Why Run, When You Can Hide?

Make it Better

I hand my test in and the teacher looks at me, smiles a little and points at Lennon.

"Seems your boyfriend is having a bit of trouble." she laughs to herself, and I turn to look at him. He's gnawing at his pencil, and his eyebrows are drawn together in frustration. I look back at Mrs. Hallowburry and grimace.

"He's not my boyfriend." I say, stalking out of the room and, much to my surprise and theirs, slam the door. I get a glimpse of Lennon's worried expression before it closes.

 The dream I had last night haunts me. I was being normal enouugh around Lennon, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was coming. I've always had the same dream, no changes, then Lennon comes along and now he's in my dream? What does that even mean? I'm thinking a mile a minute by the time I get to lunch. Sanity is a fragile thing. I think to myself. 

 I needed to be alone. Grabbing food, I sit down and put my face in my hands, not really hungry. I feel an elbow bump mine as I look up to see Lennon smiling down at me.

"Quite an exit you made there." he says, sliding into the seat beside me. I wince as our legs brush together, feeling guilty.

"Yeah. Well, I never liked her anyway. What were you stuck on?" I ask, remembering his confused expression, trying to sound normal. I'm not sure it works. 

"Hmm?" he asks, mirroring his expression earlier.

"On the test. You looked…. The way you do now. What question were you stuck on?"

"Oh. Number 7." he says, fixing his gaze on me. I look away, not wanting him to notice the way my pulse quickens when he looks at me that way, or the fact that I'm feeling naucious  at the thought of my dream, and looking at him makes it worse.  "Jazz, what's wrong?"

I snap out of my daze and look at him again, but I make sure to look at his nose instead of meeting his eyes.

"Lennon, I'm fine. Just tired, and overwhelmed, I guess." I smile a little, but he doesn’t seem to buy it.

'That’s it! I'm fixing this!" he says, and suddenly he swings me into his arms like a child; his arm under the crook of my knee and behind my head. I scream for him to put me down, but he simply holds on tighter until we are outside, then he puts the top down on his car and throws me into the passenger seat.

"What are you doing?!" I demand, and he shrugs.

"We're skippin' class baby. I'm taking you to have some fun."

"Are you crazy?!" I shriek, not knowing what to do. Lennon as already pulling out of the school parking lot. "The school will--"

"They'll what? What's the worst they can do? You're old enough, you can do whatever you want." He fired back, with a finality in his tone that meant he wasn’t budging on the matter. I sighed and sat back in my seat.

"Where are we going?" I ask, making my annoyance clear.