The Perks of Being a Freak (Editing)

49. To The Roof

I cracked during lunch.

I walked into the cafeteria and could immediately feel Simons eyes burning into my back. I sat down, and tried vehemently to ignore him. It was easier than I thought it would be. 

Emily, Hana, Maggie, and I sat together, like we always did, and spent most of the lunch period catching up with each other instead of eating. I forgot how much I enjoyed talking with them. Maggie gave us the basic plot of the novel she had finished, and Hana talked (quietly) about a research study she had helped with on depression in adolescent girls. 

Emily told about lazing around for days on end, and I couldn't help but chuckle. As if. Our summer had been anything but restful. 

But now that we were in school, we were safer. We had gone for almost a month without seeing or hearing anything from those scientist bastards, so I was guessing that they had either given up on us, or they were planning something big. 

Now, however, none of us could go missing because the school would report it. We were as safe as we could be. 

Lunch was halfway over when Emily's breath caught, and her eyes locked over my shoulder. I cocked an eyebrow at her, and she replied with an image of Simon walking over to our table. 

So I got up, and I ran out. 

I didn't want to have to deal with either of them. I didn't want them near me. I didn't want to have to see them or hear them or think of them. 

I walked quickly, tightly, towards the ladder to the roof in the supply closet. They had replaced the lock, but I wasn't surprised, and broke through it. For once I wasn't timing. 

I felt better on the roof. The sunshine warmed me, and the light made me squint. It was chilly for September, and windy. I could almost imagine how fun it would be to surrender myself to the wind. It would carry me this way and that, as free as I was. 

But I still had school. They would notice if I didn't show up to my classes. 

At least someone cared enough about me to notice if I went missing. 

I leaned back against the wall, breathing deeply, and letting Emily know that I was okay. She sent another image, this one of Simon walking out the door after me. 

But he wasn't on the roof. I would have noticed him if he was. 

He must have gotten bored, I decided. Or decided that following me wasn't worth the broken nose. He probably will be coming back in the cafe any second. 

I spoke too soon.