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Chapter 3

"How was school today, Lucas?" Liz asked when I stepped into the car.

"School was fine," I told her. I told her this every single day. I don't even know why she bothered asking me anymore. She would ask the same question, and I would reply with the same answer. Doesn't she get tired of it? I know I certainly am. It was a lie, too, which made it morally worse. I didn't feel bad about it, though. I never felt bad about it. I was a terrible person that way.

"What did you do?"

I failed yet another math test. "I learned."

"What did you learn about?"

"Stuff."

Liz let out a sigh, and she coiled and uncoiled her fingers around the steering wheel. "That's nice, Lucas," she sighed. She kept her eyes on the road and I focused on changing the radio stations to songs I liked. I didn't like that many songs that were playing on the radio. The only one I really enjoyed was Come a Little Closer, and they only played that on a rare occasion. Such a shame, really, because Cage the Elephant was an amazing band. The rest of the car ride was filled with silence, and I preferred it that way. Of course, silence was deafening to me, but it was better than having to talk to Liz.

Mondays were the only day that Liz picked me up from school. She drops me off at the library where I volunteer, and she makes her way to work. It was always nice to never have my parents around, but I sometimes worry that I may catch the wrong bus and not end up at home.

It was almost 3:30, and the kids wouldn't come until 4:30, so I knew I had plenty of time to do whatever I want. Usually, I would stay on my phone the entire time. But at the last Monday of the month, I would go out and buy pizza for the kids, and the last Monday just so happened to be today. I put my backpack in the very back corner of the library so no one would steal it, and I made my way out to the nearest Little Caesar's.

I figured two boxes would be enough for the kids and their parents, so I walked back to the library, trying to ignore the burning sensation on my arms. I pushed the door open with my back, trying not to drop the pizza, and I made my way over to the kids section. I set the pizza on the highest step in the semi-circle of stairs. I put napkins by the pizza so everyone could help themselves.

Once it was 4:20, kids and their parents started piling into the library. I gave a shy wave, and I put a smile on my face. "Hi! There's pizza right over there; help yourself, please."

Parents acknowledged me as their children pulled them towards the pizza. I really hoped that more kids walked in soon, otherwise the early birds would get more pizza and leave none for the rest. Maybe I should have bought more than two boxes... Perhaps their parents could teach them to only get one or two slices.

I sat down in my wooden chair as kids started to walk in and take their seat in the semi-circle, and once the clock struck 4:30, I smiled and stood up from my seat.

"Hi, guys!" I greeted, putting a smile on my face for the kids.

Some kids said hi back to me, some kids stayed quiet, and some simply waved.

"Alright," I said, clapping my hands together. "If you don't know me, my name is Luke, and I'll be reading a story for you guys!"

"What's that on your lip?" a little girl with pigtails asked.

"On my lip?" I asked. I licked my lip, and I felt the ring on the corner of it. "Oh, you're talking about my lip ring!"

"It looks good on you," she said with a smile.

"Well, thank you very much!" I beamed. "I like your shirt. My Little Pony is awesome."

She giggled, and she snuggled into her shirt. I smiled, and I turned to the other kids. "For those of you who were here last week, what were we reading again?" I asked. I really hoped they actually remembered that we were reading The Titan's Curse.