The lockers were empty when he came in. Thank god. He really didn't want to meet some of his classmates here. It is always so awkward.  Alex doesn't greet others if they don't do it first. It is such a waste of energy and nerves to him.  So, the presence of another person in the locker room is just uncomfortable and awkward. I'd rather not......

Anyway, he opened his locker with a loud creak and stripped down his jacket. Even after the short amount of time he spent inside, he began sweating under his thick jacket. Why do they have to blast the heaters so early??

There was one heater in the room, and Alex could feel the heat coming off of it. 

After his change of shoes to a way more comfortable pair of slippers, Alex locked his locker and headed out.

Alex took out his phone from his pocket to check the time, and he was glad that it only read '6:39'. He had a bit of time to spare before the bell rang. 

Right in front of the way to his first class, he made a turn to the right, to the bathrooms. There was no one inside, as always, and he went into one of the stalls. 

Alex spends every day at least a few minutes in the bathroom, just chilling in there, not wanting to spend even more time with his classmates than he has to. He usually opens Spotify and listens to music, or reads something he's interested in that day. And that's how it's been every day of the last school year. 

The quietness of the school bathrooms is able to clear his mind and makes his pessimistic thoughts have a much more realistic sense. It was his only safe space here.

Alex set his bag on the floor in front of him and pulled up his phone. He became blinded by the high brightness, and the text 'No new notifications' as if burned into his retinas. Geez....

Alex blankly stared into his phone, thinking about what to do. Then, he remembered a manga he didn't get to finish yesterday. He opened Chrome and the manga site loaded exactly where he left off the night before. 

Alex got completely sucked into the story fast and ignored his surroundings. His peace was interrupted, however, when a loud 'bang!' was heard in the opposite of the room. Alex got so startled that he almost dropped the phone and let out a loud gasp. 

"Did you study for the test?" Jesus. Alex recognized the voice. It was the voice of one of Alex's classmates, Eric. His voice was clearly heard, and it pierced Alex's ears like a knife. 

"Nah, I was with Tiffany yesterday lol." Some other person answered with a laugh. It was someone Alex didn't recognize. 

"Hell yeah dude! Finally." Eric flushed the urinal. "So was she good?"

They both started laughing and thankfully Alex heard their steps slowly weaken. Then, he heard the door shut. 

Thank god they left. Alex really didn't want to hear more than that. These few sentences were already enough.

About 5 minutes later, he unlocked the stall and left the bathroom. It only took a few steps for him, and he was already stepping in through the door, and seeing the familiar faces of people he had known for a few years. Most of the people looked back to their business after they recognized it was just him, while his...acquaintance? said 'hi' to him. 

"Hey." Alex replied. His name was Noah. He sometimes went out of his way to talk to Alex, but their conversations were the most basic, surface-level shit you could imagine. Most of them resulted in a moment of awkward silence between the two before Noah thought of an excuse for leaving. 

Alex didn't understand why he was even trying. He has other, really close friends, so why's he bothering with him? 

Alex has this question on his mind a lot whenever their conversations happen.  What does Noah see in him? Is it just a ploy? But he seems like a nice guy...

Alex sat at his table all the way in the back. He prepared for class and brought up a pencil case and a notebook. He looked around, wondering how many more people would come. 

The bell was gonna ring in a few minutes, so he least hoped that his seatmate would come. This person, Lucas, was his closest 'friend'. He's fun to talk to, but Alex knew their personalities just don't sit well together. 

Lucas sometimes tells him that he's kinda boring, and that's why Alex began to fake being a bit more confident. To keep their friendship from drowning. 

When their school day is sometimes even 7 hours long, however, the whole thing becomes VERY tiring. And Alex becomes annoyed. There's this urge in his chest to just fuck off with the whole pretend thing, but he experienced what it is like when he's totally alone. Days full of Anxiety. Nervousness. Fear. That's all he felt when he was alone at the start of the year. 

Alex suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. 

"Heeeeey! How are you!?" Alex could see Lucas' smiling face while he sat next to him. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." 

Lucas' smile waltered. "What's with you today?" 

Bitch, what the fuck? "Nothing, I just didn't sleep well." Alex just loves how even a neutral answer gives Lucas the feeling that something is wrong with him. It's fucking irritating.