The dust specks floating in front of your nose seemed more interesting to you right now than the speech about what kind of tanks were used in the second world war.
Sadly you needed to at least try to pay attention to the man talking in front of the class since you weren't an academic genius and needed to listen to Mr.Strickler go on and on about the outdated war machines in order to have a chance at passing this class.

Exams were going to be soon since the first semester was almost over. Only three weeks left till winter break and a whole bunch of exams -along with some side dish anxiety- to overcome till then.

A soft sigh left your lips while you typed notes into the laptop provided by the school. It was a wonder that such a little and unimportant town had such a well equipped school.

The noise of students chuckling reached your ears but you didn't pay any attention to it. Regular teens your age were usually laughing about anything but you had grown up to be quite mature. Also being one year older than the rest, you had stopped bothering with all of them.

Well, almost all of them.

There were two exceptions of students that you still had contact with, one pleasant and the other not so pleasant.
The pleasant one was Thomas Shyer, a thin boy with messy black hair and the tendency to trip over thin air. He had been friendly to you no matter how cold or disinterested you retorted so you figured it wouldn't hurt to have somewhat of a friend in him.
He often helped you with school, when you didn't understand something or had any questions. His company during the breaks was also quite welcome.

The less pleasant exception was Steve Palchuk, the infamous jock of the school. He usually tried to bully you and no matter how many times you ignored him, he just wouldn't give up. You didn't know why he was so keen on upsetting you, after all you had never really done anything to get in his way.
Perhaps it was because you were better at sports than he was? For the tall blond such a petty reason must seem fitting enough to annoy you.
After all, nobody was better than the one and only Steve Palchuk.

Your eyes wandered from the laptop's screen to the back of the blond's head, simply staring at it for a moment. Then you shook your own head and switched your vision to the chubby Tobias, who was typing away at his laptop a few seats to the left.
Almost ten years ago you had been friends with him and his lanky friend Jim but with time and other circumstances you had grown distant.
Now you barely talked anymore, in fact, it was always pretty awkward to be in the same room now. Another reason why it was nice to have Thomas around. He usually kept you occupied, letting you avoid the two diverse friends without trouble.

The rest of the students were probably intimidated by you.

It wasn't like you blamed them.
You did always seem to glare at everything that passed before you, never smiled or much less laughed and kept quiet unless it was to contribute to the class you were in.
Oral grades were pretty important after all.

"Ms.(L/n)?"
The voice of Strickler broke you away from your mental ramble, making you look up to the grey-haired man that stood before your table and looked down at you with an expecting face.

You must've forgotten to listen to him.
Oh, well.

"Wouldn't you say the same?"
The answer came without an ounce of hesitation or shame.
"I wasn't listening. Could you repeat yourself?"
Some of your classmates snickered -or gasped- at the blunt response but you only kept on staring up to the teacher with a blank look on your young yet incredibly tired face.
He seemed just as relaxed as you as he sent you an amused but also scolding look.
"Being honest is a fine trait but you should watch whom you spend it on, (L/n). They might not be as forgiving as myself." The latter part was spoken with a smile, directed at the entire class, which earned him another round of chuckling.
Strickler turned his slender back to you, wandering to the front of the room where he had come from in the first place.
"As I was just saying," the same scolding look from before was thrown your way before he went on with his lesson casually.
The green-eyed man seemed to have a soft spot for you from the moment you had first talked to him.
Why? You didn't know but having a teacher go easy on you was pretty convenient so you weren't about to complain.

Just as he was going to show you all a diagram about the advantages and disadvantages of the German tanks, the welcomed sound of the bell ringing echoed through the school, temporarily freeing everyone from the long lectures.

"Hey, (Y/n)?" The sweet familiar voice made you turn your head to your right, where the dark-skinned Thomas sat, "Want me to send you my notes? You missed the last parts completely."
A simple nod and a rather unmotivated thumbs-up was your answer to his kind offer.
The dark-haired teen smiled a bit shyly and rubbed the back of his neck.

He always seemed so happy to help others.

"Alright, I'll send them once I get home after school. Wanna go get lunch together?"
Once more you only nodded.
You saw no reason in speaking since he very much understood you well enough and since you also were much too tired to spend energy on unnecessary words right now.

Last night had been another sleepless one, the dark shadows around your eyes showing that quite openly.
You could've covered them but make-up had never been your kind of thing. You only wore the tiniest amount to special occasions such as birthdays or parties.
Not that you were ever invited to any.

Noticing that your thoughts were drifting off again, you quickly shook your head, messing up your hair before ruffling it back to the way you preferred it. Closing the laptop and shoving it into its bag, you began to pack your things.
Thomas watched you for a while, his pitch black eyes tracing your movements, then he sighed to himself quietly and followed your actions by cleaning off his table of any utensils he had taken out during the history lesson.

After you left the room, you went with the shorthaired boy to walk to the cafeteria together, passing Tobias, who was rummaging in his locker while looking at the black-haired teen with blue eyes. They were talking about something apparently funny since both were laughing and when Jim looked up, he accidentally met your gaze.
It seemed like he froze for a second before trying a visibly uncomfortable smile and a small wave of his hand. He was fiddling the strap of his backpack with the other, obviously nervous.
You just looked away and followed Thomas, leaving the two behind without reacting to Jim's silent greeting or seeing the disappointment on his face that followed shortly after.

You had never really paid any attention to your 'ex-friends' for years now and frankly, even if you would've wanted to talk to them, you weren't sure if you could. It just felt so impossible.

After you had cut off ties with those two, you had spent a few months all by yourself. Then Thomas transfered into your class and promptly started to talk to you.
For some reason he had been really keen on befriending you and frankly you were glad he did.

