* * * Hope’s POV * * *
I have been sitting behind an open book, staring into the air for hours. Not reading. Not writing. Sometimes not even listening. I’ve been present and absent at the same time. English, Spanish, History and Biology have all gone by in a hazy blur of nothing.
At lunchtime, I sit in the middle of the garden and do nothing but pretend that I can see the flowers bloom and flourish before my eyes - my mind speeding up their lengthy process of development.
It’s the second day that Hayden and Joven haven’t been in class. Normally, when Hayden is absent, Joven is still there. I like his company. But not this time. I am left with Scott and Ashley.
Parent Anna comes out to offer me food - I think she said pasta, I think - but I decline. I say decline, but I really just
