remember when I knew

JAI PRICE

 IT WAS A warm sunny day. Birds were singing, the wind was softly blowing, and, for some reason, Jai Price's amazing brain had (once again) forgotten how to breathe.

But maybe more context would help you out. It was Monday. Not any Monday, though, first-day-of-school-Monday. Or, as people might call it, hand-me-my-gun-Monday.

The first day of school isn't the best for a lot of people. Jai shared that mutual hatred, with one slight difference however: everyday was exactly the same to him (and he wasn't thinking of the song).

First day of school is particular because it's the first time your classmates see you. Their entire opinion of you relies on the impression you make then. That's why a special voice follows you around that day, telling you to act cool so you don't screw up. It judges you all day long, no break.

That voice was a constant element of Jai's brain. Always there. For now and forever. It was like a shadow, hanging over him, commenting what he was doing, what he was thinking. It controlled him and everything he was doing.

Today wasn't even that much of a first day. He would go back to his old friends, his old school, his old teachers, his old classes. Sometimes, he hoped he wouldn't. Because as reassuring habits were, he had that urge to run away, start over with people who had never seen him at all.

Wouldn't life be so much easier then?

But he didn't have a choice. He couldn't run away. He had to enter this school knowing the nightmare was beginning, repeating every two minutes that there was only a year left. It was his mantra. A year, a year, a year.

He looked down at the floor, and passed the many groups of people talking and talking. It was time to blend in. Be human, be normal.

As if you'll ever be.

"Hey, bro!" Lucas greeted him, patting him shortly on the shoulder, almost making every one of the books in his hands fall. He caught them right on time and kept throwing them in his locker. "New year, new class, huh?"

Smile, nod. Just like we did on rehearsal. "Yeah."

Just add something. People who just say "Yeah" are boring. Say something. Say something.

But Jai had nothing to say. Should he ask him what he did on Holidays, probably. But how should he word it. 'How was summer?' That would just scream that he was trying to get a conversation going. Ask for help?

"You'll be so jealous when you learn what we did this summer," John began to say excitingly, grabbing his bag from his Lucas' hands with a glare. "Careful! You're gonna wrinkle my books, you savage!"

Lucas and John were twins. If they shared their physical appearance –tall, slumber, dark skin eyes and hair–, they couldn't have been more different in personality.

"What have you done, then?" Jai asked, hoping to keep John from killing his brother.

"We were in London, and we went on the Harry Potter Tour, saw the Sherlock Holmes Museum, the Shakespeare Globe-"

"Or the 'Globe of Incomprehensible Language', as I call it," Lucas commented.

"And we bought comics in the oldest bookshop in London. It opened in 1790-something, and the-"

"1797," Lucas informed. "Now tell him about the very best. We saw the Science Museum, with so many cool machines, and-"

"How are old machines better than visiting the bloody Harry Potter studios?"

Fortunately, as they were arguing, Jai spotted a familiar mop of blond hair in the crowded corridor. He gripped the side of his bag tighter, taking a breath, trying to ignore the other people. "Look," he interrupted the siblings, "Aiden's coming our way with an face that screams bloody murder."

They all knew there was only one person Aiden Jackson would want to kill. He wasn't a very violent person, normally. He was actually quite a patient boy, probably the very reason Frigg Evans enjoyed annoying the hell out of him.

"I bet Frigg's just started their prank war," Jai told his friends. They'd been doing this for years now, and no one could remember a day Aiden wasn't attacked the morning, and Frigg the afternoon. Not even when they were sick.

"No chance, I'm not letting you win easy money like this. He's go flour all over his head, man," John snickered, masking it behind some coughs when Aiden reached them.

"Hiya buddy," Lucas greeted him. "I see you've decided to keep the good old tradition alive?"

Aiden groaned and banged his head on the wall a few time, making the flour fall and fly around him. "I will kill her," he assured, taking the flour off his head with the towel John was handing "She's a dead walking woman."

This. This is the time to blend in. "ATTENTION! ZOMBIE!" Jai screamed.

Some students looked at him but most didn't, not the least surprised. Lucas said something and they began to talk about the best way to prank Frigg back, but Jai wasn't listening anymore.

He looked at the people around him. Was it him or were they more than before? The hallway was crowded and everyone seemed to be going closer and closer to him. It felt like the walls were going to just crush him. And the people walking weren't exactly helping. Some were running, others jumping. Laughing, talking, yelling, squealing...

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Don't worry. It's all in your head. All up there. You're an actor, this is your set. Everything is but a play, it's a game you're playing in.

When he opened his eyes again, they met others. Jai hated any eye contact, but those peculiar grey eyes seemed to hold is stare. He couldn't help but look at who they belonged to.

It was a girl, standing across him. Her hair was pitch black but she'd dyed some of her strands in silver. It was short and smooth and one half was braided but the other half was cascading her neck freely.

Finally, the power she had over him died, and he broke eye contact, looking at the floor. Her shoes were white sneakers. She wore a normal jeans and a white sweatshirt. It had a sun drawn on it and instead of 'Here comes the sun', there was 'There goes the sun'.

"Can we go?" John asked. "Class starts soon. I am not getting late today. I've already planned my day, and we have two minutes to get to class, but if we-"

"We get it, we get it," Lucas rolled his eyes at him. "Coming?"

Jai snapped out of his trance and nodded. "Let's go," he agreed.

The girl followed them with her eyes as they walked away and her stare made Jai shiver. It wasn't a check-you-our look. She was looking at him as if she was looking at a maths problem she needed to find the answer of.

And when their eyes met, Jai had a weird feeling. Somehow, she knew.

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A/N: Tell me if you liked it!

Question: What do you read when you want to feel happier?

My answer is: "Words In Deep Blue"!