"Keith!" I turned in the direction of the voice. I saw Lance running towards me with hair that had either not had time to dry or was drenched in sweat. I assumed it was probably the latter based on the fact that Lance was the laziest person on the planet and had probably slept through his alarm a dozen times. I don't think anyone could keep track of how often he was late to school, rushing in the gates just as the bell was ringing with his breakfast in his hand or wet hair. I think teachers must have had a soft spot for him because he rarely ever got detentions for his lateness.

"Lance, my dude!" I yelled, obnoxiously loud. A couple of kids turned to look at us but neither me nor Lance cared in the slightest. We were considered the 'outcasts' at school so we didn't exactly mind standing out. Lance slapped his hand against mine as a greeting and we turned back in the direction he had come from. "How was your weekend then?"

"Awesome. I literally hid inside my room and played video games all weekend. My mum only bothered me when she got worried I hadn't eaten anything the entire time. It was pretty sick!" Lance's face lit up like the sun and it was really nice to see. It was rare that I saw him genuinely smile: he was usually quite closed off with his emotions. I think Lance just tended to avoid showing negative emotions. He always tried to wear this gigantic smile but, after being friends with him for so long, I could tell when it was fake.

"That's cool. I went to go and see Shiro." Shiro was simultaneously my best friend and a brother-figure to me. Growing up without a mother and losing my father at a young age was always tough but he made it easier for me. I was adopted into his family when I was about twelve and we had been quite close since then. He moved out and went to university last year and I missed him a lot but could still get a train down to the coast to see him at the weekends if I had the money.

"How is he?"

I shrugged. "He's... good, I guess? What do you have first?" Lance rolled his eyes a little but pulled his phone out to look at his timetable. I had mine memorised.

"Psychology apparently."

"I have physics. The other end of the school."

"Yep," As Lance finished saying the word, the bell rang over our heads. It was rather loud because we were standing directly underneath it. "See you at break then!"

"Of course!" I retorted with a small wave before heading off to my tutor. It just so happened that our tutors were miles apart too- just our luck. Lance's was up in English whilst mine was in Geography which sucked but there wasn't anything we could do about it.

When I entered my tutor, nobody noticed me which wasn't anything unusual. I sat down in my seat right at the front, balancing my head in my hands. Lance was my only friend so I didn't really talk in tutor unless it was to my tutor herself. Other people just seemed to repel away from me for no reason. I saw light in it by comparing it to the repels from Pokémon and how it gave me more time to concentrate on my studies. Not that I needed more time to study but that didn't matter. My classmates were chatting loudly to their friends whilst I sat there, reading the posters on the wall in front of me. I had read them countless times but I still found my eyes grazing them on a day-to-day basis. It was a bit pathetic but I didn't mind: reading them sometimes made the tutor pass the slightest bit faster than usual (still at the pace of a snail though). The 'quote of the week' was the only thing that changed.

'Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring – Marilyn Monroe.'

So cheesy. If you asked anyone around me (with the exception of Lance and Shiro) they'd tell you I wasn't the type of guy to like cheese. Surprisingly enough, I loved it. I just refused to admit it because of the strong, unemotional image I had built up for myself from the day that I lost my father. I only ever let the real me out in front of the people I trusted: Shiro and Lance.

-

"We learnt about the psychodynamic approach today," Lance started. His face also lit up whenever he talked about psychology. Personally, I didn't care about the subject but I let him speak anyway, just to see his passion. It was rather cute how he could talk for hours about one subject whilst I never spoke a word about my lessons outside of class. "There was this thing called the Oedipus Complex. Are you even listening?" I glanced away from his moving lips for a moment to look into his eyes that were staring at me with expectancy. I swallowed thickly because I hadn't been listening... at all.

"Yeah... I am." I mumbled, even though I couldn't repeat a single word of what he said.

"What did I say then?"

Crap. "Uh..." And I was stumped. I was definitely the best friend on the planet and the best listener in the entirety of the universe. I deserved so many awards.

"I'm sorry. I was just... thinking about the chemistry homework I have due next period..." That was such a terrible lie. Maybe I deserved a reward for best liar ever too. I deserved to be exposed.

"You're obviously not interested. I'm sorry I rambled so much... I'm sure it was annoying... I'll stop."

"Don't stop. Please, Lance..."

Lance shook his head and started to stand up. He picked up his bag and slung it over his right shoulder. "I need to go and see my art teacher. I need to ask about the- the homework." It was an obvious lie (potentially even worse than my one earlier) but I kept my mouth taped shut as he darted out of the library. I watched him leave until the door fell shut and I was left in an empty library. Well, empty apart from the librarian, a Year 7 girl reading Harry Potter and two boys doing what looked like French homework.

I sunk back in my chair and took out my Chemistry homework. It was better to be guilty and productive than guilty and bored... right?