10

You become what you think.

~Earl Nightingale

As always, the weekend had gone by very slowly, but on the bright side I didn’t have to go to the hospital and get needles poked in my skin or have any intense flare-ups, the worst I had to encounter was the rush on my face which I had worked so hard to have cleared and well as the aching in my joints, overall, I had quite a good weekend.

It was Monday and I was so excited to get out of the house, getting up at the sound of my alarm, I got out of bed. I didn’t know why I kept my alarm because having had the same routine for years, my mind was accustom to doing everything I was supposed to at the set time without having to check the clock, I just knew what and when I had to do things, it had become a norm.

Entering the bathroom, I stared at my reflection in the mirror set above the sink on the door of the vanity cabinet and relief filled my lungs, the red spots on my face had cleared out and it looked normal, pale but normal.

With a smile on my face, I took a shower and afterwards delt with my hair which was easy because I had gone to the salon over the weekend. Pulling it into a sleek ponytail, I went to the closet and slipped on my outfit for the day which consisted of a pair of dark denim jeans, a button down shirt and grey high neck sweater with hearts littered all over it. Pairing the outfit with black converse, I looked at myself in the full length mirror one last time before grabbing my medication, backpack and going downstairs to have breakfast.

“Good morning.” I greeted my mother who was already dressed, sitting at the table with a cup of what I presumed to be coffee and scrolling through her phone in another, she was often in that position.

“Morning.” She mumbled back in a very low tone, if my ears weren’t so sharp I wouldn’t have gotten it.

Taking a seat, I was served and ate quickly, I only had 20 minutes before Albert would have to drop me at school, he just like my mother hated waiting.

Going to the kitchen, I grabbed my lunch bag and rushed to the car, my mother was already waiting for me. Getting in, Albert begun by dropping me off at school before proceeding to take my mother wherever she was going.

Something had been off about my mother over the past couple of days, she was rarely home, which I was not at all complaining about and also she seemed more tense than usual, her eyes were practically glued to her phone even during dinner which was unlike her, she had this sense of respect for dinner time, she wouldn’t have anyone doing anything that wasn’t eating when it was dinner time, even when my father was around the same rules applied to him, I remember how she would always get his phone and place it out of his reach whenever we eat.

Deciding not to dwell on my mother, I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind after making a mental note to ask her what was going on later, she would probably not tell me but I told myself I was going to try. I tightened my grip on my backpack and walked into the hallway and straight to my locker to get the books I would need for the day.

“Good morning pigtails.” An all too familiar voice greeted followed by my strands of my hair being played with.

“Leave my hair alone Raphael.” I groaned looking away from the inside of my locker and turning to face him. Surprisingly he had a huge smile on his devilishly handsome face. “Do you need something?”

“Yes, I need you to help me understand a certain concept, I have a test in last period.” He told me.

“I can’t help you with that, I have classes to attend.” I told him.

“Lyra you are my tutor, it is your job to tutor and make sure I understand everything.” He retorted.

“Am I your tutor, yes, am I supposed to make sure you understand everything, no.” I said. “That sound like your teacher’s job, not mine, I am only but a student, just like you after all.”

“Lyra-”

“Raphael.”

“I can’t fail this test and that is the one bloody concept I can’t seem to understand, you need to help me otherwise, I’m screwed, my future of whether I get to play in this season is solely depending on this damn subject.” He pleaded.

That was something new, I had never seen Raphael so desperate for anything, in fact, I was almost certain this was the first time he was doing it.

“What subject is it?”

“Math.”

I cocked my eyebrow at me and he scoffed.

“I told you we-”

“I know, I know.” He groaned. “Now will you help me or not?”

“Say it-” I smirked. This guy had been teasing me from the very day we had me and now, I finally had a chance to not make fun of him but to make him use a word that I doubted was even in his vocabulary.

“No.” He groaned looking me dead in the eyes.

His gaze made me a bit uncomfortable but I stood my ground. I was not going to let him intimidate me.

“Fine then, have fun not throwing your ball and running around the court.” I shrugged shutting my locker and turning to walk away.

Before I could take any step further, he held onto my hand and released a frustrated groan, in that very moment, I knew I had won.

“Fine Lyra,” He groaned out. “will you please help me out.”

“Louder, I couldn’t get you.” I turned to face him so I could enjoy the moment even more.

“You are enjoying this aren’t you?” He scoffed and I nodded yes.

“Chop, chop, we don’t have all day you know.” I said holding back my laughter.

“Lyra will you help me-”

“Say you are in dire need of my help.”

“I am in dire need of your help.” He added.

“Great, I’ll meet you in the library during second period.” I told him.

“My test is in sixth period.” He said.

“I am aware but I have a quiz in first period, I can’t miss that for your test besides, the hours between the second and sixth period will be more than enough for you to understand.” I told him. “Unless you are oblivious of everything you have covered in the subject thus far.”

The last part was meant to be a joke but he clearly didn’t get it because all he did was stare at me with a straight face.

“That was supposed to be a joke.” I scoffed. “Anyways never mind, I’ll see you in second period, don’t be late.”

“Noted.” He nodded and walked off.