2

Time felt like it was moving even slower than usual. Finishing my little stick figure sitting on the top left corner of my notebook, I suddenly realized that I had basically spent the whole period doodling. In my defense, my neighbor (the typical perfect student with impeccable, combed hair and glasses) had 5 pages purely on the difference between a geometric series, a power series, and an alternating series. Or maybe it was on derivatives and integrals. I don't really care. Either way, there were simply too many notes to comprehend and write down.

I looked at the cover of my notebook and took out the note that had been thrown at me. Unfolding it once more, the words "See you later" glare up at me--dead center on the flashcard. The more I stare at the card, the more my curiosity overpowers my confusion, conflicting with my normal attitude. Glancing at the little clock above the teacher's desk, class should end any minute now.

After what felt like an eternity, the school bell finally rang, releasing us from the torturous clutches of Calc, and lunch commenced. Returning the folded flashcard to the inside cover of my notebook, I shoved the notebook to the bottom of my backpack. Calculus will be useless to me. It's not like I'll ever be an engineer or architect, or need to know how to calculate the area under a curve. Lunch is the time when everyone would normally pull out their lunches or roam around the school to talk with friends, but today everybody unanimously stayed in the classroom. After all, this morning's events between me and Lily were pretty unforgettable. They didn't want to miss anything.

The first few minutes or so of lunch passed without incident, and I was beginning to wonder if Lily wasn't going to tell me until after school when I heard the crisp sound of her shoes coming down the hallway. Instantly everyone in the room (myself included) was on high alert--waiting to see what would happen.

The door opened and she approached my desk, bending down to whisper in my ear. With one hand covering the side of her mouth, her gentle voice murmured in my ear,

"Meet me at the rooftop when the big hand strikes the 5."

"Why not now?"

"It's best if we're not overheard..."

I considered what she said. It was a valid reason. I looked up and gave her a nod of agreement. The letters and numbers still bobbed gently above her head. She stood back up and smiled slightly at me once more, and proceeded to exit the classroom. I was a bit distracted by her death date--distracted to the point that I almost missed her smile.

The entire classroom had their eyes glued to Lily from the moment she opened the door until the last strands of her brown hair disappeared from our view. The moment she skipped out, all those gazes fell upon me. The usual uneasiness of being in the spotlight set in, but I ignored the majority of it and stared at the clock instead.

Currently, the big hand was right in between 3 and 4. Another seven and a half minutes to wait before I finally get to hear what this whole favor thing is about, then this whole thing will be over with. It's not that I'm annoyed by this interaction; I just want to spend a bit more time in my discrete bubble. Away from all these rumors.

In all honesty, I was highly tempted to ignore this incident and go on about my day. However, I would prefer not to be the talk of the school--especially if it was because I did something wrong. Then again...would I really have enough energy to care? Probably not.

The big hand of the clock was moving slowly and steadily near the five. I guess I'll just go see her. Might as well find out to satisfy my curiosity, and if it's some impossible favor, I'll simply decline and return back to class to grab my stuff. My train of thought was once again interrupted by my classmate who sat behind me as he continuously poked my back. His demeanor was outspoken as ever. Why does he have to annoy me for even something as trivial as this?

"We all heard what she said, pal. Time is ticking ya know? Soooooo...are you going? Are you going? Are you going?"

I guess she didn't whisper quietly enough to hide the meeting time and place from everyone. I internally scolded her for making my life harder.

"Might as well."

"You should tell me what happens after. WOO, I'm stoked for you bud."

"..."

He stood up from his desk, patted my back, and proceeded to walk out of the classroom with a couple of other students from a different class--probably his friends. An annoying person, yes, but I do give him props for not trying to barge into my business and stalk me.

The big hand eventually struck the five and it was time for me to head up to the rooftop. I averted my gaze and started walking out of the classroom. I felt everyone's eyes following me out, but I paid little heed to them as I walked out of the classroom.

Heading up the stairs to the roof, I passed two boys who were chatting about (surprise) a girl. What else do high school boys talk about? 23 years and 21 years bounced in the air above their heads.

"Yo, did you see that girl up there?"

"Yeah, no kidding. She's a 10 for sure."

"Ha. Only 10? You must be blind. She's like...off the charts or something. At least 15/10."

"Trueee. Think I'll have a chance with her?"

"Dumbass, she's way out of our league. And couldn't you tell she was waiting for someone? It's probably her boyfriend."

The second person sighed.

"Yeahh. I saw. Wonder what kind of luck a guy's gotta have to score a girl like that.

"Dunno. Higher than ours for sure."

As their laughter faded out of earshot, I unconsciously started to tally up everything I knew.

The arguably most popular girl on campus asked me for a favor.

Said girl requested to meet me on the roof (known to be the best place in school for proposals).

