A Simple Folded Paper

6

Monday and Tuesday, so far so good. Just like on Monday, Lauren went to her locker after lunch and, for her surprise, she had a note.

You're so different from everyone I know.
I quite like it.

Lauren scribbled a 10 on the paper and put it inside her book.

Since the beginning of that week, when she passed in the hallways or was in classes, Lauren made sure to look at whoever was around her. She hoped she would see someone looking at her or seeing her reaction when she went to her locker.

To her dismay, she saw nobody looking at her. Not that she wasn't used to it, but Lauren really wanted to meet the person behind the cute lame notes.

So, her conclusion was that she would have to wait until the person actually wanted to reveal herself.

Thursday came pretty fast. The week had not been too boring nor she had much work to do.

The morning started with the note number 11.

I'd really like to replace my pillow and blankets
with you sometime.
Or all the time.
Or just on the weekends.
But I prefer if it's all the time.

Lauren didn't even know what reaction she should have. It was always a mixture of embarrassment and adoration. Every note she received, would make even more difficult the task of not to be blushing and smiling for the rest of the day.

She made her way to her History class. The World War 2 was not something Lauren found interesting, so her mind kept shutting off what the teacher was saying and drifted off in thoughts.

Her household was worse every day and Lauren made a bet with herself that her parents would be divorced within 3 months. She wished her family would stop falling apart, that her parents would stop arguing and be there for her. They couldn't see that she was suffering enough with her little sister's death, although it had been over a year ago, and that she needed her parent's support.

They were a happy family once. But then her little sister died. Kim was just 3 years old, she was born with a severe breathing problem and the doctor gave her 5 years of life, maximum, when she was born. Although Lauren was always warned that her sister could die at any time, she held onto the hope that the little one was strong enough to make it through this.

She was not. Lauren's parents started to fight a lot when the little child died. Lauren never understood the root of the arguments, but she knew they would always ending up screaming and throwing stuff at one another. One time, her mother grabbed a plate and aimed to Lauren's father. Her aim, after all, was really bad and the plate would have hit Lauren in the face if she hadn't hidden behind a wall.

Lauren started to not like being at home. She couldn't read or study because she couldn't focus with all the noise, she couldn't listen to music because her mother would scream at her if Lauren's was called downstairs and this one didn't hear it due to the music, she couldn't watch TV because it meant that she had to go to the living room and being, literally, in the middle of her parent's fights.

So Lauren just started spending as much time as possible out of that house. Her grandmother's house and the park were her refugees, but she didn't want to spend too much time outside because she knew her little sister, Hannah, needed her to cover up the loud screams and things breaking.

Her mind drifted off to something happier now: the notes that she was receiving. Lauren was wondering how the person noticed her, what made them put notes in her locker, who the person was, etc.. Lauren really wanted to know who this person was because she sure was making Lauren doubt of her wanting-to-be-alone decision.

Each note made Lauren have a different reaction, yet it was the same as the others. It is difficult to explain, but she really really really liked the notes. Not because they said she was pretty or cute or whatever, but because they made her laugh and smile and forget about all the shit that was happening in her life.

The bell ringing interrupted her thoughts and Lauren got up from her seat to go to her next class. The next classes until lunch were her favorites and she had to block her thoughts about the mystery person so she could focus solely on learning.