Maybe Before Today

Chapter 2

Day two of the school year was... less than eventful. As usual, I got up, got dressed, walked to school with a sleep-deprived Ziggs and sat in a crowded hall on the edge of a panic attack until we were released into class. My first class, maths, was mind-numbingly boring. But Ziggs had a great time. Maths was to them what English was to me. It sometimes baffled me how we got so close since we're complete opposites in so many ways.
I don't even remember the rest of my classes because they were so monotonous. Or maybe I was just zoned out. We may never know which.
But the walk to the park was anything but boring.
As we walked past the school, I pulled Ziggs behind a wall, looking round the corner and being careful not to be seen.
"What is it?"
"Shh!" I hissed.
"Ali-"
"Shh!"
Everyone else had already left, so we were alone, except for the two people who were talking to one another in hushed voices. One of whom I could identify as Lex Foster.
"No, five hundred isn't what we agreed!" she said.
"Well, it's the best we can do," the guy said. He was in the year above us. I still maintained that Lex only mildly intimidated me, but I wouldn't even try to deny that this guy scared me.
"Can't they go any higher?"
"It took a lot to get them to go to five."
She threw her head back, I assumed in frustration. "Fine. I can't really wait any longer. Five hundred it is."
"Okay."
They split up so Ziggs and I ran to the edge of the woods just until they had both gone in order to not get caught.
"See! I told you I had good reason for being a intimidated by her!"
"And what would that be?" Ziggs asked me, their eyebrow raised.
"Did that not sound sketchy to you?"
"I don't really know. Maybe. But we don't know the full picture. Try not to make assumptions until you know what's really going on."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
And I hated that Ziggs was right. It was easy to pin the way Lex made me feel on something like that. Much easier than admitting the truth.
"You wanna get coffee before we go to the park?" I asked.
"In what world would my answer ever be no?"
I laughed, "Okay, let's go."

After we got coffee, we walked through a little alleyway to get to the park. Since it was still the summer, it was packed full of little kids. There were some fighting in the sandpit, some pushing past each other to get to the slides and the swings, but there was one girl I saw just sitting alone on the bench. I felt a little bad for her.
We walked through the park until we got to a quieter spot where the picnic benches were and I got out my English folder.
"I still just don't get any of this," Ziggs said, getting theirs out too.
"That's the point of me trying to help you."
"I guess."
Unsure of whether to laugh or pity them, I started to explain the work we had done that day. Until I started to get a little distracted and my eyes drifted over to the little girl on the bench. To my surprise, I saw Lex approach her, taking her hand. The little girl hugged her and I saw Lex Foster smile, I think for the first time.
"Alice... Earth to Alice!'"
I was only able to snap my eyes away when Ziggs started to click their fingers in front of my eyes. "Sorry, sorry."
"What is it?"
I looked down, feeling as though I had been caught doing something I shouldn't. I knew that simply looking at another person wasn't a crime. But I still felt guilty for some reason.
"Ah. It's her again," Ziggs said, looking to me inquisitively. "Didn't know she had a sister."
"Yeah. Me neither."
I looked over one more time, but I blinked once and they had disappeared behind a cluster of trees.
"Anyway," I said, picking up my pencil, "Shakespeare."