In case you missed it, my name is Joseph Rune.

7th period was Olivia's least favorite. Mr. Dilberman was convinced that he was Sicklemore High School's favorite teacher, year after year. In actuality, he could be considered Sicklemore's biggest flirt. Mr. Dilberman made a name for himself by flirting with all of the cheerleaders and passing them with magical A's by the end of the marking period. So long as they were willing to spend an extra 20 minutes with him at the end of each class discussing "extracurricular assignments." Zuri Martin was one of Olivia's closest friends. Standing at 5'4 and 120 Ibs, it was fair to say that Zuri was Olivia's opposite. She had pale skin, fair hair, and bright eyes. Though, Zuri hated everything there was to love about herself. She was much more intrigued by Olivia's dark skin, almond shaped eyes, and curly hair. Zuri was fixated on Olivia to the point where some believed the two to be a couple. Neither Zuri nor Olivia spoke much about their sexual preferences. But the eye contact between the two was unusually intense. And the bond, stronger than most. 

It was the day before homecoming and Lauren Shezzleworth, Sicklemore High's most popular cheerleader. was found speaking aloud to her best friend Pabelly Nuestro, about how she was so excited to be attending homecoming with one of Sicklemore Middle's best football players. Pabelly did what she typically would in this instance. Smile and nod as she checked her hair and lip gloss in her compact mirror. Laruen soon takes notice and quickly smacks the mirror out of Pabelly's hands. "You fool, who even uses those anymore? Did you hear anything i've been saying in the past 5 mintues?" 

Mr. Dilberman chimes in as expected, "Well if it makes you feel any better Lauren, I was listening. In fact, I think you're way too attractive to be attending such a memorable event with a trashy football player who will probably end up drugging and fingering some other girl in the bathroom towards the end of the night." An awkward silence takes over the classroom. Luckily, class 7 is saved by the bell as the students rush to pack up their belongings and head out the doorways. 

Zuri follows closely behind Olivia, hiding her face from Mr. Dilberman in a mockingly fearful way. "Thank God I have Olivia to protect me from creepy predators like you!" She scolds while sticking her tongue out and quickly jogging around Olivia, into the hallway. "Hey!" Mr. Dilberman barks back. That'll be five points off your final grade! Keep it up Ms. Martin!" Zuri looks towards Olivia for shared laughter and reassurance. But Olivia is distant and disinterested. Miles away, her eyebrows furrow as if she is concerned about something. 

As Lauren and Pabelly finish packing up their belongings and prepare to exit the classroom, the are interrupted by an overly eager Mr. Dilberman. "Oh, girls! Before you leave, don't forget I offer extra credit Monday, Wednesday, Thursday during office hours. You're more than welcome to stop by anytime." Pabelly stares at Mr. Dilberman with a scolding glare. "I heard you sometimes give out weed brownies to your favorite students." Mr. Dilberman looks taken aback. Pabelly chuckles with arrogance and pops her gum. She leans closer and speaks close to a whisper. "What's it gonna take to be one of your favorites?" A frazzled Mr. Dilberman begins to fix his tie as he anxiously makes his way back to his desk. "You're dismissed ladies." Lauren and Pabelly chuckle as they make their way into the hallway for their final class. 

Olivia and Zuri arrive to 8th period early and begin to make themselves comfortable. "'Oh, Zuri come sit in the first row. I want to sit up close when Ms. Orlando is teaching class. You know this is my favorite one of the week." Zuri studies Olivia as if she were searching for something not readily apparent on the surface. "Don't tell me you're cheating on me now Liv. I mean, Orlando's hot. But not cuter than me!" Olivia roles her eyes and begins to neatly organize her desk and check her hair in the mirror. Students begin to roll in as it gets closer to the bell. A heavy set and well kept girl walks in with freckles, a 70s styled hair do, and a few books in her arms. "Wow, the back is finally open for once. You two must really like this class." She berates as she makes her way to the back of the class. "Dani, Emilio, over here." The girl gloats.  Zuri and Olivia look back with slightly curious yet slightly annoyed eyes. A few more students roll in and notice an unusually spacious back of the class as the vast majority of them make way to sit next to one another. Zuri and Olivia are isolated in the front row but do not quite realize it yet. 

While observing the events taking place in the back of the class, a young man walks in with no books, no bag, and a grande coffee from starbucks. He is slim, simple in appearance, kind eyes, and yet, there is something rugged about him. He walks by Olivia only for Olivia to turn around at the same time. Zuri is still studying the back of the class in a judgmental fashion. The boy makes and holds eye contact with Olivia. The gaze is intense, yet comfortable. The two hold eye contact for a few seconds before the boy decides directly behind Olivia. Shortly after, Ms. Orlando walks in. "Good Evening class. Interesting seating arrangements for today. Sorry for running late. You know I can't function this late in the day without my coffee. It's fine. It'll be  worth it. You'll all be wishing you were smart enough to buy a coffee once we're done with today's lesson. Okay, let's start off with a roll call." Ms. Orlando begins calling names as Olivia begins to doodle on a blank sheet of printer paper. "Liv,  Liv, earth to Olivia?" Zuri tries to get Olivias attention with no success. "Olivia, Olivia. I must be speaking an alien language today. Olivia! Can you hear me" Olivia finally looks up and notices an entire class gazing at her. Startled, Olivia drops her pen and straightens her posture "Umm, yes?" Ms. Orlando chuckles. "Well, you're present but you're not present if you know what I mean." The class laughs in unison as Olivia sinks deeper into her chair and hides her face with her hair. 

