Give me Time

3.

Chapter 3: 

Monday approached really fast and soon I was back in school trying to finish out my last couple of days as a junior.

As I walk into my first-period class, English, my teacher calls me up to her.

"Good morning Lyla. How are you?" She asks as more kids start to pile into the room. Mrs. Ryan is my absolute favorite teacher that I've ever had. She has always been willing to help me with anything that I've needed recently and she's the only teacher that knows about what's been going on with me.

"I'm good. Tired, but I'm good."

She looks at me sincerely and shakes her head. "I'm really praying for you, Lyla. I truly am. Keep me updated ok?"

I smile at her and nod. "Yeah of course."

"Good. Oh and I'm glad we raised that grade of yours. I can't wait to have you back in my class next year."

The past few months have been really hard for me to keep up with my school work but luckily I have been able to raise all of my grades up to at least a B.

"The feeling's mutual Ellen." I say as I walk away.

She coughs and I turn back around smiling. "Mrs. Ryan." She corrects.

I laugh and walk back to my seat, but not before walking past Landon's old one. I do wonder why he left but I don't focus too hard on it. It's still not my place to play detective.

Before I can think about it more, the bell rings and I sit down while Mrs. Ryan talks about the subject of the day.

•••

"Lyla!" El calls me from the lunch line and I join her in her hunt to get tater tots.

"Any success?" I ask her and she shakes her head angrily.

"Come on." I say rolling my eyes and grabbing her hand as I drag her out of the building.

"Where are we going?" She asks hesitantly and I continue pulling her to the student parking lot.

"We're going to go get tater tots." I state as we reach my car.

"YES! YOU'RE THE BEST!" El screams as she slides into the passenger seat of my car.

"I know. That's why you love me." I smile before heading to Publix to get some tater tots.

"Hey, can you call Bryan and Gabby and ask if they want anything from Publix?" I ask and she immediately calls both of them.

"They both said no." She says and I laugh.

"Those lying little asses." I say as we pull up and start walking into the store.

El goes and gets her tater tots while I go get Gabby a huge bag of M&M's. I know she loves them because she basically has the same eating habits that I do. We're both picky but love any type of chocolate.

After getting those, I walk back to the deli section and order Bryan a chicken tender sub. Who doesn't love a chicken tender sub?

El and I meet at the cash register and I pay for everything before we leave.

"Wait you're not gonna eat anything?" El asks as we slide into my car.

"Not today... I can't, remember?" I say and she suddenly remembers.

"Oh yeah ok that sucks." She states and I start driving back.

We get back to school 10 minutes before lunch ends and I find Gabby and Bryan sitting at our usual lunch table.

I throw the M&M's down by Gabby and she smiles.

"Thank you."

"No problem." I say as I throw the sub to Bryan.

"You're definitely the best." He says and I laugh while sitting down and enjoying the rest of lunch.

***

My classes went by pretty fast as they normally do and I was soon standing face-to-face with the end of the day.

Lovely.

These are the days I wish I could just stay at school forever.

It's currently 2 pm and I'm sitting in my car stalling before I have to leave. School ended 30 minutes ago and yet I still sit in the student parking lot. You know, one would think that after a while you get used to going there all the time but it still hasn't really hit me yet. It's all just a lot to take in. I guess I'm getting better though. I turn around to look at my small duffle bag on the back seat of my car and sigh.

The hard part about my situation is having to deal with Ell. She thinks I'm handling this well but it's honestly really hard. I have to put up this guard all the time to keep my family calm and Ell calm and keep this tiny secret from getting out to my other friends. It sucks but I just have to stay strong for them.

At this point, I decide that I have to leave the school before our school officer starts questioning me, so I drive my way off campus and head towards my destination.

I turn on some music, roll the windows down, and try to get my mind off of everything as I drive down the highway.

I kinda love these moments. You know, the ones where it's super sunny outside and the air is hot and the sky is clear and the city is alive and everywhere you look is just life. Every single thing in the distance represents life. Maybe it's just me, but these moments... driving with the windows down, wind in your hair, sun in your face, music blasting... It just makes me feel so alive. Any moment like this deserves to be enjoyed.

I truly am grateful for these moments because, in just the blink of an eye, everything can change. Everything did change. One moment you feel like you're on cloud nine. You have everything and then suddenly life is pushing you over the edge and you just keep falling. Now I'm just waiting for the moment when I hit the bottom... and I'm afraid it's coming all too soon.

I park my car in the parking garage, tie my hair into a bun, grab my duffle bag, and walk right through the big glass doors of the epitome place of life and death itself. My part-time home,

The hospital.