Lost Angel

Chapter 1

Austin

Often, Austin heard David laughing at the back of the classroom with his other friends. Austin never understood what David saw in the boys. They were just too obnoxious and were always speaking so distastefully of the girls in their classes. Austin tended to stay around those girls, offering smiles and direction in their lives where he could. He was known for his level-headed wisdom. Somehow, he saw into the problems and provided an argument for both sides and it led them all into some understanding of what overwhelmed them. 

David was more of a brute force type person. He had been in several altercations since the fifth grade and won every time. It was disgusting. The blood, the blubbering, and the boasting afterwards. Austin wasn't the fighting type. 

Somehow, both boys seemed to level each other out, Austin keeping David from as many fights as possible, and David setting people straight when they tried to belittle Austin. From the time they met, they were a strange duo that could never truly be separated for more than a week. There were jokes, of course, but neither of them truly paid attention to the fact that they were the center of ridicule. 

The day was almost over, and Austin scribbled sentences in his notebook. He was determined to figure out the best course of action for a girl's issue with life. Should she go to college after high school? Should she take some time off? Should she just not go at all? There were already four pages, including a graph of pro/cons for going. It spilled out of him like water from a bucket. He could see so many things in his mind. What could she do with all the different possibilities that life would throw at her? It was like he couldn't stop seeing it all playing out. The world was fading away from him into grey. In its place, came the images of her life in bubbles of thoughts and actions, all the roads were changing, and he couldn't get them out fast enough. 

"Another story?" David's hand was warm on Austin's shoulder. It sent shivers down his back and brought him out of that world of possibility. "You're spacing out again." 

Austin looked up, dazed from the journey. Another student stood in front of him. The faces around them weren't the ones of his own classmates. Austin had missed the bell. He gathered his things quickly and tried to fight off the aching feeling he always got from his heavier daydreams. This wasn't unusual for him. He sometimes blocked out real life when he thought on something hard enough, and he had made a habit of it when he was at home. The thoughts grew so strong that he would stop folding laundry and stand still as a statue for an hour at a time. 

"Hey, are you okay?" David pulled Austin to a stop with an almost bruising grip. "You looked hypnotized. Usually, you just look blank. This time, your eyes were moving back and forth. You look really tired." 

"I'm okay. I just really got into this. One of the girls is having a freak out because she doesn't know what to do with her life. I was just thinking about what paths would go where, ya' know?" 

"You should probably put up a boundary, here. You can't keep taking on everyone's issues, dude. You have to take the time to relax. Their issues and lives shouldn't be the cause of your stress. You remember when Natasha needed help, your grades suffered because you were too focused on that." 

"David, I know. I just can't let them be lost. There has to be some way I can keep them going and help them figure things out." 

"Are you sure you're up for this? I mean, we really have to buckle down for this class. The test is coming up, and if we don't pass-" 

"I know, I'll repeat the grade. I'm just a little bit groggy. I'm good." 

Austin led the way to the classroom with David on his heels. Even with spacing out, Austin kept up well enough. He already knew the subject and had studied ahead. His mind didn't wander back into that place, but it did wander into daydreams layered over the teacher marking on the board.