Taken By Sleep

3

Tyler and I have our first period together, and the teacher was creative enough to assign everyone's seats alphabetically. Unfortunately, I'm at the end of the row, so Tyler is right behind me. He whispers stuff during class that only I can hear, kicks my desk, plays with my hair, and is all around distracting as hell. Before class starts, I sit sideways in my seat to talk to him.

"How was the appointment?" he asks.

"Same as always." I shrug.

"Did you tell her..." He trails off, glancing at my wrists. At least, I assume he's glancing at my wrists.

"No." He knew the answer. I don't know why he asked the question.

"Okay. Are you ready for the quiz?" I like that he never stays on the subject for too long. It's like he can anticipate when I'll start to get angry with him for asking too many questions or acting like he understands. That's why I can feel safe talking to him: he knows me well enough to understand when to stop.

"I hope so. I only understood half of what was happening in the book."

"But the reading quizzes are always easy."

"Yeah..."

The bell rings, so I turn back around. The teacher announces the quiz, and some other kids groan or start to complain. Mr. Kai just passes out sheets of paper. I pull a pencil out of my backpack and wait for the quiz, hoping it's about things I understood. I'm pretty sure Nathaniel Hawthorne didn't really know English. Now that I think about it, I can barely remember anything that happened. What did I read? What did Tyler read?

I force myself to ignore the rest of the page as I write my name at the top. Then I slowly move my eyes down until they reach number one.

Thankfully, it's just on basic plot, and it's multiple choice. There are only ten questions, which I feel relatively confident about. When I'm done, I flip the paper over like Mr. Kai tells us to do. The second I sit back in my chair, I feel something move my hair. I reach back, hoping it's not a fly or anything. I touch skin and realize it's just Tyler. I can't turn around or Mr. Kai will think I'm cheating, so I push Tyler's hand away. He grabs some of my hair and flips it over my head when the teacher isn't looking. Then he stops. I lean forward so he can't do anything else.

I feel something against my leg and look down. I roll my eyes when I realize he somehow stretched his foot all the way to my chair. I glance at Mr. Kai to make sure he's occupied before turning around and rolling my eyes at Tyler. He has a stupid grin on his face, which turns to one of sarcastic innocence. He mouths, "What?" I just roll my eyes again and face forward, shoving his foot away.

Once Mr. Kai collects everyone's papers, he starts going over the questions, calling on people to answer them. So far, I think I've gotten them right.

"Number five. What does Pearl draw on herself with eel-grass? A. A tree, B. The letter A, or C. Nothing." He glances around the classroom. Some people raise their hands, but I stare at my desk, trying to pretend I'm invisible. "Tyler?"

My head snaps up. My eyes meet Mr. Kai's. I feel my heart start to pound. I shouldn't be this nervous to answer a question, but I am.

"B," a voice says from behind me. I look back.

"Joseph, I was talking to Tyler." He decided to call Tyler by his last name to avoid confusion, like everyone does, but I guess Tyler forgot.

"Sorry." He looks down.

"Yes, B is the right answer." He doesn't give me the next question, which makes me grateful. I don't remember all the answers I put, but I try not to think about it. If I think too much about it, it will just eat at me until I get unnecessarily worried.

I wonder if Tyler answered for me on purpose. He doesn't usually forget people calling him Joseph. Any time he's with me, everyone just calls him Joseph. He's used to it. I roll my eyes at myself. It really doesn't matter.

Once the bell rings and everyone walks out, Tyler walks next to me. "Sorry I stole your spotlight, Tyler," he says to me.

"You just wanted to impress him," I say.

"When you're good at a class, you want the teacher to like you. That's how it works," he replies snobbishly.

"So you butt in and answer other people's questions."

"Yup. See you later." He turns down a hallway to his next class. I head to Art class.

I still don't know if he did it to help me or not. I hesitated long enough for anyone to know I was struggling with the question. It kind of makes me feel like a helpless puppy. If I need him to help me with everyday things, normal things, then how weak am I?

I bite my lip as I remember the lines on my wrists. Very weak.

I walk into the art classroom and take my seat next to my friend Carol.

"Hi." She smiles at me.

Why am I not smiling? Should I be smiling? Is that normal? I smile at her. Great, now I feel fake.

"How are you?" she asks.

"I'm good." I'm a liar. But what do I say? "What about you?"

"I'm good too."

It's the same answer everyone gives. But it works, because no one asks any questions. Nobody cares.

There goes my brain. I try to make it concentrate on art class, not the deep sociological questions nobody says out loud.

I roll my eyes at myself. I concentrate on the charcoal drawing of a lake I'm doing. I'm so concentrated I don't notice when Carol tries to strike up a conversation. Eventually, she gives up. I feel kind of guilty, but I need this distraction right now.

Five minutes from the end of class, the teacher tells everyone to clean up. I find my way to a sink to wash the charcoal off my fingers and then put my drawing away for now.

When the bell rings, I exit the classroom with Carol.

__________________

another chapter! yay! thank you everyone who votes or comments. :)