Thomas was taller than you but his behavior was that of an insecure little boy, which was why he barely had other friends besides yourself. He was fairly nonathletic and his arms and legs looked like they might break from just holding his own body weight.
But overall he was quite adorable with his pretty black eyes and nicely tanned skin.
Not to mention that he excelled with anything related to studying, had the voice of an angel when he sang and was one of the nicest people you had ever met.

A pretty decent friend allover.

By now you two had taken a seat in the semi-filled cafeteria, eating the pretty ok-ish meal while Thomas held a monologue about something he saw outside of his window yesterday night.
You listened but didn't think much about it.

Just as he had taken a sip from his water, he made a wide motion with his right hand and looked at you.
"It was a large and bulky metal thing with blue lights I saw, I swear! Maybe it was the coach going on a midnight jog?" His low voice asked, a playful tune to it before he added with a fake thoughtful expression, "wearing a glowing metal armour, of course."
"Probably." You simply said and stuck a piece of cooked carrot into your mouth.
Thomas chuckled but then his expression grew worried as he changed the topic, having noticed your state. "You didn't sleep much again. Maybe you should try to go to bed earlier?"

Involuntarily, you slumped your shoulders.
Right now was not the time to bother you with your sleeping habits because right now you were eating and did not want to be bothered at all.
"I'll try, Thomas. Ok?"
"Promise me, (Y/n)."
"... No."
He threw you an annoyed look, crossing his arms over his thin chest like a mother whose child talked back to her would've done.
Narrowing your (e/c) eyes at him, you waved the fork around in front of him and returned the look.
"I don't make promises I can't keep."
After a few seconds of a halfhearted staring contest, Thomas broke away with a disappointed sigh.
"Alright, alright. It's not my business what you do at night but at least let me worry about you then."
Said the dark haired boy as he put his elbows onto the table, his eyes still on you.
You only shrugged and went back to focus on your lunch, which was almost gone.

The rest of the school day went by rather uneventful, leaving not much to remember but the constant feeling of your eyelids falling shut and your mind drifting away into napping mode before you snapped back over and over again.

Maybe you really should try to sleep once you got home.
Though you would need to do homework first.

With that thought, you waved goodbye to Thomas, who stood by the school's gate and talked to the short Pepperjack.
You swung yourself onto your trusted motorcycle. It was quite the exciting thing for most students since they still had to get their license. Being a year older did have its perks.
Unlike the local Vespas, your machine was build for speed.
Ironic since you were about to fall asleep on it but at least the little ride would wake you up some.

As you tightening your helmet's strap under your chin, you didn't notice the longing but also sad look that Jim threw you from his spot by the bikes.
You took off just as Tobias turned to notice his friend staring after you.
"Oh, leave it be, Jimbo!" he called out, already knowing what his thin friend was about to say.
"She made it preeetty clear that she didn't want anything to do with us." Though he sounded like it didn't bother him, Jim could see his expression shift to a saddened one.
He cast his blue eyes onto the road, where you had turned the corner.
"Yeah. You're probably right, Toby."

---

The feeling of shooting over asphalt on the sleek bike made adrenaline course through your veins within seconds, keeping you awake successfully.
Though you couldn't feel the usual lightness, instead you felt heavy inside, as if something was dragging your body down toward the earth.

Street lamps and houses zoomed past you, people blurring into colorful spots on the edge of your vision while you leaned your body to the left, slowing down, going into a curve smoothly and coming back out just a moment later.

Sounds were muffled from the thick helmet that protected your skull but the purring of your motorcycle was all the noise you needed right now. A deep, familiar rumble that vibrated against you, giving off a relaxing feeling.
It was nice to forget about everything that was and will be and to just focus on what is for a while.

Sadly it never lasted long.

The vehicle calmed down and slowly rolled onto the driveway, the purring now a low humming. You swung your leg to the side, hopping off of the motorcycle and pushing it into the garage to lock it away safely.

The house was further away from the center of Arcadia than most but not completely shut off.
You often saw Tobias and Jim in the neighboring street, since they lived only a few houses away, which didn't make things easier. Their street had more buildings and a direct road to the inner city while the one you lived in was more of a side-street.

Looking up at the beige colored façade, you halted for a moment to take off the helmet, letting the brisk winter air freshen up your face again.
(E/c) eyes went to the door and you began to make your way toward it.
Placing your ear against the cold wood, you listened until you were sure that no one was home.
Though your father was supposed to be on a business trip for the week, you could never be sure if he just returned on a whim.
Only now did you unlock it and enter.

Inside it was dark and quiet.

Perfect.

Your backpack was thrown onto the low table in the living room and you sat on the couch before it, taking out your books to do homework.
It was better to do it now, while you still were pumped up from the ride.

It took you about half an hour to finish with the Spanish assignment Mr.Uhl had given you but in the end even that was done. Luckily you were good with languages so it wasn't as hard as it was supposed to be.
Taking out your laptop, you noticed a notification had popped up and remembered Thomas' words.
Quickly checking the notes from History class, you copied them to yours and skimmed over them. It didn't look like you missed a lot so you didn't bother with it any longer.
It had already taken you too much energy to simply stay awake.

Everything related to school was stored back into the backpack and taken upstairs, where you had your room at the end of the short hallway.
Stepping into the rather average sized room with (w/c) walls and a soft (c/c) carpet.
You turned out the lights, took off your shoes and slipped into bed without changing.

Only a few minutes later you had finally fallen asleep in the comfortable warmth of your bed, unaware of the life changing events that were about to occur.