Preoccupied

"Good morning!" Jade put her tray with her lunch on the table, taking place with Jack.

The girl smiled, giggling. She took her fork and began to eat without saying anything else. The two boys exchanged glances and saw the newcomer happily eating.

"Won't you sit down with your friends?" Jack finally asked.

"And leave you alone? I wouldn't forgive myself for that. Besides, they understand the situation." She smiled, putting another quantity of salad in her mouth.

"What situation?" Sebastian asked this time.

"Yours, of course," she answered while wiping her lips, "I can't leave you alone. I feel sad just imagining you eating alone locked in your locker."

"Correction: starving alone in his locker," Jack clarified, receiving a blow from the girl sitting next to him.

He appreciated the concern of his classmates, but, at the same time, he hated to worry them. Ironically, he wanted to get help and for someone to really notice that he was not quite right, but then that feeling disappeared when he thought that he would only be interfering with his problems to others. Like him, there were many people who were going through difficult times. He simply couldn't leave them with more burden than they already had. He couldn't be that selfish in that way.

However, the insistence on seeking help began to increase. Jack wasn't the first to ask and he knew he wouldn't be the last either. But what was happening was not something that could be fixed with only therapies and medications. He had learned to live with it by appearing to be the most normal thing in his day to day life. Always enduring the same and acting in the same way, leading a monotonous and gray life.

And, although there were many moments where he poured happiness before, now he didn't feel like that Sebastian from before. That narcissistic and self-centered Sebastian Sorrow had matured, becoming bitter and losing hope in the world. Even he was unaware of himself.

"Sebas," the girl called out of his thoughts, "I heard you will have extra classes after school."

"That's right," he replied, raising his elbows to the table and licking his lips in attempts to keep them hydrated.

"Would you like me to help with the paperwork to see who will take care of you? You know what tutoring is like, so..."

"Don't worry about that," he interrupted, looking at Jade's dark orbs. "I'll be fine with whoever I stay with."

The girl and the blonde exchanged glances, making the black-haired boy wonder why they were doing it. Was there something he didn't know? He preferred to ignore the action that his peers did very often, but curiosity reigned in those moments, wishing he could read minds to find out what was being "transmitted." However, he did not dare ask because the result would be the same: he would have no answer. Therefore, he had stopped questioning for quite some time, knowing that it was useless to continue asking when he did not resolve any doubt.

His cell phone vibrated in his pants, making him jump up and grab it quickly. It was a message from a number that he had not registered in his contacts, but which he was surprisingly able to recognize.

Unknown: Are you okay? – 12:56

He looked in the direction of where the silver-haired guy was, who was having a pleasant chat with his classmates at the table. He noticed the communication device in his hand with the screen on, waiting for the black-haired's response, which did not take long.

Sebastian: You did not answer my question. – 12:56

Sebastian: And yes, I'm fine. – 12:56

Unknown: Sorry if I sound like a prying, but you didn't look good yesterday. – 12:57

Unknown: Even if you don't want to believe it, you had us very worried. – 12:57

"How can you not sound like a meddler when you are involved in all my issues?" He thought as he snorted, his fingers moving rapidly over the keyboard of his cell phone.

Sebastian: So worried you didn't even visit me when I had a blackout. – 12:58

Unknown: it wasn't a "blackout". – 12:58

Unknown: A blackout lasts a maximum of a few minutes. – 12:58

Unknown: You fell into a coma. – 12:59

Sebastian: Thank you very much for the correction, Nathaniel. – 12:59

Sebastian: But I don't care about the difference between the two words. – 12:59

He locked his cell phone, putting it back in his pants pocket as the bell rang. Jack and Jade, who had been chatting about trivial things, got up with their trays in hand to clean their place. Sebastian, having consumed nothing, just followed them silently to the trash cans. His gaze searched for the group of six boys, being easily spotted by Hirsch's red hair. But, in short, he lost sight of them as more students began to rise from their own seats.

Once the other members of the council had thrown all their trash away, they returned to their classes. They both took it upon themselves to take Sebastian to his classroom, hoping that Sebastian didn't make a fuss about something. And the complaint never came. He simply thanked them both before watching his friends disappear down the hall.

He breathed out heavily, peering into the classroom seconds before deigning to enter fully. He didn't want to see Nathaniel for the rest of the day, much less talk to him –because surely the boy would ask him questions that he simply preferred not to answer–. Also, he had enough thinking that he would have counseling that same afternoon, could he not have a break from so many bad things that happened to him in a single day?

"It's only a few more hours, Sebastian," he mentally perked up as he took a seat at his desk. "A few more hours and you can go to your silly consultancies, where Nathaniel won't be around to bother you for the rest of the day."