Prologue

"Adam had always wept," Grayson began to read his poem in front of his class. 'I always hated making poetry, I never saw any point in it, and having to present it to others is even worse...' He thought. "Never could be kept, alone in all, hard to call, they found his head, mounted as he read, tears he wept, never to be kept." He finished his poem.

'It's mediocre work that barely keeps a theme, it took me less than a minute and it'll still get a B at the least.' He thought to himself as the teacher stood up.

"Alright, why don't we give Gray a round of applause?" She asked as she brought her hands together. The rest of the class clapped for a few seconds.

'Then there's her. An overly happy woman that teaches emotions over rationality. I understand that others prefer emotions more so than rationality, but one helps you more in the long run than the other.' He thought to himself.

"Alright, go ahead and sit back down." She said with a smile. After a little while, the class ended and everybody got up. "Grayson, I'd like to speak with you before you leave the classroom." She said.

'Did she catch onto how little effort I'm putting into this class?' He wondered. "Alright." He said as he put on his backpack. One by one, the students flooded out of the class and the door was closed. "If it's about the poem, I can redo it." Grayson said.

"No, the poem was fine, it accurately portrayed a common reaction when reading a sad excerpt in a book." She said.

'Did it?' Grayson wondered.

"No, I wanted to talk to you about your home life. How are things with you mom...? Your dad?" She asked.

"It's fine. They're a normal couple and normal parents." Gray said.

"Yes, well, the way you behave and speak in class tells me there's something deeper going on here." She said.

'Yeah, and what do you know about my life? Either way, I'm not like this because of my parents.' Gray thought to himself as he adjusted his stance and his breathing pattern changed slightly. "Not really." He said.

"See, you always speak like that. It's like you want people to think of you as some kind of robot, and you always distance yourself from others... It's like you're constantly looking for new data." She said.

"Yes, it's one of the many reasons I don't have a love life." Gray said. 'Not that I care, I just want out of this conversation.' He thought.

"Do you think having some experience in that part of your life may help you get out there and talk to others?" She asked.

"Not really, just stating a fact." He said. 'This conversation is now taking an awkward turn and it's my fault...' He thought to himself. She sighed.

"Well, just give it some thought, once you have, I'll be here to talk about it, okay?" She asked.

"Right." Gray said. "Well, I'm going home now..." He said awkwardly as he went to the door.

"Bye, and remember to find me once you've thought about it." She said. He gave her a thumbs-up as he opened the door and left. Upon closing the door he sighed.

'Such a people pleaser... Stop trying to get in my head." He thought as he walked towards the school exit.