English class was relaxed. Ashley talked and I listened. She would try and get me to talk, but I wouldn’t. Talking to Ashley is one thing but talking in front of other people, I can’t.

After five minutes of trying she gave up and let me write my answers down. She seemed upset but understanding at the same time.

The first few chapters of Oliver Twist was long and boring. Dickens is very long winded when writing a book. I never got past the first three sentences of a Tale Of Two Cities. It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. Yep, that’s all I remember about that book.

"What’s the first part of the packet that we need to complete?" She asks uninterested and bored with it already. Looking over it, it says that we need to draw one character in books as Charles has described them. I send Ash a written explanation of what we have to do since she refuses to read her worksheet.

"Sweet! Drawing’s fun." Smiling at her sudden mood change, I flip to the next page to begin sketching a picture of The Artful Dodger.

The bell rang signaling the end of class after what felt like minutes. Time flies when you’re enjoying yourself.

Ash’s stands up waiting for me to gather my stuff so we can walk together to our next classes. Passing by the teacher’s desk, she stops us. "Spencer can I talk to you for a minute." Nervousness washes over me. "It’ll just take a minute. Ashley will you wait outside please." Ashley looks a me and smiles trying to reassure me before leaving the class.

"Spencer, I just wanted to let you know, if you ever want to talk about anything at all, I’m here to listen." She looks me over. Taking in my appearance, she continues. "I understand you’ve been through a lot losing your family, but keeping it bottled up isn’t healthy. Please just think about it okay?" I nod my head and leave the class. Ash is waiting next to some lockers for me.

"Everything okay?" Shaking my head again, we make our way to second period.