The Skeletøn Bøy

THREE

"I love to sleep, cause I pretend that I'm dead but I hate waking up cause its hard to forget that I've lost all control of this life that I've held so dear." -- Front Porch Step

++ C H A P T E R | T H R E E ++           

Elliott hated school. Not because he hated the work load, or sitting in classes for hours on end, but because he hated the fear of being exposed.

"What are you doing?" Natasha's voice brought him out of his daydream. He'd been leaning against the locker, dreaming of the day where he didn't have to be afraid anymore. Usually, he felt safe enough that no one would approach him, but here was Natasha, smiling at him like she truly wanted to be friends.

"Natasha. Uh, hello." Elliott wanted to hit his own forehead, but he refrained from doing so as he sheepishly looked away. Of course his awkwardness would plague him at this very moment.

"Hi." She gave him a strange look. "Are you coming to lunch or are you going to lean against your locker?"

Elliott felt heat rush to his cheeks. "Probably going to get lunch and come right back out here." He hadn't seen Adrian all day, but he knew his brother was wandering around somewhere and would find him for lunch. They'd never missed a single lunch together since elementary school when the two were both present and accounted for in the same school.

"Nonsense. Come sit with me and Brent." The thought of sitting with Brent made his mood turn sour. Of course he didn't want to sit with her boyfriend - Brent hated him. That, and the thought of sitting in that lunchroom frightened him. The thought of all those eyes on him was enough to make him shudder in fear.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about Brent. I talked to him and he's going to behave, I promise. I think you two would be great friends."

Elliott couldn't believe his ears. In what dimension would he and Brent ever be good friends? That sounded like the plot to a slap comedy movie.

Natasha began to move towards the cafeteria. "I'm not waiting forever. Come on, now." She motioned him forward, a smile on her face. She was drawing him in with her fiery hair and her wide blue eyes. She was beautiful in the way that Elliott never would be. She made boys drop to their knees with her laugh, and Elliott made people cringe with his.

She was perfect. The sort of perfect that Elliott longed to be. The sort of perfect that mother wanted him to be. He wanted to make people happy like she did, but he knew it was impossible. There was no possible way anyone would ever want to look at him with adoration in their eyes.

He followed her, hypnotised under her spell. If he'd never run into her the day before, everything would be different. He'd be eating out in the hallway beside Adrian, thinking of all the ways he could become even smaller on the school radar. But now he was sitting with Natasha and Brent, and things were changing.

Elliott could barely focus as he grabbed a tray of pizza. He could barely breathe as he sat down beside the red head and then nearly died when Brent glared at him, his eyes promising death on the field after school.

Elliott wasn't sure he liked this predicament, but there was nothing he could do - Natasha was already including him into conversation. "This is Elliott. Elliott, this is everyone."

He didn't know what to say. There were a mix of boys and girls at the table, but the sight of the other girls made him tremble with fear. They were giving him looks of suspicion, like maybe he was taking advantage of Natasha and couldn't be trusted.