Blue

Boiling Over

"Do you remember the fights you guys used to get into in grade school?" Adam asked suddenly. Chase briefly paused his intense glare aimed at the back of Beth's head to turn and look at Adam.

"You mean like, the real fights or like the WWE ones we used to stage on that blanket?"

"No, like the real ones. Remember when Beth broke your nose?" Adam asked. The dull cloudiness that always seemed to be encircling Adam's brain and limbs now drew back slightly as Chase glared at him instead of his little sister.

"Adam, we've had this talk before. If you tell a single person that Beth broke my nose when we were ten, I'm going to kill you. Dead. Gone. I'm going to climb into your window and kill you. I know where you live," Chase said. Adam smirked. This was a familiar action and reaction. Mention the broken nose, get death threats. Clear. Easy. This had happened a million times before.

"I don't know man. I thought shooting people without me was lonely."

"You're such a loser. I'm not friends with you anymore." Chase turned around in his seat, ignoring Adam for the rest of the ride.

Adam watched the school slowly come into view. It was made from crumbling dirty bricks and probably crushed dreams, but Adam could never really confirm that second part. It certainly made him unhappy. And lately... the churning, slithering, scaly, feelings of discomfort had been building and building every time he had to step foot onto the school campus.

Blue wouldn't be there.

He stood slowly when the bus doors opened, his fingers gripping the straps of his bag. He could feel his fingers squeezing a little too hard as he stepped off, but he didn't have another choice. He knew his hands would start to shake a little if he relinquished his straps.

"There's supposed to be an announcement this morning. About Blue. My mom told me last night," Chase said from behind him. The rest of the bus had dispersed into the building and the space in front of the front doors, but the two of them stood there, white fingers holding onto their bags. The silence between the two of them held for a few minutes. There was a faint ringing in Adam's ears.

"Do you..." Adam's voice came out like an echo of his voice instead of the real thing. He cleared his throat, "Do you think they'll notice if we hide in the library?" His voice was more stable this time around.

"I honestly don't care if they do. If we're in class while they make it, I'm going to lose it," Chase shrugged. Adam nodded.

"Great, yeah. Yeah, let's do that then."

They waited until the last few stragglers were beginning to head inside to make their way to the front door. The hallway was mostly quiet and empty, save for a handful of teachers milling about outside their classroom doors. Adam made intense, aggressive eye contact with every teacher they passed, as if daring them to say something to the two of them as they made their way to the library, but none of the teachers stopped them. Ms. Miller's eyes took on a glassy quality when Adam's eyes met hers. He kept his eyes on his own feet for the rest of the journey to the library.

The school librarian's eyes poked out from overtop her newspaper when the two of them arrived. The library was usually empty at this hour, except for the two senior library helpers chatting quietly in the corner. They seemed rather excited and kept gesturing to the book that was open between them. The librarian's eyes swept over Adam and Chase. Recognition flashed briefly in her eyes. She raised her newspaper back up over her eyes without a word and they took a seat on the tiny couches placed at the back of the library. Chase's leg bounced up and down, faster, faster, faster.

The sound of the bell echoed through the library, bouncing from book to book, and then it was here. The principal's voice filled the morning air. Her voice was soft and nice to listen to. Adam wished he was anywhere else but here. He should have plugged his phone in and skipped school. He doubted his Grandmother would have even noticed.