~Andrew~

"Wakey wakey eggs and bakey motherfucker were running Nacho Libre late-" 

Ughhhhhhhhh

I have found that I might literally be falling in love for the first time. With school. School makes me so happy it's unbelievable. Since Mrs.Jones enrolled me at NorthEast High I have been in total bliss. I even made a friend! He's an Asian boy in the grade below me that takes chemistry with me since he's smart as shit. His real name is hard to pronounce so he goes by Jamie. I swear he's the only reason I'm passing that class with a C.

The only problem I've had this past week is waking up. In order to show up for school on time, Keaton and I have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn due to us living so far out in the middle of nowhere. 

"10 more minutes Keaton please I'm begging you," I whined into my pillow, pulling my blanket over my head to keep out the light coming in from the window he just opened.

"Nope." He deadpanned, popping the p. I shook my head into the pillow dreading the cold air outside the comfort of my covering. My ears could somewhat make out the sounds of doors opening and feet shuffling around the bedroom. The comforters and pillows slowly drew me back into a deep sleep, claiming me as one of their own along with the darkness engulfing my vision. My consciousness went in and out, welcoming the imitation of night and light snoring that came willed itself over me. 

Suddenly my bed dipped next to me, a bigger form making an Umph sound as the squeaky bed settled. My body rattled for a second before the clogged air in my throat released its grip allowing me to breathe again, recognizing who was causing the dip. 

"Andreeeww." Keaton purred into my ear through the sheets, his body slightly leaning on mine with an arm draped across my back. I could feel the blood begin rushing to my face at our proximity but ignored it. Pushing my face as far into the pillow as possible, I hoped the coolness of the cloth would soothe the heat blossoming across my features like venom spreading through blood. "Come on Tiger we gotta go learn something and all that good shit."

I scoffed at his reasons to leave my blanket made heaven but shook him off, popping my head out from under the blanket to see his heart-stopping smile so close. The curvature of his facial features now prominent, as well as the subtle happy glisten in his green forest eyes. I grabbed one of my pillows and hit him in the face, walking towards the bathroom in nothing but my pajamas and the wrap concealing my midsection, shaking my head.

It's too early for that shit.

In the mirror, I could see just what his smile did to me. It almost looked like a tomato shit on my face and forgot to excuse itself.

"Andrew hurry up were really going to be late!" He hollered from the bedroom. 

"I'm going gosh so pushy." I hastily brushed my teeth and put some water through my hair, throwing on some appropriate clothing and pulling fresh bandages out for Keaton to help me with. "Keaton hurry up."

Keaton's face contorted into disbelief at my sudden demand as he struggled to tie his shoes. Shaking his head, he tucked the laces into the lips of his Nikes and took the bandages from my hold. I turned around before pulling up my shirt for him to rub the cream the doctor prescribed. My bruises have slowly faded over time, a few adamant to stay but otherwise, I've never felt physically better.

Keaton's calloused fingers brushed my skin being sure to gently apply the cream where my bruises looked worst, before placing the wrap all the way around my waist and lower back. Pulling my shirt down, I turned to mumble a hasty thank you and grabbed my backpack before heading out to the kitchen where I could smell breakfast being made and toddlers giggling. 

Jean's small chubby fingers reached out for me as I walked by, a warm bubbly feeling building up in my chest as she reached out as far as her booster seat would allow her. I accommodated her demands placing my pointer finger in her palm as she giggled. Now looking around the dining room table did I notice the scatter of beige manilla folders and papers everywhere, a couple with my name on them.

I stared a moment longer when I heard the heavy footsteps of Mr.Jones and Keaton sauntering into the room, Keaton scoping Cleo out of his booster seat and smoldering him in kisses. The toddler's laugh filled the already colorfully lit room, making the atmosphere that much more overwhelmingly easygoing and amiable. 

"Ah, good morning boys!" Mrs.Jones trekked out of the kitchen setting down plates of food on the table, her eyes flashing to meet mine before scooping up the papers off the table and smiling again. "Excuse the mess, had a little homework myself as of late." She sighed with a shiftless smile. My eyes looked from her own orbs to the folders in her strained hold.

"Thanks a lot for breakfast Ma but we are running super late." Keaton reached out across the table with Cleo still in his arms as he stuffed his face with what he could, Cleo looking dangerously close to falling out of Keaton's inattentive hold before falling onto the table. Mrs.Jones opened a random drawer, shoving all of her papers into it negligently.

"Maybe if you would set an actual alarm you would never be late." She quipped, taking Cleo from Keaton before he dropped his baby brother. I chuckled as Cleo managed to clutch some of Keaton's hair pulling on it while giggling, causing Keaton's complexion to scrunch together in momentary pain.

"Shi- I don't need an alarm clock I have one internally that works just fine." He stuck his chin up as I laughed, making my way out the front door to leap in the passenger seat of his truck.

