The Defenders

two.

Lily was more then happy when she saw Daisy and Ethan sitting at their usual table. She rushed over sitting down next Daisy. "Well? Why didn't they call me down? Are you alright? Derek is so cruel..." Lily had tons of questions rolling around her head and she couldn't help but ask them all. "Lily he's fine, he passed out is all." Daisy put her hand on the panicking girl's shoulder.

Lily sighed and got up, heading for the lunch line. "Want anything Daisy?" Lily asked. "Um yeah, sure. Can you get me an apple or something? Oh and a tea." Daisy replied. "Ethan do you want anything?" Daisy asked seeing he had no food in front of him. He shook his head. "You sure? They have pizza today and it's really good," Lily smiled. She loved pizza. "I'm good, thank you." He flashed a faint smile, barely visible. "Okay then," Lily got in the line and waited.

After getting her food and paying, Lily sat down at their table and handed Daisy her food. "Thanks," Daisy smiled. "No problem." Lily responded. Lily started to eat her pizza, trying extremely hard not to talk with her mouth full. "So, uh Ethan... Other than passing out in gym class, how has your day been?" Lily asked after swallowing a bite of pizza. He shrugged. "Well I hate it so far," Daisy stepped in, probably feeling uncomfortable. "Daisy, you already knew what to expect. You and I both know this school sucks." Lily said rolling her eyes. "I know... I just want to emphasize my hate levels for this school." Daisy took another bite of her apple.

They continued to chat about random things, their day, new movies, and what goes on outside of school. They had an hour long lunch, so they had the time. "So Daisy, wanna come over after school?" Lily asked. "Sure. Can Ethan come too?" Daisy responded while getting up to throw away her apple core. "I don't have a problem with that." Lily looked at Ethan waiting for a response. "I.. Uh... I don't know, I'll have to ask." He stuttered. "Okay, well do you have a phone? You know so I can text you or whatever." Daisy asked. Ethan nodded. They exchanged phone numbers and got up to leave the cafeteria.

When they returned to their lockers, they had about another five minutes until class started so they just talked more. Lily and Daisy doing most of the talking. Lily knew for sure Ethan was shy and she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable, but she did want to know more about him. "Hey Ethan," He turned and faced her, now completely ignoring Daisy ranting about recycling. "What school did you go to before this one?" Lily asked. "Uh," he cleared his throat. The bell rang and Ethan sighed, being literally saved by the bell.

The group got up and grabbed their books. "You know I'm still expecting an answer, but if you don't want to tell me, that's fine." Lily smiled. Ethan slightly smiled back. They all went towards room 187, where study hall would be for the rest of the year. Although they wouldn't be in there long, they usually walked around the school, rarely ever doing homework. They walked into the room and were all surprised to see kids throwing paper and being extremely loud. What they weren't surprised to see though, was Mr. Smith, the nicest, most laid back teacher that has ever existed, and now apparently the new study hall monitor. Lily was so happy that they replaced Mrs. Frase, the old, mean, monitor with him. Plus Mr. Smith was the English teacher too.

They sat down in the three farthest seats in the back. Lily and Daisy both pulled out their phones and Ethan laid his head down. He started to think, which was something he hated doing because it brought him to think about the past and all the truths he could replace the lies with.

-A Small Collection of Ethan's Thoughts
• Why do these girls trust me?
• Can I trust them?
• It doesn't matter, I'll be switching schools soon enough.

Ethan was snapped out of his thoughts when Lily tapped his shoulder. He flinched. "Sorry to scare you," she muttered. "Daisy and I were going to take a walk around the school. Want to come? We can show you around a bit more." Ethan nodded his head. The group got up and walked towards Mr. Smith. "Hey Mr. Smith, this is Ethan, he's new here, would you mind if we show him around the school?" Daisy asked. "Hello Ethan, as you probably already know, I'm Mr. Smith. I teach math and monitor study hall. I think it would be a wonderful idea if you were to see more of the school." He smiled. "Great! Thanks Mr. Smith." Daisy smiled back as the group of kids left the noisy classroom.