, and milk. I find myself in the drink aisle, picking out 5 vanilla lattes, before glancing at the calories and switching mine out for a plain vanilla cold brew, just black coffee with vanilla flavor. I check out and head to the car, handing the lattes to each guy, which earns a collective "Thank you," from the back. I give Noah his latte, and grab my drink, before handing him the bag to hold in his lap.

"You're the best sister, thank you" he smiles and I chuckle and put my seat belt on, and open my coffee. Noah glances up at me "I thought you loved the lattes, why did you get yourself black coffee?" I shrug, "I don't know, It has vanilla flavor, so it can't be too bad, I just wanted to see what it tastes like." Thankfully he's satisfied with my answer and I start pulling out of the parking lot.

Apparently in the time I've been in the store their conversation has changed from soccer matches, to debating if a hot dog is a sandwich or not, Max, Zeke, and Noah all agreeing it is, Tommy adamant it isn't. "Scarlett, come on, someone has to side with me, is a hotdog a sandwich or not?" I look at him through the rearview mirror and chuckle "sorry Tommy I'm gonna have to go with the others on this, a hotdog is definitely a sandwich." Max and Zeke cheer while Noah laughs at Tommy, who looks like he just learned Santa isn't real, but quickly recovers, moving onto the next topic.

Once we get home I put the groceries away, cutting open the pomegranate, dumping the seeds into a bowl. I clean up the mess and head to my room, with my bowl in hand. I stay there until my mom calls me down for dinner. I'm not sure when Noah's friends left, or when my parents got home, but when I make it to the kitchen, I find Noah setting the table, my mom and Dad talking about their days.

My mom glances up when she hears me walk in, "Hi sweetie! Noah is setting the table, but if you could bring this to the table that would be great." I smile and give her a nod before turning to my dad. We chat for a minute, saying hello and asking about his day, and then I grab the bowls my mom had been pointing to, and take them to the table, sliding down in my chair. I help myself to a small serving of the vegetable and tofu stir-fry, pushing on my thigh with each bite. We talk about everyone's day, and then play a few board games before everyone retreats to bed.

I knock on Noah's door and let him know he should drive himself to school tomorrow, because I have work right after school, he complains but agrees. I head back to my room, showering, and fall into bed, exhausted.