"Keaton let's go we're gonna miss the assembly." I reminded, my hand smacking the side of the truck door to get his attention as he slowly followed me out. Today the school was holding a mental health awareness assembly before first block and I wanted to be there to hear it. Not that it mattered if I wanted to hear it or not because everyone had to be there regardless since they were counting it as attendance for first block.

"I'm coming." He answered, ushering his mom back inside before hollering something at his dad with a wave. 

Keaton threw his backpack into the trunk, starting the vehicle to make our way over to the auditorium. The ride was a good 20 minutes driving 10 mph over the speed limit getting us inside the gates just before the security guard could close them on us.

We hightailed it for the hall, quietly slipping past our teachers to sit in our assigned seats. Jamies squirming figure in a seat next to an empty one caught my attention from the double doors, our teacher was currently too engrossed in a conversation with another teacher to notice my late attendance.

Keeping my figure hunched down to stay out of sight, I slid into my seat smoothly only catching Jamies attention once I tapped his shoulder to greet him. His smaller form jumped at the touch only to jump again when he noticed it was me. He seethed through his teeth in an attempt to look mad only to look like he was scrunching his nose uncomfortably at a pungent smell and making him look adorable.

"Where have you been?" Jamie's brows scrunched at my late presence but lessened their attention as the lights in the room began to dim signaling the speech was about to begin. I took a deep breath in and out to catch my breath from all the running I did through the school. 

"Keaton pretty confident using his internal alarm, made us run a little late again." I shrugged my shoulders, looking around to see everyone in unique clothing to match their auras for the day as they bustled in their chairs about plans for after school. Jamie shook his head at that, turning to face the stage where the curtains were still drawn, awaiting to reveal whoever was to emit.

"So you guys were speeding," I could feel Jamie's disapproving look drilling into the side of my skull, opting to not give him the attention considering his track record of not only being the golden boy at this school but setting the perfect example of being a stick in the ass about breaking rules.

"Gosh, that boy is gonna get himself in trouble one of these days." Jamie shook his head, the teacher's whispers surrounding us came to a cessation, students following their examples as the curtains began to draw.

"Please, we both know your little crush on him is the only reason you care." I quipped back, rolling my eyes to the back of my head. Jamie whipped his head around, eyes ballooned and cheeks flared. He hit my shoulder with a pitiful blow, my body jerking at the ill contact.

"Hush that is not even true." I shoved my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from making a scene in the now silent auditorium with my laughter at his reaction, his small hand hitting me again, moving his face to obscure my view of his obvious embarrassment.

"Lying is a crime you know." I chuckled as he buried his face into the notebook he carried with him. The front of the notebook was covered in stickers of little ponies and other weird shit and filled with pages of notes from classes or just things he learned from random people in passing.

The last thing I heard from Jamie was a tight 'Humph' as the lights overhead the stage brightened and an adult from the back came out from behind the curtain, smiling and waving. Students across the room clapped or whistled but Jamie and I sat quiet, waiting to get to hear more than the students around us being obnoxious. 

The man, seemingly a foot taller than Keaton and more resonated in muscle tone, reached for the microphone, tapping it to be sure it was on.

Tap tap tap

"One-two, check one-two," His voice was raspy through the microphone but only due to his stark black beard rubbing up against the grill of the mouthpiece. 

"Good morning students! I'm sure you all know what this talk is gonna be about! Who's excited!?" His personality already screamed 'I shit rainbows and unicorns' which was kind of repulsive but I suppressed the urge to cringe and yelled a weak yeah like all the other asshats in the crowd with the exception of Jamie of course. Jamie is too much of a stick in the mud to do anything as rebellious as yell.

"Yeah!" He pumped his fist into the air before doing a couple of light jumps as the students settled down again. He waited till it was silent, clapping his hands together to signal his mental preparation to speak while his eyes continuously scanned the room and weaved through the crowd. "Now that's what I like to hear. To kick things off my name is Samuel Wentworth but you guys can just call me Sam." He started, his smile effortlessly beaming.

"Schools all over America are having their students gather to do what you guys are doing at this very moment which is sitting and doing nothing. Now I am incredibly aware that most of you would rather not listen to an old man talk yet, here we are." His comment of age got a chuckle from my peers now earning him some more attention from the students too engrossed in their phones to know what was so funny.

"Today I'm happy to bring up a topic raising considerable awareness on both social media and in our personal day-to-day lives that is becoming one of America's most frightening health crises across your age group in particular- depression." His eyes took a moment to scan the crowd again watching as some kids checked out of the conversation at the mention of depression while others whispered amongst themselves. I looked over Jamie as I watched his fingers subconsciously pick fluff out of his pocket and throw it on the floor while trapping the flesh of his bottom lip between his teeth, a slight tension in his brow.

"As a motivational speaker, I was never prepared to receive a message inviting me to speak on the issue at a high school full of hormonal teenagers so I had to do a little digging myself to really understand how one might come to become a victim of depression."