Fifteen Minutes of Life

Chapter Three

I've only seen a few of his sketches, but it was enough to make me want to know what else he has hiding in that beautiful mind of his. A smile starts to form on my face as I see him sketching a sunset, my favorite thing to look at. I watch as his pencil slowly drifts across the page, and he effortlessly creates a human on the hill. The soft scratches on the page almost lull me back to sleep, until I notice the hair. A soft curl at the very end of the long ombre hair sets off a bell into my mind, and it's not until I notice that he has put a sea green streak into it that I realize it's me.

It only takes a moment, but I think back to when this happened. A smile forms on my pale lips and for a second, I'm happy. I'm sitting on top of the hill, my hair just get tossed in the air, but it doesn't matter. I'm at peace, and Lewis? Well, he does have a thing for taking pictures.

Snapping out of it, I lean over his shoulder and carefully trace one of the stray marks he created. He stiffens for a moment, then calms when he knows it's me. "I thought you only liked drawing real life moments. When they just happened."
He gives me a smile, something that warms my heart, "Well, sometimes the things that happened a long time ago matter more than the things happening right now."
My head snaps up and I give him a questioning look, "When did you decide to become a writer?"

He laughs, and once again I feel whole, "Eh, you know, I'm just that smart." he says while giving me a teasing look.

I roll my eyes and let go of him. Sitting down next to him, I grab a pen from my bag and write something on the back of my hand. Lewis reaches over and reads what I have wrote this time. "'The time for being sad is over.'' Hm, I like this one."

Looking at his hand wrapped around mine makes my heart thump just a little bit, and I close my eyes, "Yeah, I like this one too."

Suddenly, I feel him move just a little bit. I open my eyes just a bit and look in his direction. He hasn't let go of my hand, but with the other he is rummaging through his backpack. I hear him sigh a breath of relief when he finds what he is looking for. He pulls out his camera and turns back to me, "Close your eyes Tif." he says.

I sigh and close them again, returning to the position I was in. "What were you thinking about? Nevermind, just think about it again." he says.

I do, and the smile returns to my face. Lewis still hasn't let go of my hand, and it makes my stomach do a backflip. I hear the familiar click of the camera, and then the zipping of his backpack being opened up again. Opening my eyes, I see that he has put his camera back into his bag and is looking at me. When he sees that I've caught him, he blushes a bit and turns back to his notebook. I smile and carefully remove my hand from his, grinning even more when he looks at me questioningly. I shake my head and walk back up to the front of the classroom. "Ahem, may I have everyone's attention please?" I ask.

Instantly, I have all eyes on me and some of the faces they belong to are even smiling. I return their smiles and start speaking again, "Alright everyone, could you just raise your papers in the air so I can count and make sure that you have gotten it done?"

They all do and I quickly count them all in my head. "Perfect. All nine of you did it, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to come around and check them, I believe you all. We have about five minutes left so you are free to do whatever you would like while I put the attendance in."

The classroom erupts in cheers, and after a moment of loud noise, I get them to calm down to small whispers. It takes me just a moment, and soon enough, I've got the attendance in and the bell is seconds from ringing. I quickly manage to gather up my stuff before the deafening shrill pierces my ears. As I flinch, I feel Lewis's hand on my arm, leading me out of the screaming room. It takes us just a moment to get out of the room and away from the noise. Once we are out of the room, we silently walk down the stairs back towards the full gym. Lewis walks behind me, his hand is gently placed in the small of my back, making sure that I'm alright. Several people look at me and smile, some even say hello. It's just enough to make me smile.

As we walk into the gym, Lewis returns to his place beside me, but his hand doesn't move. We brace the loud chatters together and calmly walk in. Heads turn, and I hear people trying to call out to me, but Lewis doesn't allow it. He walks me straight to our spots, and doesn't let me go anywhere by myself. Once more, unfamiliar faces call out to me, trying to get my undivided attention, yet I can't hear them. Lewis has pulled my chair closer to him and has wrapped his arm around me. Snuggling into his side, I feel safer. Eyes fall on us for just a moment, then pass on by.

It takes a few minutes, but our principle finally comes onto the stage. "Hello seniors!"
Some kids catcall, others yell. Either way, the entire room erupts in a noise so loud, it could awake a dead person from their slumber. It take more than half of the teachers to calm is all down, but as soon as we are quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Our principle smiles, "Well, isn't this familiar? Weren't we just here for freshman orientation? Or was that, hm, four years ago."

Louis shifts, so he can pull me closer to him. I lose focus for a second, then return back to reality, "--therefore this Friday night, I ask that you come back to school to practice walking and all of that fun stuff. Your graduation ceremony will be Saturday morning at nine and then your party will be Saturday night, starting at seven. Does anyone have any questions?"

Hands shoot up, and with that, I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. For a few minutes, that's all I do. Breathe in, and back out. Lewis rubs his thumb in circles on my arm, reminding me that he is still there. With a final deep breath, I sit up, facing some classmates who were staring at us. It took a couple of glares from Lewis and I to make them turn away. Turning my focus back to the principal, I relax a bit, knowing that soon, I won't have to worry about school.