BLACKOUT; JR [1]

5.1

"This porridge is gross." Andy complained, squirming around in his seat. We had nothing else to eat, just cold and under-cooked porridge. I moved the seemingly inedible food around in the bowl with my plastic fork. What has the world come to?

Jake smiled sarcastically. "Oh, poor baby." I looked at Sam, who was currently occupied. He was shovelling the food in his mouth at an amazing speed. 

"It's not even cooked." Andy added, staring into the container which held his breakfast.

"Harden up, Andy. Porridge is the breakfast of champions." Jake told him, chewing with a smile. I didn't believe that he was enjoying the food, but enjoying Andy's suffering.

"Just eat it." I said, my words coming out in a deep sigh. Andy didn't say anything else, just stared at me helplessly. I stared right back at him with emotionless eyes, then he tried to eat something. As I watched him, I felt a sense of security. Andy is my rock, always has been. He nearly died, but he didn't. Besides, what better way to go than saving someone else's life? The thought of losing him scared me immensely. 

Felix looked down at the food, breaking away from his thoughts. He looked disappointed to be missing out on cold porridge.

"There's nothing left." He groaned, eyebrows knitted together.

"You snooze, you lose." Jake replied, obviously not caring.

"Thanks a lot, so called friends." Felix muttered.

"You're welcome, freak." Sam smiled. Felix rolled his eyes.

"Will you stop calling me freak?"

The boys looked glanced at each other, smiling mischievously. "No." They said in unison. I looked down at my bowl, felt my nose screw up, and then shook my head.

I held the bowl out to Felix, pushing it into his stomach. "Here." I said. "Have mine."

He took the food and went outside.

Sam looked around at us questioningly. "I thought freakiness was his thing?" He said with a confused glance at the doorway. 

After breakfast, we decided to do something relatively productive with the day. We went to the Main Street in town and sat down on a rock beside the foot path. I kept my eyes on the ground as people scurried past us, most were school kids.

The rest of us looked slightly anxious, while Sam looked excited. He had a plan.

"This is a terrible idea." Andy stated. "We should be laying low."

Sam shook his head. "Nah, it's not. We impress a few people, elevate our social status, and then it's goodbye scavenging!" He smiled victoriously. "People will be lining up to invite us to dinner."

"I can't picture a version of this plan not ending badly." I said, but Sam didn't look discouraged by my negative words.

"You know, speaking of jobs, we could try making some cash." Jake nodded absentmindedly as he talked, like his mind was elsewhere.

"Way ahead of you, big man." Sam smirked, standing up and staring into the street. "Hello, Bremin. Prepare to fall in love with me." He glanced down at me, sporting a smirk. "Again."

"Why are you like this?" I asked him with a giggle, but he wandered off without answering me. I then turned to Jake and Andy, and threw my thumb in Sam's general direction. "Why is he like that?"

"It's like he's the president of his own fan club." Andy chuckled. Jake didn't contribute to the conversation, instead, he had his eyes on a sign with his mum's face plastered on it.

SARAH BATES
BREMIN'S #1 HOME SELLER

It still threw me that in this universe, she was married to Mr Bates.

Jake started to walk in the direction of her business. She was a real estate agent, as her sign stated in bold letters. Andy made a weak attempt to try stop Jake, to get him to stay. It didn't work, he was determined to ignore our efforts.

I felt a small pang in my stomach, not just because I felt bad for Jake, but because I tried to keep my thoughts away from my family.

But somehow, my mind always drifted back to dad and Blake. I wondered if they missed me, wherever they were. I missed them.

Sam started shouting obnoxiously, and that drew my attention away from my oncoming state of depression. He was doing tricks on his skateboard, and I have to admit, I was pretty impressed. I can't skate, but he sure could.

He was waving his empty hat around, searching for tips from the crowd. "Hey, don't forget that I do requests." He said, not realising that his audience were smiling because the cops were right behind him.

Sam looked startled, and I nearly ran over to help talk him out of whatever situation he was in, but Andy told me not to. I waited anxiously for the policeman to walk away, and for Sam to smile and wave in our direction, to tell us it was all okay.

It didn't take long before Sam was skating again, and my breathing returned to normal. 

People were actually tipping him, and every trick seemed to impress me. I don't even like skating that much, but I was enjoying this.

I saw a young boy approach us with a determined look on his face, and with pink paper in his small hands. "Are you Andy?" He asked, not acknowledging me. Andy nodded, eyebrow raised in question. "My mission was to deliver this." He informed, thrusting the folded piece of paper into Andy's opened hands.

He took the note, opened it and sniffed as if that were the normal thing to do. It took a few seconds, but I could smell the perfume, too. It seemed to stun my friend, as he looked at me with curious eyes. "What is that?" I shrugged, obviously intrigued.

"Lavender?" Our messenger boy suggested with a shrug. Andy began to read the letter, with me looking over his shoulder.

"You plus M to the power of E, equals heart symbol." He said it like it was a question, but the note didn't say otherwise. "What's M to the power of E?" He asked the blond boy. 

"It's you plus me equals love, but not as in me." The boy said, gesturing to himself at the end with a jab to his chest. He was very informative.

"Who's it from?" I asked, my eyes darting from the note to the boy.

"That's a secret." He said with a curt nod of his head, his light curls bouncing slightly. Andy's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. 

"This is the second strangest thing that has ever happened to me." Andy mumbled, his eyes not leaving the love letter.

Laughing to myself, I smiled knowingly. "Andy's got a secret admirer." I poked him in the ribs, but he didn't jump like I expected he would. He looked deep in thought as he stared down at the page, trying to think of who would give him such a thing.