His Butterfly

Chapter 1

I lean my cheek against my hand, doodling on the piece of paper in front of me.
Just five more minutes.
I look up at the clock, which may I add, seems to be ticking slower than usual, then look back down at the paper in front of me.

Hearts. It's about all I'm capable of drawing effortlessly, allowing my fingers to comfortably glide across the paper.

"Alright little badgers, you now have permission to be released into the wild. Have a great weekend everyone!" My teacher calls out to whoever is still listening and to whoever else is not sleeping.
Almost instantly, I slam my binder, popping out of my seat like a jumping bean.
"Don't forget your phones!" She motions to her desk, as if to show off the phones that sit there on display.

I watch as everyone runs for their phones, frantically checking and answering their notifications.

I, on the other hand, slip my arm through the crowd, grabbing my phone and bolt out of the room. I already know I have no notifications, why disappoint myself in checking and seeing a blank screen? Useless.

Getting down the hall is basically hell. If hell were a place on earth, here it would be.
The people in front of me are walking as slow as zombies. No, scratch that, zombies would win at this point.
It's a Friday, could they possibly go any slower?
I decide to slip past them the moment I get a free slot. It's like trying to slide into a room without touching the door before it closes. You only have so many seconds before another flood of people walk in the opposite direction, closing your chances.

I swing open my locker, shoving my binder in my bag, not even being concerned about if I have homework in any other classes. If my books are in my bag from other classes, I do the homework, if not, I guess I suffer Monday.

I sling it over my shoulder and feel it hit someone behind me. "Sorry," I automatically blurt out. "Watch where you're going!"
Rolling my eyes not even wanting to deal with people, I quickly shut my locker, popping the lock back on.
I push through the crowd that now starts to clear up, and make my way down the other wing, finding my best friends locker.
My fingers fumble around the lock, trying to remember the combination. When I do finally get it, I see her bag still there.

Checking my phone and realizing the time, I shut her locker darting down the hall.
"Brooklyn, where are you going?" I look up to see Ellie walking towards me, books in hand, "aren't we hanging out today?"

I give a slight smile and hold onto the strap of my bag, "I got a bunch of homework. If I get it done tonight, I'll text you and we can hang out tomorrow?"

She nods and smiles back, "Good luck with the homework!"

I laugh, "Good luck with the art mural! No more procrastinating on homework after that, aye!" She shoots me the finger playfully before we turn in opposite directions.

I push the door open going to catch the bus with the little muscle I have.

Our school really needs to grease those up or something because I don't have enough muscle to continuously push it open everyday, and I don't plan on working out anytime soon.

I see my bus beginning to pull out onto the road and gasp quietly to myself.
"No, no, no!" I run after it, adrenaline building up through my entire body and chase it down the street.

It hits a red light, slamming on the brakes (thanks goodness, I don't think my lungs can take anymore) and I catch my breath, slamming the door with my fist. It opens and I smile relieved, taking one step up.
"Sorry sweetie, no room!" She motions me off and I take a step back as she shuts the doors and continues driving.