Three//

English was first period and I almost ditched. If it weren't for fear that Lynn would find out, I would skip class in a heartbeat. There wasn't much I was scared of but Lynn's wrath was one of them. Another was clowns.

"You look like you're going to be sick," Jocelyn breathed on the icy to class via the bathrooms. The halls were too crowded to get through so we ventured outside, the long way. It was so cold we could see our breath in fog in front of us.

"Really? Enough to go to the nurse? What if I do this?" I pretended to make my eyes kind of droopy and wince as if I had a headache.

"They might expel you on the suspicion that you came to school stoned," she laughed.

"I look that bad?" I scrunched up my nose. Damn.

"Just come to class. You never know. It could be better today."

One could only hope.

We jogged through the door a second before being late and took our assigned seats.

"Good morning sunshine," Hale whispered, dark blue jeans and a black hoodie making him look suspicious. Not that he needed the clothing for that.

"I will give you five minutes to work on finishing your homework and then I'll hand out the play," Mrs. Denise instructed and the class blew up in noise.

I slowly dragged my list out of my notebook and stared at it.

"That looks pathetic," Hale commented, leaning over my shoulder to get a closer look. I slid it under my pencil case with a huff.

"Let me look?" He asked.

"No."

"Too bad," he smirks and snatches the paper, reading it aloud.

"Favourite colour, black. Does not-"

"Shut up," I groan, reaching for my list. My arms are too short, especially when he holds it out to the other side of him.

"Chill, Ellie. I can help." He took out a pen and added to it, not taking into account how different his handwriting would be from mine. I pointed this out for him which earned me raised eyebrows.

"What did I just say?" He chuckled. "Chill. It's okay."

I tried to get a look of his writing but he shoved a piece of paper in front of me. I was to intrigued to keep bothering him. I unfolded the paper that looked like it'd sat in a pocket for three years and raised an eyebrow.

ELLIANNA FAIRHAVEN

17 years old

Only child

Runs track and is very good at it/ very fast

Has a temper

For this I smacked him on the arm and grumbled "I do not," to which he just laughed.

Is sarcastic.

And unobservant.

It kept going with facts I'd not told him - or anyone - before but were all true. He'd just finished writing and he folded up the paper. I was about to grab it and read it but he put it in his pocket and smirked. I was not amused.

"How'd you know all that?" I asked instead, one side of my curiosity outweighing the other.

"I know stuff," he shrugged, like knowing people's secret was a talent.

"But h-"

"Our friendship will work a lot better if you quiet asking unanswerable questions."

"They're not unanswerable. You're just not willing to answer them."

"You're not ready to hear the answers." That set shivers down my spine. "For now, can you accept that I know a lot?" His eyes held mine and a gentle deep voice in my head told me yes. I nodded.

"Good," he almost smiled, handing the paper to the willing volunteer. I bet it was Suzanne. She always did it. I didn't look up to see if I was right. "What are your plans for the weekend?"

My mind flipped at the subject change and my stomach flipped at the boy in general. I didn't get the chance to answer before we started real work. English analysis. Play reading. Fun stuff. When we were dismissed Hale handed me another crumpled piece of paper like the first, winked, and then rushed away.

ELLIE -

NEXT FRIDAY - LET'S WORK ON THE PLAY. HOMEWORK AFTER SCHOOL. YOUR HOUSE. 4:30. YOU'LL WANT ME THERE, I PROMISE. AND REMEMBER, I DON'T LIE.

- H (P.S. HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND)

Then the paper vanished. Into thin air. As if it never existed.

What the hell?

There was paper there, right? I hadn't imagined it. Surely not. I couldn't have. I clearly remember the grainy feel to it, reading the neat script that I'd never seen him write. Maybe I had imagined it. Maybe I hadn't. Who knew?

My brain told me Hale was someone to avoid but every other fibre of my being told me otherwise. I needed him for something. I just couldn't see what.

"What are you looking at?" Jocelyn frowned, appearing in front of me. I was looking at where the paper had been, in my hands only seconds ago.

"Nothing," I muttered in a daze. We left the room and I decided I would leave my thoughts about Hale and the disappearing paper in there.

"Where are you headed next?" I asked, nearing the corner I had to turn to get to maths.

"History." She stopped at a classroom, twisting the doorknob. "See you at break."

"Yeah," I said, and then went to maths, which I loved almost as much as English. Only, maths was more fun. I had an amazing teacher who didn't really care about disciplining us because it was veggie maths. Plus, she always chatted with the class and was more interested in teen gossip than I was.

Today, our topic of conversation moved from linear algebra to fake tans and makeup. Exciting stuff. It only got interesting when my teacher who is opposed to fake tans called on the main girl arguing and said she should go back to the chocolate factory because Willy Wonka is missing his workers.

I met Jo at her locker at break with my resting indifferent expression. She was grinning, her resting expression. When I smiled my cheeks got sore after a minute.

"What are we doing this weekend?" I'd already agreed to leave the house but the thought still brought a grimace to my face. Outside and plans and things weren't something I enjoyed.

I shrugged as we headed to the study room. We both had free periods next but we talked instead of worked.

"Carnival?" She suggested, twirling a lock of hair around her pencil. The carnival was torture, all those rides and people and fun. Who wanted that?

"Why?" I asked. She had a reason for wanting to go but I couldn't put my finger on what.

"Just because."

"What are you hiding?"

"I hate how you always know!" She huffed, taking a desk at the back of the room. Jocelyn chalked it up to knowing her too well. It was more than that, I had realized a while back and I knew because I knew things about lots of people. I had a knack for it. I thought it was intuition and because I hadn't told anyone else, I didn't have an outsider's perspective.

I slid into the chair, cold and hard, and crossed my legs.

"Zeke is going to be there," she relented.

I didn't have a choice now. "Fine," I agreed, scrunching my nose up at the thought. All things I hated compacted into a 100m squared area.

No thank you.

She squealed her appreciation and gushed about Zeke, earning us occasional stink eye from the supervising teacher. He didn't care though, but that'd be because of Jocelyn. She was like the sun that radiated happiness and energy. I was like her shadow; pale in comparison.

I liked being in the dark, more than ever when it came to people. Attention wasn't my forte.

"So I'll pick you up at seven?" She finished. I blinked. The classroom was full of students and the supervising teacher was taking the role. I could have sworn us and the teacher were the only three in here.

"Uh, yeah," I nodded. "Sure."

"You okay?" She whispered, looking at me as if I were sick. I searched my brain for a reason for my out of the ordinary behaviour and pinned it to the weird set of events this morning.

I nodded again.

I really needed to get my shit together.