HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

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365 days. 

Exactly a year. 

 He had exactly a year before he died, what a shame. Most people had over a couple of thousand days left before the died, I only pitied who had under a year. Seeing strangers' death watch wasn't that much of a deal. They were strangers. I think what really bothers me about this was silently counting down all my friends' days. However, nowadays, this wasn't much of a problem, considering I didn't have friends. Walking down the street, I read all the numbers on top of people's heads. 

 6,494. 

10,392.

 6,236.

 2,901.

 8,821. 

33,121. This was a baby, she was probably 3-9 months old, which is why she has a lot to live. Too many numbers, so many days. I couldn't possibly read every number, but numbers less than 3 digits catch my eye. It wasn't likely I find those, especially a one digit number.

 A blond guy with an oversized hoodie had the number 1 floating above his head. There were bags under his eyes, and goosebumps on whatever was visible of his skin. Black skinny jeans hugged his legs, and he seemed unaware of my gaze. His skin was far too pale, in contrast to his all-black outfit. I could tell he was a little different in a way that nobody could notice, maybe in the way he held his gaze to the floor and none else. I couldn't stand to know he had a day left on this world, no matter how much of a stranger he was, and even though I only took one glance at him, I could tell he wouldn't die of natural causes. I shut my eyes tight, and put my head down, letting loose strands of my hair fall on my face. 

After a minute's wait, I looked up, and walked up to the blond guy, he was far ahead, and I had to fasten my pace to catch up to him. "Hey!" I yelled, trying to catch his attention, but it remained towards the gray pavement. "Hey, boy!" 

 The boy snapped his head in my direction and raised an eyebrow, I smiled, and walked a little closer. "You seemed like you were having a bad day, and I just wanted to tell you that somebody out there loves you, and you're worth it." 

He smiled, and I saw the 1 above his head flicker slightly, then it changed to a 2, then to a 1, and it kept changing from 1 to 2 for a second, before it finally became stable on a 2. I smiled back. 

His smiled bigger, "thanks, really." He began to walk away, and I yelled out, "don't do anything!"

 The 2 changed to a 3. 

 [[//]] 

 "Don't forget to do Chapter 4 Lesson 5 section review, guys! I'm free for tutoring half an hour before school starts, so you could see me here. The bell should ring any minute, once it does, you are dismissed." As if on cue, the bell rang.

 We all left the class, some of us walking in pairs, while others remained alone. I made my way to the gymnasium, but since my class was the furthest away from the gym, I had to run in order to make it there on time. I reached the girls' locker room, but the door was shut. I leaned my back against the wall, gasping for breath. I was late. I walked to the main entrance of the gym and sighed, everybody would be looking at me and I couldn't handle all the attention. I didn't feel like wearing the gym shorts and playing today, so I sat down on the bleachers. A girl was already sitting there, she smiled towards me. 

Her number read 24,920 days left. That was around 60 years. When I first found out what the numbers meant, I spent days calculating days into years, so I could have the slightest idea of how many years you'd be living. Unfortunately, I couldn't see my own number. No matter how many times I try reflecting my head on any surface. It just wasn't possible. I decided this was a positive thing considering it would be really scary knowing when I am to die. Still, curiosity gets to me most of the time.