I hated and loved how fast the school day went by. One second it was first period, the next it was lunch. Everything was always a sort of haze at school for me. It was like I was almost mindless in a way. Just sucking in the information I was taught and then doing my work. Though, more often than not, I found myself unable to focus, leaving me with a bunch of homework. It was something I had gotten used to by now, but that didn't leave me any less frustrated with myself. 

Lunch came quickly, the time in the day that I looked forward to the most. It was still just warm enough that I could eat lunch outside without freezing. The outdoor area of the school had benches and lots of seating, as a lot of students tended to eat lunch out there, especially when it was warm. 

As I walked past the cafeteria, hands gripping the straps of my backpack, I saw someone running towards me. I slowed my pace so I didn't crash into them, knowing exactly who it was. 

"Patrick! You wanna have lunch with me and my friends?" Lilah asked, looking at me with an excited expression. I wouldn't exactly call her a friend, but she was an acquaintance of sorts. I had eaten with her and her friends a few times, but I always felt awkward. 

I stared into her brown eyes, before slowly shaking my head. I felt bad turning her down, knowing Lilah was just trying to be friendly, but sometimes I liked eating lunch alone and outside. "N-No, sorry. Maybe tomorrow?" 

She looked disappointed for a second, until my last words, where her face perked up almost immediately. It made me feel a little better, smiling weakly at the brown-haired girl.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you then," Lilah said, shooting me another smile before walking away. I smiled back, then continued on my way to the outdoor area. 

It wasn't freezing outside, but it was still cool. I pulled my jean jacket tighter around me as I walked over to the bench I usually sat at, sitting down on the cold seat. I shivered as I pulled my lunch out of my backpack, opening it up to look at what I had packed this morning. It was nothing special, just a thermos full of leftover chili from last night, one of those miniature oranges, some chips, and a little bit of a chocolate bar. I hoped the thermos managed to keep the chili warm, because I wasn't eating cold chili.

I opened up the thermos, grabbing the spoon and started to eat. Leaves were falling from the trees in different arrays of color, and I couldn't help but watch. They were beautiful. I loved autumn, purely because of the colors in the beginning of the season. Once all of the leaves were gone, then I started to dislike it. Bare trees and brown grass wasn't pleasing to look at. I preferred spring, where everything blossomed back to life with an explosion of color. It always made me feel happy.

Staring off into space and getting lost in my own little world was something that happened a lot. I always daydreamed, whenever I could. It gave me comfort, thinking about something other than where I was and what I was doing at the time. Maybe it had to do with my inability to stay focused at times. I didn't know, but I wasn't worried about it. I still got what I needed to do done.

My thoughts were off in a whole other world at this point, that I didn't even notice someone waving their hand in front of my face, until it gently smacked against my nose. I jumped at the contact, snapping out of the little daze I had been in. I almost dropped my spoon as I snapped back into focus, head turning to the side of me to find an unfamiliar boy standing there.

Not knowing what to say, I sorta just stared at him. Stared up at him, really. He had to be at least a foot taller than me, if not more. I was quite on the short side anyways, but this guy was tall. Tall and skinny. His brown locks fell in his face, a few strands reaching his deep blue eyes, which were studying me with an intrigued expression. 

He was dressed a little weirdly too. Not really weird, but more . . . fancy. He wore a light blue button up that was tucked into the black jeans he wore. It wasn't too different, but I wasn't used to seeing people wear sort of fancy stuff in school. That was assuming he was a student. He looked about my age.

"You dropped your pencil back there." I didn't realize I was staring until he spoke. I snapped out of my daze once again, staring wide-eyed up at him, realizing he was holding what was indeed my pencil. Had I dropped it? I didn't remember dropping it. How did I drop it? I didn't know.

"A-Are you sure it's my p-pencil?"

"Yes, I saw it fall out of that backpack, which you have by you, so I'm assuming that's your backpack, therefore you are the owner of this pencil," the boy said. He talked very formally. Not really sophisticated, but it definitely matched with the way he dressed. His voice was deep and rich, reminding me of honey and that satisfactory feeling you get when you brush your hand over a super smooth surface. It was smooth and soft, calming in a way.

"O-Oh, okay. T-Thank you," I responded, carefully taking the pencil from him and gripping it tightly in my hand. I smiled awkwardly, but he was still giving me that intrigued look. Maybe that's just how his face rested.

"Mhm," he hummed in response, but just . . . stayed there. He didn't move to leave, just standing there, still looking at me. I rose an eyebrow, feeling my heart speed up in my chest. 

"Do . . . d-do you need something else?"

"No no, I'm just thinking. Also, you have something on your face." With those words, the boy turned around and walked away. 

As soon as he started walking away, I turned quickly, frantically wiping on my face to try to figure out what could be on it, not bothering to watch where he went. Nothing came off, though. So there was nothing on it? Why did he say that then?

My confused thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the bell ringing, and I sighed. What did he mean, then? Was there some other meaning for 'you have something on your face'? If there was, I didn't know it. 

I quickly put my lunch away, then got up, gathering my things, and headed back into the building, still gripping the pencil in my hand. As I walked through the halls to my next class, I kept an eye out, trying to spot that boy, but I never saw his tall figure. Something about that bothered me. Something about that boy bothered me. I didn't know what it was, but it was something nagging at me deep down,

Upon reaching my next class, I sat down in my seat, opening up the small pocket in my backpack where I kept my pencils, to put the pencil away.

When I opened it, I saw the exact pencil I was holding, that I had supposedly dropped, in the pocket of my backpack.