After leaving Bayley's house, I didn't know what to think. He acted so indecisive and vulnerable to anything I said, yet he answered every question that I had. But I just chose to put it out of my mind and hope that I wouldn't have to go back there again.

Science class the next day brought me to the class four minutes late. I quickly found my seat at the back of the classroom and pulled out the notes. I scanned over them with my fingers, transferring the printed words into my brain. Bayley arrived next to me twelve minutes after myself.

"Mr. Wicker, so lovely of you to finally show up to class." Mrs. Bradock scoffed in a surly tone.

No response.

"I can obviously tell the importance of this class to you, so I'm going to let you have extra time here and stay after school with you today." said Mrs. Bradock through gritted teeth. I caught the sharp breath of air that was expelled from Bayley due to his annoyance. But he deserved this detention, so I held my tongue.

His chair creaked as he shifted in his seat, and he placed his elbows up onto the table. I hung my head a little lower and tried to ignore the negative energy that he sprayed around the room. A small humming of chatter errupted among the students as Mrs. Bradock played around on her computer. I just sat there, involved in my own thoughts but taking in the conversations of others. I noticed a certain conversation being spoken at the table in front of mine, so I tuned in to listen.

"What is this, the third day of school and he already got 2 detentions!" laughed Nate Stern in the seat directly in front of mine.

"He's so weird. I can practically hear his screaming music blaring when he walks into a room." giggled Michy Morane, Nate's current girlfriend. She was the captain of the girl's soccer team, which I only knew because Rose complained about her on a daily basis.

"I just don't understand how someone could workship satan?!" Nate pushed on and on, Michy laughing along with him. I heard Bayley groan a few times, and slam his hand on the desk when he couldn't figure out the answer to one of the questions on last night's homework. I just turned an ear from him, realizing that he hadn't completed the homework, again.

Mrs. Bradock eventually came back down to reality, calling the class to attention. Everyone eventually shut up, for now at least. Her footsteps came closer to where the front door of the classroom stood, and I heard as she lifted a piece of chalk to the blackboard. The school was apparently too poor to afford whiteboards, so the school board settled for blackboards, since blackboards weren't really that bad to the teachers.

All of the students had learned to tolerate the gut-wrenching sound of chalk scraping the board, since they had been used to it for at least three years prior. But for me, with my perfectly tuned ears and incredible sense of hearing, that god awful noise practically drove nails through my skull.

It seemed as though Mrs. Bradock was taking her time in writing out whatever I couldn't see on the board, scratching away at the chalk and wearing it down by pressing it hard to the dusty blackboard. Flakes of toxic chalk filled the air, reaching my seat in the back of the classroom by being pushed around by the fan. I held the sleeve of my sweater over my mouth and tried to keep the flakes from landing on my unsuspecting tongue. The last thing I wanted was to end up swallowing the chalk and leaving the miniscule, but still agonizing, taste in my mouth.

"Miller!" Mrs. Bradock yelled, snapping me out of my chalk centered trance. "Can I please see you after class?"

I nodded my head in response and starting shuffling papers around in my binder to make it look like I was doing something productive. She continued on with the rest of class, until it was finally time for the bell to ring. I approached the front of the classroom with the assistance of the desks that lined the outer rim of the room.

"Nice to speak with you again Miller." started Mrs. Bradock in a lofty, aloof tone. "Now, since notes are pretty much inevitable in this class, or any class in senior year on that matter, I was wondering if we could set up a tutoring lesson after school. You would have to be able to stay after for at least an hour, so we could verbally go over the notes, if that's okay with you."

I nodded, a habitable response that my shy self had become accustomed to in the past few years. She let out an audible, thick and heavy sigh that indoubtedly filled the room until she sucked it back in again only to let out several more breaths. She finally dismissed me, after making me promise that I would stay after for at least three days a week.

...

I knocked the door to Ms. Monte's office, accidently cracking it open just enough to hear the conversation that was taking place on the opposite side of the thick oak door.

"This might be your last chance to make some friends, Bay. I really don't want you to go out into the world alone." laughed Ms. Monte with a hint of seriousness to her gentle voice. So Bayley had counceling sessions with her, too, huh? Odd.

"I just... I don't know. There really isn't anyone that I can relate to. I mean, what other student has even the same interests as me, nevermind that awful crap that I keep having to go through every day." he sighed.

"That reminds me, I'm definitely going to have a chat with the principle about this Nate kid. But let's not get off topic. Make sure you do what I told you to. You'll regret it later in life if you don't."

What did she tell him to do? Get to his classes on time so that he didn't get a million detentions? Actually complete his homework for once in his life? I don't even care, but at this point, anything, even making assumptions about that stupid kid, was better than the abiss of wait...