"Okay class, today, I'm gonna need you to get into pairs. Today, we're going to lend each other a helping hand. Literally!" Ms. Orlando reaches for several bags of class supplies as she makes her way to the desk front and center of the classroom. Once you guys have finished pairing up, you can come to the front and grab a pair of instructions as well as supply. I'll get the lofi set up!" 

Zuri looks to Olivia. "I'll grab the supplies. You take a second to come back down to earth princess." Olivia blushes as she crosses her arm and stares down into her desk.  "So Olivia's your name" The boy sitting behind her ponders. I would assume you didn't catch mine since you barely recognized when they called yours. I'm John. John Rune." Olivia partially turns around to get a better glance of John only to notice that he's already made his way halfway across the classroom. He sits beside a girl similar in dress and demeanor. The girl gives him a headnod before returning to her doodling. "Guess i'll be grabbing the supplies then!" John says enthused, while making his way to the front of the classroom. Zuri returns to find Olivia gazing in John's direction. What's with you today? Did someone forget to take their meds? Olivia quickly returns back to reality and waves her hands in a frantic and embarrassed motion. Not so loud! Do you want the whole world to hear. "Zuri smiles to her self while moving her seat closer to Olivia. "There's a reason people are working so hard to destigmatize mental health Liv. So people don't feel the need to have THAT kind of reaction anymore." Olivia glares at Olivia condescendingly as she begins to look down at the instructions, indicating that she would rather change subjects. 

The instructions show how to build a mechanical  hand out of bamboo straws, barbwire, duck tape, screws, bolts, and pulleys. Olivia and Zuri begin working on the assignment in silence. Being drowned out by the distance laughter and chatter of the class. Within 20 minutes, Zuri and Olivia manage to come up with a concoction that somewhat resembles a hand. They look around to observe what the class has come up with. No two projects look the same. Ms. Orlando quickly chugs down the rest of her coffee before providing the class with the remainder of instruction. "Okay folks, looks like you managed to get through the assignment in one piece! That was the easy part. Now here's the hard part. I want each group to come to the front of the class and explain how you managed to work together to create the beautiful creations sitting before you. In other words, how did you manage to lend one another a hand. Afterwards, I want you to describe a time when each of you received a helping hand from someone. Describe how the gesture impacted you both in the short term as well as the long term. Who would like to start? The class hesitates to volunteer before Ms. Orlando scolds "don't make me have to start randomly selecting volunteers you guys. Come on! This is the easiest assignments you've had all day. It only takes 5 seconds of courage!" The class remains silent and disengaged until Joseph raises his hand. Everyone exhales and relaxes into their seats as Joseph and his partner make their way to the front of the class. A hand with a black rose ring and skeleton like fingers is presented to the class. Beautiful, but slightly haunting. Joseph begins, "This, my friends, is the hand of someone who is incredibly malnourished and fighting for their lives." Joseph's partner chimes in. "Hello class, long time listener, first time participant here. My name is Anel. And Joseph and I have decided to recreate the hand of a dear friend of ours. She passed away two years ago. Losing her fight with Borderline Personality Disorder and anorexia altogether." A heavy silence takes over the class. Ms. Orlando leans forward, eyes glistening with a clearly invested interest. Joseph continues "My world was destroyed when we lost her. If it weren't for my friends, who checked in on me everyday for the past 24 months, I would've drank myself into a comma.  Angel, is one  of the people who stayed with me through it all. And so, I felt like it would only be appropriate to add a portion of her to the project as well. Isn't this ring cute?" Joseph exclaims while holding the delicate project in a way that shows the ring off. The class chuckles and inches closer as angel blushes and sways back and forth in embarrassment. Ms. Orlando stands up and gives and excitable round of applause. "Now this is exactly what i'm talking about. Do y'all see how much easier life becomes when we lend each other a helping hand?" Excellent job  Angel and Joseph. Would anyone like to go next?" 

A surplus of classmates begin to raise their hands, suddenly having the courage to stand before the class and share rather intimate things about themselves with one another. with 10 minutes left until the end of the period, Zuri raised her hand. Olivia lets out a dramatic groan but quickly follows after her. Zuri briefly looks at Olivia for reassurance but receives none. So she studies the class and takes a large inhale before speaking. "Olivia and I came up with this together. I'm not really sure if it looks anything like a hand or not. But all I can say is that she helped me make it. If we're gonna talk about helping hands, I would say that the both of us have kind of always been here for each other since middle school." Zuri looks back to Olivia for permission to share more, but Olivia remains cold and disinterested. Zuri continues, uncertain "We fight like a married couple but we never leave each others side. And though our connection isn't always understood by others, it's special to me. And it helps me in more ways than you'll ever know Liv." The class stares at the two confused. Olivia glares at Zuri almost with disapproval. The bell rings, marking the end of the school day for the students.  Olivia quickly grabs her belongings leaving Zuri behing. Zuri takes notice and quickly follows after. "Liv! Hey, wait! Stop, where the f**k are you going so fast?" Olivia continues to walk as if she cannot hear Zuri's desperate cry. Zuri speeds up and grabs Olivia by the shoulder. "Dude what the f**k? Sensitive much? I was f*****g teasing you. So what the hell is wrong?" Olivia takes some time to gather herself before turning around. "Yea, the joke is always funniest to the people it impacts the least. I'm glad you had yourself a nice laugh." Zuri seems taken aback. Olivia looks at her for a moment, as if she had psychologically one upped the most difficult of opponents, before beginning to make her way towards to front of the school. Zuri is left standing in place, frazzled.