loneliness;;

She looked at him slightly confused. “Oh Okay.”  Tilly said nodded  a little and stepping away  slightly giving him his place. “I’m sorry.”

A small laugh escape his lips, Todd finally takes the time to breath. “It is not your fault. Don’t worry.” He gives a small reassuring smile, one would barely notice the tension on his shoulders. “You were saying?”

  She was taken back by his reaction. Tilly lost her train of thought and shook her head. “Are you okay?” She asked politely to the other.

 He shakes his head in engagement, fearing  his words may not give that impression. “Yeah.  Sorry...” The boy repeats, still holding his breath.  “I just— I’m not good with—” He motions towards   the air. “I’m not good with touches...”

“I was around six or seven and my sister and I are named after flowers. I wanted to keep it going.” Prim chuckled. “He just wants you to learn, that’s all.” The teacher liked her. Maybe it was because she paid attention and was sweet to a lot of people, or maybe because she had a sister everyone seemed to love. She shook her head and tugged on his arm. “You’re coming back with me. And you’re staying awake!”

Teachers hate Johnathan. The late appearances followed by loud entrances, the lack of respect, the condescending attitude. It would be a surprise if any figure of authority didn't have a certain level of aversion when it came to the boy. “Nope. No way.” He shook his head, almost disappointed. “We were keeping each other’s secrets remember? —I have a few nights of sleep to caught on and that dude doesn’t want to see my face. I’m doing both of us a favor by staying here.”

   “It doesn’t… but the question is  can you keep up?

 “Well— Yeah. Of course I can. What are you gonna do? Run around and climb trees?”

“I know school starts early and everything but I still wouldn’t want them sleeping while I’m talking. It seems a bit rude, if you ask me.” Prim tried to give a smile, it sounded a bit harsh to her. “His coat matches the flower.” She even pointed to show her point. She remembered her sister denying it but still believed her cat’s coat matched. “I don’t know. I found him in a Meadow when I was younger.”

“I don’t know... I would have named him warrior or something. Aggressive and fits the missing ear. No strangers approaching him and getting hurt by accident.” Johnathan let out a small laugh. “—As a matter of fact, the dude has a hell lot of students awake, he focus on me because he wants to. It’s not like I’m snoring or making any noise.” Nathan pointed out. With small sigh, he shifted in his position, making himself comfortable again. “Good luck with the whole going back to class thing...”

“Well, I wouldn’t want someone sleeping if I was talking to them. So I think he’s being reasonable.” Prim shrugged. She could practically hear her older sister laughing in the distance. No one ever thought her cat was cute. He always hissed and only had an ear and a half. “Thank you. His name’s Buttercup. He can be a little…aggressive sometimes.”

“I would let the person sleep, they are probably tired for a reason.” Johnathan shrugged. “Why would you name an aggressive cat Buttercup?” A small laugh escaped his lips. “You are giving strangers the exactly opposite idea. They are gonna approach him and get hurt. —How did he?” He motioned towards his ear, with a raised brow. “Got in a fight with a dog?”

    “I’ve wandered through these  woods probably more then you  have, I’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, but, like, what if there is a dangerous wild animal there today. a little company never hurt nobody.”

     the male shrugs, “that’s all i’ve got.”

    “ahh, too bad. i’ll give you props for trying, though. for future reference, the pick up line wasn't bad, just overused.“

“I don’t. I’m just letting my cat out. I might go back though, Mom wouldn’t like it if I just skipped.” Prim opened her bag, showing how her cat snuck into her bag. “He knows the way home from here.” She put her bag down, letting her cat come out. “What are you doing out here anyway?”

“Trying to sleep.” He yawned . “The teacher is too much of an asshole, he wouldn't let me sleep in the classroom. He would probably wake me up all the time or send me to the principal’s office.” Johnathan observed as the cat moved with a small smile forming on his lips. “Cute little guy you got. What’s his name?”