My Name is Andrew Lee Cooper.

Chapter Five

"Hey, you're Elliott, aren't you?" I can see they're still drowning in embarrassment. I don't blame them. I offer my hand to them after they take the papers and shove them in their bag. They look up at me. They look doe-eyed and fragile in this state.

"Yeah. And you're..." they pause, taking my hand. I pull them to their feet. "Lily?" I bite my lip. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Don't say anything. You don't deserve an outlet.

"Um, yeah, that's me." I grin awkwardly at them. We both stand there for a few seconds; unsure of where to go from here. I look past them, eyeing one last paper. I pass him and grab it off the ground. It's of a girl with bangs and short hair; she's looking into the distance with a small smile. I hand it to Elliott.

"Your art is amazing by the way, I try but I can't ever do as good as that." They grin.

"Thank you. I'm sure yours is good, too." I shrug, rolling me eyes.

"It's okay, I guess." They finish stuffing things into their bag and they zip it shut, slinging it over their shoulder. I notice the halls are practically empty, so class must start soon. There's a girl and a guy holding hands and smiling at each other down the hall a ways; they kiss and separate, the girl passing us and the guy walking further away. A few kids from my class scramble down the hall, obviously lost.

"I, uh, gotta get to class. Thanks again, by the way." They mumble.

"Yeah, no problem." They pass me and walk down the hall, eventually turning out of sight. I start to walk towards my next class, but then the bell rings before I can reach it. Sighing, I quicken my pace. I can just say I got lost. I pass door after door, looking for my class. Finally I find it, and it's the class that's basically right across from the library. I rush in, and everyone is sitting down. They all stare, and the teacher turns to face me.

"I got lost." I mumble. I see someone wave at me and it's Riley, a friend of mine. We don't talk much, but we used to talk a lot. We need to talk more.

There's an empty seat next to her and I rush over. I sit down, my heart beating out of my chest. The teacher continues with what she was talking about before I rushed in; something about her and her life and her kids.

"Hey, I'm so glad you have this class." Riley whispers to me. "I thought I'd be alone in here." I silently agree.

"Yeah." I grab out my folder for this class, along with a pencil. "It's good to see you, I'm glad we have a class together." I add. We both go silent as the teacher continues speaking, talking about the class and assignments and tools and other things. I take this time to calm myself and soak in my surroundings. We all sit at tables with three to four people at each, and the tables are a blue-gray color. The floor is tile, and cupboards line one of the walls. There is a door leading outside on the next wall, along with windows, and the teacher's desk, the entry door, and a whiteboard are on the other. Riley and I sit with two upperclassmen girls who obviously know each other but don't care for us in the slightest. I can relate.

The rest of my last hour goes by really fast, again with the syllabi and rules. The final bell rings and we stack our chairs on top of the tables and gather our things.

"Hey, Lily, text me. We need to start talking more!" Riley calls to me. Nodding, I sling my bag over my shoulder and thank God the day is over. I rush into the hall and turn left, passing the commons and going into the pool hallway to the doors where the busses wait. I remember calling the bus garage a few days ago and asking what bus number I had; they had said thirty-three would take me to my stop at the pizza place down the street from my house. I exit the school, the busses in view. Kids file inside each of the four busses that are lined up in front of the sidewalk. Seeing thirty-three, I walk towards it. A lady, in maybe her mid-thirties, who has strawberry blonde hair has one hand on the wheel, and in the other she types something. She looks up and sees me. Waving, I walk on and sit in the front seat behind her. More and more students file on, all passing me and going to the very back. None of my friends get on, only upperclassmen and a few jocks from my grade. Then, finally, a familiar face gets on; Steven and his little brother John.