Two Birds On A Wire

ch 01

Ivan woke up to his alarm clock ringing in an unbearably loud voice. He reached out his arm to snooze it and rolled out of his bed with a groan.

He could hear the birds chirping outside and a faint whistling voice from somewhere within the house-- probably his mom preparing tea in the kitchen. He lazily dragged his feet into the bathroom as he yawned in all the air around him, scratching the back of his head.

Ivan turned on the faucet and took a handful of water, splashing it against his face. The water was so cold that it made a chill run down his body. He let out a sound of disapproval and sucked in air through his teeth.

He looked up at his own reflection in the mirror and saw one more time why everyone kept calling him a "mama's boy", not that he didn't like it.

Most of his wavy black hair stuck to his forehead, still wet from the water he had splashed against it. His nearly flawless skin of fair complexion made him look like a sculpt of marble. Water sparkled on the thick lashes that framed his dark, prey-eyes and down his nose. Yes, his nose-- the cutest feature of his face-- a cute little nose that made all his ferociousness disappear--if he even had any, that is.

Ivan hated to go to school. Sophomores shouldn't normally feel that way. He should be feeling thrilled. However, what he felt was the complete opposite of what could be described as "thrilled" and he couldn't quite help the feeling.

He never felt like this before. It was just that, this year, the teachers were rude enough to place him in a different class than his friends.

It was as if they had done it on purpose. Sure enough, they shuffled the whole section and yet, Ivan never expected himself to be separated from his best friend-- someone he was so close to, that people often mistakened them to be brothers.

And now, Ivan just spend his days, wishing for school hours to be over as soon as possible, so he wouldn't have to live in boredom.

He heaved a sigh and decided to go on with his day. The clock was ticking and he didn't want to run late for school.

***

Ivan sat through the first three periods, wishing that time would actually fly. The whole class heaved a genuine sigh of heavy relief when the school bell rang. It was physical Education time. A time when you could just sweat away all your worries.

And yet, Ivan felt nothing less to any enthusiasm as he was never really a fan of sports.

"Aren't you gonna join us downstairs?" One of the kids asked as they left the classroom and Ivan faked a smile, giving the boy a nod.

He vaguely wondered how long he was going to live like this. His classmates probably think of him as a psychopath, it has been almost two weeks since the academic year started and the only time he spoke to any of them is when the teacher conducted a debate in class the last day.

Ivan hopped down the flight of stairs and out to the school play court and the kids were already deciding on teams.

"Hey, you, come on. The game is about to begin!" Someone, Ivan never bothered remembering the names of his classmates, said as they waved at Ivan.

"Nah, I'll just sit out on this one" Ivan said as he walked to the side lines.

The other kids tried hard to persuade him to play. But he wouldn't budge. Ivan would rather be called a chicken than get himself all sweaty and smelly. Also, he never really bothered to try and learn the rules of soccer, which the boys were planning to play. He would only be a burden.

"Hey Ivan" Ivan heard a feminine voice call out and his head jolted up. He saw two girls towering over him, one of them dusting the spot beside him for them to sit.

"Hey" Ivan too greeted.

"Not gonna play?" One of the girls asked, her smile never leaving her face.

Ivan just passed a smile as he felt all tensed up all of a sudden. He was never a good social being and was never good at making conversations. He felt the immediate urge to get out of that place.

A mischievous smile found its way onto Nora's face. "Don't you ever talk to anyone or do you just smile and listen?"

Ivan, being the A-class awkward guy he was, smiled at it again, this time, a little sheepishly, and the girls laughed heartily.

They talked about random stuffs and Ivan just listened, nodding every now and then to make his attention clear and frequently replied with simple answers which were mostly a yes or a no, when it was really necessary.

They would have talked for a little more, but all three of their heads jolted up when an uproar of panic rose in the air.

"Hey, you, duck!" Someone yelled at the top of their lungs.

Ivan felt too stunned to move as he watched the football speed towards him at full speed.

He heard shrieks and yelps as he fell back on the ground with a thud. A lot of voices filled his head as he felt darkness consume him. He tried to listen to those voices, but the ringing in his ears were too loud and soon, he fell into an abyss of darkness, pulling himself into a deep sleep.