Monday

School had started two weeks ago, and now Senn was nervous to go back into class. But Killian had insisted and since none of the medical specialists who were treating him had anything against him going back to school, there he was.

School, the place where teens spent hours on end together, forced to by law. And obviously those teens weren’t solely focused on solving mathematical equations, translate foreign language or studying the history of the world. No, they all searched for ways to entertain themselves too; and gossip was one of their go-to options. Especially when something out of the ordinary happened, like a new kid, or a couple getting together while nobody expected it—or when everybody had anticipated on it for months already—or in his case, a terrible accident that had been talk of the town for weeks on end, at the end of last schoolyear.

It was no secret Senn had been in the accident. The town was small enough for people to know one another, or at least know someone who knew someone.

As expected, as soon as he road his bike to the sheds behind school, heads were turning, and the whispers started. In response, Senn pulled the hood of his black hoodie over his head and tried to make himself invisible as much as possible while walking to the front office. He needed his schedule, he needed a signature because he obviously hadn’t done his homework, and he needed teachers to know he was still recovering, and possibly needed to leave unexpectantly.

By the time everything was arranged—they hadn’t expected him back already—the hallways were empty, and the first classes had started a few minutes ago. That offered him both an advantage, and a disadvantage of the situation. He could get to class without the hundreds of students shamelessly staring at him, yet once he opened the door to the classroom, nearly thirty pairs of eyes focused on him.

At least Lucas and Joyce were both in this class.

He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat and slowly walked up to his teacher; Mr. Bell. He smiled warmly when he took the note about his homework and the explanation about his medical situation and read them both while the entire class was silent.

And it annoyed him. For five weeks, he had longed for silence so badly that he got mad at everyone who broke it and ruined his bubble of solitude. But in that moment, he rather wanted Lucas to blurt out something stupid like he’d usually do, taking all attention away from him.

“It’s okay Senn. Just tell me when there’s something wrong.” Mr. Bell gave the papers back and gestured towards the class. “You can take a seat next to Elio.”

Who the hell was Elio? Senn thought as he stuffed the papers into his pocket, making his way over to the back of the classroom to take a seat next to a guy with blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Hi, I’m Elio.”

“I would’ve never guessed,” Senn sarcastically answered. “Need me to repeat my name too?”

He heard Tim—who sat in front of them—snicker. He kicked his chair in response. “Nobody asked you anything.” Tim sent him an annoyed look but stopped and turned away when Chase gave him an elbow in his ribs.

Elio was silent for a few good seconds while he looked at Senn with his eyebrows pulled up in surprise. But while Senn expected him to snap back, a lopsided grin appeared on his face and he simply turned away to focus on Mr. Bell.

Great. They were treating him as some broken puppet who happened to be in their class. In any other situation, both Tim and Chase would’ve said something back. But not this time. Not after what happened. This better be over soon, or he’d hit some people to smack the attitude out of them.

It continued until lunch, and Senn was getting increasingly more frustrated over it. Part of him just wanted someone to snap back so he could argue; release some of his frustration in a verbal fight. But nobody would let him get to that point.

He had also hoped Lucas and the rest of his friends would at least try to distract him. But they more or less left him alone and were more focused on Elio—apparently the latest addition to their group of friends—and his stories about moving around the country all his life. Granted, he had a funny way of telling stories and on any other day, Senn would’ve probably laughed along with the rest of his friends. But he wasn’t in a cheerful mood. If any, he felt as if Elio had used the past two weeks to take his place in their group; without probably being aware the place wasn’t his to take.

He possibly overreacted to the whole situation, since nobody had a guide on how to handle a broken kid who had just lost the biggest part of his family and disappeared for around four months. Senn was just angry he was that kid, and not even Lucas seemed to put in any effort.

They were at lunch, and even though Senn was seated with them, they all had turned towards Elio, who was telling them about the time he lived in New York, and what had supposedly happened the one time he and his brother wanted to drive a car to school instead of using public transportation. Senn lowered his head to rest it on the tabletop, his hood hiding most of his face, when for once, one of them spoke up to him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and when he lifted his head to look at Lucas, he found worry in his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know, am I?” Senn muttered, placing his head sideways to maintain eye contact.

“Uh, I meant… you know,” Lucas drawled awkwardly, scratching his head. “Physically?”

“No.” And it was the truth, though not what Lucas meant in that moment. He lost feelings in half his left hand, his hand-eye coordination was faulty, he couldn’t focus for too long. The list was a lot longer than that too; too long to list. He was far from physically fine. It really wasn’t a lie.

“Headache?” Lucas asked carefully, while more of their friends focused on them instead of Elio.

“Eyes are burning holes, you know?” Senn said with a snide tone. “If they would physically be able to burn holes, I don’t think I’d still exist right now.”

Lucas stared at him for a few seconds, before he snorted. “Gotcha, do I need to kick someone’s ass for staring too much?”

“Are you capable of kicking everyone’s ass in school?”

“I don’t think so.”

“We’d help,” Avan said, backing Lucas’ statement up. “Point out the people who stare, and we’ll kick their asses.”

“One by one,” Samantha added with a nod. “Joyce and I will take care of the girls.”

Senn forced a smile on his face, though he knew it looked forced and painful. “No matter how much I would love to see that, never mind.”

“Offer still stands,” Avan patted his head.

“But seriously, are you okay? Or do you need to go home?” Lucas repeated his initial question.

“I think I’ll just go home, yeah.” Senn sat up straight. “Else I will kill people who keep staring at me while they don’t know who I am or what the fuck even happened.” While he said the last words, he stared daggers right at Elio, who had silently taken in the whole conversation.

“Note taken,” Elio said, though he remained staring back at him.

Senn pushed himself up from the table, lifted the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and left without another word. He couldn’t stand the guy and talking back would result in him actually trying to kill the guy. There wasn’t a real reason for Senn to go home, other than the fact that he was sick of all the staring, the whispers, the pity. So, he pretended to have a headache and went home. At least he tried, and that was all Killian had asked, right?