Lethe's Lament

Chapter 2: Portrait

The bell was about to ring. It had been almost an hour since she'd come in, and she hadn't really done anything. Mister Ramone had eventually gotten up to explain the textbook some more, but he seemed much more vague than usual, as if he was tired. She just couldn't really pay attention to his lecture, and all she had to show for actually showing up was a collection of vague notes and a few doodles. Aaron, however, had been actively scribbling in his drawing pad for a while with his back still slightly turned towards her. She hadn't worked up the courage to find out whether he was genuinely upset or if he was still messing with her. Usually he was the talkative one, so she didn't really have to bother with initiating a conversation. She stared nervously at the clock hanging over the doorway. There were just about two minutes left. The class was quite rowdy, and mister Ramone had given up on trying to keep them all quiet. "Screw it", she thought. "Might as well do it now."

Lily lightly tapped Aaron on his back. "Hey, what are you drawing?"

Aaron looked up at her with a look of genuine confusion, looked back at his drawing, and promptly flipped his paper over, but not before Lily could catch a glimpse of the image.

"It's nothing." Aaron said, obviously very uncomfortable.

"Aaron, were you drawing me?" Lily said, biting her lip. That was odd. Aaron wasn't usually that secretive towards her. True, he was a bit awkward with a lot of people, but they'd passed that point a long time ago. They'd been good friends for a solid three years, and he hadn't really acted this way towards her in at least as long.

"It must be a coincidence" he said with an awkward smile. "I wasn't... drawing anyone in particular, I swear."

"Let me see that" Lily said, as she pulled the drawing pad from under his hands. He tried to grab it back, but it was too late. Lily took a long look at the drawing. It was the spitting image of her. The hair, the eyes... It all looked almost like a black and white picture rather than a pencil drawing. Even the little line on her cheek... She quickly put a hand on her cheek. That line was still there? She'd forgotten to check after her shower...

Aaron chuckled nervously beside her. "I'm sorry, this is probably super weird..."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "No, of course not! It's really cool! Why would it be weird?"

He nervously pulled a hand through his hair. "I mean, I just thought... It's not like we exactly-"

He was cut off by the awful ringing noise of the school bell, and suddenly everyone was bolting for the door. Aaron got up and slung his bag over his shoulder. "It's nothing. I'll see you around."

"Hey! Wait up!" Lily started to run after him, but remembered mister Ramone had wanted to speak to her. She stood still in the doorway, watching her old friend hastily escape her, while other students pushed past her and rushed downstairs. She sighed and turned around to mister Ramone, who sat at his desk with his head in his hands. As soon as she laid eyes on him, she got a strange chill, followed by an empty feeling. She started to bite her lip again, but hastily stopped when it hurt a little too much. She really had to stop that. She walked up to her teacher and softly addressed him. "Mister Ramone? Are you alright?"

Mister Ramone lifted his head and turned to her with a confused, empty look. He spoke slowly, as if he wasn't sure of anything he said. "Shouldn't you be downstairs until your next class, young lady?"

Lily frowned, and nervously replied, her voice starting to shake a little. "But sir, you'd asked me to stay after class... On account of me being late and all. Which, I wanted to tell you, was a stupid mistake. Honestly, I hadn't gotten that much sleep last night, with me working on our Chemistry paper which we have to hand in tomorrow, and my Chemistry grade really needs a boost so I wanted to make sure it was really good. Anyway, so I forgot to set my alarm clock this morning, and I uhmmm..." She realised she'd started rambling, and hastily stopped when she saw mister Ramone staring at her face with a puzzled luck, as if trying very hard to remember something. He tilted his head slightly. "I'm so sorry, I'm not feeling very well, but... Do I know you?"

Lily did a double take, and subconsciously took a step back. "Sir, I'm Lily Thomson. You've been my history teacher for nearly two years now. I came in half an hour too late this morning, and..." She stopped again, as she noticed a little silver droplet forming in the corner of his eye. "Sir? There's something in your eye... Sir?"

Mister Ramone didn't reply, and instead just sheepishly stared at her. Lily took another step back, and another, before turning around and running out of the classroom. She rushed downstairs and into the cafeteria, where most students were sitting around, chatting with their friends. She scanned the hall and spotted Aaron's huge head of hair at a table in the back. Lily speed walked towards him, bumping into several other students on the way. She hastily apologized under her breath, before pulling Aaron on his arm.

"Aaron! You have to come with me! I think something's wrong with mister Ramone, and we may have to get the nurse. Please just come upstairs with me." Aaron stared back blankly, and shook his head. "I'm sorry. How do you know my name?"

"Aaron! This is not funny! What the hell are you talking about? Mister Ramone needs help!"

Aaron pulled his arm back from Lily's grasp. And leaned away from her a little. "You must have the wrong guy. I... I don't know you."

Lily stared at him in disbelief, and was about to just pull him out of his chair when she noticed a silvery droplet forming in the corner of his eye. She backed away. "No... not you too..."

Suddenly, the air started to feel cold, and when she looked around, she noticed a lot of students were staring sheepishly in her direction, some with silver tears running down their cheeks.

"What the hell?" Lily froze for a second, and slowly backed away from Aaron. She took another step back, and bumped into something. She turned around to see her Economics teacher, mister Graham, looking equally blankly as a silver drop slowly detached itself from his chin and dropped onto the floor. Without a second thought, Lily pushed mister Graham aside and started to run. Out of the cafeteria, through the hall, through the door, and across the schoolyard, not looking back once.