A Table Away

The Lovely Bones

(A/N: I'm camping while writing this (I'm currently laying down on our trailers table that turns into a bed) and I have "The Lovely Bones" with me it really is an excellent book I highly recommend it.)
KEY:
Regular
Thoughts
Saiki's thoughts
----X----
Saiki's POV:

"My name was Salmon, like the fish, first name: Susie. I was fourteen-years-old when I was murdered on December 6th, 1973 . . ." Toruh read on in a neutral tone, concentrating on the words she was reading, eyes following every word and sentence with ease. For a second, my eyes focused on the strand of brown hair with blue tips that fell from behind her ear.

I took a glance at our small, rag-tag group to verify that everyone was paying attention and following along. And to my surprise, they were.

As I listened to their thoughts, Kaidou and Toritsuka were both following along, and not just pretending like they were. And Nendo... I assumed that for the best, Nendo was following along, as he was also peering down at his book with scrunched eyes as we all turned to the sixth page in the book.

"My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers-"

Toruh's reading was interrupted by the teacher.

"Alright class, the bell will be ringing in a few minutes, so take this time to put the desks back and review what you've read with your group!"

Sighs of relief and quiet murmurs erupted from the students around me. I hadn't realized how hard focused I was on my groups thoughts, until my ears started ringing from the sudden rush of my classmates thoughts.

It was like being hit in the back of the head with a water balloon; thoughts, feelings, emotions just suddenly rushing into me. It made me keel over a little and release a breath.

"Saiki? Are you okay?" Came a soft voice from above me.

I looked up and locked eyes with brown worried ones.

'I hope he's not sick...'

"Yes, I'm fine... just felt dizzy for a moment." I said the first thing that I could come up with in the haze of what had just hit me.

"Oh, well, make sure you're eating and drinking enough, okay?" She said, a little skeptically but still worried.

'You shouldn't lie, Saiki. It's a bad habit.' I heard her thought of mild disappointment at my white lie. I squinted my eyes at her behind my glasses. Again, there was a weight in her words (or thoughts I guess I should say) that I couldn't quite place.

"Yeah," I said, "I'll make sure to eat something when I get home."

'I lie because you wouldn't be able to handle the truth.' I thought with a similar disdain as I moved my desk back into its original position.

"So what did you guys think about the first couple pages of the book?" Toruh asked us excitedly as we shuffled our desks back into their original positions.

"SO SHE'S DEAD?!" Shouted Kaidou.

"Uh, yea-" Toruh began, attempting to calm Kaidou's outburst but was interrupted by Nendo.

"WHAT AN ASSHOLE! WHO KILLS A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL?!" Nendo chimed in.

'Ah, so Nendo was paying attention.'

'Thank Kami, he was paying attention.'

Our thoughts mimicked each other as I glanced at Toruh while she listened to Nendo's rant about why the main character should have left the cornfield if it was already past her curfew.