With the temperature outside lingering just above freezing, leaving home before the run rose meant a thick coat, hat and gloves. The grass frozen still under a layer of frost that crunched under every step; satisfying when there was no sign of snow on the way. Street lamps lit the morning world with an orange glow, and despite the time, there seemed to be no one about. Six-thirty often signaled the time when the few would be piling into their cars before their commute into the city, yet today they all sat silent, only the sound of shoes echoing along the street.

Chris bounced along, breath visible and heart rate racing, watching the world wake up around him. He watched lights flicker on in kitchens and curtains being dragged open with the reluctance of another working day. The usual winter fog clung to the ground further ahead of him, haunting each street corner. The sight was arguably peaceful but nonetheless unsettling. The thick fog reminded him of games he'd played as a child; thick fog bringing all the terrors of the night within its cloud. He glanced behind him and pushed across the road, frost crunching under foot. His journey usually took him along the streets, under a bridge plagued with the graffiti of the bored, and across the park. He avoided it most days, the unsettling and perturbed air making his stomach churn. Chris pushed himself ahead, picking up his pace as he crossed under the bridge, avoiding a small pace of ice from the night before. His mind focused on the muted sounds of birds beyond the park, the sounds of his feet and the world before him. He followed the path around the edge of the park, his eyes watching the play ground as he ran. The whole place made him feel uneasy and tense although he never could put his finger on why.

Chris continued his run, eyes bouncing between the path ahead and the tree. As usual, he picked up his pace again and propelled ahead; the less time he spent in the place, the better. His eyes caught sight of something to his left, lingering by the oak. He twisted his head to see and felt his left foot land incorrectly. As he fell, Chris felt his side hit the ground and his body roll forwards. The cold numbed the pain of the fall but it wasn't that which had bothered him. His eyes had spotted someone but they weren't there now. The runner heaved himself upright, his heart racing. There had definitely been somebody standing there; standing just below the tree. Chris forced himself to overlook the incident. It was just sleep deprivation. He was exhausted and worn out. There wasn't anyone there, and it wasn't Poppy. He felt his chest tightened, constricting and compressing under the weight of that thought. Two feet began their run once again, sprinting their way out of the grassland faster than it would have customarily taken him.

Throughout his journey home, Chris couldn't shake the incident in the park. He couldn't dispel his unease over the event. As he made his way to the school grounds, the sun already making its way high into the morning, Chris still felt the apprehension and agitation of earlier that morning. He stalked his way into the building, ears deaf to the sounds around him, before he dropped into his seat for the morning. He could see the familiar faces of his friends laughing and greeting each other with smiles and ignorance. Yet he just couldn't ignore the inkling no matter how much it concerned him.

Sat on top of the two tables in front were a duo inseparable since the day they'd made friends. Sean with his curly, mouse-brown hair, thick glasses and skinny figure, and Becky, a girl whose appearance changed as easily as her mood; how much her parents spent on hair dye, none of them knew. They sat in conversation, talking excitedly about some event they'd both frequented over the weekend. They sat animated, exuberant and cheery. They were close friends, good friends, the type to remind friends no matter the distance between them. They would have to be if Becky made it into the university she never shut up about.

Erin drove to school in her Volkswagen Beetle. It was black in colour and had been her Birthday present. She smiled as she drove to School dressed in a pair of black UGG boots, light blue skinny jeans and a pink jumper with a hole in the back and a large bow across the hole. She had curled her hair and applied her usual makeup. She picked up Jessica who lived at the end of her road on her way. The girls travelled to school listening to loud pop music. Once they were there Erin packed up before taking her bag from the back seat. They headed into the building and to their classroom. It was form class first and the girls talked about the weekend ahead of them as they headed to class. Erin's parents were away so she was having her friendship group over for some snacks and cocktails. She smiled as they arrived in the class room and headed over to their friendship group. "Hey guys." Erin said as she sat down. She kissed Chris on the lips as she sat down next to him. Jessica grinned "well hey there, guys. Tonight is going to be amazing!" She said excitedly.

