I kept my eyes on my lunch as I ate, I heard a few more people show up for lunch. I didn't want to look up, I was nervous. I heard them all talking but I tuned them out, so it was like a buzzing in my ears. And when I finished eating, I looked up and realized there were only two other people left and I looked down again. It was Chad and Orihime but I felt extremely awkward around them still.

"Saru, can you look at me please?" It was Ichigo.

I looked up at him. "What?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." I looked down again, staring at my hands in my lap. Ichigo put his hand under my chin and pulled my head up to look at him. I kept my eyes averted though. I was still feeling really awkward. He just sighed and released my face.

"Is she ok?" I heard Orihime ask.

"She just doesn't do well around people she doesn't know." Ichigo said with another sigh.

There wasn't another answer after that and I made a move to get up but Ichigo grabbed my arm and tugged which made me sit back down again. I let out a puff of air but didn't say anything and I went back to staring at the ground.

"Can you look up please?" Ichigo sounded a little annoyed.

I looked up but only looked at him. He sighed and just stood up. "Let's just get to class."

I stood up and followed him, staying behind him instead of next to him. He was probably annoyed with how anti-social I was for the entire lunch period. I just wasn't much for making friends. I'd never been good at talking to people. It was actually extremely difficult for me, despite how much I've tried to change that. I never succeeded.

I sat down in my desk immediately even though class didn't start for at least ten minutes and I put my head on my arms on the desk. I wasn't sure where Ichigo was but for the moment I just didn't care. I was feeling bad that I probably made the lunch period really awkward. I knew I was going to have to change that at some point.

I heard footsteps and then felt a hand on my back. I didn't flinch because I knew it was Ichigo. Anybody else and I would probably punch them in the face for touching me. An overreaction I know but I wasn't comfortable with most people touching me.

"You okay?" I heard him ask.

I lifted my head so I could look at him. "Sorry." I laid my head back down.

"For what?"

I didn't say anything else. I just didn't feel like talking anymore. I felt his hand slide off my back and he was walking away. That only made me feel worse. I must've sat like that for a while because then I heard the bell ring and I finally lifted my head. I took a glance over at Ichigo and noticed he was talking to Orihime and Chad and I looked back away, pulling my notebook out. I flipped it open, doodling.

Once class actually did start, I took careful notes, trying to focus. And it worked because it kept my mind off of how horrible I was feeling. By the time the bell rang for us to get out of school for the day, I carefully packed my stuff back into my bag. I looked up once I was done and my heart dropped into my stomach. Ichigo had already left the room. I let out an irritated sigh. I'd made him feel bad so now he was giving me space. Space that I honestly didn't want.

I walked out of the room and noticed he was already pretty far ahead walking with his friends. So I just trailed behind, leaving a lot of space because I didn't want to bother him. I noticed that he looked back a couple of times but I didn't bother waving or trying to catch up. I stopped walking when I noticed that he stopped walking, as did his friends. He was saying something to them and then he started towards me. I just stood there and watched him. Once he reached me I let my eyes drift off to the side.

"You feeling alright?" His voice was soft.

"Yeah I'm fine." I didn't realize that I sounded agitated.

"Sorry I walked out—I got a little distracted." He was still speaking softly.

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I wouldn't have been any fun to walk with."

He sighed, sounding annoyed again. "Don't start that."

I just sighed and didn't say anything. Why did it matter? I was just going to be a downer—or just make everything terrible awkward.

I let my head drop so I was staring at the ground. He sighed again.

"Did you want to come with me and my friends to the park?" He made me look up at him.

I shrugged. "I won't be much fun—I don't know how to…" I shrugged.

He snorted. "You'll be fine. C'mon."

He offered his hand to me. I stared at it for a few seconds. I didn't know what to do for a few seconds anyways, I was still feeling awkward. But I did take it after a few minutes and he just walked with me up to the group. I got quiet again and I mostly kept my eyes straight ahead, but I was feeling less awkward. I did feel a little bad that I didn't say anything when they kept trying to pull me into the conversation. But I was still trying to get over being shy.

I wasn't sure when I'd reach that point but I knew I would after a while. Once I got used to being around them then I would be fine.

I hadn't realized that we were already at the park until Ichigo was having me sit against a tree in the shade. I'd been zoning out the entire walk here. He sat next to me, keeping my hand. I still didn't say anything and I had to resist the impulse to sit down when Chad and Orihime sat down. They started talking with Ichigo but didn't try to pull me into the conversation. They could probably tell that I was still extremely uncomfortable.

I suddenly started to shake. I wasn't sure what was going on but I was shaking pretty badly.

That's when everything suddenly went black.