The aforementioned girl is now "waiting for someone" (probably me) on the roof.

"…"

Nah. There's no way she's planning on doing what I'm thinking. There's plenty of other (not socially awkward) boys in our school. And most of them don't have my average looks. She'd be better off with them. I don't have any specific feelings towards Lily, nor do I really have any bonds or connections with anyone at school. I tend to keep to myself.

The stairs were coming to an end and the biting cold winter wind rushed through the double doors that opened up to the roof. There, you would usually find friends or lovers interacting and hanging out with each other. However, I'm not here to do any of those things. I am simply here to conduct my business with Lily. Stepping through the doorway, my eyes scanned the area for her brown hair and the unique numbers above her head. It took me a minute, but I soon spotted her, alone, at the corner part of the rooftop. As I walked towards her, I passed a couple walking in the opposite direction. I couldn't help but notice the phrase: 9 days rippling above one of their heads. It'll probably be a very tragic incident, but it's not my place to meddle with their love life.

As I walked past them, Lily turned around and faced me. Energetic as always, her face beamed an enormous smile.

"Hey! How's your day been?"

"The usual."

"Well, you're probably wondering why I called you up here."

"In a way. Only reason I'm up here."

Her skirt flared out as she cheerfully spun around. First turning towards me, then away again. It seemed as though she was disappointed with my emotionless answers.

"Well...this may be sort of a weird meeting, but I have a favor to ask."

"I am aware of that, yes. What do you want me to do?"

"Welllllll, it's not necessarily a thing you have to do; more like...say?"

She leaned on the fence that surrounded the whole roof and smiled nervously. I considered what she had said and made the most appropriate response I could think of that fit this situation.

"So, what do you want me to say?"

Her smile slowly dissolved, as if this "favor" really was a serious matter. She looked up at me with nervousness written all over her face.

"Your name…"

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Your name."

"…"

I blinked at her slowly.

"YOUR NAME. What's your name?"

I was kind of dumbfounded. Did she bring me to the roof JUST to ask for my name? Clearly, there has gotta be more to the story than just asking for my name... right?

"My name?"

"Do I have to repeat myself again, you dummy? Yes! What's your name?"

Hesitantly, I told her my name. My head throbbed in pain from the millions of thoughts flooding my head.

Will she laugh? What if she tells everyone? Is my high school life going to be over? Will I have to transfer schools again?

Her expression when I told her my name was as if she was holding in a laugh, but couldn't stop it. She started laughing.

"Is that truly your name?"

"Yes, why would I give you a false name? I have nothing to hide."

"Your name really doesn't suit your quiet persona. It's more…cute."

"Cute?"

"It's kind of a girl's name if you think about it."

I slightly felt insulted by the remark about my name, but in a way, I was used to it. Though, it would feel nice to have some sort of positive acknowledgment towards my name (at least once in a while). After all, my name is one of the few things I can't change.

I was curious. Why did she want my name? I feel like some things really aren't adding up, but I mean, nothing today has added up.

"May I ask why you need my name?"

She gave me a dumbfounded look and blinked slowly at me. Her long, brown hair fluttered in the wind. Then, her typical smile brightened her face.

"Let's be friends! You're always alone, and you don't seem to talk to anybody."

"I am actually quite surprised you noticed that I existed."

Lily got flustered when I said that. Her face blushed bright red and she began to stammer out excuses.

"I-It's not like that! My eyes would always drift towards you...NOT IN A WEIRD WAY!"

Her getting flustered and all worked up was actually, in a way, kind of mesmerizing. Not like I'm falling in love or anything. It was just interesting to watch the most confident and popular girl in school lose her composure because of a simple statement.

Even though it feels like I've been waiting forever to find out what her "favor" was, the bobbing phrase: 300 days remained exactly the same on top of her head. Becoming friends with an outsider like me in the last days of your life really isn't the best way to spend the last days of your life.

Lily stepped away from the rooftop fence and wiped the dust off of her polyester school skirt. Looking back at me, she grinned and said,

"That's all there is to it, doofus."

"Doofus..?"

"Call it...a friendly nickname."

She smiled and winked at me, then skipped away from me and towards the rooftop stairs. Just before she went down the stairs, she turned around and shouted back to me,

"DON'T FORGET TO DO THE HOMEWORK!"

And smiling once more, she headed down the stairs. Her long, brown hair and black numbers on top of her head were swallowed up by the darkness of the stairway. To be frank, it really was a weird encounter: for someone so pretty and popular to go through all that trouble just to befriend an outcast was something quite out of the ordinary; though it was very intriguing.

I stood on the rooftop aimlessly for a while. Just gazing at the view of the town from the school rooftop. The sun beamed down upon me, and the sky was blue without a hint of clouds. It was a nice day.

I wonder how else Lily will make my life interesting in the next 300 days.