The form teacher came into the classroom. On Friday mornings the first lesson was a lesson with the form teacher with a personal lesson attached to it. The teachers had decided that after a period of time they would discuss suicide and depression with the students. They felt that it was a needed discussion after the events of 6 months ago. The teacher stood there with her chubby frame dressed in a black suit and matching heels. She had her hair scraped back into a pony tail and thick chunky black glasses. She must be about 50 with wirey grey hair. She stood in front of the class. "Good morning everyone. Of course you all know that we do personal class on a Friday morning. Today I want to go over something which I know is a very personal discussion for you all, suicide and mental illness." She said pacing around at the front of the class.

Becky continued her animated and lively conversation with Sean, waving her arms about as their conversation continued. To the rest of the world it was pretty obvious of Sean's feelings. He listened intently and paying attention to every detail. Yet to Rebecca, he was a good friend; family basically. She turned her eyes to Jessica and Erin, smiled widely as she continued her conversation with Sean. The two had shifted their conversation over to music although the musicians were unknown and far fetched. They spoke of unconventional singers and unfamiliar albums but such was their way. They both acquired a taste for Indie and carried that love through genre and country. If it hadn't been for Rebecca, Sean would never had the opportunity to witness a concert he would always remember has his all time favorite. Sean passed the two girl's a faint smile and immediately turned back to his conversation, leaving Chris to deal with his girl friend and her best friend.

Chris muttered a greeting when Erin arrived, his head pulling back from her sudden greeting. His actions may have appeared blunt but his incident in the park had given him an unease he just couldn't shake off. His own conflicting feelings hardly helped the matter. He cared about Erin but this was high school. Chris shifted in his seat, his knee bouncing under the desk. He mumbled at Jessica's excitement and nodded. Sure tonight would be a laugh but he was exhausted; that was his excuse. Rebecca gave a wide grin and turned to the others.

"It'll be amazing!" She chimed, sliding off the table and into her seat. Before she had the opportunity to speak once again, their teacher strode in, beaming as always. The students shifted themselves into position and waited for what the school day had prepared. Everyone had seemed fairly gleeful until the words "Suicide and mental illness" danced throughout the air. Chris murmured a curse and turned his attention to one of his notebooks. He quickly grabbed a pen and began to doodle, scribbling small cubes across the first empty page he found. Part of him considered feigning an illness just to get out of the class. The last thing he needed was this. Poppy's death wasn't his fault.. It wasn't his fault she was dead.

Erin took her notebook and pencil case out. When the teacher came in she had hoped that she would announce to allow the class to have a study session. This was something that she had made a point of doing recently as she knew that the students were under pressure. Erin bit her lip and felt an empty feeling come over her stomach. This was sure to bring back memories for everyone. Jessica's face fell from a smile into a straight face. She took out her notebook and pen in silence. Great, this was going to bring a dampener on everyones days. The lights went dim as the teacher turned them slightly to show the power point on the white board in front of them. The room had changed in atmosphere from loud with rucus and chatter to dead silence. Not even a pen dropped to the floor.

Mrs. Kennedy stood there with the clicker to change the slides. The first slide came up containing the subject of the lesson. "Now, this I know is a hard subject to swallow. We're going to look over the causes for suicide, the help you can get before you get in too deep and the feelings that you might experience before you get in too deep." She said as she paced across the room. "Now firstly we're going to think about things that we feel may cause someone to feel very depressed. I want you to take a minute and write down things that we feel may cause this." She told the students "I don't want you to discuss these things."

Everyone started writing things down. As Jessica wrote the things down she could feel a cold, shivery breeze come over her. She bit her lip as she wrote things down. No one else seemed to be experiencing the breeze so she didn't say anything. Erin kept her head down just trying to do what had been asked of her.