The Numbers on Our Arms

Chapter 3

"Arlo!"

Seraphina turned up in the park after school one day with her pink jacket sliding down her shoulders.

"Sure took your time getting here, huh?" Arlo replied. He stood near a bench.

"I don't remember making any promises." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Just be glad I showed up. So what do you want?"

"Just as I mentioned. I want to talk." She stared at him. "What? Don't trust me? Yet you still decided to come, so you must have stuff on your mind too."

Just like normal, Arlo. Straight in with the guilt-trips.

She took a seat on the bench next to the one Arlo sat on, keeping over a metre between them.

They sat there for a few minutes where both refused to look at the other.

"Hey," Arlo was the first to say. "Remember when the two of us ran Wellston together? Lately, I've been reflecting on it a lot. That was the calmest the school has ever been. Everything was under control. Students rarely stepped out of line."

"And yet it was at its worst," she replied. She held one hand in the other. "I was at my worst. Just because you wouldn't see it, doesn't mean it wasn't happening."

He sighed. "Well, Wellston's current state is a total disaster. Not sure how that could have been any worst. I have no idea what to do. This is the first time in a while where I've felt completely lost."

She looked away from him. "That makes two of us. John wasn't like this before. He's changed over the last several months. I've always noticed the inconsistencies in his behaviour, but whenever I asked him about it he has never given me a straight answer. I don't want to waste energy trying to get explanations out of him anymore. Right now, I don't want to talk to him at all. Arlo, you're the only other person who knows the full story about what happened between you. I want you to tell me what really happened between you two."

"I'm sure you were aware that your friend John stuck out like a sore thumb. Claimed he was a cripple, but he sure as hell didn't act like one. I knew he was hiding something and I didn't like the idea of an unknown roaming Wellston, so I had Isen look into him.

"Turns out my suspicions were right. John was secretly a high-tier. I wanted to see what he was capable of, so I went after him and you already know what happened afterwards. I had you suspended and spent the weeks waiting for the school to break John down. Then I brought him out to our Turf War location and had Meilli and Ventus ambush him. That's about the extent of what John told you, right?"

"Just about."

"I thought so. He did a great job demonising me."

You do a great job demonising yourself.

"You wouldn't even give me the time of day till now. Though, I can't really complain. Especially after what I did to him. I never should've involved myself with him."

"Why do you and Elaine both talk about him as if he's some kind of monster? Was your experience with him really that terrible? What else has he kept from me?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Well for starters, he was the King of his old high school in New Bostin."

"N-new Bostin? He wasn't home-schooled?" she questioned.

"I don't know why you're still surprised at this point. 'Home-schooling'. Just another lie he made up so that others wouldn't question his history. Although, he may have been home-schooled at some point. I don't know. He still used it to cover up his past.