Fragile

Last Day of the Week, First Poem.

Friday, 11:30 p.m. , lunch break

When the bell that signaled for lunchtime mercifully rang and ended the hour-long, but not necessarily boring Arts class, Jack remained seated upon his desk in his classroom. He indulged in the silence that followed immediately after his classmates left to eat their lunch in the canteen. However, there were no rules against eating in the classroom, at least not that he knew of.

"Ah, well, I guess this is one of the advantages of being in a school that takes pretty much everything for granted", Jack said out loud to no one in particular as he started unpacking the lunch that he had made for himself earlier on the morning. He was rather proud of it; his lunch pack consisted of rice, bacon and eggs. It also came with a ham and cheese sandwich as a little extra, in case his lunch would not be able to fill his surprisingly huge appetite. Furthermore, those were food meant to be eaten during breakfast, not lunch, but Jack did not believe in such a standard by which to categorize what time of the day food should be eaten.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a familiar voice. It was the voice of a male.

"Hmmph, you're right about this place taking everything for granted."

Jack paused from eating his lunch to turn his head towards the entrance of the classroom, which was the direction he heard the voice from. It was Alexander Frye, the one whom Jack thought to be a nosy person who simply could not stay put and mind his own business. As Jack observed the figure of Alexander slowly walking towards the desk beside where he was eating, he saw that Alexander was somehow a bit too short for his age. Most people in 12th Grade are around the ages of eighteen or nineteen, but Alexander looked to be about 5 feet and 3 inches. Jack was five feet and eight inches, which was the average height. As Alexander sat down beside Jack, Jack acknowledged his presence.

"Oh it's...you again. Is this where you usually eat your lunch? If you do, then I don't have any idea how I've never seen you here before, since I'm certain that I'm the only one who does not bother to go to the canteen whenever it is time for lunch", Jack said to Alexander. Both remained quiet for a while, and the only sound to be heard were the mouths of both students munching on their food. Jack continued to observe Alexander and his features. The thought of having a friend to talk to was not that bad of an idea to Jack, regardless of the certain person's reputation for being nosy.

Alexander had droopy, light brown-colored eyes, paired with short but straight black hair, and healthy, light-colored skin. It was a contrast to Jack's long, messy hair, and his sickly-looking, pale skin. Jack was rather fond of his own pale skin, as Miss Summers also had this physical feature. Alexander also seemed to be of average weight. Not exactly thin, but average. As the two classmates sat, the silence was broken by Alexander's reply to Jack.

"Yeah, yeah. All of us here know that you're one of those people who prefer to be left alone than having some fun social interaction." For someone who was not exactly close to Jack, Alexander Frye seemed to be too frank, to the point where Jack thought that his attitude was tactless. However, Jack accepted the fact that regardless of wherever he would be, there will always be people who have this nature.

Jack decided it would not hurt to have a conversation with someone, as he wanted someone whom he can possibly confide his secret too anyway. Of course, Jack needed to be closer with Alexander first to see if he was trustworthy despite his big mouth, but he will have to do. And so, the conversation resumed.

Jack turned towards Alexander, who was eating spoonful after spoonful of scrambled eggs like a glutton who had been denied of food from eons ago. He had to pause to take in the slightly disturbing sight in front of him then after a few moments, he said, "You know, you're not exactly wrong about me preferring stay away from social interaction. Well, for someone that barely knows me, I'll give you that."

Alexander let out a bark, what seemed to be his version of a laugh. He proceeded to take out a can of juice from his lunchbox, which afterwards he opened and finished in four huge gulps. Without turning to Jack, he laid his head down on his desk and replied.

"I'll take a nice, short nap. Do me a little favor and wake me up when whoever teacher is here."

Jack looked at the person beside him, who was now snoring quite a bit loudly. He thought it to be extremely unrealistic how someone who ate so much food could fall asleep within the mere span of a few minutes. Unable to stave off the boredom that slowly crept up upon him as it usually does whenever he does not have something or someone to interact with, he took out his notebook and pen, and began writing. He was in the mood for it, so he chose to write a poem about his encounter with Miss Kate Summers yesterday.

"One Rainy Day"

I stood on this cold, rainy land,

Nothing to hold, not a single warm and friendly hand.

Just when a tear was about to be shed,

She came, and pulled me out of this land of the dead.

If she bothered caring for a person like me,

Perhaps, with her, I'm fine with spending eternity.

But alas, she went, and did not stay,

With me, on this one rainy day.

Jack simply stared at his work. Then, he closed his eyes and laid his head on his desk, and joined his newfound friend in peaceful slumber.